Yes. If you take one thing from this whole list, take this one. The people who get hurt buying on Roatan almost never got hurt by the island. They got hurt because they trusted the seller's paperwork, or the seller's lawyer, or a handshake with a nice view behind it. Your own lawyer, chosen by you, paid by you, working for you alone, is the difference.
On Roatan you want a lawyer who is also a notary, because the deed is signed in front of a notary and then registered. One person handling both halves keeps the file tight. English-speaking lawyers exist on the island; the documents themselves are in Spanish, and the law says they have to be, so you want someone who can explain each page to you before you sign it.
What does that lawyer actually check? First, the title at the property registry: who the registered owner is, whether that matches the person selling, and whether anything is registered against the property, such as a mortgage, a lien or a claim. Second, the survey. The plan on paper has to match the markers on the ground, and your lawyer will often want a recent survey and may send a surveyor out. Third, the taxes and the municipal records, because an unpaid tax can follow the property to the next owner. Fourth, if the property is held in a corporation, the corporation's own books and obligations. Fifth, access: that the road or the path to your door is legally yours to use, not a neighbour's goodwill.
I will also say what a lawyer is not. A lawyer is not a building inspector. Pay for an inspection separately. And a lawyer is not a guarantee against a bad purchase, only against a bad title.
Then there is the deposit. Ask, in writing, where your money sits between the offer and the closing. Never send it to the seller directly. Ask your lawyer what happens to it if the title search fails. Get the fee quote in writing at the start. Cheapest is not the goal; a clean title is the goal.
A last word about buying on possession. Sometimes a property is offered where someone clearly lives on it and has for years, but the paper is not clean. The price looks good. I do not sell those, and your lawyer will tell you why.
What people usually do
- Buyers pick their lawyer before they make an offer, often after meeting two or three.
- They ask for a written fee quote and a written answer on where the deposit sits.
- They pay for a survey review and a separate building inspection.
- They never buy on possession or on a promise that the paperwork will be fixed later.