To Buy or Not, that is the Question

Ask anyone who owns a timeshare – it is VERY difficult to resist the urge to buy when you are surrounded by beautiful views, sea breezes, romantic sunsets, and happy people. Who doesn’t want to own a piece of paradise? I myself have purchased over 90 time share weeks, a house on a Caribbean island, and an ocean front lot with 80 feet of white sandy beach – also in the Caribbean. Each of these purchases is s a long story and worthy of its own post, so I will spare you the details for now. I will leave time share purchases out of the discussion (though I know you are dying to know how I got 90 weeks), as well as new construction.

There are obvious pros and cons to buying and renting, so I will stick to the not so obvious considerations…the things you might not think of until you have spent a significant amount of time living in the tropics.

Renting is always much cheaper long term. So even if you only want a place for 6 months – it is often way more economical to rent a place for the whole year. I will give you a real example from here in Puerto Vallarta. We have been looking at 2 bedroom condos with a nice view of the water, close to downtown and walking distance to the beach. If we rented for one week through VRBO or some such rental agency, we would pay $2500 US a week. If we rented the same place for 6 months it would cost about $2500/month. Rent for an entire year and it will cost you about $1000/month. The advantage to taking a place for the whole year is you can leave your stuff here all year and do not have to try to fit a beach umbrella in your suitcase! (Not to mention those unwieldy pots and pans!)

Having your own stuff is nice. Quality cooking utensils, nice towels and sheets, and sharp knives are all things that you never get in a rental down here and they are very expensive to buy here. I always bring my own saran wrap, ziplock bags and dried herbs, which for some reason, are of particularly poor quality down here. Oh, and don’t forget your pillow!

If you rent – beware that there is no such thing as soft or even medium mattresses in Mexico. ALL mattresses should be compared to concrete slabs. So, having your own quality things here is the one big advantage of buying over renting. However, when you buy a house here – even if it is a resale – it almost always comes fully furnished. So, either way, you are stuck with bad pots and pans, and a stiff bed. Negotiating to have the furniture removed is possible – but often times the furniture is built out of concrete and is quite permanent – so that is easier said than done.

Whether renting or buying, it is important to know if the electricity is included. Short term rentals usually include it, long term rentals do not. This is an important cost factor as electricity can be very expensive here – especially if you run your air conditioner a lot. I had a bill last year that was over $700 US dollars for two months!

Maid service is another expense you will have whether you rent or own. Now you may say, “I don’t need a maid” but consider this…will you be prepared to wipe down every surface with bleach every day? Pick up the never ending falling leaves and blossoms? Hunt down the scorpions and tarantulas? Because if you are not, you will need a maid to do it – otherwise the bugs will overtake your condo. Besides, the average maid makes $6/day here – so helping the local economy by providing a job for someone – and paying them more than $6/day - is just a nice thing to do. Everybody wins! If you buy a house, you will need a gardener. "But I LOVE gardening," you say. Yeah, try pruning a coconut tree!

If you decide you want to buy, it is a pretty good idea to rent in the area first – because only at night will you be able to determine just how noisy it is. In many modern condos here – there are also nightclubs and bars all around – that means noise until 2 am! And God help you if you end up next door to the karaoke bar. Many people I have met start off near the beach or downtown, and quickly end up further away where they can avoid the endlessly intoxicated tourists.

We have decided for ourselves that is it far more economical to rent, and renting has the added advantage of giving us the flexibility to “try on” different locations. This year we have spent 5 weeks in Conchas Chinas, and are now heading to Bucerias, where we have rented a house in the country – 2 kilometers out of town, in a small housing development called Los Arroyos Verdes.

It is pet friendly, has a gorgeous heated pool, beautiful gardens,

including an herb garden, a yoga studio and spa, electricity and daily maid service, and a shuttle service into town, the beach and the local “Mega” grocery store. After that we will go to Playa del Carmen on the east coast and try on a small loft near the beach, right downtown.

Then, we may be off to Utila – a small Caribbean Island - to manage a lovely beach front vacation rental…more on that later...so stay tuned!

Living the Dream, or Dreaming?

For many people who retire, going somewhere “south” where the cost of living is cheaper than in Canada or the U.S is a big consideration, as is the question "Where should we go?", and “Is it better to rent, or buy?” I have been looking at international real estate for 10 years and I am still undecided. There are so many factors:

• Local economy – will your investment in real estate grow, or will you ever be able to sell when you need to?
• How risky is the investment versus the real estate market back home?
• What is the true cost of maintaining a property in the tropics?
• Do these "income producing" properties really cover your costs like all the realtors say?
• Is it better to rent or buy?
• Can you really live here for $1500 month like the International Living magazine says?

Here are some of the things I have discovered …

• It’s HOT here! Hot is good – don’t get me wrong – but hot is different when you are here for a week laying by the beach, versus here for 6-12 months standing in line at the cell phone place. Hot and humid takes on new meaning when instead of laying by the pool you are grocery shopping in a crowded market with sweat pouring down your face into your eyes and dripping off the end of your nose. Heat loses its romance when sweat soaks through your clothes when sitting on the bus making it look like you peed your pants when you stand up.

• Mold, mildew, creeping vines, and creepy bugs will literally take over your home if you are not constantly washing surfaces with bleach, fumigating and weeding. You will find teeny tiny ants in your food, in your shower, in you shoes. Iguanas will stalk you, hiss at you when you walk by, and lurk around every corner, waiting to pounce on dropped food…or if you are unlucky, your painted toe nails!

• It IS cheaper to live down south - BUT - it depends where you live, and how you live. Big centres like Puerto Vallarta are more expensive than smaller communities further from international airports. Electricity is very expensive, so if you run your air conditioner all day and night you can spend $400 month just on electricity! If you eat like a local, food is cheaper here, but if you insist on olive oil, steak, brand names of prepared foods, etc, it is more expensive than back home. Eat like a local, and you can save a lot ...fresh fish, fresh fruit and veggies, rice and beans.

• The Mexican economy is growing, as is the middle class here – putting upward pressure on real estate – however - it is the homes that middle income Mexicans are buying – not the over-priced condos with views the xpats are buying – that are increasing in value.

• Middle income Mexican homes that are increasing in value are in Mexican neighbourhoods, and Mexican neighbourhoods are NOISY! This is just a reality. Mexican culture is about family and music and fun…large families, lots of kids…who by the way play in the streets until late at night. Lots of dogs – unfixed – marking their territory by barking. Loud sappy Mexican music playing until 6 am…yes 6 am! Parties here start around 10pm and end in the morning. Then there are the roosters….just about the time the music ends, the roosters start. Add to the cacophony the old rickety busses clamouring down the cobblestone streets, and the water truck announcing his arrival through a megaphone, and you get the picture…

• Crime – which, in general, in the past 10 years has not been too bad in tourist areas like Puerto Vallarta, Cabo san Lucas, Cancun, and Playa del Carmen – is up between 50%-600%. Cabo and Cancun in particular. This turn is recent – and thanks to the new Narco competition in the void created by the capture of El Chapo. A new gang – called the Jalisco New Generation - is spreading terror – Escabar style – and if things do not improve rapidly, Mexico may see a rapid departure of xpats – leaving behind their properties – and a ruined economy in their wake.

Having said all that, you might wonder why anyone would come here at all! Well, because like anything, you must keep things in perspective. Good balances bad. What I love about the developing south is:

• It’s HOT! And when the grocery shopping is over, you can jump in the pool or walk on the beach

• Labour is cheap, so it is affordable to hire a maid to keep the mold and bugs at bay

• Mexican architecture is charming: large open windows let in cool ocean breezes, exposed brick and colourful tile excite the senses. Cool marble floors and lush gardens feel good on your feet

• People here are very family oriented and very hospitable. No one has attached garages that they drive into keeping themselves from ever meeting their neighbours. They greet you in the streets and when you get on the bus. People smile and sing while they work. Life happens on the street. People shop, talk, rest, sleep, play, and work on the streets (as opposed to in buildings), so you really feel a part of a community

• Crime is of course a concern, and not to be taken lightly, but here is what I can say, I feel safer here at night walking down the street than I would in downtown Toronto. The murder rate here in Puerto Vallarta is still lower than the top ten crime cities in the U.S. If you do not flaunt your wealth, hang out at clubs late at night, and/or buy drugs, it is relatively safe.
So if you choose to come, the question then becomes whether you should buy or rent….and THAT my friends, is the subject of my next blog post. Right now, I have to go for my morning stroll up the cobblestone street to watch the sun pop over the mountain and shine its golden rays on the stunning turquoise sea below.

Shepherd's Pie

Enjoying ethnic food as I do, I have often wondered what Canada’s national food is? The best I can come up with is Shepherd’s Pie - or in Quebec - Pâté chinois. I guess every culture has its own version of this…some sort of ground meat with gravy of sorts, a vegetable (corn, or carrots), topped with smashed potatoes and baked.

Well today I decided to make a Mexican version. It went something like this:

Take yesterday’s road runner chicken (minus the feet) and shred
Add yesterday’s roadrunner chicken juice (minus the fat which I took off after I froze the juice)

Fry some red onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic in hot oil until caramelized
Add 1/3 cup of quality white wine (brought from the sunny Okanagan of course) and reduce by half
Add in diced carrot and a tsp of herbs de provence (grown in my Oliver garden and dried….you see, THIS is why I needed 2 large suitcases!) season and cook until softened

Pour into a baking dish

Smash yesterday’s baked squash with some thick Mexican cream and some salt and pepper
Smooth over the chicken mixture and top with a mild shredded mystery Mexican cheese
Bake until you run out of wine to drink.



While wondering around for hours looking for the Mercado del mar(fish market), I was surprised that the several people I asked had no idea where it was…even though it was within several blocks of where they were working. It is possible it had little to do with them, a lots to do with how terrible my Spanish is. Duolingo tells me I am 37% fluent – I think the program lies.

Duolingo is however a pretty good free program for learning languages. I have been doing lessons since last November, and am pretty surprised how easily I read. Speaking is quite another thing…my accent is terrible, and I often forget that adjectives change from masculine to feminine depending on the sex of the word they are describing.

I guess the word “sex” is not the best word to use when discussing grammar – I wonder what sex sex is?? Anyway, I suppose “gender” is more appropriate. At any rate, remembering gender when speaking is difficult, as is understanding people who speak a hundred miles an hour. Mexicans speak much quicker than the bots on my ipad. (I love having conversations with bots…I can practice ordering food, or asking for directions, and the language bot will respond accordingly – and I get points when my sentences are particularly advanced!).

I have read that the best place to go learn Spanish is in Columbia because they speak slower and have a neutral accent. Stephane and I have thought about going there after our 6 months are over here. There are several Spanish schools in Cartagena – a beautiful colonial city on the Caribbean coast. Another alternative where learning Spanish is reasonably inexpensive is Ecuador – another country I have wanted to visit for some time. Perhaps we will go to both countries and I can cross a few things off my bucket list, including the Galapagos Islands. If we don't make it that far, I can at least say I HAVE already seen the blue footed boobie! A bird only to be found there – and in Islas Marietas National Park - a group of islands in Mexico - not far from here.

Anyway, we finally found the market and I bought some nice tuna filets and a whole mackerel - known here as a Sierra.

Fresh fish and fruit are a big part of what we love about being here - and of course the views are to die for. Last night Stephane awoke in the night and this was the view out our bedroom window.