Buyers ask us this before they ask anything else, usually phrased carefully, as though the answer might be no. It is not. Foreigners buy property here every week, the mechanism is well established, and once you understand the one structural difference from buying at home, the rest of it looks familiar.
Yes, and here is the part that trips people up
Mexican law restricts foreigners from directly holding title to land within 50 kilometres of the coast. Puerto Vallarta is well inside that zone, so almost every property you look at here falls under it.
The answer is the fideicomiso, a bank trust. A Mexican bank holds the title, you are the beneficiary, and as beneficiary you have the full rights an owner expects. You can live in it, rent it, renovate it, sell it, or leave it to your heirs. The bank has no claim on the property and no say in what you do with it. It administers the trust, nothing more.
Trusts run 50 years and are renewable. Buyers sometimes hear "trust" and assume it means something less than ownership. In practice it does not change what you can do with the property.
What the process actually looks like
1. Get an agent who works this market
Not just any agent. One who closes in Puerto Vallarta regularly, knows which buildings have issues, and can read an escritura. The cost of getting this wrong is not a bad showing, it is a bad purchase.
2. Find the property
Resale condos, hillside villas, and preconstruction all trade here, and they behave differently. Preconstruction in particular has its own payment structure and its own timeline, which we cover separately.
3. Offer and promissory agreement
Once an offer is accepted you sign a promissory agreement and put down a deposit, typically 5% to 10% of the purchase price.
4. Due diligence and escrow
Your attorney verifies the title, checks for liens or encumbrances, and confirms the permits are in order. Use an escrow service. This is not a formality and it is not the place to save money.
5. The notary and closing
In Mexico the notary (notario público) is a government-appointed attorney who is legally responsible for the transaction. That is a bigger role than a notary plays in the United States or Canada. The notary prepares the deed, calculates the taxes, and records the transfer.
Expect 45 to 60 days from signed contract to escritura on a resale.
What it costs
Closing costs in Puerto Vallarta run 4% to 7% of the purchase price, and the reason it is a range rather than a number is worth understanding before you budget.
Most of the line items are fixed rather than percentage based. The notary work, the trust permit, the registry filings and the bank fees cost roughly the same on a $200,000 condo as on a $2,000,000 one, so the fixed portion lands as a much larger percentage on a lower-priced purchase. Three of our own closings came in at 4.40%, 3.31% and 5.34%.
You will see 5% to 10% quoted elsewhere. We publish 4% to 7% because that is what our own reconciled files actually come to. The full breakdown is here, including why the transfer tax is not one number either.
| Cost | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Closing costs | 4% to 7% of purchase price, higher percentage on lower-priced property |
| Property tax (predial) | Substantially lower than the U.S. or Canada |
| Fideicomiso setup | Bank fee plus the SRE permit, paid once at closing |
| Fideicomiso annual fee | Charged yearly by the trustee bank, confirm the current figure with the bank |
Trust fees vary by bank and change over time, so treat any published number as indicative and get the current schedule in writing before you close.
Can you finance it?
Yes, and that has genuinely changed in the last few years. There are now cross-border mortgages written in U.S. dollars against Mexican property. They cost more than a mortgage at home and they are not right for everyone, but they exist and buyers here use them. We wrote up how they work, who qualifies, and what the payments actually look like in a separate piece with a calculator.
What we would tell a friend
Come down and spend time here before you buy. Not a week in a hotel on the Malecón, but enough time in the neighbourhood you think you want that you have seen it on a Tuesday in September as well as a Saturday in February. The buyers who are happiest a year later are almost always the ones who did that.
And ask the questions you think sound naive. Every single one of them has been asked before, usually by someone who went on to buy.
Tom Gordon & Hannah López
Coldwell Banker La Costa, Puerto Vallarta
Hannah Lopez & Tom Gordon Team
Coldwell Banker Global Luxury · CLHMS · AMPI
tom.gordon@luxuryvallartarealty.com
+1 512 569 6371
luxuryvallartarealty.com
Disclaimer: This article is general information for prospective buyers in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Trust fees, taxes and closing costs vary by bank, by state and over time, and every transaction differs. Confirm current figures with your notary, your attorney and the trustee bank before relying on them.
Written September 2026. Last reviewed: September 2026.