Mexican Real Estate Considerations in General

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Whether it's time to get out of the rat race, live somewhere warm, or just experience life from a different perspective, Mexico is a great place to live.

It's currently estimated that there are 1.5 million Americans and other expats living in Mexico. No one really knows for sure. Estimates that it will become 10 million in 10 years is a bit hard to believe, but it would even things out a bit as Mexican workers come up here and Americans move down there!

Here are some considerations to think about when deciding where to live in Mexico:

1. Do you want to live full or part time in Mexico? Mexico has beautiful year-round moderate climate in its interior, such as Ajijic and San Miguel de Allende. Or it has fabulous beach towns such as San Carlos, Puerto Vallarta, Playa de Carmen which can be hot and rainy part of the year. It has deserts, rain forests, mountains, beaches. Just about anything to meet your style.


2. Decide if you want to live with other expats, mingle more with the natives, or a combination of both. Believe it or not there are tens of thousands of expats living in Mexico who never learn the language or have any interaction with the natives. When I lived and studied in San Miguel de Allende with a Mexican family, they were surprised that I wanted to hang out with them because all of their other American guests had just gone out with other Americans. That's fine if that's your style, but personally I recommend that you learn Spanish and get to know your community. Besides being invited to some fabulous parties, you'll have people who can vouch for you, if you ever get in trouble. My language school in San Miguel de Allende was Academia Hispano Americano but there's lots more schools there, so check them all out if that's the way you want to go.


3. Do you have family in the U.S. or Canada that you will want to have visit you? There are many amazing communities in Mexico that are really off the beaten path. If you want to live there full time and have family visit you, this could influence where you live. Your U.S. family has short vacation holidays and no time to slip into the Mexican slowed down pace. They want to get in fast, stay a short time and leave fast. Most beach resorts have airports and lots of inexpensive flights to them (except at Christmas and Easter time). Inland communities can be extremely hard and expensive to get to such as Alamos, Sonora, and San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. An exception is Ajijic/Lake Chapala which is near Guadalajara.


4. What's your tolerance for different customs? I've seen many an expat fall in love with the cheap living and climate but not the culture. They were going to be the ones who changed everyone to suit them. They rarely lasted long. If you are not tolerant of the Mexican culture and way of doing things....pick a different country or stay home!