20 Questions to Ask Your Broker Before You Buy

Twenty questions is not a script you read aloud from the back of a truck. It is a way to tell a good broker from a good salesman, and a clean title from a story with land attached. Most buyers know in forty seconds whether they love a lot, and dread spending forty minutes on the thing that decides whether they own it. These are the questions to ask before buying land in Mexico. None is clever. All of them earn their keep.

Here is the set at a glance; each group gets a section below.

Group	Why it matters	Questions
The broker	Who is on your side	#1–3
The title	Whether you own it at all	#4–6
The lot	Whether you can build what you want	#7–9
The neighbors	What happens around you	#10–12
The price	Whether it is honestly priced	#13–15
The process	How it unfolds and what you pay when	#16–18
The quiet ones	Where deposits and deals die	#19–20

The broker

The broker and the relationship

A Mexican agent must be licensed, but licensing does not tell you whose side they are on. Most coastal brokers represent a mix of buyers and sellers, and some represent both on the same deal.

1. Who do you work for, and who pays you? A broker can work for you, for the seller, or for both — and in a dual role, the job is to close the deal, not to protect you. If they represent both sides, ask how they handle the conflict. The answer is often honest. The disclaimer is usually not.

2. How long have you been working this specific area? The coast is not one market. Mazunte, Zipolite, the hills above San Agustínillo, and the land toward Huatulco each behave differently. A broker with a decade in one town may know nothing about the valley behind it. Ask for lots they have sold nearby.

3. Can I talk to someone who has bought through you, and is your commission in writing? Ask for a past buyer, not a seller — sellers are usually grateful for any sale. On commission, the buyer rarely pays directly; the fee is typically covered from the sale and set by agreement. Get it in writing before you tour anything.

The title

The title and the paperwork

Three title types exist on this coast, and the differences are not cosmetic. An escritura is the full, registered deed — the gold standard. An acta de posesión shows possession but is not a registered title. Ejido or comunal land is owned by a community assembly, and a foreigner cannot hold direct title to it. Ask plainly which one you are being shown.

4. Which title type is this, and who currently holds it? Ask for the name on the document and the holder's identity. A mismatch between the seller and the recorded owner is the most common quiet problem here — usually an inheritance never formalized. If the answer is "the family," the succession must be resolved and every heir present before you pay.

5. Is it registered at the Registro Público de la Propiedad, and can you show me the certificate? The Registro Público de la Propiedad is the state's official record of what exists. A deed signed but never registered is a story, not a title. If it is an acta or ejido parcel, ask what it would take to convert it to a proper escritura, and whether that is even possible.

6. Are there liens, embargoes, or unpaid predial attached? An embargo is a legal seizure from unpaid debt, and it attaches to the land, not the person. Predial is the annual property tax — a few hundred to a few thousand pesos a year — and must be settled before closing, often at your expense. The certificado de libertad de gravamen records all of it. Ask for it. For the wider verification set, see our due diligence checklist for Oaxaca land.

The lot

The lot itself

Paper can be perfect and the land still wrong. These three need shoes and daylight — and the rainy season, if you can manage it. The rains run roughly June to October, and they are when coastal land shows its true character.

7. Where are the boundaries, and has there been a deslinde or a survey? A deslinde is the formal boundary line against the neighbors. A few meters of discrepancy is a future dispute, and a neighbor's fence can sit a meter inside your deed. Ask if corners are marked and the ground matches the plan. If anything feels off, pay for a survey (levantamiento topográfico).

8. What is the slope and terrain, and how does it drain? Slopes change your build cost in ways easy to underestimate. A gentle slope adds a retaining wall; a steep one adds a small excavation budget. Ask how water flows in a heavy rain and whether an arroyo or seasonal river crosses the lot. Flooding and landslides damage coastal land, and both are visible before you buy.

9. Where does the water come from, and what does a legal connection cost for power and water? Water might be a pozo (well), a piped town supply, or a cisterna filled by truck. Power might be a pole nearby or a long stretch of nothing. The gap between "the neighbor has power" and "this lot has a legal connection" can be large, and bringing line to a remote parcel can cost more than the land. Ask for a figure before the price feels small.

The neighbors

The neighbors and the area

A lot is not an island. What happens next door, and how the community treats the area, shapes what your property becomes. These are the questions people skip because the answers do not fit a single sentence.

10. What is planned on the land next door, and is any of it approved? The empty jungle beside you may have a hotel, a development, or a road in a file somewhere. Ask what the neighboring parcels are zoned for and whether any application is pending. A quiet uso de suelo change can turn a secluded lot into a building site.

11. What are the community rules, and what does the uso de suelo allow here? Uso de suelo is the permitted use set by the municipality; it decides whether you can build a house, a rental, or a shop. Many areas run on informal norms too — road access, setbacks, even who may build a hotel on a hill. Ask both: the official and the lived.

12. Who uses the land around it, and how do I get there? If your access crosses a neighbor's parcel, it must be a recorded servidumbre de paso (easement), not a habitually used track. Habitual use is not a right, and an informal path can be closed, leaving you landlocked. Walk the access route and confirm it in writing.

The price

The price and what's negotiable

Land pricing here is more honest than it used to be, but it is still a conversation. Ask these three before you decide a lot is within budget — and remember the asking price is not the number you hand over at the notario.

13. What is the price per square meter, and how was it set? Per-square-meter pricing lets you compare a 600 m² lot with a 1,100 m² one across the street. Ask how the figure was reached — a recent appraisal, nearby closings, or a seller's memory of a better year. The answer reveals whether the price is anchored in fact or aspiration.

14. Can you show me comparable sales that actually closed, not asking prices? Asking prices are the seller's hope; closed sales are the market's reality. Honest comparables are thin in small markets, and a good broker will say so rather than invent them. A price far below the area is its own red flag — the discount is usually the title's problem in disguise.

15. What exactly is included in the asking price, and what isn't? Is the avalúo (appraisal) done, or will you pay for it? Are closing costs — ISAI, notary fees, registry — on top? Will the seller clear the predial, or is that your bill? On restricted-zone land, add a fideicomiso (a bank trust holding title for foreign owners near the coast, renewable in 50-year increments) with a setup fee and annual charge. Knowing what is inside the number is the point.

The process

The process and the timing

Once the lot and price hold up, the question is how the money moves and how long it takes. A clean deal here feels slow and slightly boring. That is the feeling of things going right.

16. How long does the process take, from deposit to notario to registry? An honest answer is several weeks to a few months, depending on the title and how current the paperwork is. A "we can close in ten days" answer on an acta lot is either enthusiasm or a signal that paperwork is being skipped. Ask for the sequence and realistic timing for each step.

17. What do I pay, to whom, and at what point? The promesa de compraventa fixes the deposit (commonly 5–10%), the price, and the date. Funds in a legitimate deal move through the notario's account, not into a broker's pocket or a seller's phone number. Ask who holds the money at each stage and confirm the deposit is held under the promesa's terms.

18. When do we sit with the notario, and what do I bring? A notario público is a licensed lawyer appointed by the state, personally responsible for the validity of the sale. The notario is the anchor of the whole thing — a seller who avoids one is a deal worth walking away from. Ask to meet them before you sign, and ask what to bring. Read why the notario matters more than the agent first.

The quiet ones

The questions people forget to ask

These last two are not on the postcard, but they decide whether you keep the money you meant for a house. They are the ones buyers regret not asking.

19. Who holds my deposit, and what happens to it if the deal dies? This is the question that saves people. In a fair deal the deposit is refundable when the seller cannot deliver clean title. In a bad deal the deposit is the point. Ask what happens if the title fails, if the seller backs out, and if you back out. Have it written into the promesa and the notario read the clause with you.

20. What will utilities realistically cost to connect, and is a connection even available? The asking price is the number you could see; the connection fees are the one you could not. Power, water, septic — and sometimes grid power simply is not there, leaving solar and a well as the working answer. Ask for a written estimate before you commit, not a reassuring sentence at the lot visit.

A broker who welcomes all twenty questions is a keeper. A broker who talks you out of them is the answer you were asking for.

There is always another lot, and the coast is not running out of land. What it does not forgive is a buyer who skipped the paperwork because the view was good. For the whole picture — the law, the process, the costs, the red flags — start with our complete guide to buying land in Oaxaca. When you are ready, browse the lots we list, each with its real price and title type stated plainly. The Slow Coast introduces you to licensed brokers and notarios, publishes real prices, and never holds your money. The questions are the easy part. Asking them is the purchase.