From TOB(before its gone over there)

Google "Rosemary Sauter" or "Rosemary Sauter-Frett" if you want to read about it.

Actuually the person who posted that their real estate agent went beyond what is required by accompanying them to turn the electricity on and in their name - it's my understand that is part of what a real estate agent is supposed to do. Both times when I bought a house here the agent had the electricity, water, phone, etc. in my name at the closing. I didn't have to go along anywhere. Another friend who bought a house with electric off had their agent turn the electric on and put in their name. If it wasn't done by the closing it wasn't done properly.

There are many people from the US who get a home inspection and buy houses here and have no idea about Buyer Beware. A friend in SJC recently told me he was surprised that his home inspection guy and the seller and the real estate agent did not tell them about the major termite infestation. Many new people here don't have a clue that it is the laws in the US and their enforcement that protected them there and here, well...

Exactly. There was a reason for that twentysomething page disclosure form the sellers had to provide in the states. Here.....what you see is what you get, and if it's buried in the wall or under the floor where a home inspector can't find it without deconstruction......too bad. I found that out the hard way. $$$$$ later.

In Mexico, watch your tushie.

Simpsca, I'm talking about way more than just the electricity. He's managed to get me a phone line in Riberas where there is a 3-5 month waiting period. He's hung my hummingbird feeder himself, taken me to places to open accounts where I can cash US checks, taken me to lunch many times after the sale, faxed papers to the USVI & Guadalajara for me which had nothing to do with the house sale, offered to take me shopping - I could go on and on and on. All that is NOT required of an agent.

When I listed my place in the Virgin Islands, the agent held one agents' open house where one other agent showed up. He did not show my place to ONE person. Another agent found a buyer. All my jerk did was misspell everything in the MLS & collect half the commission for doing nada.

Oh yes, getting a phone is a major ordeal. It took me 2 years to get one and my real estate agency (who listed the house with phone) said she would help me get one right away and never did. So looks like you got a good one.

Carry Bean - I met Derek when I was down in April and he is a very good man. Even though I explained that we would probably be future renters / not buyers, he still spent several hours showing us several houses so we could get an idea about values and areas. He is a very personable, nice guy and am not surprised to see that he went above and beyond for you.

Glad to hear it.

Here is a tip people. Realtors mostly only think of the sale and are crappy at drawing up good contracts, they like to use what they have and if you have a special circumstance then you may be screwed. Don't be cheap asses you may need to spend 500 to 1000 pesos to have the contract looked over. You will want a strong contract. If not then plan to lose the deposit or spend 10 times as much in legal fees. Are you feeling lucky punk?? (Dirty Harry)

Don't expect the notary to save you either, they come in at the last minute and even if you give them papers, 99% of the time they will sit on their desk until the last minute and if they screw up they will not own up to their actions, I've seen this alot.

Realtors should know values but I've seen many, many of them screw up contracts. The vast majority think they know contracts but 80% don't speak even basic Spanish and the others were not attorneys, accountants or in any trade where they learned contracts or contract law before they went into real estate. Others I've seen are too lazy to get the seller's papers so you don't even know if the seller is the real seller or if his deed is recorded. Alot of people come see me after things are screwed up. One lady was an attorney but was too cheap to pay and questioned my competence although I study law here in Mexico, studied law in the US and have a US broker license, she went to a real estate agent who goofed up and he didn't have 10% of my qualifications!!!! You get what you pay for.

Please people, if you are going to be a cheap ass then you get what you deserve. Remember, competent professionals invest in themselves with classes, training and technology and have experience and their time is worth every penny.

Intercasa,

Because most people in the US don't get a legal review of their real estate purchase. In fact, other than you I don't know who I would go to to have an honest contract review. Perhaps a business for you to go into.

simpsca wrote:Intercasa,

Because most people in the US don't get a legal review of their real estate purchase. In fact, other than you I don't know who I would go to to have an honest contract review. Perhaps a business for you to go into.

I don't think that is possible in Canada.

In Canada you can buy and sell "DEEDED" property without real estate agents, but buyers and sellers both need lawyers to complete the transactions.(to make it legal)

Someone should write a thread about how it's really done in México. As if it were Mexican buying from another Mexican. May be insightful to some. We speak Spanish and in all of our RE dealings have been treated as Mexicans. Bought and sold a preexisting home in Guadalajara. Bought land by a Mexican seller and built with a Mexican contractor. Very happy just dealing with a notario. Husband was much more confident than I through the process. Remember Intercasa? It took a year to get our deed in Guad. We dealt with the notario in Joco. Paid more but recieved excelent service.

To grandma, who lost her deposit, i'm so sorry. She shouldn't have been trying to buy on her own. This isn't the US and consumers aren't always right here darling.

People in the US don't because like in California, the CAR (California association of Realtors) contract is a work in progress after many years of changing laws, lawsuits and issues and one of the many forms or addendums will cover more than 95% of the situations. Also there are many classes on using the different contingency forms and continuing education. Also there is title insurance who actually will pay unlike notarios who screw up and say they are sorry and go hire an attorney. Then you have laws that put people in jail if they do defraud you while here in Mexico people scam and disappear to the next state over and they have a clean slate.

Here most companies use a basic form and there really aren't all the plethora of contingency forms so you really have a no man's land in many areas.

For example if you have a contingency is it an active release or passive release? If there is a contingency of the buyer that relies on the seller doing things are the seller's obligations and timelines clearly spelled out?

I'm not saying I'm the best guy for the job but people need to have an open dialogue with someone on the contract and most realtors aren't competent to do this, very few people are as it is creating something from nothing. A good guide would be to use the contingency addendum forms from US real estate and use them as an addendum here and have them translated. This is so all parties are clear on their rights and responsibilities and there is no room for unclarity. This way if someone loses their deposit they know it was their fault and they broke the contract in specific parts.

For example: in Guad, our home in the US seemed to be falling through and our MX contract said we had to pay in full by such and such a date or we had to pay an astranomical % rate for everyday after. I write the seller giving her my deposit, $10k, because we couldn't do it. The seller didn't want to lose the sale and extended the date with no pentalties. Our US buyer, who was from Guadalajara(how ironic) did pull through. Interesting that the realtor selling was the sister of the owner and the daughter worked for the notario. They started competing for the commission. Whatever. The deed was bit complicated as it was still in the deceased name. :) all in the past.