Home in Mexico?

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BenThere
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Home in Mexico?

#1 Post by BenThere » Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:33 pm

Our friends in Ann Arbor almost always ask us if we aren't afraid to go to Mexico these days. I always answer, "Look, we live in Detroit, and the carnage in Mexico is largely between drug cartels and concentrated on the US border and in the larger Mexican cities, also between drug cartels. Where we are, in Akumal, near Tulum, is consummately safe and idyllic.

We spent Fourth of July weekend in Bacalar, about 200km South of Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico. It sits on a fresh, sweet water lagoon separated from the Caribbean by a narrow strip. The lagoon is about 20 km long by 3 km wide and hosts crystal clear water, many sandy bottom swimming spots, lots of birdwatching, like storks, toucans, and the like. An excellent highway connects Bacalar to Tulum. Today there are a few 5* hotels, many boutique hotels, and many fine restaurants, yet for now it's a sleepy outpost for the most part. But that is going to change. It's the next step on the march of tourism and will in a few years become a prime destination, especially if Tulum builds the interational airport it is contemplating.

We have a group of three couples who hang out and explore together. We're all neighbors at Akumal, have all now spent weekends at Bacalar and agree it's one of those places that can only appreciate with time. Right now you can buy a very nice 3BR/3BA home on the lagoon with a dock for $500,000 US. Or you can buy waterfront land suitable for building for $100,000 US and let it set and appreciate or build on it. Or you can buy large tracts of jungle land with lagoon front outside of town at very low cost. We're thinking of going together and buying a house to use and rent between the three of us. To me it's a no-brainer way to have a great property in a great place for yesterday's prices.

Take a look. I have no interest in promoting this spot, but it is paradise, the cost of living is low, and I thought there might be someone out there who might consider escaping there. The best boat to put on your dock is a 25' sailboat. There's always a sea breeze, generally Westerly from the Caribbean, and the waters are mostly shallow in the lagoon.

https://www.bacalarholdingsrealty.com

Today, the Mexican Peso is roughly 20 to the US dollar.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#2 Post by John Hill » Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:18 pm

Looks nice Ben. Are there any 'locals' living around there? How much buffer do you have against rising sea levels?
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Re: Home in Mexico?

#3 Post by BenThere » Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:45 pm

Bacalar, just eyeballing it, is about 98% local. Where I now live, Playa del Carmen-Tulum is about 90% local. I have observed zero ethnic friction. As I have a soft spot for happy, friendly people who work hard and don't have much, I tend to be a heavy tipper. I'm very fond of the local Mayans and their culture. They are generous with their smiles, raise beautiful and well-behaved children, and have been here for over a thousand years. It's a better culture than I have back home in Michigan.

My Mexican home is 50 feet above sea level and considered safe from hurricane floods. The sea shows no signs of rising around here at Akumal. The biggest problem is sargasso, a seaweed that lately has bloomed and is currently massively washing up on the white sand beach and has to be removed to keep the beach pristine.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#4 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:48 pm

We did a cruise into Hutacola a few years ago. Lovely port but the whole time we were there a RIB patrolled the harbour with marines and a machine gun. On the jetty were naval SP with at least 5 magazines each.

It was very peaceful.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#5 Post by 4mastacker » Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:52 pm

Senior daughter is currently based at Akumal doing her reef ecology and bio-diversity conservation stuff....... and getting sunburnt. It's her fourth year at the site.
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Re: Home in Mexico?

#6 Post by Stoneboat » Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:52 am

A friend of mine retired about ten years ago and now lives year round in Mazatlán. His brother - also retired - also has a place in Maz, lives there from the first of November to the end of April. Neither of them have ever felt they were unsafe. We have other friends who visit Maz during the winter, staying for a couple of weeks to a couple of months, and they all say the same.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#7 Post by Slasher » Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:19 am

BenThere wrote:
Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:33 pm
Where we are, in Akumal, near Tulum, is consummately safe and idyllic.
Sounds great Ben.

Me and Apsara are giving thought of moving to just outside the town of Loei as our present town is turning much too cityish and far too many bloody farang tourists pushing up the local prices.

We flew down there and back in the Cub a few months ago to visit her mate's dad's home while she was there. A fantastic town and one I felt quite at home in. 👍🏻

The pros are that it's quiet, idyllic, cheap, plenty to do and the natives are deeply cultural Thai. Buggerall farang except the odd backpacker. Our house here has tripled in price since we built it so, at present estimates, we can virtually have a palace erected there for a third of what we'd get for our present digs.

Only cons are that English isn't widely spoken there so I'll have to depend on the missus to translate more lengthy chats, and there ain't no LAME to service the Cub (there is a bloke in Udon Thani). Further, at the local schools Thai is the medium of instruction (no Int'l places) so this could impact slightly on our kid's ejakation.

If we move it'll be next year.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#8 Post by BenThere » Tue Jul 09, 2019 2:58 am

My inclination as I age has been to live in a habitation that suits my lifestyle - comfortable, even luxurious, but not large as extra space is wasted on us. Our ideal is 2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, space to host a visitor couple, storage space (preferably a basement), a 2 car garage and a nice community and neighborhood. I also like to be able to button it up and take off for six months if I want to.

I have no wisdom regarding locating in Thailand, but I really liked both Bangkok and Phuket. I could figure out how to be happy in either place. I particularly liked the one hour massages on the beach at Phuket for less than $10 US. Fond of the $10 lobster dinner also.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#9 Post by Sisemen » Tue Jul 09, 2019 5:29 am

Bacalar looks to be very close to Belize. Belize is a shithole. Ergo .......

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#10 Post by larsssnowpharter » Tue Jul 09, 2019 6:57 pm

I was first in Belize Inthe mid 70's and nearly bought a 'hotel/diving business' on Ambigris Cay.

Went back I the mid 80s and the place seemed to be going downhill then. Drove many a time up through Quintana Roo to Cancun and explored the area described by Ben There. It is, indeed, quite lovely.

But so are many places.

Slasher has slung his hook in Northern Thailand. Again, a beautiful part of the World. But the right to own properties for a foreigner can be awkward.

Because I married a local girl, I semi settled in the Philippines. At least English is one of the official languages. The country also offers a retirement visa system. Building costs are low: we recently bought a hectare of land and built a simple bungalow on it for a total of about £20k. Beware local laws on property ownership.

Personally, taking all things into consideration, without having children, I would consider Conmarra or Galway.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#11 Post by ian16th » Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:09 pm

larsssnowpharter wrote:
Tue Jul 09, 2019 6:57 pm
Personally, taking all things into consideration, without having children, I would consider Conmarra or Galway.
An ex-Boy Entrant who spent his post RAF time in Cape Town, retired to his homeland of the West of Ireland, he seems happy.
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Re: Home in Mexico?

#12 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:02 pm

I spent 7 years in the West of West of Ireland - Emerald, PEI. A bucolic idyll.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#13 Post by Slasher » Wed Jul 10, 2019 5:47 am

Slasher has slung his hook in Northern Thailand. Again, a beautiful part of the World. But the right to own properties for a foreigner can be awkward.
That's true 'pharter and depends on how you set things up. I'm ok as I'm hitched to a local and everything proceeds from there. I do know of a single farang who's managed to own landed property outright so there are ways and means. It's not a difficult country to acquire assets and profit one way or another from them.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#14 Post by BenThere » Wed Jul 10, 2019 1:16 pm

I did a 10 day self-drive tour of Ireland a few years ago. We stayed a few nights in Dublin, Killarney, and Galway. I found Killarney and the surroundings the most appealing of the bunch, though Dublin has extraordinary cultural riches, like a pub founded in the 1100's and the Jameson distillery, the footsteps of Joyce, and the delightful Irish people.

By the way there are far more people of Irish descent in the US than there are in Ireland.

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Re: Home in Mexico?

#15 Post by ian16th » Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:08 pm

BenThere wrote:
Wed Jul 10, 2019 1:16 pm
By the way there are far more people of Irish descent in the US than there are in Ireland.
Yeh! I once spent 3 weeks in Boston.

Massachusetts that is, not Lincolnshire.
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