Holbox was established as an Ejido by the President of the Republic in 1938, and as of 1985 the Ministry of Agrarian Reform began to issue the first Property Titles, derived from the Ejido Certificates.

Once the Ministry of Agrarian Reform issues a Property Title, it is registered in the Public Property Registry and in the Municipal Cadastre, which is why from this moment on the property tax must be paid. This Property Title, being endorsed by the SRA, provides total legal certainty about who is the rightful owner under the law.

Once this Property Title is in place, any Public Notary can issue the first deed, either to the same owner or to a third party who buys it through the Public Deed granted by the Notary trusted by the buyer.

To be able to buy a property in Holbox as a foreigner there are 2 options under Mexican law, through a bank escrow, where the bank keeps the title of the property, but the foreigner keeps the rights to the land. Or through the constitution of a Mexican company, in which two people must remain as shareholders, regardless of their nationality, or the percentage that each person owns. A company incorporated in Mexico has the same rights and obligations regardless of whether the shareholders are Mexican or foreign. In other words, this company under the Law grants the same rights to foreigners, through the company, as to Mexicans.

Holbox is approximately 40 kilometers long, with an average of a kilometer and a half wide, however, the only part of the Island that can be developed are the lots that are within the urban growth area of ​​Holbox, that is, in the surroundings of the town and exclusively in what is known as Isla Chica, which has an approximate length of 5 kilometers. In the cadastral ballot it must be indicated as Urban Solar. The remaining 35 kilometers have obtained a low density by a law proclaimed in October 2018, that it leaves Isla Grande practically as a conservation area.

To build in Holbox, since it is located within an area designated as a Protected Natural Area, it is necessary to present an Impact Manifesto to the Secretary of the Navy and Natural Resources, which implies a complicated process that can take several months. However, for a single-family home there is another process that can be used, through a consent to obtain the Manifesto as it is a home for own use.