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Making an offer on a house


ajijic2

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I'd always want my own agent to help negotiate and look out for my interests. And I'd get a house inspection.

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I'd always want my own agent to help negotiate and look out for my interests. And I'd get a house inspection.

Also bear in mind that your "buyers agent" will nearly always morph magically into a sellers agent with a commission looming on the horizon. Human nature.

Yes, get an inspection, but there are many conditions (oh, groan) which can only be discovered by tearing out the floors and the seller isn't going to go there.

If you buy one of those charming older homes, be prepared to establish a "plumbing hell savings account" for your future. Otherwise, try to buy something built within the recent past if you don't have nerves of steel.

Buen Suerte.

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Independent advice is always good to have. An attorney´s advice is also good to have before making the offer and to assist with the closing. True, notarios are attorneys who close the deals but by the time they have all the documents to see any issues you will have already paid a deposit. Also they only get paid if the deal goes through so you may want advice from someone whose compensation is not based upon a transaction closing .

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% to accompany an offer: If a GIL supervised sale, 10% of the agreed upon sale price is usually the amount in the seller's listing agreement and it is subject to a "liquidated damages" provision, i.e., if buyer backs out after conditions satisfied, seller and agent keep the deposit. I suppose there are cases where the percentage is negotiable downward but I think only a seller without an understanding of how badly things can go in any real estate deal would agree to anything less than 10% + a liquidated damages provision if buyer backs out.

Spencer has an excellent point re: retaining your own independent counsel whose fees are not tied to the earning of a commission. Of course, as Spencer has also advised us: you also have to be sure that attorney is truly licensed in Mexico and truly independent of the other parties involved. ( I have yet to see evidence anyone has run a "conflict of interest" check before agreeing to provide legal services to me or to any family or friends.)

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One issue to consider is how much do you trust the sellers agent and broker? Do you want them to hold the deposit and later the remainder of the purchase price? Do they have a segregated account for this transaction? Perhaps the Notario can open an account that needs your signature and his for release of funds. i did a method of seller signing transfer paperwork first. Then I wired the buyer cash straight to the seller. ( deposit paid to sellers broker, remainder sent to seller) Usa bank to usa bank transfer. Seller confirmed recipt of funds with the Notario and then Buyer was allowed to sign the paperwork to complete the deal. I just did not like the idea of cash sitting in a brokers unsegregated account. I chose to trust the seller rather than the sellers broker. Was the broker really going to pay the seller? It worked fine but in retrospect I like the idea of a bank account set up specifically for the transaction that needs buyer and Notario signatures to release the cash to the seller. I sure wish a regular escrow company existed. Trusting agents with hundreds of thousands of dollars is an odd part of the game here.

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