Finding somewhere to live in Mexico City

The fiador, and the póliza jurídica

The traditional requirement is a fiador: a guarantor who owns unmortgaged property in Mexico City and will produce the deeds as security. Almost no foreigner can supply one. The recognised substitute is a póliza jurídica, a legal policy bought by the tenant from a specialist company that vets you, drafts the contract and covers the landlord's legal costs if it goes wrong. Arrange it before you find a flat, because the vetting takes time and the good flats do not wait.

• Fiador: property owner in CDMX, presenting escrituras as security.
• Póliza jurídica: budget roughly one month's rent, sometimes quoted as a percentage of the annual rent.
• The investigación covers your income, employment and references, and takes several days.
• Some landlords accept a larger deposit instead; many will not, whatever the money offered.

The contract and the money

A contrato de arrendamiento normally runs for a year and states the rent, the annual increase and who pays maintenance. The typical up-front package is one month's deposit plus the first month's rent, plus the póliza. Building maintenance (mantenimiento) is often billed separately by the administration and can be substantial in a serviced building, so ask for the figure rather than assuming it is included.

• Deposit: usually one month, held against damage and unpaid bills.
• Mantenimiento: monthly service charge, frequently quoted separately from rent.
• The annual increase clause is often tied to inflation; read what index it names.
• Check the person signing is the owner, and that a representative has a power of attorney.

The building, and the seismic question

After the 2017 earthquake, asking about a building's structural condition became ordinary diligence rather than paranoia, and locals do it. Ask whether the building has a current structural safety assessment, whether it was affected in 2017, and what was repaired. Older buildings in Roma, Condesa and the Centro sit on the soft former lakebed, where the ground amplifies seismic movement more than the harder ground to the west and south.

• Ask for the constancia or dictamen of structural safety if one exists.
• Ask what happened to the building in September 2017 and what was repaired.
• Find the emergency exits and the assembly point on the first day, not the first alarm.

Where to look, and the price you will be quoted

Inmuebles24 and Vivanuncios carry the mainstream inventory, largely in Spanish and largely at local prices. English-language listings and international short-let platforms carry a distinct and considerably higher price for the same square metres, and the gap between the two markets is the single largest saving available to anyone who can operate in Spanish. Arriving on a short let and searching locally once you are in the city is the usual approach, and it is a sensitive subject in the neighbourhoods where it has driven prices up.

In order

1. 1Start the póliza jurídica process before you start viewing.
2. 2Assemble the file: passport, residency card, proof of income, employment letter, references.
3. 3Search Spanish-language portals as well as the international ones.
4. 4View in person; never transfer money to hold a flat sight unseen.
5. 5Ask about the building's structural assessment and its 2017 history.
6. 6Confirm what mantenimiento costs and what it includes.
7. 7Check whether the flat has a kitchen fitted, and what appliances stay.
8. 8Sign, then get utilities or a constancia de domicilio into your own name — you will need proof of address constantly.