How Real Estate Transaction in Guatemala, Lake Atitlan happen.

How Real Estate Transaction in Guatemala, Lake Atitlan happen...

If you would decide to invest in Guatemala and decide to buy a property you will find out that most probably it is far from the format you are used to work with.

First of all I would recommend to hire a realtor or at least a Guatemalan lawyer that speaks your language and is versed in the area where you want to invest. As if you don't know the country and don't speak the language it could be very hazardous.

Let say you have find a house, a piece of land, a business and you are have contacted either a realtor or the owner... Once your offer have been accepted you won't have a formal letter of intent that you might be used to.
If it is directly with the owner I would do everything through the lawyer I chose to work with.

So you have an exchange of email at least and you are all excited by your project.

Home inspection

If it is a house you won't have an inspection made as in Guatemala it is not a requirement. but you can have a civil engineer, that you will contract, to do one prior purchasing if you have doubts on the buildings. It is also good when buying just land to remeasure the property to prevent sometimes surprises that are not reflected in the document you are doing to buy.

Financing 
All the transaction are cash on hand. Very little times you can find an owner willing to finance the purchase. And it happens mostly with registered properties.

 Form of Ownership
In Guatemala you can encounter the following form of ownership

1. Titled Properties
2. Rights of possession
3. Government Lease-Hold

Titled Properties
These ones are the most secure to acquire because they have a titled that is registered in one of the two national registry. They have a registration number that the governement managed and it is as in the USA a format that allow titled search.
They have the advantage to be mortgage eventually as they have the maximum security.

Rights of possession
These are the rights you will encounter most probably in areas rural areas.
They are rights acquired with times and they don't imply that you own the land for example. You can have the right to possess it but the ownership could be from the government (the waterfront of beaches, lakes, rivers) or the Municipality of the area it is located particularly in the highlands where you can find indigenous form of ownership.
In some cases these rights have to be upgraded to a Government Lease Hold Contract or you can start a civil court process to get a clear title (process known under the name of "titulacion supletoria").

Government Lease-Hold
In Guatemala the state is owner of the waterfront of the beaches, lakes and rivers.There fore if you buy the rights of a Lease Hold contract you have a better quality of ownership as it is a contract extended by the Guatemalan State. The contracts goes for 10 to 30 years and they are extended by the renters who have to confirm six month before the expiration of the contract his willingness to continue.

 Also regarding pricing..
Guatemala doesn't have yet a sophisticated system of registration of the real estate transaction, so it is difficult to have an appreciation of the real market value of properties in areas like Lake Atitlan.
Each properties have very specific characteristics and unique in their location and size. So it is often difficult to know the true value of them. Still a seasoned realtor like me can have difficulties to recommend a market price as the market is very small and a lack of volume in transaction makes.