Stewart Title Latin America is a company out of the U.S. that´s been in the U.S. market for about 130 years and 20 years in Mexico. Ivan Castillo has been managing the Riviera Maya office for the past 11 years and he took the time to speak to me about the 3 main services that they provide to customers who are purchasing real estate in Mexico.
Ivan Castillo: What we do on a daily basis is assist customers from beginning to end until we deliver the title in their hands and for those reasons we provide multiple services.
Number 1: The Escrow. Through which we will receive money, have the same in custody and release the same once the conditions for payments are met. Those conditions for disbursement are the ones contained in the purchase and sell agreement because it has a purchase price and it probably has a payment schedule that will say ¨at the execution of the purchase and sell agreement you give me 20%. At the delivery of physical possession you give me 20%. At the delivery of title then you pay me the 60% remaining.¨Â
So through the escrow we receive 100% of the purchase price and we make all the payments. And one of the advantages of escrow as well is that from an accounting perspective the buyers and the sellers will know exactly how much money it was destined for the real estate transaction. The escrow account will not only receive the purchase price but the closing cost as well. At the date of closing on behalf of the seller we would pay the taxes and the same for the buyer. So at the end of the transaction we give the customers a spreadsheet and escrow statement that will contain every single amount of money that was paid to any third party, the concept and dates and so on. So from a financial perspective it´s very convenient.
Number 2: Closing Services. We have attorneys that guide customers from beginning to end, so what we do is draft or review any purchase and sell agreement. We always like to draft them in Spanish and English versions in 2 columns so that the parties know exactly what they are signing. We will coordinate with a notary public, trustee bank, commercial appraisal, with the buyer and seller, real estate agencies- whoever is involved in the real estate transaction to accomplish our goal, which is to close in a timely fashion.
Number 3: Title Insurance. Through which we will guarantee the buyer if there is any loss due to any defect in title we would reimburse him, indemnify him with the amount of money destined for the purchase, meaning the purchase price. So the insurance policy would contain the purchase price declared in the deed, which the amount that the buyer paid for the property.
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