Mexico welcomes foreign capital in real estate. What it regulates is not whether a foreign national may invest, but how — and that distinction is where certainty is won or lost.
The first question is never the property. It is the structure through which it will be held.
The Constitutional Starting Point
Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution prohibits a foreign national from holding direct title to real estate within the restricted zone — fifty kilometers from any coastline and one hundred from any border. Outside that zone, a foreigner may generally acquire and hold title directly. Within it, ownership must be exercised through a structure the law recognizes.
The Two Lawful Structures
For residential property inside the restricted zone, the recognized vehicle is the fideicomiso — a bank trust authorized under the Foreign Investment Law, in which a Mexican financial institution holds title as trustee and the foreign investor, as beneficiary, exercises the rights of use, enjoyment, and disposition. For non-residential or commercial purposes, a Mexican corporation may hold the property directly.
Each carries distinct tax, governance, and reporting consequences. The correct vehicle depends on the property’s use, the number and value of the assets, and the investor’s wider position — not on which structure is most familiar or most quickly arranged.
The Structure to Avoid: the Presta Nombre
Foreign buyers are still, on occasion, advised to place title in the name of a Mexican national — a presta nombre, or nominee — as a shortcut around the restricted-zone rule. It is not a structure; it is an exposure. Title rests with someone else, the buyer’s protections are illusory, and the arrangement is vulnerable to challenge. The lawful routes exist precisely so that this one need never be used.
Available Is Not the Same as Sound
The same property may be acquired through more than one vehicle, with materially different exposure on tax, succession, and exit. What is legally available is not necessarily what is correctly structured for a given investor.
Foreign ownership in Mexico is secure when it is built on the right structure from the outset — and fragile when it is improvised.
The property is rarely the difficult part. The structure is. That is where independent counsel earns its place.