Carl G. Says:
A friend told me you can get cheap land in Mexico by buying something called ejido land. Is this true?
IL Executive Editor Jennifer Stevens Says:
Hi Carl,
This is technically true, but not something I’d recommend.
Ejido land was established in 1917 as a result of the Mexican revolution. It’s not private property; rather, it’s government land granted for use by the local community.
This land can be converted into private property, but the process is long and complicated. It is outright illegal for foreigners to own ejido land in the restricted zones (50 kilometers from beachfront and 100 kilometers from international borders), and it’s dicey in the interior.
Prices for ejido land are often unbelievably low… for obvious reasons.
You might well purchase a parcel of ejido land and live on it without trouble for many years. But was it sold with the consent of everyone necessary in the ejido? Was the person you bought it from even a member of the ejido? Will someone in the ejido wake up with an attitude five years from now, decide he was shortchanged, and contest the sale?
In sum, we don’t recommend even considering the purchase of ejido land. One of the most important aspects of title research is making sure the plot you’re interested in has never been ejido land or, if it was, that it was successfully privatized a long time ago and never challenged. Too much can go wrong. Just don’t do it.
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