Appraisers in Mexico: SHF register and state registers

What the trade does

An appraiser estimates the value of a property and records it in an avalúo. In a purchase, an avalúo may be requested by a lender for a mortgage, by a notary or tax office for the acquisition tax base, or by a buyer who wants an independent figure. An appraisal is a valuation, not a guarantee of the price at which a property will sell; see property appraisal (avalúo) in Mexico and, for the tax value used by municipalities, cadastral value.

Register 1: the SHF, for mortgage appraisals

The SHF’s page for the Dirección de Registro de Valuación Inmobiliaria says it is where one can find “comunicados, guías y formatos para el registro de Unidades de Valuación, así como Valuadores Profesionales” (notices, guides and forms for registering valuation units and professional appraisers). The page links to:

• Reglas de Carácter General, the rules on authorisation as a professional appraiser for property that secures guaranteed housing credit. The SHF page lists amendments dated between 2003 and 4 October 2012. Some of these files are scanned images that we could not read as text, so we do not state their content.
• Consulta Pública Unidades de Valuación (page dated 5 June 2024), with two downloadable documents: the padrón of valuation units with their professional appraisers (file “UV con su padrón de VP al 11 11 2025”) and a catalogue of appraisals.
• Validación de Avalúos for appraisals generated for guaranteed housing credit, a separate online validation tool.

The list is a download of units and individuals. Payotte does not copy it.

Register 2: the state or the municipality, for tax and legal use

The tax and municipal appraisals follow state and local rules. We read one state law in detail: the Ley de Valuación del Estado de Jalisco (decree 17160, published in February 1998 with amendments recorded to 2000; we did not check whether it was later replaced). It says:

• The law creates the Registro Estatal Profesional de Peritos Valuadores, a register “de orden y consulta pública” (public and open to consultation), run by the state’s Comisión de Valuación (art. 40).
• State and municipal bodies and notaries “sólo admitirán” (will only accept) appraisals for procedures before them that were issued by appraisers in the register, or the cadastre under the cadastre law (art. 41).
• To register, the applicant must be a Mexican citizen, practise actively, hold a cédula profesional (professional licence number issued by the federal professions office), have at least one year of valuation practice and three years’ residence in the state, and meet the education the law sets (art. 42). The registration must be renewed every five years (art. 44).
• An appraisal that does not follow the law is only a “private opinion” and has no effect for acts involving public obligations (art. 14).
• A written warning applies when an appraiser advertises or offers services while using the registration number “de manera que induzca o pueda inducir error” (in a way that misleads) (art. 50, II).

Other states and municipalities have their own rules or none. For instance, a municipality may keep its own list of appraisers for the tax office. We did not read these and do not assert them. Ask the municipal finance or cadastre office where the property is which appraisals it will accept.

How you check an appraiser

1. Ask what the appraisal is for: a lender, a tax office, a court, or yourself. The right register depends on it.
2. For a mortgage: ask the lender which valuation unit it uses and open the SHF public list (gob.mx/shf/documentos/consulta-publica-228327). Search the unit’s name and the professional’s name yourself.
3. For tax or municipal use: ask the municipal tax or cadastre office, or the state authority, whether the appraiser must be registered with it, and where its register is published.
4. Check the person’s cédula profesional with the federal professions register (see real estate lawyers for how that register works). A cédula proves a degree, not the appraiser’s skill in a particular market.
5. Compare the appraiser’s name, address and registration number on the report with the register.

What the registers’ terms say

The SHF pages carry one notice, quoted word for word: “La legalidad, veracidad y la calidad de la información es estricta responsabilidad de la dependencia, entidad o empresa productiva del Estado que la proporcionó en virtud de sus atribuciones y/o facultades normativas.” We found no other terms of use on the SHF public-list pages. We did not read the Jalisco register’s own terms because we did not find its search page.

Which professional to consult

A mortgage lender can tell you which valuation units it accepts (see mortgage lenders). A notary can explain which valuation the tax calculation uses in your state (see notaries). A real estate lawyer can explain how an appraisal, a purchase price and the cadastral value interact for the tax base.

Questions to ask

• What register are you in, and what is your number?
• Is this appraisal accepted by my lender or by the municipal tax office, and for how long?
• What method and comparable properties did you use?
• Who is the report addressed to, and may another party rely on it?
• What is your fee, who pays, and is a visit to the property included?