The International Community Foundation is pleased to announce its “Retiring Responsibly in Mexico” research series with our first report “U.S. Retirements Trends in Mexico’s Coastal Communities:  Lifestyle Trends and Demographics.”  You can access the report here:  http://www.icfdn.org/publications/retireeresearch/. 
Forthcoming research studies will address trends in health care, volunteerism, philanthropy and civic engagement, real estate as well as the environment.  For more information on the International Community Foundation, visit our website at http://www.icfdn.org.

Is the Mexico Retirement industry a niche market that can help the Mexico real estate market come back?

 With millions of baby boomers reaching retirement age every day, the market for a lovely place to live with the security and services required is growing exponentially.  

U.S. taxpayers are required to file certain reports with the U.S. government if they own property in Mexico, have a business in the country, or are shareholders in Mexican corporations Uncle Sam, U.S. tax watchdog, has instituted a voluntary disclosure program for those people who may have omitted reporting in the past. This program is designed to limit penalties that may be imposed on those U.S. taxpayers who have failed to make the required declarations previously.

Since 2001, the Mexico real estate marketalong key nautical points on the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific coast of Baja California, have been anticipating the benefit of a newEscalera Nautica project a project which was created to improve the infrastructure of the marinas in the Sea of Cortez/Baja California area, increase the number of nautical centers, and overall increase the appeal of nautical tourism in this part of Mexico. As the plan develops, marina traffic will increase, and regions such as the Mazatlan real estate and La Paz real estate markets will probably see an increase in property ownership and rentals convenient for yacht owners.

If the Mexico real estate property you are purchasing is already in a trust (fedeicomiso) you may either: request assignment of the rights to you, or may request a new trust for fifty years If a new trust, a permit from the Secretary of Foreign Relations is required Whether a new trust or an assignment of rights, the deed in the new buyer's name must be registered in the National Foreign Investment Registry

Mexican law says that Mexico real estate taxes must be paid on the higher of the following: purchase price OR appraised value Since many appraisals in the La Paz real estate market are lower than the actual selling price your taxes will be condisderably lower if the appraisal value is declared Payment on this basis has taken place for many years in many parts of the country It is, however, illegal

I have various articles written on the subject of  How to Buy Your Mexico Home, if you wish to follow this series please click here to see the first post on PURCHASING YOUR MEXICO DREAM HOME Below I continue the series discussing the Mexico Condo regime.

The Mexico real estate market has gone through various changes over the last several years Title insurance, escrow accounts, and financing are new options and tools now available to help the non-Mexican acquire La Paz real estate properties and even properties throughout various regions of Mexico.

I have been putting together various posts on the processes involved on how to buy Mexico real estate. You can see the previous posts on this series by clicking here Mexico Dream Home Below I will start to discuss the Mexico Bank Trust

I remember when I first started looking for property for myself down in Mexico. I will admit that I was pretty confident and made…quite a few mistakes mainly by trying to do various things on my own I was a strong believer in my own investigative abilities, I knew how to negotiate in Mexico, and I had seen my good share of various types of business contracts in Latin America But soon, after my solo property search adventures, several late nights of worrying about my money deposits, and various headaches from that first dreadful Mexico real estate purchase experience, I suddenly remembered that good old simple advise that my father and some business teachers had shared with me, “DONT STUMBLE OVER YOUR OWN PRIDE…ALWAYS SURROUND YOURSELF AND LISTEN TO PEOPLE WITH EXPERIENCE”.

A couple of weeks ago, we had an interesting question be sent to our panel of experts The seller of a property wrote to ask,

A common questions we have in the Mexico Real Estate market when assisting non Mexican investors or buyers is