The base rule: Article 27 of the Constitution
Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution reserves direct land ownership within 50 km of the coastline and 100 km of the borders — the so-called "restricted zone" — to Mexican citizens (by birth or naturalization) and Mexican companies. Cancún and the entire Riviera Maya fall inside that strip. This does not ban foreign investment: it creates an alternate mechanism, the fideicomiso (bank trust).
Ownership & taxes, in numbers
Bank trust with full legal recognition in Mexico.
Foreigners can own directly (Art. 27 of the Constitution).
On the highest of price, cadastral value or appraisal.
Exemption applies only to tax residents, not to non-residents (see the exit-tax section).
Among the lowest in the Americas.
ISAI confirmed at 3% for Quintana Roo (State of Quintana Roo Municipal ISAI Law). Example: a $2,000,000 MXN property pays $60,000 MXN in ISAI.
The fideicomiso in depth: real costs and who runs it
A fideicomiso is not a direct government procedure — it is a contract in which an authorized Mexican bank acts as trustee (the legal owner on paper) while you, as the beneficiary, keep every right to use, rent, sell, bequeath and improve the property. The standard term is 50 years, renewable indefinitely in equal periods, with no cap on renewals and no meaningful added cost beyond the SRE renewal filing.
≈$1,100–1,200 USD. Official 2026 rate, Article 25 of the Federal Duties Law.
Market estimate; banks do not publish rate sheets, they quote case by case.
Some institutions have historically quoted $450–550 USD.
Permit only; a full closing (due diligence + notary + registration) commonly takes 4–8 weeks per real estate advisories.
Active fiduciary banks named by real estate advisories in 2026: Multiva, Kapital Bank, Banorte, Monex, Mifel, Scotiabank, Actinver and Banco del Bajío. None publish an online rate sheet — each quotes case by case, so it is worth getting quotes from 2–3 before choosing.
What happens if the fiduciary bank changes or disappears? This already happened in 2025: when CIBanco and Intercam were taken over by the regulator, their entire fideicomiso portfolios were sold — CIBanco's to Banco Multiva and Intercam's to Kapital Bank — without owners losing any rights. That is because trust assets are legally segregated from the bank's own balance sheet: they are not part of its assets in a failure or intervention, so a banking crisis does not put your property at risk, though it can mean paperwork to transfer the file to the new trustee.
What this means for your decision
Budget $2,600–$3,600 USD in total first-year fideicomiso costs (SRE permit + setup + first annual maintenance), and $500–$800 USD each year after. When the 50-year term ends, the process is a renewal, not a repurchase — there is no risk of losing the property simply because time ran out.
The purchase process, step by step
1. Offer and purchase agreement
The private purchase agreement (a firm offer or promise to sell) is signed, and an earnest-money deposit is typically paid (10% is common in this market).
2. SRE permit application
The fiduciary bank or notary requests the permit from the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores to set up the trust. Official cost $21,648.83 MXN, published turnaround of 5 business days — in practice it often takes longer due to agency workload.
3. Title due diligence
The notary and/or an independent attorney check the property's history at the Quintana Roo Public Registry of Property and Commerce, confirm there are no liens (certificado de libertad de gravamen), and verify the parcel does not have unregularized ejido origins.
4. Signing before the notary
The notary public — a state-appointed fedatario, not just a witness — drafts and certifies the deed, and calculates and withholds the ISAI (3%) and, when applicable, the seller's ISR.
5. Registration at the Public Registry
The deed is recorded at the Quintana Roo Public Registry of Property so the transfer is enforceable against third parties. Without this step, the purchase is not fully protected.
The SRE's officially published time for the permit is 5 business days. That is an official figure, but it covers only that one step — not due diligence, signing or registration. Real estate advisories operating in the area report full closings of 4 to 8 weeks end to end; treat that as a market estimate, not an official figure.
Fideicomiso vs. Mexican corporation: which fits you?
The fideicomiso is the standard vehicle for a buyer who wants a single property for personal or vacation use: a Mexican bank acts as trustee, you keep all rights to use, rent, sell and bequeath the property, and the trust renews in 50-year terms. It only requires filing tax returns if the property generates rental income; with no rental income, paperwork stays minimal.
A Mexican corporation (S.A. de C.V.) usually suits investors with multiple properties, commercial use, or rental operations at scale. It requires an RFC (tax ID), a reference minimum share capital of around $50,000 MXN (~$2,500 USD), mandatory monthly and annual filings even with no profit, and $600–800 USD a year in accounting fees — but in exchange it lets you deduct every business expense (maintenance, management, rental-platform commissions) and avoids paying a per-property fideicomiso fee across a portfolio.
What this means for your decision
One property for personal or vacation use: fideicomiso — it is cheaper and simpler as long as you are not generating steady rental income. Three or more properties, or a rental operation at scale: it is worth pricing out an S.A. de C.V. with your accountant before buying the first one, since the fideicomiso-fee savings and expense deductions usually offset the accounting cost past that volume.
The notary and title insurance
- A notary public is mandatory for every property transfer in Mexico — a government-appointed fedatario, not just a witness.
- Title insurance is optional but highly recommended; Stewart Title, First American and Safeguard are all active in Cancún and the Riviera Maya.
The risk to avoid: unregularized ejido land
Ejido land belongs collectively to an agrarian nucleus, not to an individual — an ejidatario cannot sell it to a private buyer until a formal conversion to private property is complete. Buying directly from an ejidatario before that process finishes creates a void contract: it grants no rights against the ejidal nucleus, only a personal claim against the seller, not ownership of the land.
Why a "clean" title is not always enough
Registries do not always cross-reference each other automatically: a parcel can look legitimately private in the Public Registry of Property while its agrarian conversion never finished or was incomplete. A serious check reviews both the Public Registry and the Registro Agrario Nacional (RAN) independently — a deed that looks in order is not enough on its own.
Regularization follows three mandatory steps: certification of individual rights through the RAN (formerly via PROCEDE, now succeeded by FANAR), authorization by the ejido assembly (two-thirds majority with at least 50% quorum), and final registration as private property once the RAN cancels the ejidal certificate. Skipping any of the three invalidates the transaction.
Taxes when you sell: exit ISR
The notary withholds the ISR directly at the time of signing and remits it to the SAT — the seller does not pay it separately afterward. For Mexican tax residents (this includes foreigners with Mexican tax residency, not just immigration residency), a primary residence is exempt if the sale price does not exceed 700,000 UDIS (approx. $6.18M MXN in 2026), the exemption has not been used in the prior 3 years, and it was genuinely the seller's habitual home.
For non-tax-residents — most foreigners who buy for vacation use or investment without becoming Mexican tax residents — this exemption does not apply. The law lets them choose between two calculation bases: 25% of the total sale price, or 35% of the net gain if they appoint a legal representative in Mexico who takes on the tax responsibility for the filing. The 35%-on-gain option usually works out better when the original purchase cost was high (less real gain to tax), while 25% of the total can be simpler when cost and improvement documentation was not kept well.
Official vs. estimated: the existence of the two rates (25% total price / 35% net gain) and the primary-residence exemption are confirmed by the SAT. The 4–8 week closing time and the S.A. de C.V. accounting fees are market estimates reported by advisories, not figures published by an authority.
The fideicomiso is not an obstacle — it is the mechanism that gives a foreigner the same legal security as a Mexican citizen. The real question is which structure fits your plan and verifying the title thoroughly before signing — not whether it "can be done."
Browse listingsSources
- Congress of Quintana Roo — Municipal ISAI Law
- Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores — fideicomiso permit costs and processing times
- SAT — income from the sale of real estate (ISR)
- IBG Legal — ejido land: what foreign buyers need to know
Informational content. It does not replace advice from a notary public, lawyer or accountant for your specific situation.