FreeLists / lit-ideas / [lit-ideas] Re: : Mexican protesting_ something illegal for free

[Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>]

Marlena wrote:

> What IS the level of land ownership by the population in Mexico?  Do 
> they have the same 'dream' of home ownership that we do?  How possible 
> is it in Mexico? What is keeping it from happening? Would it change 
> their economy if that happened? 
>  
> If the Americans ended up with an acre of land or more--would a Little 
> USA begin to be formed there? 
>  
> Wonder what WOULD happen if this proposition (sic) happened?  Would there be 
> very many Americans who would take it up? I have heard that there are 
> those who have retired there...the 'upside' for Mexico, then, would be 
> that US dollars via Social Security or the rare pension would be 
> funneled into their economy.

Marlena, you need to get past the front desk and hunt around in the 
stacks. Americans have been buying land in Mexico for ages, and there 
have been 'colonies' of American artists and expatriates there for a 
long time.

Lawrence was at the Battle of San Jacinto, and can give a first hand 
account of how Mexico became Texas became Mexico became Texas. Somebody 
else can figure out just how many acres of land Mexico signed away in
the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.

This is from the Wall Street Journal, April 19 (RealEastateJournal.com).

American Baby Boomers Fuel
Yucatan Land Grab in Mexico

By Michael Allen
From The Wall Street Journal Online

A big cadre of American baby boomers looking to retire someplace sunny 
and cheap is fueling a land rush in the Riviera Maya, a small idyllic 
slice of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. But many land-seekers are 
encountering a variety of obstacles, including skyrocketing real-estate 
prices, confusing laws and con artists.

Real-estate prices have spiked so quickly -- roughly doubling in the 
past five years -- that unscrupulous promoters sometimes try to flip 
property they don't even own. The warnings against this potential 
trouble are everywhere: "This property is not for sale," advises a 
hand-lettered placard posted in Spanish on a fenced-off beachfront lot, 
one of several near Tulum, about 80 miles south of Cancun. "Don't be 
caught by surprise." The land rush is occurring at the beginning of a 
demographic tidal wave. With more than 70 million American baby boomers 
expected to retire in the next two decades, many without adequate 
pensions or health plans, some experts predict a vast migration to 
warmer -- and cheaper -- climates. Often, such buyers purchase a 
property 10 to 15 years before retirement, use it as a vacation home, 
and then eventually move there for most of the year. Developers 
increasingly are taking advantage of the trend, building gated 
communities, condominiums and golf courses.

Mexico, already thought to be home to as many as one million American 
citizens, or roughly a quarter of all U.S. expatriates, is set to get 
the lion's share of new arrivals. From the long-time artists' enclave of 
San Miguel de Allende in the hills of central Mexico to fast-growing 
sports-fishing and beach communities of the Baja peninsula to Puerto 
Vallarta on the Pacific coast, there is plenty to lure a sun-seeking 
retiree.

No place has boomed in recent years like the state of Quintana Roo in 
Mexico's far southeast corner. Anchored by the high-rise resort 
destination Cancun at one end and cosmopolitan Playa del Carmen an hour 
to the south, Quintana Roo is the country's fastest-growing state, with 
over a million residents. An estimated 1,500 to 3,000 American citizens 
live there more than six months out of the year, along with a few 
thousand more Canadians, Europeans and South Americans.

The hottest section is near Tulum, just down the beach from a massive 
Mayan fortress overlooking the Caribbean. While the area retains a funky 
'60s vibe (there's a nude beach -- unusual for conservative Mexico), in 
the past several years some swanky hotels and real-estate developments 
have been launched. One was the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's 
beachfront mansion. He was gunned down before he got a chance to enjoy 
it, but now it's a Buddhist-and-Mexican-themed boutique hotel, known as 
Amansala's Casa Magna and run by American Melissa Perlman. Austin 
developer Greg Schnurr recently launched Los Arboles, the first big 
master-planned community in Tulum, where he's carving 250 five-acre 
sites out of the jungle. (Though it isn't near the beach and lacks some 
permits, he has pre-sold 31 of the lots, which go for $50,000 each, 
mostly to Americans and Europeans.)

But Mexican real-estate law can be tough to navigate. Under the Mexican 
constitution, foreigners are allowed to own land outright anywhere 
except within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of the coastline or 100 
kilometers from a national border. Within the so-called restricted zone, 
they can hold the property in a trust, or fideicomiso. While they don't 
officially own it, they retain the right to use it and sell it for a 
renewable 50-year period.

In Tulum there is an additional real-estate wrinkle: Several miles of 
virgin beachfront are claimed by an ejido -- a form of communal 
ownership that's fairly common in Mexico. The ejido is composed of 
impoverished peasants who were given the land years ago by the 
government, before anybody thought the property was worth anything. Now 
it could fetch tens of millions of dollars. Under current law, ejidos 
can be "privatized," subdivided and sold, subject to unanimous approval 
by ejido members and time-consuming government approvals. Until that 
happens, foreigners are technically blocked from buying pieces of it, 
according to real-estate experts.

Unfortunately, anxious buyers sometimes don't want to wait. They find an 
individual ejido member who claims ownership of a parcel and buy it at a 
steep discount, on the promise that they will receive full title when a 
privatization is completed. Such arrangements have given rise to endless 
title disputes.

Lee Bufford, a retired Atlanta bakery entrepreneur, says she bought a 
beachfront lot from a local man eight years ago for $50,000. It was 
ejido land and she didn't get a proper title, hoping to get that done 
later. But 3-1/2 years ago she was laid up by a bad automobile accident 
in the U.S. and couldn't make it down for a while. Word spread that she 
had died, and she says the man reoccupied the property. Now, after 
$75,000 in legal expenses, she says she has been told the man is 
fighting for control with a group backed by an ex-politician from Mexico 
City. Last month, a corpse turned up on a nearby property minus arms, 
legs and head. "It's been a nightmare," says Ms. Bufford.

Conflicts over title aren't uncommon in Mexico. In 2000, some 200 
American homeowners were evicted from their luxury development on the 
Baja coast, after a court ruled against the developer in a convoluted 
title dispute.

Still, such hardships may be on the wane in much of Mexico, as the 
real-estate business matures. If you're interested in making a purchase, 
experts say there are a few basic steps to help avoid heartache. First, 
ask a prospective seller to provide three documents before proceeding 
with any negotiations: 1) a copy of the title, known informally in 
Spanish as an escritura; 2) a certificate of freedom of liens and 
encumbrances; and 3) the latest tax statement for the property. These 
documents will help establish that the seller really owns the property 
free and clear.

Second, hire a reputable attorney before signing any documents. The 
nearest U.S. consulate can provide a list of attorneys in good standing. 
Third, arrange for title insurance. In recent years major U.S. players 
such as Stewart Title and First American Title have gone into business 
in Mexico and there is a thriving locally based industry, as well. For a 
cost of about $5 per $1,000 of property, a title insurer will protect a 
buyer against prior liens by tax authorities in the event that somebody 
else claims title. Finally, make sure to place the property in a 
fideicomiso, or trust. Fees run around $1,000 to $1,500 up front, plus 
about $400 a year, but that is offset by the very low property-tax burden.

"In Mexico, you can buy safely but you've got to do your homework," says 
David Wiesley, president of FirstMexico Group LLC, San Diego, and a 
pioneer in the Mexican title-insurance business.
---------------

Robert Paul
John L. O'Sullivan Professor of Manifest Destiny
Mutton College


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