Jalisco’s accreditation for real-estate service providers remains voluntary, while property-management oversight depends on contract terms, direct account access, and usable records.
A manager can inspect a vacant condo, pay bills, coordinate repairs, or operate a rental. None of those jobs requires exclusive control of the owner’s accounts or files.
For this report, we reviewed current Jalisco law, official registries, and federal guidance. We also checked local payment systems and published Puerto Vallarta fee disclosures.
The owner should delegate work, not visibility
The local impact is clearest for part-time residents and owners who live abroad. They may miss a CFE balance, SEAPAL leak, HOA assessment, or failed air conditioner until the problem grows.
The answer is not daily interference with the manager. It is a system that lets the manager act while the owner can verify each material decision.
That system should work for a condo in Zona Romántica, Marina Vallarta or the Hotel Zone. It should work for hillside homes in Amapas or Conchas Chinas. It should also cover houses in Versalles or Fluvial Vallarta.
The risk differs by property. The control structure does not. The owner should retain access, set authority, and receive evidence.
Decide which service you are hiring
“Property manager” can describe several different jobs in Puerto Vallarta:
- Home watch for a property that is vacant part of the year.
- Management of one condo or house, including bills and repairs.
- Long-term rental management, including rent collection and tenant contact.
- Vacation-rental management, including listings, pricing, guests, and turnovers.
- Administration of an entire condominium building or homeowners association.
These roles overlap, but they are not interchangeable. A building administrator manages common property. A unit manager represents one owner. A rental operator handles guests and revenue.
One company may perform all three, but each role needs a separate scope, fee and reporting duty.
The distinction has legal support. Jalisco’s real-estate services law expressly includes management of a property in rental or condominium form within real-estate services.
An owner should therefore begin with a written task list. “Take care of everything” is not a scope of work.
Verify the person and the business
Ask for the manager’s legal name, business name, tax registration number, or RFC, and address. Request a sample Mexican digital tax invoice (CFDI).
The name on the contract, invoice, and bank instructions should match or have a documented explanation.
Jalisco maintains a public roster of accredited real-estate service providers. The statute says accreditation is voluntary, so absence is not proof of wrongdoing. Inclusion is still useful because the credential requires documents, training, and periodic renewal.
Check the live roster rather than accepting a certificate image. The law gives an accreditation a three-year term and allows the state to record sanctions.
Under that law, accredited agencies must submit a registered consumer contract and tax-compliance documents. Owners can search the Profeco contract registry by legal name, trade name, or registration number.
The Profeco Commercial Bureau is another screening tool. Search the exact name shown on an invoice.
Profeco warns that its public results do not include every complaint, including pending matters. A blank result is not a clean bill of health.
Ask for two current owner references whose properties resemble yours. A vacation condo on Calle Púlpito does not test the same systems as a staffed villa south of Conchas Chinas.
References should answer specific questions. Does the statement arrive on time? Are invoices attached? Are repairs photographed? Are rental payouts punctual? What happened during the last urgent repair?
Compare the full price, not one percentage
We found no management tariff in the state law. Published local prices also show why one quoted number can mislead.
One current local rate sheet advertises MXN 1,900 monthly for a studio and MXN 2,500 for three bedrooms. Its service is tied to rental management and includes twice-monthly reviews, utility payments, and owner-approved repairs.
A local 2026 fee guide lists full-service vacation management at 15% to 30% of rental revenue. It lists long-term management at 8% to 12%.
These are advertised examples, not audited market averages or endorsements.
Owners should request a one-page fee schedule covering:
- The monthly retainer or commission rate.
- The exact commission base, such as lodging revenue or total guest charges.
- Value-added tax, known as IVA, and whether quoted prices include it.
- Listing, photography, onboarding, and owner-portal charges.
- Cleaning, laundry, supplies and guest-service charges.
- Platform, card-processing and currency-conversion costs.
- Repair coordination fees and vendor markups.
- After-hours, storm inspection and emergency callout charges.
- Charges on canceled stays, owner stays or refunded bookings.
- Renewal, termination and record-transfer fees.
Ask each finalist to price the same sample month. Give them identical rent, cleaning, platform fees, utilities, and two repairs.
Compare the amount that reaches the owner, not the headline commission.
Put authority limits in the contract
The contract should say what the manager may do alone, what requires approval, and what is prohibited.
Routine spending: Set a peso limit for one incident. Prohibit splitting one job into smaller invoices to avoid approval.
Larger work: Require written approval and a set number of comparable quotes. Define when a specialist or permit is required.
Emergencies: Define an emergency as an immediate threat to people, the property, or an essential service. Set a separate spending ceiling and notification deadline.
Related vendors: Require disclosure when the manager, an employee, or a relative benefits from the vendor. State any markup before work begins.
Cash: Limit petty cash, require receipts, and set a replenishment process. Larger payments should leave a bank record.
Client funds: Prefer an owner-controlled property account. If the manager holds money, require a separately identified client-fund account or ledger.
The agreement should set a payout schedule and monthly reconciliation. It should prohibit using client funds for the manager’s operating expenses.
Rental terms: State who can change rates, issue refunds, block owner dates, approve pets, and settle damage claims.
No ownership acts: Routine management authority should not include selling, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of the property.
If the arrangement creates a civil mandate, Article 2224 of the Jalisco Civil Code applies. It requires the mandatary to provide “cuentas exactas,” or exact accounts, under the parties’ agreement.
The contract should define what an exact monthly account contains.
A broad power of attorney should not be a standard onboarding form. If a specific power is necessary, independent Mexican counsel should limit it by property, act, and term.
The owner should understand how it can be revoked.
Keep the accounts in the owner’s reach
The manager may make payments, but the owner should remain able to see the underlying obligation.
CFE’s official account service allows customers to see balances, pay, and download receipts. SEAPAL Vallarta provides online payment and service information.
Puerto Vallarta also operates an online municipal payment portal for predial, the local property tax, and other charges.
Owners who need in-person municipal help can use the Unidad Municipal Administrativa at Avenida Mezquital 604 in Colonia Portales. SEAPAL’s central office is at Avenida Francisco Villa and Manuel Ávila Camacho in Colonia Lázaro Cárdenas.
Use an owner-controlled email address and recovery phone for these accounts. Give the manager delegated or shared access where the system permits it.
Do not let the manager become the only person who can reset a password or receive a shutoff notice.
The same rule applies to HOA portals, insurance policies, and bank-trust correspondence. An applicable fideicomiso fee should be confirmed with the trustee and paid to the trustee, not to an informal intermediary.
Vallarta Daily has reported on the full cost of property ownership. Its guide to documents foreign owners should retain covers predial, HOA records, and fideicomiso files.
Require a report that can be reconciled
A deposit labeled “owner payout” is not a management report. Each monthly statement should allow the owner or accountant to trace money from source to destination.
At minimum, require:
- Opening and closing client-fund balances.
- Every booking or rent payment, identified by property and stay period.
- Gross revenue before commissions and deductions.
- Platform, payment, management, and cleaning charges shown separately.
- Each expense, its approval, vendor invoice, and payment proof.
- Utility and HOA balances, including past-due amounts.
- Rental taxes or withholdings reported separately.
- Work orders, completion photos, and unresolved defects.
- The amount remitted to the owner and the transfer reference.
- Any cash held for deposits, reserves, or future work.
If the owner sends dollars or Canadian dollars, record the funding date, exchange rate, conversion charge, and net pesos received. Statements should keep peso expenses in pesos.
Invoices also need review. The vendor named on the invoice should match the recipient of the payment.
When a CFDI is required, the owner’s accountant should specify the correct RFC and tax use.
An owner can test the system without managing the manager. Each month, select one utility, one repair, and one rental payout. Match the invoice, payment, and result.
Build a 12-month home-expense calendar
Puerto Vallarta properties do not share one reliable maintenance percentage. A condo with building staff has different costs from a hillside villa with a pool, garden, and pumps.
The budget should separate five groups.
Ownership costs: Predial, HOA dues, special assessments, insurance, and any applicable bank-trust fee.
Utilities: Electricity, water, gas, internet, television, and monitoring services.
Property preservation: Air conditioning, plumbing, waterproofing, drains, pumps, pest control, pool, garden, appliances and corrosion repair.
Rental operations: Management commission, platform fees, cleaning, laundry, supplies, guest support, accounting and damage recovery.
Labor: Wages, benefits, and statutory employer costs where the owner directly employs household staff.
Place each known due date on a shared calendar. Add scheduled inspections before the rainy season and after a major storm.
The manager should document the roof, drains, windows, exterior equipment and visible moisture before authorizing repairs.
The annual budget should also contain a contingency amount. That reserve is not permission to spend it. The contract’s approval limits still apply.
Rental management needs a separate tax file
An owner who rents should not treat the platform dashboard as a tax record. The management statement must show gross bookings, platform withholdings, refunds, taxes, manager fees, and net transfers.
The SAT’s 2026 tax criteria state that lodging supplied through technology platforms is subject to income tax.
The SAT rental portal separately covers income from renting homes, apartments, and other real estate.
Those categories are not interchangeable. A Mexican accountant should determine how stay length, services, furnishing, platform use, and tax status affect treatment before the first booking.
The management contract should identify who issues CFDIs, keeps platform withholding certificates, and prepares monthly source records. It should also state who handles any applicable state or municipal registration and lodging-tax work.
The owner should receive copies even when the manager files or pays something. Delegating a filing does not remove the need to verify it.
Identify the employer before staff enter the home
A manager may coordinate cleaners, caretakers, or other workers. The contract must state whether they work for the manager, an outside company, or the owner.
For direct household employment, the Mexican Social Security Institute requires registration from the start of the relationship. Registration also connects to INFONAVIT housing-fund contributions.
Owners should ask counsel or an accountant to review who directs the work, pays wages, and carries the obligation.
If the manager supplies staff, request an invoice and written confirmation of the employing entity. The contract should state who handles payroll records, workplace incidents, and replacement coverage.
Insurance and emergencies need written instructions
Ask for the full policy, schedule and current proof of payment. A one-page insurance certificate does not show every exclusion or deductible.
CONDUSEF advises consumers to review coverage, exclusions, deductibles, and contract terms before signing.
For a Vallarta property, ask the insurer about hydrometeorological risks, contents, and civil liability. Confirm the policy permits rentals.
Condo owners should also obtain the building’s policy. They need to know where common-property coverage ends and unit responsibility begins.
The manager’s emergency plan should name:
- The first person to contact and a backup.
- When water, gas or electricity may be shut off.
- The emergency spending limit.
- The insurer and claim-notice process.
- Required before-and-after photos.
- The location of valves, panels, extinguishers and keys.
- The procedure after heavy rain, a named storm or a prolonged outage.
Do not let the first serious leak become the first time anyone looks for the shutoff valve.
Protect keys, records and personal data
Create a numbered inventory of physical keys, remotes, access cards and smart-lock credentials. The owner should keep administrator rights to alarm and lock systems.
Do not hand over original title, fideicomiso, passport, or tax documents for routine storage. Give copies only when needed.
If an original must leave the owner’s possession, require a signed receipt and return date.
Managers handling owner, tenant, or guest data also have privacy duties. Jalisco’s accreditation law requires accredited providers to maintain a privacy notice.
The federal private-sector data law limits processing to the stated purposes in that notice.
The contract should cover document security, access by employees and vendors, incident notice, retention, and deletion. At termination, the manager should return the records and remove access no longer required.
Test the exit before signing
The easiest time to negotiate a handover is before the manager controls the records.
Set a termination notice period and a shorter deadline for final reconciliation. Allow immediate termination for defined causes, including missing funds, unauthorized acts or loss of required authority.
The handover clause should require delivery of:
- All client money and a final statement.
- Unpaid bills, open work orders and pending claims.
- Booking calendars, guest deposits and future reservations.
- Listings, photographs and account access owned by the owner.
- Vendor, tenant and HOA contacts.
- Keys, cards, remotes and current access codes.
- Invoices, CFDIs, tax certificates, warranties and maintenance history.
- Owner property and supplies held off-site.
Decide at the start who owns each vacation-rental listing and its photographs. Do not assume a platform will transfer a listing, reviews, or account history when the contract ends.
If future guests are already booked, the contract should assign guest communication, deposits, refunds, and commissions during transition.
Silence on active bookings creates avoidable disputes.
Warning signs during the hiring process
Several practices deserve more checking before any agreement is signed:
- Refusal to provide a legal name, RFC, address, or fiscal invoice.
- A claim of state accreditation that cannot be found in the live roster.
- A broad or irrevocable power presented as routine paperwork.
- Cash-only funding or payments without supporting records.
- Rental revenue reported only as a net number.
- Owner reserves mixed with the manager’s operating funds without a separate ledger.
- Owner access withheld from bookings, utilities, or financial records.
- Undisclosed vendor markups or repeated use of related companies.
- Pressure to approve work without a scope, quote or completion evidence.
- A contract that lets the manager retain records after termination.
- No privacy notice, insurance information or emergency protocol.
Voluntary state accreditation should not be confused with competence. A provider outside the roster is not automatically unqualified.
The contract, references, records, and day-to-day controls remain decisive.
Questions to ask every finalist
- What exact legal entity will sign the agreement and issue the CFDI?
- Are you listed in Jalisco’s voluntary accreditation roster, and when does it expire?
- May I review your Profeco-registered contract and privacy notice?
- Which accounts, client funds, and rental listings will remain under my control?
- What is included in your fee, and what is charged separately?
- What may you spend without approval, and what qualifies as an emergency?
- Do you receive vendor commissions, referral fees, or repair markups?
- May I see a redacted monthly owner statement and completed work order?
- Who employs and insures anyone working inside the property?
- How quickly will you return funds, keys, records, and account access after termination?
A well-structured arrangement gives the manager enough authority to protect the home without making the owner dependent on one person.
Before signing, independent Mexican counsel should review the Spanish contract. An accountant should review any rental or staffing plan.
