# Re-negotiating property price prior to signing escritura



## tulumsimon (Aug 23, 2021)

Hi all. 

Our developer has not delivered on what was expected with our build. 

I know there are issues within our Promesa that he should be required to complete as listed, however what about those other areas that could be classed as subjective, such as the quality of finish on the walls, damage to tiles (that are technically installed, but damaged/chipped), etc. I've included a few examples in the photos here, but I have over a hundred more!

We know that he is willing to move a little on the remainder of our payment (we still owe around US$25k), but only a $6k reduction and we estimate the amount should be more like $10-12k.

Is there any independent quality assessors we can get in (court appointed) whose judgements are valid legally here? Or are we just dreaming?

Appreciate any advice from anybody who has perhaps gone through this (and I'm sorry that you have).

Thanks,
Simon


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

My reaction is, it's Mexico, it won't be perfect. And if it starts out perfect, it won't stay perfect for very long. Stuff just becomes imperfect here faster, somehow. It sounds like you're doing ok already as far as negotiating, but you could get a lawyer to apply a little more pressure. I think whether you're likely to succeed depends on how much the total job was. To me you're already close, probably close enough. You probably have to accept you wont get everything you think you should.

But something to watch out for: Are you expecting facturas for the work? Have you gotten them? The trick I ran into with my contractor was he wouldn't provide them after I'd paid the final payment - that's another way they can recoup their profit margin if they have to make other concessions. He claimed I should have asked for a factura when I made the earlier payments and not waited until the end. So don't give him that final payment until you have official facturas for the earlier payments. My lawyer really helped me with that one, she could sweetly suggest she might turn him into the tax authorities.


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## tulumsimon (Aug 23, 2021)

The work was around $250k. 10% left to pay. We are dealing with a developer of a new build, so are facturas relevant to us (obviously they are to him and his contractors)?


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

At a minimum, you can use them on this year's US taxes as a deduction under 'foreign taxes paid', but when you eventually sell the house I think you will want them to show the value of the improvement you made on the land, otherwise your basis price, for Mexican capital gains tax purposes, might be just the land value, and you might get taxed on the rest of the 250k, which would hurt badly.

But opinions vary on this issue all over the place, including from one notario to another.


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

You unfortunately had the baptism of fire concerning Mexican construction. If you aren't around and on the job site in this country, making sure it's done to your standards, you will usually end up disappointed. Detail work is not their strong point. You have to pay bigger bucks for those who specialize in such things.


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## tulumsimon (Aug 23, 2021)

surabi said:


> You unfortunately had the baptism of fire concerning Mexican construction. If you aren't around and on the job site in this country, making sure it's done to your standards, you will usually end up disappointed. Detail work is not their strong point. You have to pay bigger bucks for those who specialize in such things.


Yes I understand this and understood the risk I was getting in to. I feel the developer (who is also a foreigner) didn’t visit the site enough (he was in PdC, we’re in Tulum) so actually a lot of this is his fault. So it is him and not the construction team that we have issue with. Do you know of any precedent where buyers have had the law go their way on subjective issues? Or do people just cave and move on?


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

No, sorry, I don't know anyone who has been through this type of scenario. I lived in Mexico, renting, for about 8 years before I bought a lot and built my own place. As I'm not clueless about construction, I paid attention to what I saw as far as poor workmanship and I also saw, from other friends' construction projects, that "developers" and those who call themselves contractors, take on far too much work than they can responsibly oversee. 

So I was my own contractor, hired a crew, paid for the materials myself, and ran the crew. In the beginning, I wasn't onsite a lot, but I quickly realized that if I didn't check in a couple times a day, look around and give direction, things were done wrong or poorly, or they were wasting time being inefficient. In the end, I got more or less what I wanted, and did a lot of the finish work myself. 

I know none of that helps you with your issue, but you say you did know you were taking a risk by not being there.
And unless you pay big bucks for a high-end million dollar type home, you can't expect perfection in the detail work, that just isn't something you'll get in Mexico.


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