Real Estate Glossary

 Following are definitions of commonly used words or phrases in the Puerto Vallarta real estate industry. 

AMPI

AMPI (Asociación Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios), is the national real estate association for Mexico. Currently there are three chapters in this region, Vallarta, Nayarita and Compestala.
More information about AMPI.

Banderas Bay

Puerto Vallarta is situated within the Bay of Banderas, one of the largest bays on the North American coastline. It is split in half by the border between the states of Jalisco and Nayarit, which also happens to be a time zone (following the Ameca River, one of three principal rivers that enter into the bay). Its most southerly point is Cabo Corientes (accessible only by water) while its northerly point is Punta de Mita, reached by following highway #220a.

Costa Vallarta

Costa Vallarta refers to the three primary regions, Costalegre, Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit, combined together. In total it consists of more than 500 miles of coastline.

Costalegre

Costalegre is the region south of Puerto Vallarta, stretching all the way to Barra de Navidad. Popular destinations in between are Careyes and Tamarindo, which features high-end luxury real estate opportunities and boutique hotels. Most of this coastline is undeveloped, although there is activity beginning to happen in El Tuito, just south of Vallarta in the mountains, and then to the coastline to Tehuamixtle. 

Ejido Property

Ejido is unregulated land that cannot be owned legally by foreigners. It can be regularized, but the process is complicated and lengthy. Often foreigners will use a Mexican to hold the land ownership for them (Presta Nombre), but it is not recommended as there are no legal rights for the foreigner.

Fideicomiso or Trust

Along the borders and coastlines of Mexico foreigners cannot hold title to land, it must be held by a bank (trustee) in the form of a trust (Fideicomiso), with the foreigner the beneficiary of the trust. For practical purposes, this works just fine; property can be purchased, rented and sold, just as if actual title was held by the foreigner. 

Jalisco

Jalisco is the state in which Puerto Vallarta resides, along with Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara.

Mega-Developments

A mega-development is a large real estate project that involves smaller real estate projects (sub-developments) build around an anchor amenity such as a golf course or marina. A typical mega-development (and one of the first of its kind in Mexico) is Marina Vallarta, which as both a marina and a golf course for its anchor amenities. Popular sub-developments within Marina Vallarta would be the condo projects around the marina or the beach.

Multi-List Vallarta

Multi-List Vallarta (MLV) is a real estate multiple listing service (MLS) for the Puerto Vallarta real estate market catering to real estate offices selling existing or "re-sale properties. Operating since 1988, is was the first of its kind in the country. It began as just a printed monthly catalog of all exclusive homes, condominiums and lots available for sale, but today it is available online in a number of different formats. It is a primary means of sharing property information with many of the real estate agencies throughout this region. MLV property listings need to fulfill a number of requirements in order to be included in the system, in order to ensure they are “saleable”, the ability to transfer title quickly without any problems. Multi-List Vallarta offers a comprehensive marketing package for Realtors to assist them in helping people buy or sell homes.

Multi-Dev Vallarta

In 2001 an additional MLS service was created, Multi-Dev Vallarta (MDV), for real estate developments in the region. Multi-Dev was created specifically for new or pre-sale properties and it now works seamlessly with Multi-List Vallarta, available for all members of MLV to access and available for the public to view at VallartaRealEstateGuide.com and MLSVallarta.com. MDV listings to do not have to fulfill all the requirements that are required of MLV listings.

North Shore Region

This is the north shore of Banderas Bay that stretches from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle to Punta de Mita. It includes the popular mega developments of Costa Banderas, Punta Mita, and more currently, Nahui.

Riviera Nayarit

This is the coastline of the state of Nayarit, that stretches from the Ameca River, just north of Puerto Vallarta and the International Airport, all the way to San Blas (over 200 km of coastline). It consists of the popular communities of Bucerias, La Cruz, Sayulita, San Pancho and Guayabitos, as well as the popular regional developments of Nuevo Vallarta/Flamingos and Punta Mita. It is recognized as one of the fastest growing tourism regions in Mexico.

South Shore Region

This is the south shore of Banderas Bay that stretches from just south of Puerto Vallarta, just past Conchas Chinas, following the coast highway south to Boca de Tomatlan. Popular developments are Sierra del Mar and Garza Blanca, as well as the destination of Mismaloya. Boca de Tomatlan is a popular place to catch a taxi-boat to the coastal towns of Las Animas, Quimixto and Yelapa, which are not accessible by road.