MX 101 | Early Fee Disclosure
Closing Costs on a Financed Property in Mexico
Buying property in Mexico comes with more closing costs than most buyers expect, and most of them are not lender fees. The money goes to notarios, government offices, appraisers, and the trust bank. Here is the fee schedule, open to read, with an explanation of what each line pays for and what makes it move.
Refinancing costs less than buying, and the reason is structural rather than promotional. Several of the largest charges on a purchase are tied to the transfer of ownership, and a refinance on its own does not transfer anything. Here is the same schedule, showing which charges fall away, which get smaller, and which ones only a refinance carries.
The document below covers purchase transactions
The fee schedule runs three pages of tables. It reads better in your phone's document viewer, where you can pinch to zoom.
Open the full document Or read the plain-English version3 pages, PDF. Purchase transactions.
MX 101 Early Fee Disclosure, purchase transactions. Refinance treatment is explained below.
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How closing costs work in Mexico
How a refinance differs
Buyers coming from the United States usually expect a single settlement statement a few days before closing, with everything paid at the table. Mexico works differently, and the difference is the main reason budgets get blown.
A refinance runs through most of the same steps as a purchase. What changes is that nothing is being bought or sold, so the charges attached to transferring ownership come off the schedule, and a different set attached to releasing your existing loan goes on.
Why this page does not quote a single percentage
Closing costs are not a percentage. They are a list of individual charges, and a percentage only appears afterward, when you divide that total by what you paid for the property. Which means any single figure is going to be wrong for somebody.
Many of these charges are fixed dollar amounts. The application fee, underwriting, the foreign affairs permit, government certificates, processing, power of attorney preparation, the compliance review and the administration fee cost the same whether you are buying a $350,000 condo or a $2,000,000 house. Only a handful scale with the transaction: notario honorarios, the acquisition tax, registry recording and the origination fee.
So the same fixed block is a large share of a small purchase and a small share of a large one. The accompanying document makes the same point on lender fees alone: an identical set of charges represents a noticeably larger share of a smaller loan than of a larger one. Across the full schedule, where the fixed third-party charges are considerably bigger than the lender ones, that effect is stronger still. A percentage quoted without a specific property attached to it tells you very little.
And most of this is not about the mortgage. The charges driving that arithmetic are largely not lender fees. The acquisition tax, notario honorarios, registry recording, the foreign affairs permit, government certificates, the cadastral appraisal and the trust all apply to a cash purchase as well, and the two largest lines on most schedules sit in that group. A cash buyer pays less than a financed buyer, but runs into the same arithmetic, because what they owe does not shrink just because the property was cheaper. There is a line-by-line breakdown further down of what a cash buyer pays regardless.
The only number worth budgeting against is yours. What moves it is the purchase price, the state and municipality, since the acquisition tax and registry fees are set locally, how much you borrow, and how much work the property's title history requires. A MoXi® mortgage advisor will build an estimated total against your actual property and market, itemized from this same schedule, which is a far more useful starting point than any percentage. Ask an advisor for your estimate, no obligation and no cost for the conversation.
Three things that surprise buyers
Costs are front-loaded. A meaningful share of the schedule is paid at application and at credit decision, well before you sign anything at the notaría. Appraisals, title work, government permits, and compliance review all have to happen before a lender can approve the loan, and those providers get paid when they do the work. If the transaction falls apart after that point, those amounts are generally spent.
Most of the money is not going to your lender. Notario fees, transfer tax, registry fees, appraisals, trust bank charges, and the foreign affairs permit are set by third parties and government offices. A cash buyer in Mexico pays nearly all of them too. When people say Mexican financing is expensive, they are usually describing costs that come with the property, not the loan.
Several line items are percentages, not flat fees. Notario honorarios, the acquisition tax, the registry fee, and the origination fee all scale with price or loan size. That is why a schedule that looks reasonable on a $500,000 purchase needs to be rerun before you make an offer on a $1.2 million one.
What comes off, what stays, what gets added
What comes off. The acquisition tax, the cadastral appraisal, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs permit, and the trust setup fee are all tied to acquiring the property. You already did that. None of them are charged again to refinance the same property where the ownership structure carries over unchanged. Two changes bring some of them back: a change in who is on title, and a change of fiduciary bank. Both are covered in the fee list below.
What gets smaller. The notario is formalizing a mortgage instrument rather than transferring title, and the registry is recording a lien rather than a change of owner. Both of those are generally calculated on the loan amount instead of the property value, which is a meaningfully different base. The title search also narrows, because the chain was already examined when you bought.
What stays the same. MoXi fees do not change by transaction type, so application, underwriting, credit report, origination, and administration all run exactly as they do on a purchase. The collateral compliance review is also priced the same, because the security structure still has to be examined and confirmed on both sides of the border. A current commercial appraisal is still required, since today's value is what sets your loan-to-value.
What gets added. Your existing loan has to be formally released, which is a real step with real cost and its own timeline. It is covered in the refinance charges group below, and it is the part most worth planning around.
How much you can borrow
A rate and term refinance goes to a maximum of 65 percent (65%) loan-to-value, the same ceiling as a purchase. A cash-out refinance goes to a maximum of 60 percent (60%).
Pricing follows the same split. A rate and term refinance is priced the same as a purchase. A cash-out refinance carries a rate adjustment. The rate calculator shows current ranges without asking for your contact information.
The fees, explained
The fees, explained for a refinance
Each line from the disclosure, what it actually pays for, who receives it, and what makes it move. Filter by category or open any line to read the detail. Your own transaction may include charges outside this schedule depending on the property, the state, and the notario.
The same lines, each one marked with how it is treated on a refinance. Open any fee to see the reasoning. Amounts that change are determined by the notario and the providers involved once your file is underwritten, so the entries below describe the basis rather than quoting a figure.
* Entries marked with an asterisk assume the refinance leaves the ownership structure in place, meaning the same parties on title and the same fiduciary bank holding the trust. Changing either one changes the analysis. Both are explained under the acquisition tax and the fideicomiso.
Loan and lender charges
Paid to MoXiCollected in USD. Not subject to Mexican IVA, because international treaty protections exempt them. Non-negotiable and non-refundable unless the schedule says otherwise. These amounts do not vary by transaction type.
Application Fee
Covers opening the file and running initial checks on you and the property before any real underwriting work begins. It is the smallest amount on the schedule and the earliest one you pay.
Why it does not vary: the work behind it is the same regardless of loan size.
Fully Underwritten Prequalification Deposit
A deposit that starts a full underwriting review rather than a surface-level estimate. It is credited against the $2,000 underwriting fee, so it is not an additional charge on top. You are paying part of that fee earlier.
Why it exists: a fully underwritten prequalification means a human has reviewed your income, assets, and credit against the actual file rather than accepting stated figures. Sellers and agents in Mexico treat that differently than a soft estimate, particularly in competitive coastal markets.
Underwriting Fee
The full cost of underwriting the loan, less the $650 already collected. This pays for the credit analysis, income and asset verification, collateral review, and the cross-border checks that a domestic United States loan does not require.
Why it is higher than a domestic loan: the file has to satisfy both United States lending standards and Mexican property and trust requirements, and the collateral sits in a foreign legal system.
Credit Report
Pulled at least twice. Once to reach the credit decision, and again before closing to confirm nothing has changed. The charge applies to each pull, and the cost of a pull rises with the number of borrowers on the file, which is why the schedule shows a floor rather than a fixed number.
Some files need more than two. A borrower being added, updated documentation, a closing date that moves far enough for the earlier report to age out, or a change in your credit picture during the process can each require a further pull. How many your file needs depends on how it progresses. Every pull is made under the written authorization you provide, and your advisor will tell you when one is being ordered.
Practical note: opening new credit, financing a vehicle, or running up balances between approval and closing shows up on the next pull and can affect the loan. Hold off until after you close.
Origination Fee (Originadora Sinergia)
The largest lender charge on the schedule and the one that scales directly with how much you borrow. On a $500,000 loan the spread between the low and high end is about $3,800, so it is worth understanding where your file lands before you budget.
What moves it: loan size, loan-to-value, property type, and overall file complexity. Your advisor can tell you the applicable figure once the file is underwritten.
About the name: Originadora Sinergia is the originating entity the fee is booked under. It is one origination charge, not a second party taking a separate cut.
One-time MX Administration Fee
Covers the Mexican-side administration of setting up the loan, including coordination with the trust bank, the notaría, and the public registry so the lien is properly constituted and recorded.
Monthly Sub-Servicing Fee
Not a closing cost. This is an ongoing charge for servicing a cross-border loan, billed alongside your payment for the life of the loan. Budget it as part of your monthly housing cost rather than your cash to close.
Why it exists here and not on a domestic loan: servicing a loan secured by Mexican collateral involves the trust bank, Mexican property tax and insurance tracking, and cross-border payment handling.
Government charges and taxes
Paid to Mexican authoritiesSet by state, municipal, and federal offices. Neither you nor your lender can negotiate them, and the notario is legally responsible for calculating and remitting most of them.
ISABI, the property acquisition tax
The single largest third-party charge in most transactions, and the one that varies most from market to market. It is a one-time tax the buyer pays when ownership transfers. Depending on the state you will see it written as ISABI, ISAI, or Traslado de Dominio. Same tax, different local name.
Los Cabos and the rest of Baja California Sur sit at a flat 3 percent. Los Cabos moved from 2 percent to 3 percent at the start of 2025, and a decree published in the state gazette in December 2025 brought La Paz, Loreto, Comondú and Mulegé in line, so all five municipalities have been at 3 percent since January 1, 2026. A reduced rate of 1.5 percent applies to transfers by donation or inheritance between spouses or between parents and children.
Elsewhere it depends on the municipality, not just the state. Around fifteen states hold a flat 2 percent, Nayarit among them. In Quintana Roo the rate is set locally, so Cancún sits at 3 percent while Playa del Carmen moved to 4 percent in December 2025. Most of the country falls between 2 and 5 percent, with outliers near 1.5 percent at the low end and about 5.5 percent in the most expensive states. Two identical houses in two different states can carry a five-figure difference in this line alone.
Compare the base, not just the rate. This is where headline comparisons mislead. The tax is assessed on the highest of three values, which are the price in the deed, the municipal cadastral value, and the appraised value. Some states apply their rate to the sale price while others work from cadastral value, which is typically lower. A state with a higher published rate can produce a smaller bill than one with a lower rate, so comparing percentages across states without knowing the base tells you very little.
Who handles it: the notario calculates it, withholds it from closing funds, and remits it to the state. Without that payment your deed does not get recorded at the public registry, which means you are not the legal owner. Rates are revised each January as states and municipalities publish their annual ley de ingresos, the local revenue schedule, so a figure quoted to you last year may be stale.
Recording Fees, Public Registry
Paid to the Registro Público de la Propiedad to enter the transaction in the public record. Recording is what makes your ownership enforceable against third parties. An unrecorded deed is a serious problem.
Why it varies: the registry is state-run and each state sets its own tariff, some as a percentage and some as a stepped schedule tied to value bands.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Permit
The permit issued by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores that allows a foreign national to acquire rights in Mexican real estate through a trust. It is a federal requirement, not a lender requirement, and it is what makes the fideicomiso possible in the first place.
Timing matters more than cost here. The permit is issued by a federal office on its own timeline. It is one of the more common sources of delay in a cross-border closing, which is why it gets ordered at credit decision rather than at closing.
Government Certificates
The set of official certificates the notario has to pull before a transfer can proceed. These typically confirm there are no liens registered against the property, that property taxes are current, that water charges are settled, and that the cadastral record matches the property being sold.
Why they matter: unpaid predial, which is the annual property tax, and unpaid water charges attach to the property rather than to the previous owner. These certificates are how you find out before you inherit them.
Notario and legal
Paid to the notaría and legal providersSubject to 16 percent (16%) IVA. A notario público in Mexico is not the equivalent of a notary in the United States. Read the explanation below the fee list if the role is new to you.
Notario Público Fees (Honorarios)
The notario's professional fee for drafting the escritura, which is the deed, verifying the legal status of the property and the parties, calculating and withholding the taxes, and submitting everything for recording. This is the second-largest third-party charge after the acquisition tax.
Why the range is so wide: notario tariffs are set by state, and within a state individual notarías price differently based on complexity and reputation. A financed purchase with a trust involves more instruments than a straight cash transfer, which places most MoXi transactions above the bottom of the range.
You choose the notario. The schedule says so directly. It is worth asking for a written quote from more than one before you commit, because a two-point spread on a $700,000 purchase is real money.
You pay the notaría directly. This fee is not collected by MoXi® and MoXi does not hold or handle it. The notaría invoices you and you pay that office, which is also why the quote you agree with them is the figure that governs.
POA Preparation, Notarization and Apostille
MoXi requires a power of attorney on every transaction. This is not conditional on whether you plan to travel. The POA authorizes your representative to sign the Mexican instruments on your behalf, and it has to be drafted correctly for Mexican use, notarized in the United States, and then apostilled so Mexico recognizes it.
Why it is required rather than optional: a cross-border closing depends on documents being signable in Mexico on the notaría's schedule. Closing dates move, permits and certificates land when they land, and a file that can only proceed when you are physically present is a file that stalls. The POA removes that dependency. You are welcome to attend your closing, and many people do, but the POA is prepared either way.
The apostille is the step people miss. It is a state-level certification under the Hague Convention that authenticates the notary's signature for use abroad. Without it, a perfectly valid United States document is not accepted at a Mexican notaría.
Extra POA Preparations
Each additional power of attorney beyond the first. Files with more than one borrower, or with an entity in the ownership structure, need a POA for each party that has to be represented.
Notarization and Apostille, Other Documents
Applies to any other United States document the transaction requires in Mexico, such as corporate resolutions, marriage or divorce records, or trust documents. Each one goes through the same notarize-then-apostille path.
Document Translation
Official translation into Spanish by a translator the Mexican authorities recognize. Anything in English that has to be presented to a notaría, the registry, or the trust bank needs this. Machine translation is not accepted.
A notario is not a notary
In the United States a notary witnesses a signature. In Mexico a notario público is a licensed attorney appointed by the state, holding a limited number of positions nationwide, with authority to give legal instruments public faith. There are roughly 4,500 notarios in all of Mexico compared with several million notaries in the United States.
The part that catches buyers off guard is that the notario is not your advocate. The office serves the buyer, the seller, and the state at the same time, and its duty runs to the correctness of the instrument rather than to your negotiating position. If you want someone representing your interests specifically, that is a separate attorney, and hiring one is a reasonable decision on a large purchase.
Valuation, title and compliance
Paid to appraisers, title firms and reviewersThese are the diligence charges. They are paid at credit decision because the work has to be finished before anyone can approve a loan against the property.
Commercial Appraisal
An independent valuation establishing what the property is worth, which determines the loan amount. The range is wide because appraisal cost tracks property value, property type, and how much comparable data exists in that market.
Where it runs high: unique properties, large parcels, homes in thin markets with few recent comparable sales, and anything requiring travel for the appraiser. A condo in a well-traded development sits at the low end.
Cash buyers should not skip this. A lender orders an appraisal to protect its own position, which is why it is required on a financed purchase. The reason a buyer wants one is the same either way. Very few people would buy a home in the United States without an independent valuation, and the case for getting one is stronger in a market where comparable sales are harder to verify and asking prices are often set without them.
Cadastral Appraisal
A separate official valuation used for tax purposes. This is not a duplicate of the commercial appraisal. The cadastral value is one of the three figures the acquisition tax gets measured against, so the authorities require their own number.
Title Search and Legal Title Opinion
A search of the chain of title plus a written legal opinion on whether the seller can actually convey what they are selling. On a cross-border purchase this is the diligence step most worth paying for.
Why the range is ten to one: some properties have a clean, short, well-recorded history and the search takes hours. Others involve ejido conversions, where land has moved out of Mexico's communal agrarian system into private ownership, along with inheritance splits, developer parcelizations, or gaps in the registry, and the work climbs accordingly. Markets differ too, since registry quality is not uniform across states.
Collateral Compliance Fee
The review that confirms the property can legally serve as collateral for a United States-originated loan, and that the security structure will hold up on both sides of the border. It covers the legal work of constituting the guaranty trust and confirming the lien position.
Why it steps up at $1 million: larger loans generally involve more complex properties and structures, and the review scope grows with them.
Processing Charge
Coordination of the third-party workstream, which means ordering appraisals and certificates, chasing the permit, moving documents between the notaría, the trust bank, and escrow, and keeping the file moving. On a cross-border file with providers in two countries and two languages, someone has to own that.
Fideicomiso, the bank trust
Paid to the fiduciary bankMoXi requires a trust structure on every financed transaction, regardless of where the property sits.
Fiduciary Bank Fideicomiso Setup Fee
The one-time charge to establish the trust. The bank becomes trustee and holds title, while you hold the beneficial rights, meaning you can occupy, remodel, rent, sell, borrow against, and pass the property to your heirs.
Why it varies: banks price their fiduciary services differently, and the fee scales with the complexity of the structure and sometimes with property value. Which bank you use is generally driven by the transaction rather than by preference.
First-Year Fiduciary Annual Fee
The trust carries an annual maintenance fee for as long as it exists, and the first year is collected at closing. Budget for it every year afterward, because it does not go away once the loan is paid off. The trust is the ownership structure, not a financing device.
Common mistake: letting the annual fee lapse. The bank is the titleholder and an unpaid trustee is a problem you do not want on a property you live in.
Escrow, insurance and impounds
Paid to escrow, insurers and your impound accountThe last group, and the one with the most variability, because two of the three depend entirely on the property you choose.
Escrow Fee
Holding and disbursing funds through a neutral third party. Escrow is not universal practice in Mexican residential transactions the way it is in the United States, and using it is a meaningful protection on a cross-border purchase where you may be wiring six figures before you have title.
Homeowners Insurance, First-Year Premium
Required coverage, paid a year in advance. The premium depends on replacement cost, construction type, and location, and coastal exposure is the dominant factor. Hurricane and named-storm coverage on beachfront construction prices very differently than an inland home of the same value.
Order it early. The schedule flags three weeks before closing for a reason. Coastal placements sometimes take multiple carrier submissions, and a missing binder will hold up your closing date.
You pay the insurer directly. This premium is not collected by MoXi®. You arrange the policy through your agent or carrier and pay them, and MoXi® only needs evidence that the coverage is in force and meets program requirements.
Title Insurance
Title insurance is required on a MoXi® loan. Budget for it as part of your cash to close rather than treating it as something you might skip. The premium varies with the coverage amount, which tracks your property value, so the schedule shows a range rather than a figure.
What it actually buys you. The title search looks at what the public record shows. Title insurance covers what the record did not reveal, such as a competing ownership claim, a recording error, a forged instrument earlier in the chain, or an heir nobody knew about. On a cross-border purchase, where the registry quality is uneven from state to state and the chain of title can run through ejido conversions, inheritance splits, or developer subdivisions, that gap between what was searched and what is actually true is wider than most buyers expect.
Worth considering when: the property has a complicated ownership history, sits on former ejido land that was once communally held, came out of an inheritance or a developer subdivision, or the registry in that state is known to be uneven. Discuss it with your attorney rather than deciding on price alone.
Impound Account Setup
This is a reserve account, not a charge. Your loan requires property tax, homeowners insurance, and the annual fiduciary fee to be paid on time for as long as the loan exists. Rather than leaving you to track three bills on three different schedules in another country, the servicer collects a share of each one alongside your monthly payment, holds it, and pays each bill when it comes due. The impound account is where that money sits in the meantime.
Why it has to be funded at closing. The account cannot start at zero. A tax or insurance bill can fall due before you have made enough monthly payments to cover it, so an opening balance is collected at closing so the money is there when the bill arrives. How much depends on your actual figures and on how many months sit between your closing date and each next due date, which is why the schedule says varies rather than quoting a number.
Why the lender requires it. Unpaid property tax attaches to the property itself rather than to whoever owed it, a lapsed policy leaves the collateral unprotected, and an unpaid fiduciary fee is a problem with the bank that holds your title. Each of those weakens the security behind the loan, which is why keeping them current is a condition of the loan rather than a courtesy.
It is your money. None of it is retained by MoXi® or by the servicer as income. The balance is held for you, spent on your bills, and whatever remains is returned to you after the loan is paid off. It still has to be part of your cash to close, so budget for it alongside the actual fees.
Charges only a refinance carries
Releasing your existing loanThese do not appear anywhere on the purchase schedule, because a buyer has no prior loan to retire. They are ordinary, expected steps rather than penalties, but they carry cost and timeline and are worth planning around early.
Cancellation of your existing mortgage
Paying off a loan in Mexico does not by itself remove the lien. The cancelación de hipoteca is a separate notarial act that has to be drafted, signed, and recorded at the public registry before the property shows as unencumbered. Until that happens, the registry still reflects the old loan.
You will need a carta finiquito. That is a formal letter of no debt from your current lender confirming the loan is settled. A statement showing a zero balance is not sufficient on its own, and the letter has to come from the institution itself.
Start the request early, because the timeline is the real constraint. Registry processing on a cancellation varies considerably by state, and in some registries it takes materially longer than the rest of the closing work. Ask your current lender for the payoff letter as soon as you decide to move forward. Requesting it early is the single most useful thing you can do to keep a refinance on schedule.
Where the original lender has merged, been acquired, or changed names since your loan was written, allow additional time for the paperwork to trace back to the correct institution.
Fideicomiso amendment
Where your property is held in an existing trust, the trust instrument generally has to be amended so that it reflects the new lender and the new security position. This is an amendment rather than a new trust, and it is normally a smaller item than establishing one from scratch.
What drives it: the fiduciary bank sets its own charge for amending a trust, and the notario charges for the instrument itself. Whether an amendment is needed at all depends on how your existing trust is written, which your advisor can confirm once the trust documents are reviewed.
Changing the beneficiaries is not the same as changing the lender. Amending the trust to reflect a new lender is routine. Amending it to add or remove a beneficiary moves an ownership interest, which can trigger acquisition tax and may require action on the foreign affairs permit. Raise it at application if that is part of your plan.
And changing the bank is not an amendment at all. If the property has to move to a different fiduciary bank, there is no amendment to make. A new trust is constituted with the new trustee, which means the full setup fee, a new foreign affairs permit for that bank, and winding up the existing trust. That is a materially different cost from an amendment, so confirm which one your file requires before you budget.
Payoff charges from your current lender
Not a MoXi® charge and not something MoXi controls. Depending on the terms of your existing note, retiring it early can involve a prepayment penalty, a fee to issue the payoff statement or the letter of no debt, and interest accrued through the actual payoff date rather than your last scheduled payment.
Check your note before you run the numbers. A prepayment penalty is the item most likely to change whether a refinance makes sense for you, and it is written into the loan you already have. Your current lender can quote the full payoff figure, including any penalty, on request.
When each payment is due
The order matters as much as the total, and it is not one payment at the end. Money moves at four points, and the notario's first half falls when closing preparation begins, which can be well before your closing date. Here is the sequence, and what happens to each group if the transaction does not close.
| Stage | Method | What is collected | If the deal falls through | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At application | Credit card | Application fee and the underwriting deposit | Non-refundable. The work has been performed. | ||
| At credit decision | Credit card | Underwriting, credit report, appraisals, title search, compliance review, foreign affairs permit, certificates, processing, POA preparation | Non-refundable. These are payments to third parties who have already done the work. | Underwriting, credit report, commercial appraisal, title search, compliance review, certificates, processing, POA preparation | Non-refundable. These are payments to third parties who have already done the work. |
| When closing prep begins | Wire or direct to the notaría | First half of the notario honorarios | Payable for work already performed. This can fall well before your closing date. | ||
| Before closing | Direct to provider | First-year homeowners insurance premium, and any further credit report the file requires | Handled by the insurer under its own terms. Credit report charges apply to each report obtained. | Insurance updates if coverage has to change, the payoff letter request to your current lender, and any further credit report the file requires | Handled by the insurer and your existing lender under their own terms. Credit report charges apply to each report obtained. |
| At closing | Wire | Origination fee, administration fee, acquisition tax, recording fees, the second half of the notario honorarios, trust setup and first-year fee, impound funding, title insurance | Not collected unless the transaction closes. | Origination fee, administration fee, the second half of the notario honorarios, recording fees, lien cancellation, trust amendment if required, impound funding, payoff of your existing loan | Not collected unless the transaction closes. |
| Ongoing | Monthly and annual billing | Sub-servicing fee, annual fiduciary fee, property tax, insurance renewals | Continues for the life of the loan and, for the trust fee, the life of the trust. |
Working out what you need in hand
These charges sit on top of your down payment, which starts at 35 percent (35%) of the purchase price. If you have not run the numbers yet, the rate calculator gives you a rate range, an estimated monthly payment, and an estimated cash to close without asking for your contact information.
Working out whether a refinance pays off
Two numbers decide it. The first is your total cost to refinance, which is the schedule above plus whatever your current lender charges to retire the existing note. The second is what you save each month at the new rate and term. Dividing the first by the second gives you the number of months it takes to break even, and whether that number is acceptable depends on how long you plan to hold the property.
The rate calculator gives you current rate ranges and an estimated monthly payment without asking for your contact information, which covers the second number.
The first number takes a conversation. What it costs you to refinance depends on your property, the terms of your existing note, and what your current lender charges to retire it, and those are questions rather than inputs to a form. A discovery call is where they get answered, and where an advisor can go through the individual line items against your situation.
Credit card payments carry a processing charge
Many third-party fees are collected by card to move faster than wires allow, particularly for items that must be ordered quickly. Card payments carry a 2.99 percent (2.99%) processing charge and are treated as non-refundable. If timing permits, ask your advisor which items can be wired instead.
Currency, exchange rates and what actually moves
This is the part of a cross-border purchase that gets least attention and causes the most confusion at the closing table.
Your loan and payment are in dollars
MoXi lends in United States dollars. The loan amount, the interest rate, and the monthly payment are all denominated in USD on a 30-year fixed structure. That is the central point. Your housing payment does not move when the peso moves, which is the opposite of what happens if you finance in pesos through a Mexican bank.
A peso-denominated loan exposes you to currency risk on every payment for thirty years while your income stays in dollars. A dollar-denominated loan removes that from the equation entirely.
Some of your closing costs are still peso-driven
Lender fees are collected in dollars and stay fixed. But a number of Mexican third-party charges are legally denominated in pesos, including the acquisition tax, registry fees, notario honorarios, and government certificates. Those get converted when they are paid, which means the dollar amount you end up sending can differ from the dollar estimate you were given weeks earlier.
Lender fees are collected in dollars and stay fixed. But a number of Mexican third-party charges are legally denominated in pesos, including registry fees, notario honorarios, government certificates, and the cost of cancelling your existing lien. Those get converted when they are paid, which means the dollar amount you end up sending can differ from the dollar estimate you were given weeks earlier.
A five percent move in the exchange rate between your estimate and your closing date changes the dollar cost of the peso-denominated portion by roughly the same percentage. On a large purchase where those items run into the tens of thousands, that is a real number. It can move in your favor as easily as against you.
The 16 percent IVA question
Most Mexican vendor services carry 16 percent (16%) value added tax. Notario fees, appraisals, title work, and escrow are generally subject to it. Fees paid to United States-based entities generally are not, and MoXi fees are exempt under treaty protections. When you compare estimates from different sources, check whether the figures include IVA, because a schedule quoted before tax will understate your cash to close by a meaningful margin.
Practical guidance
Build your budget at a conservative exchange rate rather than the spot rate on the day you are planning. Ask your advisor for a peso-denominated breakdown of the items that are actually peso-denominated, so you can see your real exposure instead of a single blended dollar figure. And leave room in your cash to close, because it stays an estimate until the notario issues the desglose, which is the final itemized breakdown of what you actually owe at signing.
What a cash buyer pays anyway
A common assumption is that financing is what makes buying in Mexico expensive. The schedule says otherwise. Most of these charges follow the property rather than the loan, which is why a cash buyer runs into the same wide percentage span described above. What financing adds is the lender fee group, the collateral compliance review and the monthly servicing charge. Everything else was going to be there either way.
| Charge | Cash purchase | Financed purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition tax (ISABI) | Yes | Yes |
| Notario honorarios | Yes | Yes |
| Public registry recording | Yes | Yes |
| Foreign affairs permit | Yes | Yes |
| Government certificates | Yes | Yes |
| Cadastral appraisal | Yes | Yes |
| Fideicomiso setup and annual fee | Yes, in the restricted zone | Yes, on every MoXi transaction |
| Title search and legal opinion | Optional but advisable | Required |
| Escrow | Optional but advisable | Yes |
| Commercial appraisal | Optional but advisable | Required |
| Homeowners insurance | Optional but advisable | Required |
| Lender fees and origination | No | Yes |
| Collateral compliance review | No | Yes |
| Monthly sub-servicing | No | Yes |
Purchase and refinance side by side
The same schedule, read across. Amounts that change are set by the notario and the providers involved, so this shows the treatment rather than a figure.
| Charge | Purchase | Refinance |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition tax (ISABI) | Yes | Not charged* |
| Cadastral appraisal | Yes | Generally not required |
| Foreign affairs permit | Yes | Not charged* |
| Fideicomiso setup | Yes | Not charged if the trust carries over* |
| First-year fiduciary fee | Yes | Not charged again |
| Notario honorarios | On property value | Generally on loan amount |
| Public registry recording | On purchase price | Generally on loan amount |
| Title search and legal opinion | Full chain | Often narrower in scope |
| Escrow | Yes | May not apply |
| Homeowners insurance | First-year premium | Existing policy usually continues |
| Commercial appraisal | Required | Required |
| Government certificates | Required | Required |
| Collateral compliance review | Yes | Same |
| MoXi lender fees | Yes | Same |
| Impound funding | Yes | Yes, re-established |
| Cancellation of existing lien | Not applicable | Yes |
| Fideicomiso amendment | Not applicable | If required |
| Payoff charges from prior lender | Not applicable | Set by that lender |
* Assumes the property stays in the same ownership and in the same trust. A refinance that adds or removes a party from title transfers an interest in the property, so acquisition tax can apply to the portion transferred. A refinance that moves the property to a different fiduciary bank creates a new trust, which brings back both the setup fee and the foreign affairs permit.
Common questions
How much are closing costs when buying property in Mexico?
There is no single figure, and a percentage quoted without a price attached to it tells you very little. Closing costs are a list of individual charges rather than a rate. The percentage only appears once you divide the total by what you paid for the property, which means the same set of charges produces a very different percentage on a small purchase than on a large one.
Many of the charges are fixed dollar amounts that do not change with the price of the property, including the application and underwriting fees, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs permit, government certificates, processing, power of attorney preparation, and the compliance review. Only a handful scale with the transaction: notario honorarios, the acquisition tax, registry recording, and the origination fee. So that fixed block is a large share of a lower-priced purchase and a small share of a higher-priced one.
Location matters too, because the acquisition tax and registry fees are set at the state and municipal level, and so does the property's title history, which determines how much diligence work it takes. The largest single items in most transactions are the acquisition tax and the notario honorarios, and both are third-party charges a cash buyer also pays. The reliable way to know your number is to run the schedule against a specific property, purchase price, and loan amount rather than applying a percentage.
Do I pay the acquisition tax when I refinance in Mexico?
Not where the refinance only replaces your loan. ISABI is triggered by a transfer of ownership, and refinancing by itself does not transfer the property. Since the acquisition tax is the largest third-party charge on most purchase schedules, removing it is the main reason a refinance costs meaningfully less than a purchase. The cadastral appraisal generally falls away with it, because that valuation exists to establish the base the acquisition tax is measured against.
There is an exception worth knowing about, because it comes up more often than people expect. If the refinance also changes who is on title, for example adding a spouse, removing a former spouse, moving between individual and entity ownership, or amending who the beneficiaries of the fideicomiso are, then an ownership interest is changing hands and the tax can apply to the portion transferred. The notario determines whether a transfer has occurred and what it is assessed on, and some states apply a reduced rate to transfers between spouses or between parents and children.
Tell your advisor at application if anyone is being added to or removed from title. It changes the cost of the transaction, and it can affect the foreign affairs permit and the documents your file needs.
What does it cost to refinance a property in Mexico?
Less than buying, and the difference is structural. The acquisition tax, the cadastral appraisal, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs permit, and the fideicomiso setup fee generally fall away, because each of those is tied to acquiring the property rather than financing it. That assumes the ownership structure carries over unchanged. If the refinance moves the property to a different fiduciary bank, a new trust is constituted, and the setup fee and a new foreign affairs permit both come back. Notario honorarios and registry recording still apply but are generally calculated on the loan amount rather than the property value, which is a lower base. The title search is usually narrower, since the chain was examined when you bought.
Lender fees do not change. MoXi charges the same application, underwriting, origination, and administration fees regardless of transaction type, and the collateral compliance review is priced the same. A current commercial appraisal is still required, because today's value sets your loan-to-value.
A refinance also adds charges a purchase does not have, covering the formal release of your existing loan. Those are the lien cancellation, a possible trust amendment, and whatever your current lender charges to retire the note.
How much can I borrow on a Mexico refinance?
A rate and term refinance goes to a maximum of 65 percent (65%) loan-to-value, which is the same ceiling that applies to a purchase. A cash-out refinance goes to a maximum of 60 percent.
Pricing follows the same split. A rate and term refinance is priced the same as a purchase, and a cash-out refinance carries a rate adjustment. Current ranges are shown in the rate calculator, which does not ask for your contact information.
What is a carta finiquito and why does my refinance need one?
A carta finiquito is a formal letter of no debt from your current lender, confirming the loan has been settled. Mexican practice requires it before the lien securing that loan can be cancelled, and a statement showing a zero balance is not sufficient on its own.
Paying a loan off does not remove the lien by itself. The cancellation is a separate notarial act that has to be recorded at the public registry, and until it is, the registry still shows the property as encumbered. Requesting the letter from your current lender as early as possible is the most useful thing you can do to keep the timeline on track, particularly if that lender has merged or changed names since your loan was written.
What is ISABI and why does the rate change depending on where I buy?
ISABI is the one-time tax a buyer pays when property ownership transfers in Mexico. Depending on the state it is called ISABI, ISAI, or Traslado de Dominio. It is not a federal tax. Each state sets it in its own fiscal code, and in much of the country the operative rate is published annually by the municipality, which is why the same house can carry a different tax bill in two different states.
In Los Cabos and across Baja California Sur the rate is a flat 3 percent, harmonized across all five municipalities as of January 1, 2026. Nayarit and around fifteen other states hold a flat 2 percent. Quintana Roo sets it municipally, so Cancún sits at 3 percent while Playa del Carmen moved to 4 percent in December 2025. Most of the country falls between 2 and 5 percent, with outliers near 1.5 percent at the low end and about 5.5 percent at the high end.
Rate alone is not the whole picture, because states differ on what they apply the rate to. The tax is assessed on the highest of the deed price, the cadastral value, and the appraised value, and some states work from cadastral value, which usually runs lower. Rates are revised each January, and your notario calculates the exact amount using the current schedule for the municipality where the property sits.
Is the Mexican acquisition tax calculated on my purchase price?
Not necessarily. The acquisition tax is assessed on the highest of three figures, which are the price stated in the deed, the municipal cadastral value, and the appraised value. In most coastal transactions the purchase price is the highest of the three, but that is not guaranteed, and it is the notario who determines the base.
Are Mexican closing costs paid in pesos or dollars?
MoXi fees are collected in United States dollars. Many Mexican third-party charges are denominated in pesos and converted when paid, which means their dollar equivalent moves with the exchange rate between the date of your estimate and the date of your closing. The loan itself and your monthly payment are in dollars, so currency movement does not affect your payment after closing.
Which fees do I pay before I know whether I am approved?
The application fee and the underwriting deposit are collected at application. A larger group, covering underwriting, appraisals, title work, compliance review, the foreign affairs permit, and government certificates, is collected at credit decision. Those are payments to third parties who perform work regardless of outcome, so they are treated as non-refundable.
Do Mexican closing costs apply if I pay cash instead of financing?
Most of them do. The acquisition tax, notario honorarios, recording fees, the foreign affairs permit, government certificates, the cadastral appraisal, and the trust setup and annual fees all apply to a cash purchase in the restricted zone. What a cash buyer avoids is the lender fee group, the collateral compliance review, and the monthly servicing charge.
Why does the title search range from $675 to $5,000?
Because property histories differ enormously. A recently built condo in a well-documented development takes hours to clear. A property with an ejido conversion, meaning land moved out of communal agrarian ownership, or one with an inheritance split, a developer subdivision, or gaps in the public registry takes far longer, and registry quality is not consistent from state to state. The fee reflects the work the specific property requires.
Does the annual fideicomiso fee stop when I pay off the loan?
No. The trust is the ownership structure, not a financing arrangement. As long as the property is held in a fideicomiso, the trustee bank charges an annual fee. Plan for it as a permanent carrying cost of the property alongside property tax and insurance.
Can I negotiate any of these closing costs?
Government taxes and registry fees are fixed by law and cannot be negotiated. Lender fees are non-negotiable as stated in the schedule. Where you do have latitude is in provider selection, particularly the notario, whose honorarios span one to three percent of purchase price and who you choose. Getting written quotes from more than one notaría before you commit is worth doing.
Is 16 percent IVA included in these closing cost estimates?
Read each line carefully. Most Mexican third-party services are subject to 16 percent (16%) IVA. Fees paid to United States-based entities generally are not, and MoXi fees are exempt under treaty protections. When comparing this schedule to an estimate from another source, confirm whether the other figures are quoted before or after tax.
Disclosure and terms of use
Please read
Illustrative only. The amounts and ranges shown on this page and in the accompanying document are estimates prepared for illustrative purposes. They are not a commitment to lend, a loan offer, a rate quote, or a final statement of charges. Your actual costs are disclosed in your loan documents and in the closing statement prepared by the notario.
The accompanying document covers purchase transactions. The fee schedule available for download above is prepared for purchase transactions. Refinance treatment is described on this page. Where the two differ, your loan documents and the closing statement prepared by the notario govern.
Refinance transactions are not identical to purchases. Charges tied to acquiring a property are generally not assessed on a refinance, and charges tied to the loan and the property may be calculated on a different basis. A refinance also involves steps a purchase does not, described below. Which charges apply to your transaction depends on your property, your existing ownership structure, your current loan, and the state and municipality where the property is located.
Release of an existing lien. Repaying a loan secured by Mexican property does not by itself remove the lien from the public record. Cancellation is a separate notarial act that must be executed and recorded, and it requires a formal letter of no debt from the existing lender. Charges for that instrument and its registration are set by the notaría and the public registry. Processing times at the public registry are determined by that office and vary by state. MoXi does not set or control those charges or those timelines, and estimated closing dates are not guaranteed.
Existing trust structures. Where property is held in an existing fideicomiso, amendment of the trust instrument may be required to reflect a new lender or security position. Whether an amendment is necessary depends on the terms of the existing trust. Any charge for it is set by the fiduciary bank and the notaría, and is not set, controlled, or retained by MoXi.
Charges from an existing lender. Amounts required to retire an existing loan, which may include prepayment charges, payoff statement or documentation fees, and interest accrued through the payoff date, are governed by that loan's documents and are determined by that lender. MoXi does not set, control, quote, or retain them. Borrowers should review their existing note and obtain a written payoff figure from their current lender before relying on any estimate of the cost of refinancing.
Power of attorney. MoXi requires a power of attorney on every transaction, regardless of whether the borrower intends to be present for signing. Preparation, notarization, and apostille charges apply to each power of attorney the transaction requires.
Credit reports. A consumer credit report is obtained to reach a credit decision and again prior to closing. Additional reports may be required as a file progresses, including where borrowers are added, documentation is updated, a closing date moves, or a borrower's credit profile changes. Each report is obtained under the written authorization provided by the borrower, and the charge shown applies to each report obtained. The number of reports a file requires is not fixed.
Substitution of the fiduciary institution. A permit issued by the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores authorizes a named credit institution to acquire rights over the property in its capacity as trustee. Where a transaction requires the property to be held by a different fiduciary institution, a new trust is constituted and a new permit is required for that institution. In that case the trust setup fee, the permit fee, and the cost of terminating the existing trust apply. Statements on this page that these charges are not assessed on a refinance assume the existing trust and fiduciary institution carry over.
Changes in ownership during a refinance. Where a refinance also changes how the property is held, including adding or removing a party from title or amending the beneficiary designation of a fideicomiso, an interest in the property may be treated as transferred. In that case acquisition tax and related charges may apply to the interest transferred, and additional permits, trust amendments, or documents may be required. Whether a transfer has occurred, and the amount assessed, is determined by the notario under the law of the state where the property is located. Statements on this page that a charge is not assessed on a refinance assume the property remains in the same ownership. Borrowers should disclose any intended change in vesting at application.
Loan-to-value limits and refinance pricing. Maximum loan-to-value is 65 percent (65%) on a rate and term refinance and 60 percent (60%) on a cash-out refinance. A rate and term refinance is priced on the same basis as a purchase. A cash-out refinance carries a rate adjustment. Limits, pricing, and eligibility are subject to program requirements in effect at the time of application and to the appraised value of the property, and are subject to change.
No total cost percentage is quoted. Total closing costs comprise both fixed charges and charges calculated as a percentage of the purchase price, the taxable value, or the loan amount. Because the fixed component does not vary with transaction size, total costs expressed as a percentage of purchase price differ substantially between transactions and are higher on lower-priced purchases. For that reason this page does not state a total cost percentage or range. Any such percentage referenced in other materials is illustrative and is not a representation of the costs applicable to any particular transaction. Borrowers should rely on the itemized estimate prepared for their transaction and on the closing statement issued by the notario.
Third-party charges are outside the lender's control. Fees paid to notarios, attorneys, appraisers, title companies, insurers, fiduciary banks, and government agencies are set by those parties. MoXi does not set them, does not control them, and does not retain them. Where MoXi collects such amounts, it does so for payment to the third party on your behalf.
Charges paid directly by the borrower. Certain amounts are invoiced to and paid by the borrower directly to the provider and are not collected, held, or remitted by MoXi. These include notario honorarios, which are billed by the notaría the borrower selects, and homeowners insurance premiums, which are paid to the insurer or the borrower's agent. Amounts shown for these items are estimates of what those providers charge.
Title insurance. Title insurance is required as a condition of a MoXi loan. The premium is set by the title insurer and varies with the coverage amount and the characteristics of the property. Coverage terms, exclusions, and the amount of coverage are governed by the policy issued.
Taxes and government charges change. Acquisition tax rates, registry tariffs, and permit fees are established by Mexican federal, state, and municipal authorities and are revised periodically, generally at the start of each calendar year. Rates cited on this page reflect the schedules in effect for the markets where MoXi lends as of the date shown below and may not match the current schedule for your specific municipality. The notario determines the amount that applies to your transaction.
Currency. Lender fees are collected in United States dollars. Certain third-party charges are denominated in Mexican pesos and converted at the time of payment. Amounts shown in dollars for peso-denominated items are estimates and will vary with exchange rates.
Payment terms. Amounts collected by credit card carry a 2.99 percent (2.99%) payment processing charge and are non-refundable. Amounts paid to third-party providers for work performed are non-refundable regardless of whether the transaction closes.
Not tax or legal advice. Nothing on this page is tax, legal, or accounting advice. Cross-border property purchases carry tax consequences in both countries. Consult a qualified tax professional and a Mexican attorney regarding your circumstances.
Eligibility. MoXi lends to United States citizens and permanent residents purchasing or refinancing residential property in Mexico. Loans are subject to credit approval, property eligibility, and program requirements. Not all applicants will qualify.
Tax rates last reviewed: September 2026. Mexican acquisition tax rates are typically updated each January. If you are reading this well after that date, confirm the current figure with your notario.
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A MoXi® mortgage advisor can build the schedule around your property, your current payoff, and the loan you are refinancing into, so you know your cost to refinance and where you break even. No obligation and no cost for the conversation.
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