“Inventory of housing” were words I didn’t understand very well – until a friend from the U.S. asked me to find him an inexpensive old “fixer-upper” in this colonial city. He’s an environmentalist so I knew he would want something simple – and I knew he would be thrilled with Mexico’s low cost of repairs. […]
Continue ReadingPosted by Richard Alt on July 30, 1997: My wife and I have just returned from Ajijic. While there we toured real estate with a very competent man. We are currently negotiating for a property which is a walled lot with all utilities installed, a basic foundation, cistern, etc. for a small home. What we […]
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With a population oscillating at around 20 million, streets jammed with cars, and buildings that range from sublime to ridiculous, it is hard to imagine that Mexico City was, for many years, a model of urban development and civility. The “City of Palaces,” as it was once known, was orderly and planned, with uniform building […]
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What’s struck me recently about Mexico — apart from the usual beauty of its beaches, mysticism of its colonial cities, delectability of its culinary arts, and friendliness of its people — is how different the reality is from the perception. In the United States, we’ve grown inured to hearing that you just can’t travel to […]
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*Statistics from Multi List Vallarta The last decade of the millennium has brought a multitude of changes to the real estate market of Puerto Vallarta. The effects of this can be seen by the expansion of the market itself beyond the confines of the Bay of Banderas. New phrases have been coined to describe the […]
Continue ReadingAnyone interested in purchasing land Lakeside has watched the prices skyrocket over the last two years. It’s next to impossible to find single lots because the contractors are buying open land, subdividing and offering construction lots — a combination land and building deal. Several friends and myself banded together a couple of months ago and […]
Continue ReadingOn April 1st, I bought a new condo as a rental. That should have been a warning. Fool! If you’ve been reading my columns you know what I went through to gut out my own house and rebuild it, and you’ve read some of the problems of remodeling that I’m in the midst of. Buying […]
Continue ReadingAre you renting in Mexico or did you buy? Why? Can you own your house outright? These are questions I’m frequently asked. Generally, my recommendation is to rent for at least six months until you get the “lay of the land”. That being said, I bought a house after only 3 days in Ajijic and […]
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As I walked through the hotel lobby, the weight of the three hundred $100 bills sewn to the waist band of my Jockey shorts pulled my underpants down over my small rear. The money was hanging at my knees. As inconspicuous as a penguin waddling through the hotel lobby at high noon, I could easily […]
Continue ReadingPosted by Ernie Gorrie Nov 1999 As some of you know, Glenna and I bought a building lot just north of Zihuatanejo. We were thinking we wanted to build a little house (600 – 900 sq ft) in a few years. But with the peso appearing to stabilize,inflation projected at 20-30% for the next year, […]
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