Buying Real Estate in Los Cabos: Zoning & Sustainable Views
The Allure of Los Cabos
When people come to Los Cabos they are often overwhelmed: the sun, the beaches, the tequila, the warm and friendly people. You soak it all in and think those bumper stickers are right, there really are no bad days here. You graduate from the all-inclusive resorts to renting a condo and having a rental car. You find amazing produce at the local grocery stores. You find the warmth and comfort of home by having a Home Depot, a Costco and a Walmart handy. Having a car means freedom to explore and you’ve been having Baja Chicken Soup in Los Barriles, strolling through artisan shops in Todos Santos and watching the sunset on Cerritos Beach. You love the Marina in San Lucas, the town square in San Jose. You like the quiet and laid back vibe of San Jose or maybe you prefer the vibrant action and sounds of San Lucas at night. Learning and practicing your Spanish is fun and you have your favorite spots and you may even find you’re becoming a “local” somewhere. You shop, cook, live and have fun almost like being at home with a twist that’s addictive. After a few more holidays to Cabo you think this place is awesome! I should retire here! I should own a place here! I should own a rental place here! This place is for us!
You see shops around the Marina with Real Estate listings. You’ve been intrigued. Maybe you’ve even stopped in to chat. You hear about prices. It seems doable. You go home and surf the internet, you see more listings and read all about buying in Mexico. You read about Title Insurance, Fidecomiyso’s and the need to be able to pay cash or live with aggressive financing. Lots of ex-pat sites will tell you about how to pay your power bill and internet bill, how to get Satellite TV from home and a lot of other useful tips to help sort out living here. Most of all you’re loving those photos you see on-line of the views from that condo or house you’re dreaming about. You see the Sea of Cortez and Lands End. Look at this one, it has views of El Arco. Another has stunning views of Palmilla. You love it and you want it!
Buying A Home With A View
Now if that view is really important to you, buying that place with the great view is easy. Have the cash, sign, and pay. Before you do any of that, one thing to get your head around is how “sustainable” is that view you’re paying for. What I mean by a “Sustainable View” is whether or not the zoning and development of the land between you and the view you treasure can change. Around Los Cabos it can change for a few reasons:
- When a new home or number of homes in your gated community are built. You should be able to assess your risk of this with the developer and or the Home Owners Association (HOA). Be careful, I’ve heard of instances where the developer will ignore any promises, written or otherwise and build right in front of you anyway to make a profit.
- When that empty land between you and that view is zoned for 4 story condos and the owner of that land can build them if he conforms to the zoning regulations.
- When zoning doesn’t allow something the land owner wants and someone gets paid off.
- When politicians are influenced to change zoning rules or reclassify zoning that will increase someone’s profitability at the expense of your view.
Land Zoning In Los Cabos
Popular zones most buyers interested in a view will be looking in are RT0, RT1 and AT0. Land zoned as AT0 is predominantly from the water to trans-peninsular highway. AT0 means Turistico Hotelero or Tourism and Hotels. So generally south of the highway is AT0. North of the highway is predominantly RT0. RT0 means Residential Turistico or Residential and Tourism. RT1 is similar to RT0 but applies to the Pedregal area of Lands End.
The illustration above shows the El Tezal area in Cabo San Lucas. You can see the darker pink areas are denoted AT0 below the highway. Above the highway you will see the lighter pink areas denoted as RT0.
Once you have the full map in hand you need to reference the zoning grids to see what’s allowed in those areas. In a nutshell, up to 6 stories of hotel or condo can show up as a view blocker in AT0 zoned land. For RT0 and RT1 the upper limit is a 4 story condo to block your view.
In Los Cabos there are no sight-line protections afforded to owners and investors who have bought a spectacular view. If the developer builds according to the zoning regulations you can’t do a thing about it. If they stray outside of zoning regulations, there’s a good chance someone got paid to look the other way and allow another story or two on a luxury hotel.
So you might think this is all fairly ridiculous and it is. It happens in Los Cabos a lot. La Jolla in San Jose has a big hotel going up to block their views. The Sun Rock beside Cabo Bello destroyed many homeowners’ views. The Tramonti project in El Tezal is going to put monstrous 4 story condo blocks in front of high end homes in the Hermitage. The best way you can avoid over-paying for a view and or suffering great disappointment when that view is destroyed by following a few rules, being diligent and being patient. I know this well – I own in the Hermitage and had to learn these rules after the fact, the hard way!
Rules To Obtain The Most Sustainable View
Rule # 1: “To see the water you need to be at the water”
Seems straightforward and makes sense, who’s going to build a hotel or condo out in the water in front of me? Unless zoning is extended to the ocean and developers find cost effective ways to locate condos on stilts it seems improbable but not impossible (Google Search: “Burj Al Arab Hotel”). The best way to ensure your ocean view is sustainable is to be at the water!
Rule # 2: “Get educated if you’re not going to be at the water”
Getting educated involves understanding all aspects that can affect that view. First, as you get started, you need to understand the zoning throughout the Los Cabos Municipality. Without a big study of the zoning maps, the simplest thing for you to remember is that any plot of land you see between you and that view you treasure could have at least 4 stories of condo or hotel there blocking your view. Below the highway to the water it can be 6 stories.
Second, if you also have an area in mind that has development oversight by a developer or a Home Owners Association or HOA then you need to obtain their requirements for building within the HOA. Many areas like Cabo Bello, Pedregal, Palmilla and other will have restrictions on building heights, rooftop terraces and other features that will control potential view destruction within the HOA. Most HOA documentation is available in both English and Spanish, however the Spanish version is the legal one.
Rule # 3: “Find an ethical, trustworthy Real Estate Professional”
If you’ve studied the zoning for the area and find you know more about the zoning than your realtor, then you best find another one. Providing full disclosure about the zoning in the area can seriously detract from making a sale and simply saying nothing is a whole lot easier than fessing up and turning you off buying altogether. Also, don’t let that seemingly trustworthy Mexican developer’s representative convince you of anything when he says “the most that can be built on the lot in front of you is 2 stories” because it's simply untrue. He knows the zoning for that land says 4 story condos can be built there, he just wants to make a sale and is very content to lie to you to make that sale.
When a realtor tries to convince you not to worry as that land over there is owned by the natives or by the city, know that when that land is sold it’s the zoning that matters and not who owns it now. Some day that land will be sold and you have no say over what happens to be built there, so make sure you know what could be built up front. Take no comfort in any words tossed around about who owns the land. If a realtor tells you that land is protected and specially zoned and not to worry, get a lawyer who understands the zoning to verify that. If you’re able to find a Real Estate professional that is knowledgeable about the zoning and acknowledges there are real risks to having a “Sustainable View”, you just may have someone you can actually trust to find you that Cabo dream home.
Rule # 4: “Make an offer based on facts and risks”
If after all of your due diligence you want to make an offer, make it based on all the facts you now have and the risks you see in the view changing. If you see the probability being high of losing that ocean view, make your offer reflect that by providing a lower price. In the end when you say to yourself “I still gotta have it” at least you bought knowing the zoning and other factors that will affect that view. When the view changes you get to say “I knew that could happen and I’m okay with it”. Best of all you won’t be kicking yourself for not doing your part or for believing someone’s lies and lack of disclosure. Enjoy Cabo and if you’re going to buy here know what you’re getting into!
Call to Action
Local Baja have asked me to close with a call to action. I thought long and hard about this. While I firmly believe that zoning reform and sight-line protection should happen, the only realistic way I see it happening is if it comes right from the buyers. Buyers need to refuse to buy because their view isn’t sustainable. If they do buy it should be at prices much less than asked for. I believe a push back from the buying community and on through to the developers and land owners is the only thing that can resonate with the politicians and the Municipality of Los Cabos. Screaming developers and landowners will get attention at City Hall. Getting that push back from buyers started involves education which I hope this article serves to do.
Realtors are also a very important part of the buying equation, so my call to action is:
“Should the MLS service and other governing bodies in Los Cabos compel Realtors to be educated on Land Zoning and should Realtors be compelled – under threat of fines or suspension – to provide full disclosure to clients about land zoning and any other factor that can affect the property’s view?”
Resources
Finding land zoning information is not easy since government websites are in Spanish and sometimes google searches won’t land you close unless you use the right Spanish words. You can find zoning information on the following sites:
- Planning Authority – Los Cabos Municipality Planning Authority website is where you can find PDU 2040, which is the development vision through 2040 for the Los Cabos Municipality that includes San Jose del Cabo, Cabo San Lucas and the corridor in between.
- Cabo Truth - where the key files are available from the PDU2040 site: the zoning map, zoning restrictions by zone and an English translation of the three key zones.
