Yes. Americans can buy property in Mexico, including beachfront and border-town properties, full stop. The wrinkle is that within 50 kilometers of any coast or 100 kilometers of any international border, foreigners hold the property through a Mexican bank trust called a fideicomiso instead of holding direct title. Outside that restricted zone, an American can take fee-simple title the same way a Mexican citizen does. The fideicomiso adds a bank setup fee, the federal SRE permit (MXN 21,648.83 for the SRE permit plus a MXN 596.29 application review fee in 2026),[Ley Federal de Derechos, Art. 25, fracciones III and V(a), amounts updated by Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal DOF 28-12-2025, 2025-12] and a yearly bank fee. It gives you every meaningful right of ownership: live there, rent it, remodel it, sell it, will it to your heirs.
Americans buying property in Mexico run into the fideicomiso requirements about half the time, because roughly half the country sits inside the restricted zone.
The legal answer: Article 27 is older than it looks
Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution dates to 1917 and bans foreigners from holding direct title to land in the restricted zone. [Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Artículo 27, 2026-01-15] The restricted zone is defined as 50 kilometers (31 miles) inland from the coastline and 100 kilometers (62 miles) inland from any international border. Roughly half the country qualifies as restricted, including every beach town and every border city.
In 1973 Mexico’s Foreign Investment Law created the fideicomiso as the workaround for residential buyers. A 1993 amendment made the trust term 50 years and made it perpetually renewable. [Cámara de Diputados, Ley de Inversión Extranjera, Artículos 10–11, 2024-06-30] The bank holds bare legal title. You hold the beneficiary rights, and those rights are recorded in the public registry under your name.
Outside the restricted zone, the rules let a US citizen buy property in Mexico on direct fee-simple title, the same way a Mexican citizen would. Article 27 doesn’t apply, and the closing process looks much like buying property in Texas or Florida.
The practical reality: setup, costs, and where buyers get tripped up
When people ask whether Americans can buy property in Mexico cheaply, the answer is: closer to it than you’d guess from the paperwork. A fideicomiso adds three real costs on top of normal closing.
- Setup: the bank’s trust setup fee, which varies by bank and region, plus the federal SRE permit (MXN 21,648.83 for the SRE permit plus a MXN 596.29 application review fee in 2026).[Ley Federal de Derechos, Art. 25, fracciones III and V(a), amounts updated by Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal DOF 28-12-2025, 2025-12][BBVA México, Fideicomiso de Zona Restringida (trust fees quoted by region through an advisor), 2026-09]
- Annual administration fees, paid to the trustee bank and set by each bank; get the fee schedule in writing before you pick a trustee.
- Renewing the trust at the end of the 50-year term, at the bank and federal fees in force at that time.
One thing the cost sheets miss: the annual fee is denominated in USD by most trustee banks, but billed via your Mexican bank account, so peso volatility can swing the real cost year to year. Budget the high end.
Closing costs depend on the municipality. On a modeled $400,000 USD fideicomiso purchase in Tulum, the closing statement comes to about 6.8 percent of the price. Add the currency spread, an independent attorney and optional title insurance and it reaches about 10 percent. The bank, notario and service fees in that model are assumed quotes. The biggest single line item is usually the acquisition tax (ISAI / ISABI), which each municipality sets under its own 2026 law, and that varies more than buyers expect.
2026 ISAI rate by municipality
| Municipality | Rule | Effective | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulum, Quintana Roo Tulum | 4% of the property value | 4.00% | Ley de Hacienda del Municipio de Tulum, Art. 50 (reformed POE 09-12-2024) |
| Playa del Carmen (Solidaridad), Quintana Roo Playa del Carmen, Playacar | 4% of the property value, up from 3% in December 2025 | 4.00% | Ley de Hacienda del Municipio de Playa del Carmen, Art. 23 Quinquies (Decreto 167, POE 10-12-2025) |
| Cancún (Benito Juárez), Quintana Roo Cancún | 3% of the property value, plus a 10% municipal surcharge on the tax (3.3% in all) | 3.30% | Ley de Hacienda del Municipio de Benito Juárez, Arts. 27 and 58 |
| Los Cabos, Baja California Sur Cabo San Lucas, San José del Cabo | 3% of the property value after deducting five times the annual UMA (about MXN 214,000) | 2.91% | Ley de Hacienda para el Municipio de Los Cabos, Art. 35 |
| La Paz, Baja California Sur La Paz | 3% of the property value, up from 2% on January 1, 2026 | 3.00% | Ley de Hacienda para el Municipio de La Paz, Art. 38 (Decreto 3263, BOGE 24-12-2025) |
| Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías, Sayulita, Punta Mita | 2% of the property value | 2.00% | Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Bahía de Banderas 2026, Art. 21 |
| Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Puerto Vallarta | A progressive table with marginal rates from 2.65% to 3.55% | 3.03% | Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Puerto Vallarta 2026, Art. 41 |
| Guadalajara, Jalisco Guadalajara | A progressive table with marginal rates from 2.5% to 3.5% | 3.09% | Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Guadalajara 2026, Art. 28, Tabla 1 |
| San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato San Miguel de Allende | A progressive table that reaches a 4% marginal rate above MXN 1.5 million, after deducting ten times the annual UMA (about MXN 428,000) | 3.49% | Ley de Ingresos para el Municipio de San Miguel de Allende 2026, Art. 7 (table); Ley Hacendaria Municipal para el Estado de Guanajuato, Art. 338 (deduction) |
| Mérida, Yucatán Mérida | A progressive table with marginal rates from 2.5% to 5% | 3.99% | Ley de Hacienda del Municipio de Mérida, Art. 60 |
| Querétaro (municipality), Querétaro Querétaro city | A progressive table with marginal rates from about 2.8% to 6.9% | 5.99% | Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Querétaro 2026, Arts. 15.7 and 15.8 |
| Mexico City (CDMX), Mexico City Roma Norte, Condesa, Polanco, Coyoacán | A progressive table with marginal factors from 1.4% to 9% | 5.83% | Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México, Art. 113 (Gaceta Oficial No. 1762, 19-12-2025) |
A $400,000 USD condo in Tulum now triggers a $16,000 USD acquisition-tax bill at closing. The same condo in Puerto Vallarta (Jalisco) at the same sale price triggers about $12,100 USD under Puerto Vallarta’s own progressive table (marginal rates from 2.65% to 3.55%; converted at an assumed 18.5 MXN per USD). For a home, Jalisco applies that table to the appraisal the municipal cadastre approves rather than to the sale price, so the bill moves with the appraisal.[Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Puerto Vallarta 2026, Art. 41, 2026-10][Ley de Hacienda Municipal del Estado de Jalisco, Arts. 114-115 (base for a home is the appraisal the municipal cadastre approves; rate set by each municipal Ley de Ingresos), 2026-10] Buyers shopping in both states sometimes assume tax is tax. It isn’t.
What to verify before you commit
The question of whether Americans can buy property in Mexico safely usually comes down to three checks. Skip any of them and you can lose money you’ll never see again.
Pull a Certificado de Libertad de Gravamen from the Registro Público de la Propiedad in the state where the property sits. [Baker McKenzie Resource Hub, Baker McKenzie: Mexico Real Estate Law Guide, 2026-01-15] This certifies there are no liens, mortgages, or claims on the property. It costs about 50 to 200 pesos and prevents the most common closing-day surprise.
Confirm the property is on the civil registry, not the agrarian registry. Ejido (communal agricultural) land is the single biggest trap for American buyers in 2026. In September 2025 Sedetus, Quintana Roo’s urban development ministry, named 26 developments selling Tulum property without the permits the law requires. [Riviera Maya News, Government uncovers more than two dozen real estate developers illegally selling properties in Tulum, 2025-09] Sedetus then reported 18 development closures in Tulum in the six months to February 2026 for breaking development rules, some of them projects that had sold lots on ejido land without the required procedures. [Por Esto, En seis meses, 18 desarrollos inmobiliarios han sido cerrados en Tulum por incumplir la normatividad (Sedetus head Alonso Ovando), 2026-02] If the deed references only the Registro Agrario Nacional and not the Registro Público de la Propiedad, walk away.
Verify the seller is the legal owner. In Mexico the seller’s name on the deed (escritura pública) must match their identification, and the deed must be a certified copy from the registry, not a photocopy. A reputable notario público (a federally licensed officer of the state, not a US-style notary public) will catch this. The offer should be contingent on the certified deed before you wire the deposit.
If you want a procedural walk-through on which steps come in what order, see /mexico/how-to-buy-property/.
Common mistakes
The second most common mistake is choosing the wrong ownership structure. Foreigners can buy in the restricted zone two ways: a fideicomiso (residential) or a Mexican corporation (commercial). A foreign-owned Mexican corporation cannot legally hold residential property in the restricted zone. [Cacheaux Cavazos & Newton, LLP, CCN Law: Restrictions on Foreign Real Estate Acquisition, 2025-09-22] If a developer is selling you a beachfront condo via a corporation, get a Mexican attorney to confirm the structure before you close. The correction after closing is expensive.
Third trap: bank choice. Not every Mexican bank offers fideicomiso services, and the ones that do (Banorte, Scotiabank, Monex, CIBanco) charge different annual fees and have different responsiveness when you need a document fast. Ask your notario which trustee they have processed deals with most often in the past 12 months. That track record matters more than the brochure fee.
Bottom line
Can Americans buy property in Mexico? Yes, every kind of property, in every state. The fideicomiso adds friction in the restricted zone but doesn’t block the deal. The fideicomiso is real but routine. It gives you full ownership rights for 50 years, renewable forever. Closing costs depend on the municipality: about 6.8 percent of the price on a modeled Tulum purchase, or about 10 percent all-in. Pull the title certificate, verify the registry, and never wire money outside notarial escrow. For non-American foreign buyers, the framework is the same but the immigration overlay differs: see /mexico/can-foreigners-buy-property/. For the trust mechanics in detail, see /mexico/fideicomiso/.
If you’re financing the purchase rather than paying cash, Mexican-side mortgages for foreign nationals carry their own paperwork: see /financing/how-to-finance-property-abroad/. And for a closing-cost line-item breakdown, /mexico/closing-costs/ has the full sheet.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Mexican real estate transactions involve federal civil code, state-level rules, and notary practice that varies by jurisdiction. Engage a Mexican notary public (notario público) and, for transactions above $500,000 USD or commercial property, a Mexican real estate attorney before signing.
Current as of May 7, 2026. We review legal content quarterly and update on rule changes. To report an error, contact us.