Five common Baja real estate transactions, broken into plain steps and the actual documents each one calls for. No legalese — tap any underlined term for a quick definition.
Buying raw or vacant land in Baja — whether a coastal lot or an inland parcel — starts with figuring out how you're legally allowed to hold it, then making sure the land itself is clean before you commit.
Most of Baja sits inside Mexico's — roughly 30 miles from the coast or 60 miles from a border. If you're not a Mexican citizen and the land falls inside it, you can't hold the title directly. You'll use a instead, which gives you every real right of ownership — you just don't hold the paper title yourself.
Land in Baja can carry surprises — undocumented liens, disputed boundaries, or a history as communal (ejido) land that was never properly converted to private property. A clean check now saves you from a legal mess later.
Before anyone can put your name on anything in Mexico, you need a Mexican tax ID — whether you're Mexican or foreign, buying through a trust or not.
If you're a foreign buyer in the , a Mexican bank formally requests government permission to create the trust in your name, then acts as trustee on your behalf.
This is closing day. The prepares the final deed, calculates taxes owed, and once everyone signs, files it with the public record so your ownership is official and enforceable.
Everything in this library reflects Baja Property Insider’s best understanding as of the review date above, but Mexican real estate law, tax rates, and municipal requirements are updated regularly — sometimes without much notice. Baja Property Insider is an independent education platform; it does not practice law and does not provide legal advice. For guidance specific to your transaction, we can connect you directly with Gerardo Sánchez Aramburu, an independent Mexican attorney who works directly with foreign buyers and property owners in Baja California Sur.
Rules like these can shift year to year — talk to independent counsel about your transaction →
