No sooner had I returned to Victoria, B.C., in late September 2011 than Eddy the Realtor phoned me with the happy news that Sergio, our developer, had decided not to tile our terrace. This was because he said we bought our condo for a fraction (55 per cent) of what he thought it was worth. In his mind he had been taken.
Puerto Vallarta News
As I follow the story I don’t see there is a need to name names and try to bring companies and people down through a news column. In the end it would seem that the problems have come from poor buyer choices and not really someone trying to rip them off. If you follow the story it seems like the realtor’s qualification was that he was Canadian so that made Chris feel comfortable as a Canadian. His choice for a realtor that seems to be a little wet behind the ears was probably his downfall. All construction projects have issues, and that certainly is the truth in Mexico, but a trained real estate agent and good legal representation should have shielded the buyer from most of this. He said he would do it again, so I guess it turned out ok and he would do things differently, it’s those lessons that can be learned here for other people too. A good agent with experience in Mexico real estate and some sort of legal representation is the best investment, that certainly is true when you are buying something that isn’t even built and you are agreeing to a visual of the final project. Attorney, attorney, attorney. Remember real estate agents in Mexico do not require licenses. Choose someone with a long history, bad agents tend to fade out within a year or two.
Give us names of people, companies, tilers, etc to avoid…thanks
I am to the point that I tell my buyers if you can’t touch it, taste it, smell it, and live in it…it’s best to let someone else take the risk. This world is crazy and even a “good” developer can go bad with one badly timed decision, bill, or news story. On top of that, developers can have ejidos, governments, “bad guys” in suits, politicians and more to contend with (I have stories to share). I have even had a developer try to have me arrested and thrown out of Mexico because I dared to have an opinion on pre-construction (it’s not a good one, anymore).
All that said, there are people that must have their pre-construction. There can be great opportunities to save and make money. We do all we can to protect buyers by modifying all developer sales agreements. It’s a strange thing but all of the paperwork is usually in the developer’s favor before we modify it.
We also have the buyers sign waivers saying we told the buyer not to do it but they want to do it anyways. I would rather lose a sale and keep a friend instead of getting the sale and have them hate me if the development goes bad.
The good news is we have had luck enforcing these developer agreements with Profeco. They have gotten all monies back to the buyers. Get the paper right, or better yet, keep walking. I wish I could tell you we have always been this careful but the last crash caused many of us to learn some hard (and expensive) lessons. Don’t believe anyone that says not to worry about it…ever!
The Alberta New Home Warranty Program is an excellent model we should all consider. If we could develop (pun intended) something like this, our market would explode. I’ll see flying pigs first…but a Realtor can dream.
There are many people that have great experiences with preconstruction projects and often with the help of a good realtor and a good attorney, they can avoid these pitfalls.