Buying Property in Club Campestre
How a foreigner actually takes ownership in Los Cabos — the fideicomiso bank trust, what closing really costs, and the specific things that catch buyers out in a community with twelve different micro-markets.
Yes, foreigners can own in Club Campestre
Mexico's constitution defines a restricted zone: land within 100 kilometres of a national border and within 50 kilometres of the coastline. Club Campestre sits inside it. Foreign nationals cannot hold direct title to residential property there.
This alarms people, and it should not. Since 1973 the mechanism has been the fideicomiso — a bank trust. A Mexican bank holds legal title as trustee, and you are named as beneficiary. As beneficiary you hold every practical right of ownership: you occupy it, renovate it, rent it, sell it to whomever you like, and leave it to your heirs. The bank cannot sell it, encumber it, or use it. It administers the trust and nothing more.
Tens of thousands of foreign-owned homes across Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun are held this way. It is boring, established, and the banks that provide it are the ones whose names you would recognise.
How the fideicomiso works
Term and renewal
The trust runs for 50 years and is renewable for further 50-year terms. Renewal is a routine administrative step, not a re-application, and there is no cap on the number of renewals. If you sell, the buyer either takes an assignment of your existing trust or establishes a new one.
What it costs
Expect a one-time setup in the region of US$1,500–2,500, plus a permit fee payable to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an annual trust administration fee typically in the US$600–900 range depending on the bank and property value. Confirm current figures with your notary before closing — banks revise their schedules.
The alternative: a Mexican corporation
Buyers acquiring primarily for rental income sometimes hold through a Mexican corporation instead, which can own restricted-zone property directly. It brings accounting and monthly filing obligations that a trust does not, and it changes your tax position on eventual sale. Which structure suits you depends on how you intend to use the property.
Decide this before you make an offer, not after. Restructuring later is possible but expensive, and it is one of the more common regrets I see.
What closing actually costs a buyer
Budget 5–8% of the purchase price. The percentage falls as the price rises, because several line items are fixed rather than proportional.
| Line item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition tax (ISAI) | ~2% of value | Paid to the municipality |
| Notary fees | ~1–1.5% | The notary is a state-appointed official, not your lawyer |
| Fideicomiso setup | US$1,500–2,500 | One time, to the trustee bank |
| Foreign Affairs permit | ~US$1,500 | One time |
| Registry & certificates | ~0.5% | Public registry, no-lien certificates, appraisal |
| Title insurance | Optional | Available; I recommend it on resale purchases |
| Annual trust fee | US$600–900/yr | Ongoing, not a closing cost |
Indicative ranges for Los Cabos as at August 2026, provided for orientation only. Exact figures depend on the property, the assessed value and the trustee bank, and are confirmed by your notary in the closing statement. This is general information, not legal or tax advice — take advice from a Mexican notary and your own tax adviser before committing.
What that means at real Club Campestre prices
| Property | Price | At 5% | At 8% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest listing (Cora Sur) | $489,000 | $24,450 | $39,120 |
| Community median sale | $755,000 | $37,750 | $60,400 |
| Median house sale | $1,150,000 | $57,500 | $92,000 |
| Median Solesta sale | $1,950,000 | $97,500 | $156,000 |
| Top recorded sale | $2,600,000 | $130,000 | $208,000 |
Who pays what
The seller pays the brokerage commission and their own capital gains tax (ISR). The buyer pays everything in the table above. There is no equivalent of a US-style buyer-agency fee — my representation of you as a buyer costs you nothing directly.
The purchase process, start to finish
- Offer and acceptance. A written offer (promesa de compraventa) sets price, terms, deposit and timeline.
- Escrow deposit. Typically 10%, held by a third-party escrow company. Never send a deposit directly to a seller.
- Due diligence. Title search, no-lien certificate, HOA account status, property tax status, and — at Club Campestre specifically — the condominium regime documents on an apartment, or the surveyed lot area and construction restrictions on a homesite.
- Trust permit application. Your notary applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the fideicomiso permit. This is the longest step; allow several weeks.
- Closing. Signed before the notary, who calculates taxes, records the deed and issues the trust. You do not strictly need to be in Mexico — a power of attorney can be arranged.
- Registration. The notary registers the transfer with the public registry. Allow a further few weeks for the recorded deed to issue.
Realistically, 45 to 90 days from accepted offer to keys, with the trust permit driving most of the variance. On a pre-construction purchase the timeline is set by the delivery date instead, which in Club Campestre is frequently a year or more out.
Five things specific to Club Campestre
1. Asking price is usually the price — except on land
Across 169 recorded sales the median close was 99.9% of asking, and for condominiums exactly 100%. Sixteen sales beat their list price. If you arrive expecting to negotiate 10% off a condominium here, the record says you will lose the unit. Homesites are the exception, closing at a median of 93.3% with plenty of double-digit discounts, and houses sit in between at 96.3%.
2. Much of this community is pre-construction, and it prices differently
A large share of current listings carry 2026 or 2027 completion dates. At Wen Living, nine of twenty-one recorded sales closed above their listed price — the signature of contracts written early and settled at a later, higher delivery value. Establish on every listing whether you are buying a finished property or a contract position, because the deposit structure, the risk and the timeline are all different.
3. Constructed area is not living area
Los Cabos listings quote total constructed area, which includes terraces, covered circulation and garages. Within Club Campestre, recorded price per square foot ranges from $180 to $594 — a spread that is partly finish level and partly how much of the quoted area is actually interior. Ask for the breakdown before comparing two properties per foot.
4. Twelve neighborhoods means twelve different answers
A “Club Campestre average” is close to useless. Houses run from a $745,000 median at Pueblo Campestre to $1,950,000 at Solesta. Homesites run from $282,500 at Los Valles to $500,000 at Vista Lagos. Condominiums run from $583,500 at Costarena to $1,630,000 at Larena. Always ask which neighborhood a quoted figure refers to.
5. Lot areas are missing from the entire land record
Not one of the 32 recorded homesite sales in Club Campestre reported a lot area to the MLS. That means you cannot compare land on a per-square-metre basis from public data at all — not for any neighborhood. Get the surveyed area and the construction restrictions in writing during due diligence. On a build site those two numbers determine what you are actually buying.
The full Club Campestre Buyer’s Guide
Including a line-by-line closing cost worksheet, all twelve neighborhoods with their recorded sales, and the due-diligence checklist I use with my own clients.
Have a question about a specific property?
Send me the listing and I will tell you what the comparables actually say about it.