The Leaf

Absolutely! The key distinction in the buying process is the use of a trust or fideicomiso. It is required to acquire property or land in the Restricted Zone. The restrcited zone is 100 km from the border with another country and 50km from the coastline.

100 km from national borders and 50 km from the coastline.

It is a trust system ownership sanctioned by the Mexican government and secured by the Central Bank of Mexico.

In very simple terms, the foreign buyer is the beneficiary of that trust.

It is 50-year perpetually renewable and transferable bank trust.

The beneficiary of the trust has ALL the rights commonly enjoyed by a Mexican owner (use, sell, lease, etc) 

It means irrevocable and absolute ownership rights to the property; the bank CANNOT sell the property without written consent of the beneficiary. The Mexican Bank Trust only holds the property title for the beneficiary but doesn't have any rights over the property.

It is important to mention that a lot of Mexican nationals go for a trust based ownership as it clearly states the beneficiaries in case of death.

In the 1917 Mexican Constitution, foreign ownership was forbidden in the Restricted zone because of Mexico's long history of land ownership dominated by foreigners (article 27). In 1973, a series of foreign investment laws were implemented as the Mexican government saw that foreign investment could have a positive impact on the economy. As a result of the relaxation of the laws on foreign investment, the trust system was created in 1993. Overall, it was much easier to create a trust system for foreign ownership than completely changing the Mexican Constitution.