So, something is changing at KFYI on Sundays.........it is the new “ Daniel Butterfield Show” .
Is Butterfied behind Playa Azul too? ..the sign is sure goofy (awkwardly set he'd across the off pillars) but talk about balls.....he's Glen Gerry Glenn Ross material
Jerry,
I actually do remember him saying he had just purchased another resort or property. Is it near Esmeralda?
No telling what he is buying these days. Busy spending money ............
Is Butterfied behind Playa Azul too? ..the sign is sure goofy (awkwardly set he'd across the off pillars) but talk about balls.....he's Glen Gerry Glenn Ross material
That too, is a build-over-structural-rust project.
Jerry,
I actually do remember him saying he had just purchased another resort or property. Is it near Esmeralda?
No telling what he is buying these days. Busy spending money ............
Word on the street is DB has purchased or is running some kind of scam to control E building at Casa Blanca. E building is the 10 story white building next to the road that is pretty much finished on the outside but the interiors are unfinished.
With all the excitement occurring up here in Phoenix, it would be good for all of you (friends in RP ) to keeep your eyes and ears open for us. We are not able to keep up with how fast someone is able to “ shimmy and snake” deals when in RP.
Was sbr, Gus gone along with brother in law, maybe these cats might finish the outside of Esmeralda, Pretty cool place, I would buy if someone on Rpt would lend me money.
Bad news.......KFYI and DB have apparently parted ways. He no longer has a microphone in the Phoenix area. He had said he was going to go to California. If anyone has friends or family in the LA or San Diego area, have them keep their ears open for the ”Song of the Siren”.
After last weeks show where King Daniel seems a bit "under the weather" shall we say.... and he clearly had no ability to "filter" his dialogue, I wonder if KFYI made this move or D.Butt.'s lawyers?? I know KFYI felt their hands were tied because of contractual issues. He may have given them their out when he announced the show was no longer about his IPX business but was going to be "entertainment". He is about as entertaining as a moon rock .
There is no punitive results that will come out of this - so why not take the money and run
That even if if a judgement is won against DB it will be very hard to collect because of a multitude of reasons. ( The money could be gone, hard to sell units, other liens that take priority, bankruptcy, etc and I'm sure DB has ways to get the money offshore.)
The best chance of seeing any money would be for DB to be successful in the project - yet everyone is going lawsuit crazy and filling lawyers pockets.
Lawyers will profit, and investors will spend good money after bad. No one asked what was the success rate in getting money back for clients.
Ann is a bitter woman for making bad investments and continues to make bad decisions by suggesting that company in Canada. Also she told her neighbor who worked on the Corp. Commission not because it involved her but because she wanted DB pressured to settle with her. She stirs the pot and makes things worse, as you said you have no more investments so but out and worry about your own lawsuit.
DB needs to give up the dream and liquidate all he has and do the right thing by the people who invested. Stop spending everyone's money trying to keep this alive
Ann is a bitter woman for making bad investments and continues to make bad decisions by suggesting that company in Canada. Also she told her neighbor who worked on the Corp. Commission not because it involved her but because she wanted DB pressured to settle with her. She stirs the pot and makes things worse, as you said you have no more investments so but out and worry about your own lawsuit.
The people on this blog have no clue what the "meeting" today was. I am "bitter" because we were the victims of fraud.
I notified the Corp Commissioner because I knew he was breaking the law and duping people out of their life's savings. People who were not properly informed of the risk or financially set to put $ at risk. Like the man who works doing installations for Home Depot and gave Daniel his entire savings of $100,000. That had NOTHING to do with leveraging him ...... it was just plain wrong, if not criminal.
DB can't "be successful" because he can't get financing, and the skeleton of the buildings that are up are substandard and need far more $ to fix them than he knew. There was a reason it sat there for 11 years without a buyer.
Then he spent the $ he got from investors to buy MORE.... not complete the one he had. Reportedly (unconfirmed) he has bought into Playa Azul, land for residential development, land for a private airstrip, land for a solar farm, big new boat for the resort, a gazillion dollars on promotion (fancy video productions, radio ads, radio show, virtual reality "photos"), a huge chunk of money on the virtual reality walk through tour he bragged about on the radio show ( where you can walk through every condo in 7 towers as well as the planned shops, restaurant, residential community, clubs etc.) I believe he said that cost upwards from $300,000. Plus spending a ton of money on his penthouse condo, Where did he get the money to buy that, one wonders, and then do a reportedly quarter million renovation, upgrade.
If you are waiting for him to do the right thing, then you must not know the same Daniel I know.
Bitter?.....Bitter?.... gee Ugh..... YOU sound like the bitter one. You gave your wallet to a drunken sailor on leave.
And I do believe that you made lots of money over the years with IPX doing DOT investing.
Excuse everyone else for trying to get theirs back.:kid::kickass:
Ugh...........DB does not have the “skill set” to manage a large construction project. He needs some professional guidance, technical guidance, GOOD legal advice, and mostly the ability to remove himself from indulging in drugs and alcohol.
No one could take him seriously when he is reduced to a “giggling, blithering” idiot on the radio with his business partner, Sherri! UGH!
PS. The odds of getting any money grow less with every passing day .
No balls, Ugh.... posting under a handle here. Several people have read this and are 99.9% sure they know who you are. Like me, You don't have $ in Esmeralda. So what's your beef? Oh, is it because you are one of the foolish investors who did not file a claim with the SEC when he converted your interest POM (private offering security to fund IPX) to an equity note? Today you heard what I told another investor 9 months ago... there is a one year statute of limitation on filing. Bet that pissed you off big time. And with IPX potentially going in the crapper, that investment is gone. Your bad for letting him do that and not fighting back.
By the way, that is exactly what the service they offer is all about..... getting the right people involved as early as possible so assets can be frozen and protected. The money is already "offshore"... in his Mexican LLC. Get a clue.
And another reason Esmeralda is failing is the availability of already built and CHEAPER real estate available in RP. If you want a place here, do you want to wait a year to have it built? If you want it to rent it out.... you want it NOW. The price of the units at E is high. And it depended on the home port......
There is no punitive results that will come out of this - so why not take the money and run
That even if if a judgement is won against DB it will be very hard to collect because of a multitude of reasons. ( The money could be gone, hard to sell units, other liens that take priority, bankruptcy, etc and I'm sure DB has ways to get the money offshore.)
The best chance of seeing any money would be for DB to be successful in the project - yet everyone is going lawsuit crazy and filling lawyers pockets.
Lawyers will profit, and investors will spend good money after bad. No one asked what was the success rate in getting money back for clients.
Ann is a bitter woman for making bad investments and continues to make bad decisions by suggesting that company in Canada. Also she told her neighbor who worked on the Corp. Commission not because it involved her but because she wanted DB pressured to settle with her. She stirs the pot and makes things worse, as you said you have no more investments so but out and worry about your own lawsuit.
DB needs to give up the dream and liquidate all he has and do the right thing by the people who invested. Stop spending everyone's money trying to keep this alive
There is no punitive results that will come out of this - so why not take the money and run
That even if if a judgement is won against DB it will be very hard to collect because of a multitude of reasons. ( The money could be gone, hard to sell units, other liens that take priority, bankruptcy, etc and I'm sure DB has ways to get the money offshore.)
The best chance of seeing any money would be for DB to be successful in the project - yet everyone is going lawsuit crazy and filling lawyers pockets.
Lawyers will profit, and investors will spend good money after bad. No one asked what was the success rate in getting money back for clients.
Ann is a bitter woman for making bad investments and continues to make bad decisions by suggesting that company in Canada. Also she told her neighbor who worked on the Corp. Commission not because it involved her but because she wanted DB pressured to settle with her. She stirs the pot and makes things worse, as you said you have no more investments so but out and worry about your own lawsuit.
DB needs to give up the dream and liquidate all he has and do the right thing by the people who invested. Stop spending everyone's money trying to keep this alive
You know that guy who knows he's been ripped off but believes his only way to get his money back is to be silent while new people are encouraged to invest...fuck that guy... you sort of sounds like that type ugg
I think your guest has overstayed her welcome. Not much left to say now. We saw the head on crash coming.... Just couldn't stop it. Maybe one day we will bring our big boy toy down to play!
I think your guest has overstayed her welcome. Not much left to say now. We saw the head on crash coming.... Just couldn't stop it. Maybe one day we will bring our big boy toy down to play!
Daniel is telling investors that condos can be sold to Mexican buyers and states other than Arizona. And that construction is ongoing. What NO ONE can determine is 1. Have any new units been completed and 2. If they have been, who actually owns them. The Witts were asked to investigate this, but haven't heard. I would really like to get some info from his Mexico partner.
heard from an A tower owner that YES it is going on, but with a much smaller crew. He told me as many as 10 new units have been completed... and that most have been sold to the original down payment people. This conflicts with other information we have gotten... so who knows? Why is it so hard to find our who owns them? And how many!
From Kyle Wood aaRP real estate guy on the faulty towers ' This issue came up in the AMPI ethic class last week. Had a good discussion. Work with an AMPI member. Always have representation. " .No mention of course that some AMPI members have a checkered history hustling this property. So the court case is this month?
From another commenter "I live at the Sun and there is still work going on but not nearly as many people as were there when they first got their new funding. I’d think they would have a model to show for sure by now."
Another guy asks the question all the real estate sales professionals are afraid to comment on "Thanks Gud Brown for selling to a reputable person/company. Just more people losing money because you wouldn’t continue your project. Were you part of this scam?!!!
No...just some of the legal wrangling. We think they may set a hearing date then. Don't expect that to be anytime soon. According to a lawyer who met with a group recently, these historically take up to 2 years to complete. And it is a civil suit with no real power to make or demand restitution. What needs to happen is for enough people to file a complaint with the attorney general and get him to file criminal action. That's the only way to freeze his assets and prevent him from squirreling away anything that is left. Thanks for the information.
Uh Oh.... looks like the Ajo Court issued a Supervening Indictment last week.....that's highly unusual for a DUI... must have been the drug possession.
Uh Oh.... looks like the Ajo Court issued a Supervening Indictment last week.....that's highly unusual for a DUI... must have been the drug possession.
Supervening Indictment means that felony charges have been filed. Or in layman's terms, "Yer screwed!"
Someone needs to request a copy of the arrest report through Phoenix PD and I am not sure if it was the Sheriff's Department or DPS who arrested him. I am trying to get the Department Records number for both arrests to make it easier.
It would be interesting to see what the P.O.N. charge really is. There are two of the same charges listed (13-3408), but you can not tell from the info I'm looking at what subsection or sections of that code he was long formed on.
Either way it's a Class 4 felony for the A1 charge and goes up to a Class 2. If he has never been convicted of a felony before he will get fined and be on probation for the A1.
Or if he gets a good lawyer, like on his Phoenix case , they will plea it down.
The arrest was in or near Ajo, not Phoenix. Records are available at the court according to the Ajo Court site. The case Number is
CR20181603
here the Grand Jury "true" Decision is available there... I tried to load it for you but failed... it is an image file http://www.agave.cosc.pima.gov/PublicDocs/[/QUOTE]
He also has a 2016 arrest out of Phoenix PD from what I can tell or someone has his same name and DOB. Again it was a DUI drug arrest with a few other infractions thrown in. He pled guilty to reckless driving. I can tell the Ajo arrest is not DPS so it must have been the Sheriff's Department that got him.
Gotta wonder which way he was driving. Either direction , sounds like he was going to cross a border with narcotics. What a douche.
If he is a drug user he doesn’t have a choice about taking his drugs with him. Addiction is a horrible crippling disease and without their drugs the withdrawals users go through is far worse. They never go anywhere without them. But...you’re right, he’s still a douche.
My guess is he was buying them in Mexico and bringing them back over. I doubt he's an "addict" per se. I'll bet a quarter he loved the nose candy and maybe some pills. If he was a pothead, he'd be a lot more mellow than some of the things I've read about his aggressive personality.
DB has had significant personality change over the last year and a half. He used to have a “somewhat professional demeanor “on the radio. Recently, he is a “giggling, rambling, fool”. If the recent Daniel was my introduction to him, I never would have gone near him with money. He has also become more of an “angry , vindictive” person, singling out individuals if they do not show him the appropriate amount of respect and love he thinks he is deserving of.........
Sadly he was convincing enough , long enough , to get some people’s money.
“A fool and his money are soon parted”
try falling 75 yards down a mountain and break multiple bones that put you in unbelievable pain for years that only opiods somewhat relieve and then you try to stop using them.... weakness? I am sorry you don't have a clue what strenghts it takes to overcome injury ( physical or mental) and addiction.
try falling 75 yards down a mountain and break multiple bones that put you in unbelievable pain for years that only opiods somewhat relieve and then you try to stop using them.... weakness? I am sorry you don't have a clue what strenghts it takes to overcome injury ( physical or mental) and addiction.
Poor me, I fall down and go boom. Then I start sucking down pain pills like they are candy. Now I can't stop. Stronger people can and do.
Doesn't take much 'strength' to become an opioid addict. That's just my opinion.
try falling 75 yards down a mountain and break multiple bones that put you in unbelievable pain for years that only opiods somewhat relieve and then you try to stop using them.... weakness? I am sorry you don't have a clue what strenghts it takes to overcome injury ( physical or mental) and addiction.
Most people take drugs to escape from reality, Some take take them for real pain, both are in a very unfortunate situation.
Poor me, I fall down and go boom. Then I start sucking down pain pills like they are candy. Now I can't stop. Stronger people can and do.
Doesn't take much 'strength' to become an opioid addict. That's just my opinion.
Wow....condo boy... lead a real life sometime and see how strong you are when things go south...like my marine brother...spent two years in 63 Danang as a tunnel rat. sometimes fighting hand to hand...he came home injured physically and mentally....died 15 years later from OD on pain medication that even at best allowed him to sleep 3 hours a night....I'm sure he is another of your weak people...you frigging golfer....
Most people take drugs to escape from reality, Some take take them for real pain, both are in a very unfortunate situation.
Very true. The problem is the pleasure abusers have made it more difficult for those who need opioids for acute and chronic pain management. Doctors are more cautious and judicious in their perscribing, and that is good and bad. Recently, over the course of just 15 months, I had both complete shoulder joint replacements, then a severe crush injury to my leg with foot fracture, then a severe pasturella infection from a cat bite needing two debridement surgeries with lingering nerve pain. I too developed a mild "addiction" to the drugs. Couldn't have made it without them. And it was a challenge to get through the withdrawal phase. Then along came spinal nerve issue when I could have benefited from aggressive pain management that would have allowed me to function more normally. BUT the Rx history now raises the red flags.... I am seen as a drug seeker. So now I'm screwed. Just have to keep from hurting myself. Oh, BTW... guess how much freakin weight I have put on the past 2 years! Not from the drugs, but my decreased activity... why do you think I sit here and chat so much??? :( Love all the new stickers! Good job
When the temps warm up in RP, do things slow down? Do visitor numbers go down? What is considered “ season”?
Seems like just the opposite. I think when the temps warm up visitors increase. Only those with local experience regarding the heat and humidity seem to stay away.
When school is out here the number of vacationing Mexicans increases, irrespective of the heat and humidity. Us visitors are maybe 50% less during the hottest times, but still some come. Those that are able of the permanent residents head north for June, July, August, and part of September.
Summer visitor population has really changed in the past 10-15 years, After 4th of July Penasco would get pretty quiet and dead during Aug.
With the Condo development that has all changed.
It used to be 70% Americans and 30% Mexican national was the visitor ratio, now it's 50-50 and during the summer 70% Mexican nationals.
Amazing what A/C and a rising Mexican middle class can do for Penasco during the summer.
It also helps that the RP ocean temps are 86 degrees vs the 68-70 degrees in the San Diego/LA, Ensenada area in July-Sept
I have heard a rumor that a radio station made reference to Daniel Butterfield and a large sum of money being confiscated at the border ? Any truth? What are the local radio stations? I had heard Daniel say say he bought a radio station. How many stations are in RP? Looking for facts
I am sort of amazed that with the amount of people he has in essence ripped off, along with travels to Mexico mouthing off to people in bars, that he remains in an upright position. I don't have a dog in this fight but if I did...
Likewise , I stand amazed!
He has some new partners I am told. No one you would invite to dinner to meet the family.
You are dinning on fish or being eaten by fish.
I have heard a rumor that a radio station made reference to Daniel Butterfield and a large sum of money being confiscated at the border ? Any truth? What are the local radio stations? I had heard Daniel say say he bought a radio station. How many stations are in RP? Looking for facts
From what I hear he goes through the money he steals from investors like water, and he has NO money!! Because he can't do business as usual right now he is in need of money. He talks big and grandiose but that is the drugs talking. He is doing what he does best- con anyone who will listen to him and believe what he says. If he said he has a radio station it probable is a delusion from a drug induced binge! You are right Queen of Kings - he probably bought or turned on a radio.
Have scoured the internet and the Lukeville Border and Customs report. Can find nothing referencing an individual being stopped with a million dollars, in the last month. Would have to hang,”rumor” on this tid bit .
The odds are that DB traded for air time with the radio station. A low ratings station cannot sell all the time intervals possible so will often trade. Often they trade for stuff they can use in promotional give aways. "Listen to KAKA 99 to win a two night vacation in a luxury condo in beautiful Puerto Penasco" . High rated stations who can sell their time do not usually do this.
I am sort of amazed that with the amount of people he has in essence ripped off, along with travels to Mexico mouthing off to people in bars, that he remains in an upright position. I don't have a dog in this fight but if I did...
Sad day for the DB “hold outs” who believed he would pay the interest today , as he personally promised to several investors.
DB sends his regrets for another disappointment on his part. He was busy having a “ snorting good time” with his best buds.
DB and his lawyer sent out a “ communication” yesterday. Trying to paint the current situation a result of the AZCC’s CND. It reads something like , “ give me a second chance and I will promise to be good. “....
Just my experience that,”the leopard’s spots do not change”.
4th of July weekend is almost here. I was wondering if anyone was going down for the weekend.
Could you possibly take your binoculars and scope out Esmeralda?
How are things going? If anything.
Also , if anyone should have the luck of running into DB . Do not know if he is allowed to cross the border until he gets his “traffic/possession dust up” resolved.
How is the water situation in RP?
How warm has it been ?
Nothing going on at Esmeralda. I don't think they even have security at the gate. The caught at the border with the million bucks was the Mexican side....so you won't find that on the Lukeville border report. It was on the local radio in Penasco. Weather has been perfect. Survived Tropical Storm Bud with a few sprinkes and strong winds. Should be seeing the first 90 degree weather starting next week.
https://www.facebook.com/investmentpropertyexperts/. If you ever need to find any of these bastards I think it would be smart to save all friends of people that "liked" this group....might lead back to the principal if he runs... people get sloppy.I once caught a guy via facebook that ripped me off 20 years ago....
Wow, Seahorse! We all wrote off the “rumor of a million bucks getting across the border”as just that,”rumor mill stuff” and didn’t want to get caught up in that mess. Is there any way to get “the facts” or can we go to the radio station to get a transcript ? Does anyone remember what station ?
Sad that things at Esmeralda are in the “ all’s quiet” mode.
Shocked you are just now going to 90 degrees. As a kid, I just remember it being so dang hot in summer and nary a Bush for shade.
Things have changed inRP.
No.... although they plan on throwing Daniel Butterfield off the roof of his Esmerelda wearing his Trump hat.... seriously I think El Homeport is now sunk....
No.... although they plan on throwing Daniel Butterfield off the roof of his Esmerelda wearing his Trump hat.... seriously I think El Homeport is now sunk....
They'll bring it back to life a few years up the road, after everyone has forgotten all the stolen money and what a disaster it was, Jerry.
These things have a mysterious way of reincarnating, after time erases all the initial flaws.
I want to do some real estate research. Are any of you currently in RP and a realtor or looking for something to do?
I need some help and my Spanish is sketchy. I am willing to pay for services rendered.
Thats pretty broad. What would be the scope of the RE Research?
Completed real estate transactions
If seller/buyer names are provided can I get a list of transactions or completed contracts under the name? Undeveloped Property or housing units? What is the proceedure in Mexico. I understand that it is not available online. Everything is held in a location in each community. Hand written.
I think Grant Mckenzie use to post on his website a sold report for the month. It listed sale price, sold price, how many days on market etc. But that was years ago when I was researching to buy a house. I looked at it regularly. Although last week I got an e-mail from someone that had a sold report of what sold in May. I looked at it then deleted it so I can't remember who it was from. I think if you contact a reputable agent there they could supply you with that info. It is available, because after I bought a house I got several "Congratulations" e-mails from other agents in Penasco. Good Luck with your research!
You do realize there is an MLS in PP. just Google AMPI Puerto Penasco. You won't find a sold report just listings, but a realtor could pull that. Not sure where you got the info that it is held in a location in each community and it is hand written??? Are you looking to buy and want to know what previous listings sold for? I couldn't find the sold report under Grants realtor page, but his son Brandon has a sold report, but I was unable to open it. But it did have where you can sign up for a FLXML to be sent to you.
My bet is he is trying to see how many of the Esmeralda buyers were straw buyers.....in 2006 down by Santo Tomas the huge planned development Parayso clamed to have sold 50 200k plus lots...it was all a lie to lure in the marks
Any information like this you find in Penasco is generated by Realtors and is subject to all sorts of distortions. The so called MLS is created by and managed by the local realtor's association and is not an independent organization that verifies the accuracy of their reports as in the US. It is a variant of the Point 2 system available to anyone to establish a "real estate sales company". Google it and see. Fox guarding the henhouse comes to mind. There have been several serious episodes of fraud and misuse of the so called AMPI MLS system with no action taken by the association. Reporting sales and activity is completely a voluntary system and in fact bears little resemblance to reality.
Yes, Licenses are issued in Sonora but there is little to no enforcement. You will see reference to a Broker but this is a title offered by the Real Estate agency and has no legal definition or responsibility, it is usually the named owner on the required Mexican corporation papers. AMPI has absolutely no legal position in terms of enforcement. It is mainly a fraternal organization in Mexico, used as a sales tool here in Penasco. Local realtors have created the idea that it is a Board of Realtors, US style. It is not. They have some responsibility granted by the State of Sonora to oversee the testing procedure for licensing but they do not issue licenses and do not have the power to revoke one. I am unaware of anyone ever failing to obtain a license. There still may not be an actual comprehensive test, attendance was all that was required for years. You could sleep through the sessions with no consequences. The license is used as a sales tool.
At what point a property is publicly reported as Sold is unclear and up to the realtor, there is no independent agency tracking this system or information. An agency that wants to show lots of sales may declare the property sold when a deposit check is passed. Under Contract is probably a more accurate description. The fact is the property is not actually sold and transferred until the bank trust or Fidecomiso is issued and registered, a process that can take years to complete and just one reason that bank financing is unavailable here. It may be 'hand written' at the Registry at that point. At the juncture in the process that the Notario examines and certifies the required paperwork and issues a letter of instructions to the bank the sale may be considered a legal sale for transfer.
Many so called sales never result in an actual transfer of ownership because the supporting paperwork is not available or provided to the Notario. Meanwhile the sales commission has been paid and is never refunded. In general when the Notario issues a request to the bank for a Fidecomisso, the sale is good but the bank can take years to process and issue the Fidecomisso.
Escrow means the check goes into the realtors checking account and not to a licensed, bonded independent professional agency. Actual millions of dollars have been stolen by so called Escrow Companies, Closing agents and realtors over the years. Buyers should be aware that they can and should pay all necessary fees and taxes directly not passed through a third party. This is a simple process and is risky to permit a third party to have access to these costs. The Notary will require evidence of payment but collects only their direct fees. Question the costs.
Real estate transfers in Mexico must be accomplished by a Notario who certifies that the property in fact is owned by the seller and can be, and is, legally sold and transferred by Fidecomiso or Mexican title to a specified buyer and that all legally required fees and taxes are paid. The process in NOT the same as in the US and any buyer should take the time to educate themselves about the process. Talk to the Noratio not an agent or so called Broker. Ignorance of the process has supported and created the massive fraud that has occurred over the years. Why someone would transfer huge sums of money on the basis of an unenforceable, worthless piece of paper is beyond me. They would not do it in the US but have done it here.
Any information like this you find in Penasco is generated by Realtors and is subject to all sorts of distortions. The so called MLS is created by and managed by the local realtor's association and is not an independent organization that verifies the accuracy of their reports as in the US. It is a variant of the Point 2 system available to anyone to establish a "real estate sales company". Google it and see. Fox guarding the henhouse comes to mind. There have been several serious episodes of fraud and misuse of the so called AMPI MLS system with no action taken by the association. Reporting sales and activity is completely a voluntary system and in fact bears little resemblance to reality.
Yes, Licenses are issued in Sonora but there is little to no enforcement. You will see reference to a Broker but this is a title offered by the Real Estate agency and has no legal definition or responsibility, it is usually the named owner on the required Mexican corporation papers. AMPI has absolutely no legal position in terms of enforcement. It is mainly a fraternal organization in Mexico, used as a sales tool here in Penasco. Local realtors have created the idea that it is a Board of Realtors, US style. It is not. They have some responsibility granted by the State of Sonora to oversee the testing procedure for licensing but they do not issue licenses and do not have the power to revoke one. I am unaware of anyone ever failing to obtain a license. There still may not be an actual comprehensive test, attendance was all that was required for years. You could sleep through the sessions with no consequences. The license is used as a sales tool.
At what point a property is publicly reported as Sold is unclear and up to the realtor, there is no independent agency tracking this system or information. An agency that wants to show lots of sales may declare the property sold when a deposit check is passed. Under Contract is probably a more accurate description. The fact is the property is not actually sold and transferred until the bank trust or Fidecomiso is issued and registered, a process that can take years to complete and just one reason that bank financing is unavailable here. It may be 'hand written' at the Registry at that point. At the juncture in the process that the Notario examines and certifies the required paperwork and issues a letter of instructions to the bank the sale may be considered a legal sale for transfer.
Many so called sales never result in an actual transfer of ownership because the supporting paperwork is not available or provided to the Notario. Meanwhile the sales commission has been paid and is never refunded. In general when the Notario issues a request to the bank for a Fidecomisso, the sale is good but the bank can take years to process and issue the Fidecomisso.
Escrow means the check goes into the realtors checking account and not to a licensed, bonded independent professional agency. Actual millions of dollars have been stolen by so called Escrow Companies, Closing agents and realtors over the years. Buyers should be aware that they can and should pay all necessary fees and taxes directly not passed through a third party. This is a simple process and is risky to permit a third party to have access to these costs. The Notary will require evidence of payment but collects only their direct fees. Question the costs.
Real estate transfers in Mexico must be accomplished by a Notario who certifies that the property in fact is owned by the seller and can be, and is, legally sold and transferred by Fidecomiso or Mexican title to a specified buyer and that all legally required fees and taxes are paid. The process in NOT the same as in the US and any buyer should take the time to educate themselves about the process. Talk to the Noratio not an agent or so called Broker. Ignorance of the process has supported and created the massive fraud that has occurred over the years. Why someone would transfer huge sums of money on the basis of an unenforceable, worthless piece of paper is beyond me. They would not do it in the US but have done it here.
Very informative, Roberto if not downright scary. Thanks.
That's the tip of the iceberg. Volumes could be written about the history of real estate fraud in Penasco. In fairness to all parties often the buyer is stricken with greed and chooses to ignore obvious signs and warnings in the hope of obscene profits. Recall " If it's too good to be true it probably is not true". A lot of the publicized problems in the Baja resulted from buyers taking advantage of cheap prices with little or no paperwork. Often Ejido land was 'sold' on a handshake.
Some time ago I visited at length with a US citizen gent who had a beachfront in San Jorge that he wanted to sell. He reported he 'bought' the land many years ago and built a large beautiful home on it. He did not have a title, or a Fidecomisso but he said, and I quote: "I have a piece of paper somewhere".
All that said but yes you can buy and own real estate in Mexico and it's not so difficult. Time consuming, confusing and maybe expensive in transfer costs, but you can buy and legally own it. It is extremely useful and important to speak Spanish well or to hire an independent licensed interpreter and not one of the guys hanging around the Malecon !
Yes indeed, there are many US investors in Mexican, restricted zone, real estate who are in for a shock when they try to sell it even after having been properly, previously advised of the correct legal process.
