Viewpoint ®

In this current world situation, ethics are badly needed. We should have them and abide by them. What does the AMPI* Code of Ethics say about the loyalty and obligation of a real estate professional to his local organization and his colleagues? The real estate professional has an obligation to share his experience and knowledge with his colleagues. A real estate professional should not make comments with respect to business actions performed by another Real Estate Professional unless his opinion is official requested. Such opinion must be based on truth and not rumor.

Insist on a comparative market analysis of the” solds” and a list of the competition on the market for any villa or condo you are considering buying. Don’t take no for an answer. Although it is true that historically there has been a history of not recording true sales prices in the Mexican public registry, this doesn’t have to continue, and it is illegal.  You, as a buyer have the right to information before you spend your money.

The September 11 attacks in 2001, which led to the Patriot Act in the US and similar legislation worldwide, led to a new emphasis on money laundering laws to combat terrorism financing.[8] The Group of Seven (G7) nations used the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering to put pressure on governments around the world to increase surveillance and monitoring of financial transactions and share this information between countries. Starting in 2002, governments around the world upgraded money laundering laws and surveillance and monitoring systems of financial transactions.

Those of us living in Mexico who are from other parts of North America probably take the concept of fair market value for granted.  We assume that this measure of value is used in other markets and other countries. Actually, it is not common outside of the USA or Canada to have sold market data.  In order to have information about sales prices and to adjust for differences in properties; data needs to be available. If we start out with the objective to have fair market value, where do we as consumers normally go? There are no websites as in Canada and the USA such as Zillow and Trulia offering a large number of properties for sale as well as average sales prices by areas.  Until two years ago, there was no genuine multiple listing system for AMPI agents as a group to collect data effectively to advise a buyer or seller on fair market value.