Clear & concise

Guides

How buying property in Mexico works, step by step, plus 196 articles on costs, tax, rentals and life in the Riviera Maya.

The buying process in 4 steps

Buying in Mexico is different from the US and Canada. Read these in order before you make an offer.

1Step 1IntroductionEach country has their own rules for buying Real Estate and when you first buy in Mexico it can seem confusing! If you…Read step 1 →
2Step 2Fideicomiso or CorporationA Fideicomiso gives a foreign buyer all the property rights and privileges of a citizen, with the additional advantage…Read step 2 →
3Step 3Buying ProcessWhen making your initial offer, this should be done using a written Offer to Purchase contract, ensuring no confusion…Read step 3 →
4Step 4Closing and Title TransferAt this point, both parties should be able to execute the purchase/sales agreement (compra-venta), start the closing…Read step 4 →

Articles

Tax & Residency

Mexican taxes, US & Canadian reporting, visas and residency.

Tax & Residency

What Documentation Proves Mexican Tax Residency to Your Home Country?

Once someone genuinely relocates to the Riviera Maya, a practical question follows fast: what actually proves to the IRS, the Canada Revenue Agency, or a Mexican bank that you are now a Mexican tax resident? The honest answer is that no single document does all the work on its own. Different pieces of paper serve different purposes, and mixing them up is a common, avoidable source of confusion. Start With How Mexico Defines Tax Residency Mexico's own test, found in Article 9 of the Federal...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Tax & Residency

Gifting Property to a Family Member in Mexico: Tax and Legal Implications

Handing a Riviera Maya condo down to a son, daughter, or parent sounds simple in theory, and in Mexico it can actually be more tax-efficient than in the US or Canada. But "no gift tax between direct family" does not mean "no paperwork," and the mechanics look different depending on whether the property sits in a fideicomiso, which state it is in, and which country's tax authority you are also answering to. Mexican Gift Tax Rules: Better Than You Might Expect Mexico does not have a standalone...

Aug 29 · 6 min read

Tax & Residency

Does Owning Property in Mexico Affect Your US or Canadian Home or Auto Insurance?

Buyers researching a condo in Playa del Carmen usually plan for the obvious costs: purchase price, closing costs, a fideicomiso trustee fee. Insurance back home rarely makes the list, yet owning property in Mexico and spending real time there can quietly change how your existing US or Canadian home and auto policies behave. It is worth understanding before, not after, a claim gets denied. Your US or Canadian Homeowners Policy Does Not Extend to Mexico This is the starting point, and it...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Tax & Residency

What Happens to Your Fideicomiso and Residency If You Divorce?

Divorce is stressful enough without adding a Mexican bank trust and a residency card into the mix, but for foreign couples who bought property together in the Riviera Maya, both issues usually surface at once. Untangling a fideicomiso and figuring out what happens to each spouse's immigration status takes more than a standard US or Canadian divorce settlement, mostly because Mexican family law, trust law, and immigration rules do not automatically defer to a foreign court order. The...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Tax & Residency

Naturalization: Can Long-Term Property Owners Eventually Become Mexican Citizens?

Plenty of buyers in Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Aventuras arrive on a tourist card, later switch to residency, and eventually start wondering whether they could just become Mexican. The honest answer is yes, naturalization is a realistic path for people who put down real roots here, and it has direct, practical consequences for how you own property. Whether it is the right move depends less on sentiment and more on the paperwork, the timeline, and what it does to your existing...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Tax & Residency

State Pension Income (Social Security, CPP, OAS) and How It's Treated for Residency Applications

Retirees planning a move to the Riviera Maya often lead with the same question: does my Social Security, Canada Pension Plan (CPP), or Old Age Security (OAS) income actually count toward Mexico's residency income requirements? The good news is that it generally does — but there are documentation details and a separate tax dimension worth understanding before you assume your pension statement alone will get you across the finish line. Yes, State Pensions Generally Qualify as Proof of Income...

Aug 29 · 6 min read

Tax & Residency

Digital Nomad Visas vs. Temporary Residency: Which Fits a Remote Worker Who Owns Property?

Search for "Mexico digital nomad visa" and you'll find plenty of guides using that exact phrase — but Mexico doesn't actually have a visa category by that name. What remote workers are really talking about is the Temporary Resident Visa, applied in a way that happens to suit location-independent income. For someone who already owns, or is considering buying, Riviera Maya property, understanding what's actually on offer matters more than chasing a label. There's No Dedicated "Digital Nomad...

Aug 29 · 6 min read

Tax & Residency

How the Tren Maya and New Infrastructure Are Reshaping Property Values Along the Route

The Tren Maya — Mexico's roughly 1,525-kilometer passenger rail network connecting Cancún through the Yucatán Peninsula to Palenque — has moved from a headline-grabbing construction project to an operating piece of regional infrastructure, and its effect on property values along the Riviera Maya corridor is now measurable rather than speculative. For buyers evaluating the region in 2026, understanding what's actually changed, and what's still developing, matters more than the general buzz...

Aug 29 · 6 min read

Tax & Residency

Canadian Snowbirds: The 183-Day Rule and How It Actually Works

If you're a Canadian spending part of the year in the Riviera Maya, you've probably heard "183 days" thrown around as some kind of hard limit. It isn't quite that simple — and understanding why matters, because there are actually two different 183-day-ish questions here, for two different governments. Myth: There's a Single 183-Day Rule That Governs Everything There isn't. Canadian tax residency and Mexican tax residency are assessed under completely different tests, and neither one is a...

Aug 29 · 4 min read

Tax & Residency

Reporting Foreign Rental Income to the IRS: What Actually Gets Filed

Owning a rental property in the Riviera Maya means a US taxpayer is looking at a specific, fairly well-defined set of IRS forms every year — not a vague sense that "foreign income needs to be reported somehow." Knowing exactly what gets filed, and what doesn't, takes a lot of the anxiety out of an otherwise unfamiliar process. Schedule E: The Core of Rental Reporting Foreign rental income and expenses get reported the same way domestic rental property does — on Schedule E (Supplemental Income...

Aug 29 · 7 min read

Tax & Residency

The Difference Between Tax Residency and Immigration Residency in Mexico

Two people can both hold a Mexican permanent residency card and have completely different tax obligations to Mexico — because immigration residency and tax residency are governed by entirely different laws, tested by entirely different criteria, and administered by entirely different government agencies. Conflating the two is one of the most common, and potentially costly, misunderstandings among foreign property owners. Two Separate Systems, Two Separate Purposes Immigration residency is...

Aug 29 · 6 min read

Tax & Residency

What US Expats Need to Know About the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Property

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion gets mentioned constantly by US expats living in Mexico, and just as constantly misapplied to situations it was never designed to cover. If you own Riviera Maya property and also work remotely or run a business while living there, understanding exactly what the FEIE does — and very specifically what it doesn't — matters more than knowing the headline exclusion amount. What the FEIE Actually Excludes The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets qualifying US...

Aug 29 · 6 min read