During our participation in the Real Estate Committee of the Arizona Sonora and Arizona Mexico Commission meeting that was held in Puerto Peñasco on Feb. 10th to 11th a number of interesting topics were discussed for the community of Real Estate. Two real estate instruments were discussed; the use of the Public Registry and Bank Trusts for foreign owners. These two instruments help protect the interests of property owners by providing certain legal protections for real estate buyers in Mexico.

First, the Public Registry of Property within the Municipal Office provides a comprehensive data bank for the records the public transfer of ownership of Real Estate Property. This Public Registry therefore helps the owner of a property protect their ownership rights as the only changes to this registry must be made through the proper ownership transfer using a Notario licensed to carry out this public transfer of property. Before any property is sold the buyer’s real estate agent should check the ownership of the property in the Public Registry to make sure the selling party is the registered owners of the property. The agent should also check for liens held against that property.

The second topic was the use of Bank Trusts which is the legal instrument by which a foreigner can acquire the ownership rights to property within the restricted zones of Mexico. Restricted zone is defined as the 100 miles within the national border or within 50 miles of the coast, Puerto Peñasco is within th4e restricted zone. The ownership of property is handled through the Notario and is similarly registered in the Public Registry.

These two essential real estate tools help provide the security of ownership in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora much like owners expect in the United States. We continue to work with our peers in the Arizona through the Arizona Sonora Mexico Commission to create further progress in system regulations, all with the sole purpose of providing legal support to the real owner of the property right.

The state of Sonora was the first state in Mexico to legislate real estate agents to become licensed. Two major drivers for this change came from our AMPI organization and the Arizona Sonora Mexico Commission. AMPI Puerto Peñasco has been approved by the state of Sonora to provide the required training for the state real estate licensing and renewal.  The first courses started on Feb. 14th with the opening class on Ethics with over 40 real estate agents attending.

The construction of a Convention Center on the road to Sandy Beach was announced.  The Convention Center will provide greater investment confidence in this destination to provide national and international conventions since we already have infrastructure in hotels and condominiums to support the visitors the conventions will attract. A Home Port for cruise ships planned for Puerto Peñasco was also announced.

The opportunities presented to us sometimes come only once in life, so when we have the option of to invest in the purchase of real property that can pay off in a good long term investment with future capital gains for your family, you cannot miss the opportunity.

It is the right time to invest in Rocky Point!