How a foreign property purchase works, country by country.
Every country has its own paperwork chain, its own closing-cost stack, and its own local instrument that trips up first-time foreign buyers — fideicomiso in Mexico, NIE in Spain, codice fiscale in Italy, deslinde in the Dominican Republic. Pick a country below to read the end-to-end process: tax ID, contract, due diligence, deed, costs, and the timing.
By country
Eight markets where Americans and Canadians close. Each page walks the local paperwork, the closing-cost line items, the typical timeline from offer to recorded deed, and the country-specific traps that catch foreign buyers.
Mexico
60–120 days · 5–9% closingFideicomiso bank trust inside the restricted zone.
Renewable 50-year bank trust holds title for foreigners within 50km of any coast or 100km of any border. The notario público represents the transaction, not either party. Verify private title — never ejido — before the deposit goes hard.
Read the process →Portugal
60–90 days · 7–10% closingNIF first — and it isn't Spain's NIE.
NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is step zero — non-EU buyers route through a Portuguese fiscal representative, 2–4 weeks. Progressive IMT plus 0.8% Imposto do Selo and notarial fees fill the closing-cost stack.
Read the process →Spain
60–90 days · 8–12% closingNIE gates every signature in the chain.
NIE swings 30–90 days at the consulate, faster in person at a comisaría. ITP runs 6% in lower-tier regions, 7% in Andalucía, 10% in Madrid and Cataluña. New builds: IVA 10% plus AJD on top.
Read the process →Italy
60–120 days · 8–13% closingThree contracts and a sanatoria check.
Codice fiscale, then proposta → compromesso → atto notarile. The notaio is a court-appointed officer, not a lawyer — your attorney is a separate engagement. Sanatoria (curative permit verification) kills more Italian deals than financing.
Read the process →Costa Rica
30–60 days · 4–6% closingDirect freehold title — no fideicomiso, no SRE.
Title goes straight into your name in the Registro Nacional. Your attorney usually carries notarial authorization and runs the closing. The watch-out is the zona maritima terrestre — first 200m of coast is concession-only, not freehold.
Read the process →Panama
30–60 days · 5–7% closingDirect title, full USD settlement, no FX friction.
ROP (Rights of Possession) on Bocas islands and undeveloped coast is not freehold and US lenders won't touch it. At sale, the future buyer withholds 3% of gross price as advance against your 10% capital-gains liability — plan cash flow.
Read the process →Belize
30–60 days · 8–12% closingEnglish common-law conveyancing, USD/BZD pegged 1:2.
Buyer-engaged attorney runs title and deed — no civil-law notario. 8% Stamp Duty is the dominant line item. Verify the title chain on Ambergris Caye carefully; 2010s scam-era titles still circulate on coastal listings.
Read the process →Dominican Republic
60–90 days · 5–8% (2–4% with Confotur) closingTorrens title — but only if the deslinde is complete.
Registered title is conclusive evidence of ownership — when the deslinde (cadastral de-marking) is finished. Incomplete deslinde is the DR title risk, more common than buyers expect. Confotur tourist-zone property gets a 15-year ITBI/IPI exemption.
Read the process →
The complete American's guide to buying in Mexico.
Twenty-four minutes that walk through fideicomiso, the closing-cost math, residency, and the cities that make sense for an American buyer. Our flagship process explainer.
Closing-cost stacks shift when governments adjust transfer-tax bands or recording fees. The country pages cite the most recent verifiable rates from primary sources, dated. For rule changes between updates, subscribe to The Brief.
One market read, one process explainer, one number to know.
Free, no sponsors. Cross-border property and retirement, written for North American buyers.