Why Work With Us?
Confused by too many options? We wonder: just who really is selling this house!
Are you new to buying a home in San Miguel de Allende? Maybe it’s even your first experience buying real estate in a foreign country, much less Mexico. Who best protects your investment dollars?
Perhaps you’re a seller, eager for the best price but determined to give your property the best exposure available in a down economy. Who offers the most comprehensive, targeted—and up-to-date—real estate marketing?
Confused by too many options? It’s tough to choose!
We all claim to be “leaders” in the industry, or the “most experienced,” or “the oldest agency.” We’re all members of the NAR—that’s the big “R” below—and AMPI, both internationally recognized realty memberships. We all have bilingual staff, experienced legal experts on hand, and home-staging abilities for sparsely decorated homes. Many have testimonials, often unnamed or last-nameless. And we all—well, almost all—have web sites, even if some seem to date to the Eisenhower Era when SEO was a Cold War term.
How does Alma Realty San Miguel demonstrate our advantage to you?
Partner Ben Calderoni brokered the site and obtained permits for the Rosewood San Miguel site
Start with our public-noted experience: broker of the Hotel Matilda and Rosewood San Miguel sites, two of the most demanding and discerning professional clients in the market. Add eleven more years of that experience just in San Miguel alone, a bi-national partner —¡hablamos el idioma de bienes raíces en México!—and a personal roster of the best local experts in town: legal & financial, construction & design.
Ask to talk to our testimonials, all of whom share their full names on our site. They’ll be glad to share their experience with you.
Then compare our marketing expertise. Ask the other guys’ SEO strategy. Do they blog? Tweet? Post for international publications? Do they only rank on Google if you input their actual company name (hint: that’s not useful for new-market buyers).
QR codes hook buyers instantly! Click here and we’ll explain how.
Can they reach a highly-targeted demographic with a Facebook marketing campaign for your home? Is their YouTube post simply a dusty PowerPoint put to elevator music? Do they think a QR code is a variation on Dairy Queen (another hint: it’s not).
But here’s the best way to learn our advantage: drop in for a visit. We’ll chat when you’re ready!
Gregory R. Gunter
Partner
Attorney & Notario Referral:
The Mexican attorney and notary—called a notario—serve roles much different than their counterparts north of the border. Local attorneys are required for a property title search, crucial to any purchase investigation. And the notario will craft all your legal documents for ownership. It is crucial—muy importante!—to ensure you have the best of each, and Alma Realty will manage that process for you or provide a referral to the most trusted of each specialty, as you wish.
Bilingual Contracts:
Non-Spanish documents in Mexico are not legal, therefore all legally-enforceable documents must be in Spanish. Alma Realty provides bilingual documents, however, so our clients need not hire a translator just to buy—or sell—their new home.
Consulting Services:
From entry and exit strategies, immigration issues, or tax requirements—whether property tax, capital gains tax or transfer taxes—Alma Realty can either address the issue, or refer you to our most trusted advisors. Also ask about our specialty services, like handling staff transition: the staff servicing a domicile often stay in contract to the new property owner—ask about the ramifications.
Entitlement Services:
As the old saying goes, ”Time is money,” but not to a government bureaucrat. Getting development permits—whether for your new home or a new boutique hotel—from the proper Mexican authorities can be time-consuming and expensive. Partner Ben Calderoni managed all aspects of permitting the U.S. $235 million Rosewood San Miguel property in record-breaking time. Our services are broad: advice on ownership structure; selection of administrative, development, design, engineering, and constructions teams; procurement of all permits—there can be many!; bonding; and obtaining the final permit, the “Permit to Sell.”
Escrow Services:
Your bank account is protected and insured—shouldn’t your escrow funds be, also? With Alma Realty, your earnest money deposit will be securely held in a U.S. insured Texas bank with a private escrow account; funds are then distributed at closing upon execution of the Deed. We can also set up escrow for maintenance reserves, staff termination fees, or any other closing contingency.
Inspection Services:
San Miguel de Allende was founded in 1542, and some of our homes are centuries old: a professional home inspection can prove priceless. We can manage your home inspection, which will be performed by a qualified architect/engineer, the results of which will be submitted in English, as needed.
Loans:
While mortgages are still a relatively new financial tool in Mexico, the service has been available for years. Need a loan? We can assist you in procuring a loan from a major international lender.
Title Insurance:
Our on our home page, our Featured Partner, Stewart Title offers Alma Realty clients peace of mind with their international purchase transaction. Licensed in Mexico, Stewart Title can not only provide title insurance on any Mexican property purchase—just like in the U.S.—but they can also manage closing-money escrows for a safe & secure transaction.
Construction Transparency Services
Anxious to build your dream home in San Miguel? Us too—the partners of Alma Realty have been through that experience! In fact, it was Ben Calderoni’s experience of building his own home here that inspired him to offer Construction Transparency Services as an option for clients facing the same daunting challenge.
Whether you’re an expat adjusting to entirely different construction methodology and cultural norms, or a Mexican National unfamiliar with the local market and expertise—or lack thereof—Construction Transparency Services provide exactly the assistance they describe: an open understanding of the construction process as it’s conducted in San Miguel.
Construction problems are seldom limited to the rather expected—though preventable—cost & schedule overruns so prevalent in the industry. From proper engineering and permitting, to bid management and material acquisition, to construction and consultant management, in San Miguel the home building process requires an extraordinary amount of oversight. Risks abound, from a settled foundation stemming from improper soil investigation, to material mark-ups and untraceable accounting.
If building that dream home is even a consideration, come in for a free consultation to learn how we can protect your biggest investment—both financially and emotionally—through our Construction Transparency Services.
“Trust is critical in buying real estate in Mexico, and we trust Ben inherently. As a wealth manager for an international investment banking and securities firm, my clients demand that I prove the most trusted advisor possible; I require the same for my own investments. Ben proved the consummate trusted advisor when we bought our home in San Miguel. We enthusiastically recommend Ben’s firm without reservation.”
Thomas & Margah Lips
Senior V.P.
Connecticut and San Miguel de Allende
“We’ve known Ben Calderoni for over eight years—he’s earned our complete trust by handling four separate real estate transactions in San Miguel de Allende for us as both buyers and sellers. Ben saved us thousands of dollars by applying his deep knowledge of contracts, legal aspects, and changes in custom and practice in local real estate transactions. His advice on every aspect of buying and selling property in Mexico is absolutely invaluable—we confidently recommend him to our family members and friends!”
Lynne & Tim Martin
“As original Co-Founder of Bald Mountain Development—the Aspen, Colorado-based developer of the Rosewood San Miguel project—my team and I were pleased to find that Ben Calderoni not only represented the site’s sellers exclusively, but that he had also secured the proper development permits we needed. Ben’s local market expertise in San Miguel is unparalleled—you need him on your side!”
Scott Writer
StillWater Preservation, Partner
Bald Mountain Development, Co-Founder
(Rosewood San Miguel Developer)
“Ben Calderoni managed every aspect of my property sale with utmost attention: he handled all the legal documentation and proved to be an excellent advisor on all the finances. Ben always responded immediately to my every request and made the entire procedure seem effortless—he’s a joy to work with. I consider Ben to be THE real estate expert in San Miguel!”
Ms. Kenny Mann
Sag Harbor, New York
“We have purchased many properties in the U.S. over the years and have never had a better property buying experience than we did with Ben and his staff—they were extremely efficient and professional. I would not hesitate for a minute to use them again.”
Mike & Keehe Pearce
Houston, Texas