March 24, 2008 – How do you go about finding a rental home 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!

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