Just another small Mexican town? No, it’s famous worldwide for its exquisite pottery. I’ve already told the story of Mata Ortiz and Juan Quezada – the link takes you to what I wrote about it, five years ago, when we went there at the end of a trip around northern Mexico in our motorhome. (The Mata Ortiz part begins about halfway down the page, just before the picture of a bedroom.)

An American anthropologist, Spencer MacCallum, figures prominently in that story, and I’ve stayed on his email list ever since then. Just recently, I read his latest updates about Mata Ortiz and the nearby town of Casas Grandes, where he and his wife now live.

Here’s a link to a Google Map of Casas Grandes. It’s on the edge of a rich agricultural area. The nearby city of Nuevo Casas Grandes must have at least 60,000 inhabitants, where I think Casas Grandes is about 6,000 and Mata Ortiz maybe 1,500.

View  Map

He talks about it being quite safe there (on the page about travel to the area) and he lists some houses for sale that people have asked him to mention. If you have ever dreamed of buying a traditional adobe and fixing it up, this is one place you can do it! My jaw dropped at some of the low prices, for houses old and new, adobe or not. Here’s one example in Casas Grandes, from the classifieds page. There were some in need of repair for way less.

Old adobe home with traditional walled garden (fruit and shade trees, flowers) two blocks from the plaza on the historic Camino Real. 22” walls, vigas. The oldest section, once the town’s dance hall, dates to the nineteenth century. Newly roofed and re-wired. $65,000 USD.

What would be the pros and cons of living in that area? Admittedly the climate is dry, dusty, windy, and on the extreme side. It can be very cold and very hot… kind of like Deming, NM, where Kelly and I have spent a couple of winters. We’ve never stuck around for the hot summers.

But it’s got great access to the US, maybe two or three hours to Deming or El Paso by car. Sometimes here by Lake Chapala, I feel rather cut off from the US, though admittedly it only took us four hours to fly to San Francisco, California, a couple of months ago.

I’ve had many ideas for books that I will never get around to writing. One of them would be a book about northern Mexico as a place for Americans to live. The conventional views of that region as being drug-ridden and highly dangerous are probably true of a few specific locales. My guess is that a lot of places within a few hours of the border are delightful. Alamos, south of Nogales, Arizona, is a well-known popular spot which Kelly and I liked when we were there in May of last year.

Back to Casas Grandes. The number of foreigners is small, but when we were there, there was quite a spirit of helping the village of Mata Ortiz with its art. And to me, one of the most fascinating things about Mata Ortiz is the extraordinary flowering of creativity there and what that says about what we humans are capable of.

We are not planning to leave Lake Chapala, but next time we drive back to the US, maybe next summer, we may well go by the Mata Ortiz area again and see how it’s doing. And if you’ve been wondering about living in Mexico, this is yet another of many interesting places in this vast and complex country!

Casas Grandes and Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

A friend of ours, Miguel Roman, works in real estate out of Ajijic -– that link takes you to his site. It happened that he had just listed a house in the town of Chapala for $35,000 US. Kelly had directions to it and decided that with nearly an hour and a half till he would be picking me up, he’d go find the house.

An adventure followed.

He found the right neighborhood and parked a couple of blocks away, before the road turned into a rugged path. He wandered around and found a house that had the right number. There was a Mexican woman in the yard, and she confirmed that the house was for sale.

She was most hospitable and asked him if he’d like to see it. So he went inside with her and took quite a few photos. In fact, he was late in picking me up.

Over a restaurant lunch, he showed me the photos. I was intrigued too. So back we went for me to see it as well. It was a pretty typical Mexican house, with three bedrooms and a bathroom. As you can see in the photo, there were steps from the bedrooms down to the main living area, which was indoor-outdoor, and with a view.The owner said she wanted 350,000 pesos for it. At today’s exchange rates that is under $27,000 US but everyone tends to convert mentally at 10 pesos to the dollar, as the rate was just above that for a long time.

Well, to make a long story short, this house wasn’t the one Miguel was selling, though the two were near each other. The street names were confusing and there were no street signs. I think he sold his listing, a 2 BR 2 bath unfinished place.. it was hardly on the market at all before he got an offer anyway.

We slept on it and decided to pass on this house ourselves. We are happy here and not eager to tackle a huge project like that. The real magic of that place was the view, and while it was very good from her living room (or would be if you trimmed the trees), you’d have to build onto the roof to get the full panorama. She said the house had been constructed with that in mind. This photo shows her roof, with Chapala below, and just a part of the view of the lake. So I phoned the woman’s brother’s house and asked them to pass the word on to her.

Back to the title of this post. The hitch on this house we saw is that you have to walk uphill to it and can’t get your car less than a block from it. Those steep paths!

BUT STILL I think it’s great evidence that deals can be found everywhere. I bet if you spoke some Spanish and wandered around asking people if they knew of houses for sale, you’d find interesting possibilities. You’d need to check them out carefully… Mexican real estate is a buyer beware matter. But still…

2 Comments from the old blog:

• At January 14, 2009 6:59 AM,  ExpatriateMedicine said…

  I count Miguel as a friend also. And a professional who works hard for YOU. Whether you are ‘window’ shopping or actually ready to makr the move, Miguel treats you with respect.

• At January 14, 2009 7:10 PM,  Rosana Hart said…

  Nice to hear from someone else who’s a fan of Miguel’s.

3 Bedroom House for $27,000 US? There’s a Hitch But Still… is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

A reader asked me this a while back, and I imagine other people must also wonder about finding Mexican houses for rent — or condos or apartments. Whether you are already planning to move to Mexico or retire in Mexico, or if you are still considering living in Mexico, in either case if you rent a Mexican house, you have a way to get to know an area without major commitment.

Here are some things you can do:

[1] Plan a trip to one or more areas of Mexico where you are considering living. This will help you get a sense of what each one is like and where you would most like to be. (Of course, you can rent sight unseen but if you do, be sure it is for a short time or that you can leave without losing much money if you don’t like the place.)

[2] Before coming down here , do some homework online. In the Lake Chapala area, some rentals can be found from many of the realtors. Here are some of the Lake Chapala rental websites in alphabetical order. Many of them do like to keep already-rented listings on the pages, but at least you can get an idea of prices and the sorts of things that are available.

http://www.casamexicorealestate.com/publicRents.php

http://www.chapala.com/chapala/coldwellbanker/tenant.html

http://www.eagerrealty.com/rentals.html

http://www.lagunamex.com/SitePages/rentals/rentals.html

http://www.remax-ajijic.com/rentals.htm

http://www.rtkenterprise.com/Hernandez/rentals.html

I noticed that quite a few said no pets, but often if you are renting directly from Mexicans, they will be much more open to your having pets than you might have found in the US.

If you are interested in another part of Mexico, just google “real estate” or rentals and the name of the city. If you find a list of real estate companies, go through them for ones that have rentals.

You could also try Craigslist: http://mexicocity.en.craigslist.com.mx/

Although that URL says Mexico City in it, there are listings for several cities. I received an email once from a reader who had found a rental in Guanajuato on Craigslist.

[3] Once in a community, talk to the people where you are staying, whether it is a hotel, B and B, or private home. Find out where the bulletin boards are that might list places for rent. For example, in Ajijic you would be sure to go to the Lake Chapala Society, and in nearby San Antonio Tlayacapan, there is a large board in front of Superlake, a grocery store carrying a lot of foods that foreigners eat. I’m sure there are other bulletin boards I don’t know about too.

[4] Walk around in the areas that interest you and ask people if they know of anything for rent. If you speak even a little Spanish, you might find something really nice this way, and perhaps less expensive than if you go through a real estate office. But in any case, it’s important to know that in Mexico tenants are often responsible for the costs and the work of repairs that would be done by landlords where you come from.

Note that during snowbird season (early November to roughly the end of March), rentals are harder to find and more expensive, so for the best deals come after that. There is sometimes another influx from up north during the summer too. The Mexican highlands can actually be cooler than most of the US in the summer, once the rains start in June or so.

I think renting is an excellent way to try out a community in Mexico, and I hope these tips on finding a rental in Mexico help you. If you have more ideas, please post a comment!

Finding Rentals in Mexico is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

As I see it, this is a wide-open door for far more boomers to retire in Mexico.

With real estate prices in the Lake Chapala area not exactly bargain basement, many people who might like to retire here or in other areas popular with expats will now be able to purchase a house. Renting first is a very good idea, of course, and rentals are often good deals, but if you’ve been a homeowner for decades as we have, owning a place comes naturally.

I read an article about this in one of the local papers,  so I stopped in at one of the many real estate offices in Ajijic to ask a few questions. The realtor said that these mortgages are already available, through Bancomer, one of the big banks. (I don’t know if Bancomer is handling them nationwide or just here, nor do I know if they are offered outside of the areas where foreigners are numerous.) He said the mortgages are available with a 30% down payment on homes that sell for at least $100,000 US. They currently run around 7 to 9% and are for 15 to 30 years. I didn’t think to ask what kind of income documentation might be required.

As I’ve blogged before, Kelly and I got very lucky in finding our charming tiny cabin for very little, and we own it free and clear. I must say this is a very nice feeling… but I still think mortgages will be popular here with Americans and Canadians. One friend of mine thought that a long-term mortgage could be risky business, but hey, in some ways it’s less risky than having your cash tied up in an expensive house!

My mind is a little boggled by the thought of even heavier traffic through Ajijic on the carretera (highway), but I’ve tended to think that a lot more “gringos” would be coming anyway. By what amount this will increase the expat population, time will tell.

Mexico Now Offers Us Long-Term Mortgages is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

We covered a lot of territory, from some of the small towns east of Chapala, to Chapala Haciendas, to the Ajijic area and west to our town of San Juan Cosala and just beyond it to El Limon. Molly’s photo below captures some of the feeling of many homes here:

We saw some fixer-uppers and some that were being sold furnished, where you could just move in. I sure got a sense of how much is on the market here. Like the US, things are selling more slowly than last year. While I saw a couple of things I liked, I came home feeling very grateful for our sweet little place!

I could mention some prices, but better to lead you to the source. The mlsmexico.com website is actually where we found our house last year. Choose Lake Chapala, and then just poke around!

Looking at Real Estate Around Lake Chapala is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

He also sent me some interesting information about the place. According to the History and Anthropology Institute, the property dates from the nineteenth century, between 1800 and 1830. It will soon be in the Tlaquepaque Historic Houses Catalog.

The building is on Reforma Avenue, in downtown Tlaquepaque:

Tlaquepaque Remodel: The Beginning is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

I love your informative site…for those of us living in or considering living in Mexico it is an invaluable resource. I would like to point out an error in something you wrote. On the page that discusses owning land in Mexico…you state that waterfront land can be held by a corporation but that none of the owners can be foreigners. That is no longer true….A Sociedad Anonima may be totally foreign owned…if none of the owners have their FM3 then there must be a person who is Mexican and acts as an agent for the SA who signs the documents for the land purchase but is not necessarily an owner of the corporation.

I know this because I bought 3 hectares of waterfront land in Quintana Roo and none of the shareholders of the SA are Mexican and none of us had an FM3 at the time we bought the land.

Kathe Kirkbride

Mexico Project www.maricasa.com

Buying Land By a Mexican Beach is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

UPATE 2009:  The remodel is finished and Victor turned it into a really charming Tlaquepaque B&B. The link takes you to his website.

Let’s start with Victor himself:
The courtyard shows work at various stages.

I was so impressed with the way the workman carried the bricks up the ladder that I came in for a closer look:
This lovely old adobe wall is being festooned with objects:
And here’s a close-up of the wall:

This is part of an antique door. The white plaster will come off later.
Victor glances back just before we leave.

Tlaquepaque Remodel is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

My husband and I want to retire to Mexico in about 4 years. We are doing lots of research, but would like some input from anyone with experience. We want to be either in Sonora or Chihuahua state. We would like to be in as temperate a zone as possible. We would also like to buy a small fixer upper so we can work on it, live in it at the same time, and cut costs in the long run. Question is, where do we look? And how? We’re thinking on the outskirts of a small town, but not too too far from doctors etc. But we have dogs and would also like a bit of privacy from time to time. If anyone would care to respond to our inquiries, we would appreciate it. — Peggy

And here’s another query from someone else along the same lines:

By the way, did you ever look  into places closer to the border and maybe have some ideas /
tips / advice?? Thanks -

Hmm, good thing you are doing your research, Peggy, because I don’t know northern Mexico very well. In much of it, the climate is pretty hot in summer, cold in winter, and windy. And a desert-type landscape, not a lot of water. But the convenience to the US can’t be beat, and with rising gas costs that’s a factor. Personally, I am not fond of the vibes of towns right on the border, but you don’t have to go far into Mexico to find more interesting places.

One place that Kelly and I liked a lot was a town called Parras de la Fuente, not far from Saltillo, well maybe a couple of hours or so… the link takes you to the page I wrote about Parras, with photos. It would not be far to Texas. Without looking it up, my memory is that it may be in the state of Coahuila. We didn’t notice any foreigners living there, but it could be a good candidate for adventuresome folks. I continue to think that more Americans will be coming south and that thus more places will develop small groups of expats.

A small city close to New Mexico is Nuevo Casas Grande. We often enter Mexico at Columbus, NM / Palomas, Chihuahua (Palomas has another formal name, General something) and go through Nuevo Casas Grande before cutting south toward the city of Chihuahua.

As for fixer-uppers, Mexico is full of them. They are everywhere. They may not be on the market with a realtor’s sign on them, but start asking around. (And even with bad Spanish, you can get started. Especially in the north of Mexico, many Mexicans speak English.) Ask where you stay, where you eat, wherever you see a friendly person. Say you are looking for a small house to rent or buy.

I’d highly recommend renting something for a while before buying, just to get to know the area. We rented a place in Bernal, Queretaro, last year, for 1200 pesos a month, about $100 US.

Here’s another page from my site, where I give tips on buying real estate in Mexico.

2 Comments from the old blog:

• john said…

  Suggest yoou look south of Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas at small towns of Jaumave, Palmillas and Tula. All in high desert, new highway conects with city with ALL services 30-45 mins. Jaumave is the closest and greenest, Tula is highest alt. and coolest lots of fixer-uppers. Palmillas is tiny Mx. town but very cheep. Might also look at Rio Verde,SLP

• I said…

  Thanks, John, good ideas! Kelly and I really liked Cd. Victoria — there’s a lot about it in the book part of this website.

  We also liked Rio Verde, and the lovely lake just outside of it.

Northern Mexico Fixer Upper? is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

I’m not going to say a lot of specific details yet, not till it’s ours. It’s on the edge of a small town on Lake Chapala, about an hour by bus from Guadalajara, which is Mexico’s second largest city. It’s not far from Ajijic, an upscale town and the center of the large US and Canadian population around the lake — thousands of expats live “lakeside” in a variety of towns. So there’s an interesting blend of cultures here, and lots of amenities like good doctors and veterinarians who speak English, excellent restaurants, thrift stores, health food stores, etc.

The property is about 1/4 of an acre, gently sloping uphill from the entrance. It’s about 50 feet wide, so as you go uphill you pass through several areas, each with its own feeling. Gated parking is right at the entrance. And here’s the peekaboo view of the lake:

The inside part of the house is very tiny, only about 535 square feet, probably the main reason the price was so low. The place has been owned by one Guadalajara family for over 30 years, used as a weekend getaway mostly. The listing sounded like it had about 1100 square feet but they measure here from roof to roof so that includes the huge veranda where we’ll live a lot…

…and the gated “patio de servicio” where we’ll put a washing machine and yard tools.

We are very excited. The property should close pretty soon. Then we’ll change the locks, unload as much as we can from the motorhome, drive over to Bernal to visit friends there and to bring back the stuff in the house we had rented there, plus the cat. Then we will settle into living in our new little house and see what unfolds.

Of course, doing something like this raises lots of Big Questions about our future. The answer to all of them is that we don’t know yet!

7 Comments from the old blog:

• At February 05, 2006 11:01 AM, BillieS said…

  Congratulations on home ownership. It is nice to have a place of your own that you can decorate and settle into. And to have room for a garden. Sounds like a very special find.

• At February 05, 2006 11:30 AM, Anonymous said…

  Hi Harts -
  Great about the new casa – as you write you really can’t lose on Mexican real estate. A new house is always exciting coming with ideas, anxieties, discovery and joy -
  Best of Luck
  John & Anita

• At February 05, 2006 3:14 PM, Anrahyah said…

  Wow! This feels so right for you two. Funny how Kelly’s broken rib has been a precursor to this–almost as if he needed to be there.
  I love the feeling of this area for you. Am glad you have found a base.
  Can’t wait to come visit some day!
  hugs and lots of love,
  Anrahyah

• At February 05, 2006 3:25 PM, Rosana Hart said…

  Thanks! Lots of room for gardening, easy to expand the house later if we want to… and best of all, there’s really nothing that urgently needs to be done to make it livable. Of course, I didn’t show the 70s kitchen…

  Rosana

• At February 06, 2006 12:27 AM, Curtis English said…

  You have a kitchen! The view is spectacular! I like the fact you are as close as you are to a metro. Your blog on health services, very helpful, thanks! I hope to be going back to Merida later this year. From the web pages looks like prices keep going up. Two of the properties I looked at are sold now. We shall see…I believe the right place will come my way too!
  Love;
  Curtis & Lisa

• At March 25, 2006 8:02 PM, Anonymous said…

  My husband & I live in Bucerias, just north of Puerto Vallarta & are contemplating moving to the Lake Chapala area in the near future. Very interesting to read your blog – we intend to buy a house as well & plan to come to Ajijic over the Easter holidays to scout around. Keep up with the wonderful info. Linda

• At March 26, 2006 3:18 PM, Rosana Hart said…

  Thanks, Linda! Nice to know that it helps others. I enjoy doing it.

  Rosana

Buying a House with a View of Lake Chapala is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico