Buying Property in Querencia
The ownership mechanism, the real closing costs at Querencia prices, and the five things about this community that a general Los Cabos guide will get wrong.
Yes, foreigners can own in Querencia
Querencia sits above the San Jose Corridor, well inside Mexico’s restricted zone — the strip within 50 km of the coast where foreigners cannot hold direct title to land. This is not an obstacle. It is a paperwork step that thousands of foreign buyers complete in Los Cabos every year.
You take ownership through a fideicomiso: a bank trust in which a Mexican bank holds legal title as trustee, and you are the beneficiary with every right of ownership. You can live in it, renovate it, rent it, sell it, and leave it to your heirs. The bank cannot sell it, encumber it, or do anything with it without your instruction.
The alternative, used mainly by buyers acquiring several properties or running a rental business, is to hold through a Mexican corporation. Which one suits you depends on how you intend to use the property and on your own tax position at home. Decide that before you make an offer, not after — changing it later is expensive.
How the fideicomiso works
- Term. 50 years, renewable indefinitely, and renewable by your heirs.
- Who holds title. A Mexican bank, as trustee. You are the named beneficiary.
- What you can do. Occupy, renovate, mortgage, rent, sell, or bequeath — all without the bank’s permission.
- Naming heirs. Substitute beneficiaries are named in the trust deed, which keeps the property out of Mexican probate.
- Cost. Roughly US$1,500–2,500 to set up, plus an annual fee of about US$600–900.
- Selling. The trust transfers to your buyer, or is cancelled and a new one created. Either is routine.
The trust is created by a Mexican notario público — a state-appointed official with far broader authority than a US notary. The notary is not your lawyer and does not represent either side; they verify the transaction and are personally liable for getting it right. On a purchase at Querencia prices, engaging your own independent lawyer as well is money well spent.
What closing actually costs a buyer
Budget 5–8% of the purchase price. The percentage falls as the price rises, because several line items are fixed rather than proportional. At Querencia prices the absolute numbers get large quickly, and the top of that range is conservative on the largest purchases.
| Line item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition tax (ISAI) | ~2% of value | Paid to the municipality |
| Notary fees | ~1–1.5% | The notary is a state-appointed official, not your lawyer |
| Fideicomiso setup | US$1,500–2,500 | One time, to the trustee bank |
| Foreign Affairs permit | ~US$1,500 | One time |
| Registry & certificates | ~0.5% | Public registry, no-lien certificates, appraisal |
| Title insurance | Optional | Available; I recommend it on resale purchases |
| Annual trust fee | US$600–900/yr | Ongoing, not a closing cost |
Worked at real Querencia prices
| Property | Price | At 5% | At 8% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median homesite sale | $1,547,500 | $77,375 | $123,800 |
| Community median sale | $3,025,000 | $151,250 | $242,000 |
| Median condominium sale | $3,175,000 | $158,750 | $254,000 |
| Median house sale | $4,310,000 | $215,500 | $344,800 |
| Record sale | $11,000,000 | $550,000 | $880,000 |
Indicative ranges for Los Cabos as at August 2026, for orientation only. Exact figures depend on the property, the assessed value and the trustee bank, and are confirmed by your notary in the closing statement. This is general information, not legal or tax advice — take advice from a Mexican notary and your own tax adviser before committing.
Who pays what
The seller pays the brokerage commission and their own capital gains tax (ISR). The buyer pays everything in the table above. There is no equivalent of a US-style buyer-agency fee — my representation of you as a buyer costs you nothing directly.
The purchase process, start to finish
- Offer and acceptance. A written offer, usually with a deposit of 5–10% into escrow on acceptance.
- Promissory agreement. The binding contract setting out price, timeline, what is included and what happens if either side walks.
- Due diligence. Title search, no-lien certificates, tax status, HOA standing, permits. Two to four weeks is normal.
- Trust permit. The notary applies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the fideicomiso permit. Four to eight weeks, and it is usually the long pole.
- Appraisal and closing statement. The notary commissions the appraisal that sets the tax base and issues the final numbers.
- Closing. Sign before the notary, fund the balance, receive keys. The deed is then registered, which takes a further few weeks.
Eight to twelve weeks from accepted offer to keys is typical when nothing goes wrong. Cash purchases at the shorter end. If a seller is pushing for a much faster close, understand why before you agree.
Five things specific to Querencia
1. The usual Los Cabos advice about lowballing does not apply here
Across the Los Cabos communities I track, the standard finding is that the buyer sets the price. Querencia is where that breaks down. Eight of a hundred recorded sales closed above the asking price and ten more matched it — eighteen per cent — and the median sale came in at 94.7% of list.
Two things make that unusual, and they are worth separating. Plenty of Los Cabos communities have a similar share of sales at or above asking. Very few have 8% of sales closing above it — in the community I looked at immediately before this one, not a single sale in sixty-six beat its asking price.
And Querencia is the only community on my desk where transaction counts are rising: 31 sales in 2024, 32 in 2025, and 34 in the first eight months of 2026, with the average sale price rising alongside. Going in at 85% as an opening move is a reasonable tactic in a thinning market. Here it is a good way to lose the property.
2. Which enclave you are in matters more than the community average
The 94.7% community median conceals a very wide spread. Ask which of these you are dealing with before you decide on a number:
| Where | Sales | Median % of Ask | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontes (houses) | 5 | 100.0% | Expect to pay list |
| Verandas (condos) | 17 | 97.6% | Very little room |
| El Parque (houses) | 7 | 98.1% | Very little room |
| Ocean Residences | 6 | 95.4% | Some room; none ever paid list |
| La Montaña (lots) | 5 | 92.9% | Moderate room |
| El Parque (lots) | 10 | 91.7% | Moderate room; sold out |
| Laderas (houses) | 3 | 90.4% | Real room |
| La Reserva / El Valle | 5 | 88.9% | The most room in Querencia |
| Las Colinas (lots) | 10 | 86.2% | The most room, on the deepest evidence |
The rows with three to six sales are indications rather than medians in any statistical sense, and the page for each of them says so. Las Colinas and Verandas are the two you can lean on: ten and seventeen sales respectively, pointing in opposite directions.
3. La Cresta has $39,875,000 listed and no sales at all
Thirteen of the twenty-four homesites on the market in Querencia are in La Cresta, asking a median of $3,100,000. The MLS records no La Cresta sale in the three years to August 2026. Eleven of the thirteen ask more than the $2,675,000 record close for any lot in the community.
That is not a criticism of the pricing — a new release has to start somewhere, and a well-positioned lot may be worth it. It is a caution about what you can verify. If you are quoted a La Cresta price, there is no closed comparable to check it against, in either direction.
4. Ocean side and inland are two different price levels
The MLS files Querencia under two community values: Querencia-Ocean side, which is the Ocean Residences and nothing else, and Querencia-Inland, which is all 94 of the other recorded sales. The six ocean-side sales closed at a median $1,622 per square foot, against $728 for inland condominiums and $631 for houses.
The ranges barely overlap: the cheapest ocean-side sale, at $973 a square foot, is dearer than twenty-one of the twenty-two inland condominium sales. If someone quotes you a Querencia average per square foot, ask which side of that line it came from.
5. Two things in the MLS record that will mislead you
The community field is not consistently spelled. One value is
Querencia-Inland and the other is Querencia-Ocean side
— capitalised differently, and with a space rather than a hyphen before
“side”. A comparables search built on one spelling silently misses the
other.
One lot listing records a build contract, not a land price. Listing 21-3397 at La Montaña #10 shows a close of $4,050,704.94 — to the cent, and 264.8% of its $1,530,000 asking price — five days before a house at the same address closed at $6,400,000. Every land figure on this site excludes it. If you are handed a comparables list showing a $4 million Querencia lot sale, that is almost certainly what you are looking at.
What to ask before you commit
- What is the constructed area, measured, as distinct from the lot area? The MLS field mixes the two on some Querencia records.
- What are the HOA dues and the club position, and what transfers on resale?
- How long has it been listed? The largest concessions here went to properties that had sat for two to four years.
- Is the fideicomiso already in place, and can it be assigned rather than recreated?
- What comparable has actually closed — not what is listed — in this enclave?
- If it is a lot: is there a build obligation, a design review, or a time limit?
Ask me anything about buying in Querencia
The fideicomiso, closing costs, or what a specific enclave has actually traded at.
Buying Here, Answered
What are closing costs when buying in Querencia?
How long does it take to buy a property in Querencia?
How much below asking do Querencia properties sell for?
Should I open low on a Querencia property?
Now look at what is actually for sale
Five markets, from $1.25 million homesites to a $54 million estate.