Mexico · Buying land · October 24, 2026

Buying Land in Mexico: Ejidos, Fideicomisos and Maps

What Americans should know before buying land in Mexico: the restricted zone and fideicomiso, ejido land, the catastro and the free maps that help.

Mexico is one of the most popular places for Americans to buy a second home or retirement property, and one of the most misunderstood. There's no national parcel map, foreigners can't hold direct title to land near the coast or borders, and a large share of rural land is ejido land that can't simply be bought. None of this makes buying impossible; it just means checking things in the right order. This guide explains the rules and the free official maps that help.

The restricted zone and the fideicomiso

Under Mexico's constitution and the Foreign Investment Law (Ley de Inversión Extranjera), foreigners can't hold direct title to land within 100 km of an international border or 50 km of the coast. That restricted zone (zona restringida) covers many of the places Americans want to buy: Baja California, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts and the border cities.

Inside the restricted zone, foreigners buy residential property through a fideicomiso, a bank trust:

A Mexican bank acts as trustee and holds legal title.
The buyer is the beneficiary, with the rights to use, rent, improve, sell or pass on the property.
The trust is permitted by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE), which issues the permit for the bank to set it up.
A fideicomiso lasts up to 50 years and can be renewed.

Another route, a Mexican corporation, can own property in the zone directly for non-residential purposes, but residential use by foreigners in the zone is done through a fideicomiso.

Outside the restricted zone, foreigners can generally own land directly, after agreeing with the SRE to be treated as Mexican nationals with respect to that property (and not to invoke their own government's protection over it).

Ejido land

About half of Mexico's land area is social property (propiedad social): ejidos and comunidades, held collectively under the Ley Agraria and registered with the federal Registro Agrario Nacional (RAN). Ejido land is common on the edges of towns, in rural areas and along some coasts.

Ejido parcels can't be bought and sold like private land. To become private property, a parcel generally has to be converted to dominio pleno (full ownership): the ejido assembly must approve it, and the RAN has to cancel the parcel's agrarian registration and issue a title, after which it's recorded in the state property registry. Deals that skip these steps can be void. Sales of ejido land to outsiders have caused many disputes, so be extremely cautious with any property described as ejido.

See ejidos on a map

You can see where ejidos and comunidades are using RAN's boundaries, published as a public map service by the Servicio Geológico Mexicano:

RAN ejido and communal land (núcleos agrarios) in ArcGIS Map Viewer ↗

The layer opened in ArcGIS Map Viewer with no login when we checked on October 24, 2026. Zoom in to see the boundaries, then click a polygon for its name, municipality and area. If a property you're offered sits inside an ejido polygon, ask how and when it became private property.

The catastro and the registry

For private land, Mexico has two systems, much like Puerto Rico:

The catastro. The municipal property cadastre used for the predial (property tax). Each lot has a clave catastral. It's a municipal job, often coordinated by a state office, and most catastros don't publish a free online lot map.
The Registro Público de la Propiedad. Each state's public property registry records ownership, mortgages and liens.

A few states and cities publish their own lot maps, such as Jalisco, Tabasco and Mexico City. Our Mexico state pages link them where they exist.

The free maps that help

Our Mexico pages list, for every state and Mexico City, the best free official viewer we found.
INEGI's Mapa Digital de México is the national map of states, municipalities, localities and streets, with imagery. It doesn't show individual lots, but it's useful for locating a property and its municipality. It's linked from our Mexico pages.
The RAN layer above shows ejidos and comunidades.

How a purchase works

Real estate deals in Mexico are formalised before a notario público, a senior lawyer appointed by the state who checks title, calculates taxes, and records the deed (escritura) in the Registro Público. The notario is central to the process. In a typical purchase you'll also see:

a certificado de libertad de gravámenes, showing the property is free of liens,
proof that predial and water bills are paid,
an avalúo (appraisal) used for tax purposes,
the SRE permit and bank paperwork, if you're buying through a fideicomiso.

Checks to do yourself first

Locate the property on INEGI's map or the state's viewer, and note the municipality.
Check whether it's in the restricted zone (within 100 km of a border or 50 km of the coast). If so, plan for a fideicomiso.
Check the RAN layer for ejido land.
Ask for the escritura and clave catastral, and check that the seller is the registered owner.
Hire a notario and an independent lawyer, and consider title insurance, which some U.S. companies offer for Mexican property.

Common questions

Can Americans own property in Mexico? Yes. Outside the restricted zone, directly. Inside it, through a fideicomiso (or a Mexican corporation for non-residential use).

How long does a fideicomiso last? Up to 50 years, renewable.

Can I buy ejido land? Not directly. It must first be converted to dominio pleno through the ejido assembly and the RAN.

Is there a national parcel map of Mexico? No. Most catastros are municipal, and few publish free lot maps.

Related guides

Sources

Ley de Inversión Extranjera (Foreign Investment Law), as published by the Cámara de Diputados.
SRE: permiso para constituir un fideicomiso en zona restringida.
RAN núcleos agrarios layer opened and checked October 24, 2026.