partial land ownership

I am considering buying some land on the ocean with some friends of mine. There are 4 of us. I wondering if anyone knew if there is anyway to do this without the bank/trust thing.

[brink]

Owning beach property seems idyllic, but I think you have to go in this with money you can afford to lose.

1. Your ability to sell this property and get your money out will be extremely limited.

2. Your ability to bequeath this property to non-Mexican citizens will be limited.

3. Whatever legal status you might be guaranteed today, realize that the laws can change very rapidly, and the Mexican courts are not reliable protectors against executive or legislative expropriations.

[bajagirl]

Why would you want to do this without a Trust? That is the only protection you have when you buy land in Mexico. I wouldn't buy anything land or home in Mexico without going through a Notary and setting up a Trust. All 4 of you can be named in the trust. There have been many, many horror stories of people you thought they were buying a home or lot in Mexico that didn't go through the proper legal process and when they go to sell, they find out the the previous owner never transferred the property into the new owner's name. The trust process with a Notary actually registers the trust with the bank as the trustee and the owners as trustee. The Notary is required to find the orginal paperwork for the lot/home and then petition the court to show transfer of ownership from the previous owner to the new owner. Included in that paperwork is submitting the trust number to the courts. The notary is also required to make sure an appraisal as well as any back taxes have been paid. If there was a previous trust on the property, they also must be paid prior to registering new ownership. If you don't go through this whole process, when you go to sell, you could find out that you don't really own anything and you could be responsible for back trust fees, taxes, etc. Not a good thing.

Possibly you need to create a mexican corporation. Then there is no limit who are the stockholders. It would need to be for a commercial purpose, not to own a house you want to live in, for example. It costs some money and takes some time but gives benefits too.