# Queretaro Expats



## wkelley

Hello,
We are doing some research on moving to Queretaro next year and would like to connect with expats in the area and particularly those with school age kids. We have seen the JFK International School and Queretaro Intl School websites and plan to pay them a visit when we are in the area in early July. We plan to look at neighborhoods in Jurica, Juriquilla, Alamos, and Campanario with an eye towards renting a house. We are looking for information on quality of life, activities for kids, opportunities (for me) to learn Spanish.


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## shelleyjb

wkelley said:


> Hello,
> We are doing some research on moving to Queretaro next year and would like to connect with expats in the area and particularly those with school age kids. We have seen the JFK International School and Queretaro Intl School websites and plan to pay them a visit when we are in the area in early July. We plan to look at neighborhoods in Jurica, Juriquilla, Alamos, and Campanario with an eye towards renting a house. We are looking for information on quality of life, activities for kids, opportunities (for me) to learn Spanish.


Hi wkelley,

We are also planning our move to QRO at the end of June/first of July. I have gotten very little response from this forum specifically about the area, but I did visit earlier this month. I really liked it a lot! I crammed in quite a bit for a one full day visit, but it was worth it. Any reservations I had about moving there are now gone. I looked at both schools you mentioned; however, JFK was on holiday the Friday I was there, so I was only able to look at it from the outside and the guard was nice to give me an information packet. I think we are going to go with ISQ mainly because my son swims and they have swimming whereas JFK does not. ISQ is also a little cheaper, but that is not a main factor for us - just wanted you to be aware.

I also visited about 5 houses in Jurica and Juriquilla - both areas I am interested in renting a house. The houses were a bit above our budget, sadly, because they were absolutely beautiful and I fell in love. I really did not want to come back home! So when we get down there this time, I will have to look within our budget 

I stumbled across a wonderful realtor while I was at the hotel in Juriquilla (her sister really - she overheard me asking the front desk clerk about realtors and she mentioned her sister! Very serendipitous) If you would like her name and email, feel free to message me and I will be happy to share with you. She is both Mexican and USA citizen and lived in the US for many years - San Antonio as a matter of fact, just down the road from me. What a small world! Actually, almost everyone I spoke with had friends and/or family somewhere in the US - usually Texas or Florida. lol She made time for me that Friday evening since I was on such a tight schedule and rearranged her plans to show me the houses. Her children all went to JFK and she loved it - they are all grown now, but she spoke very highly of JFK. She said nothing wrong with ISQ, but she had more experience with the other.

I also squeezed in a road trip to San Miguel de Allende to see if I would prefer it there, but, alas, I like QRO better. SMdA is a beautiful, delightful city, but I liked the bigger city and I just happened to have a drunk American walk up to me at noon and ask me if I knew where his house is because he lost it. Ha! Driving and parking was also a nightmare and I really like driving myself since I have a busy schedule with my son.

Anyway, I digress! Maybe we can meet up in QRO when you get moved and settled in. We have a 9-year old son, so it would be nice if he had a friend to help make the transition easier (and for me too!)

Good luck and keep me posted,
Shelley


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## wkelley

Shelly,

Thanks for the reply and the great info! Sounds like you had a good visit to QRO. My wife is from the area and so we've been visiting for many years. We love SMA and as you noticed, there are a lot of Americans. We'll be in the area about the same time you are. We'll drop you a note to see how the move-in is going! I'll drop you a PM to get that realtor info from you.

Best Wishes,

Scott




shelleyjb said:


> Hi wkelley,
> 
> We are also planning our move to QRO at the end of June/first of July. I have gotten very little response from this forum specifically about the area, but I did visit earlier this month. I really liked it a lot! I crammed in quite a bit for a one full day visit, but it was worth it. Any reservations I had about moving there are now gone. I looked at both schools you mentioned; however, JFK was on holiday the Friday I was there, so I was only able to look at it from the outside and the guard was nice to give me an information packet. I think we are going to go with ISQ mainly because my son swims and they have swimming whereas JFK does not. ISQ is also a little cheaper, but that is not a main factor for us - just wanted you to be aware.
> 
> I also visited about 5 houses in Jurica and Juriquilla - both areas I am interested in renting a house. The houses were a bit above our budget, sadly, because they were absolutely beautiful and I fell in love. I really did not want to come back home! So when we get down there this time, I will have to look within our budget
> 
> I stumbled across a wonderful realtor while I was at the hotel in Juriquilla (her sister really - she overheard me asking the front desk clerk about realtors and she mentioned her sister! Very serendipitous) If you would like her name and email, feel free to message me and I will be happy to share with you. She is both Mexican and USA citizen and lived in the US for many years - San Antonio as a matter of fact, just down the road from me. What a small world! Actually, almost everyone I spoke with had friends and/or family somewhere in the US - usually Texas or Florida. lol She made time for me that Friday evening since I was on such a tight schedule and rearranged her plans to show me the houses. Her children all went to JFK and she loved it - they are all grown now, but she spoke very highly of JFK. She said nothing wrong with ISQ, but she had more experience with the other.
> 
> I also squeezed in a road trip to San Miguel de Allende to see if I would prefer it there, but, alas, I like QRO better. SMdA is a beautiful, delightful city, but I liked the bigger city and I just happened to have a drunk American walk up to me at noon and ask me if I knew where his house is because he lost it. Ha! Driving and parking was also a nightmare and I really like driving myself since I have a busy schedule with my son.
> 
> Anyway, I digress! Maybe we can meet up in QRO when you get moved and settled in. We have a 9-year old son, so it would be nice if he had a friend to help make the transition easier (and for me too!)
> 
> Good luck and keep me posted,
> Shelley


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## shelleyjb

wkelley said:


> Shelly,
> 
> Thanks for the reply and the great info! Sounds like you had a good visit to QRO. My wife is from the area and so we've been visiting for many years. We love SMA and as you noticed, there are a lot of Americans. We'll be in the area about the same time you are. We'll drop you a note to see how the move-in is going! I'll drop you a PM to get that realtor info from you.
> 
> Best Wishes,
> 
> Scott



Ha! Scott - then I didn't tell you anything you didn't already know, but glad to share my story of the visit anyway. I will keep you posted and you do the same 

Shelley


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## wkelley

Shelly,
We've been going to the area as tourists/visitors for many years but never really with an eye towards living there, until recently. So we are doing quite a bit of research. We just went to the Colegio Suizo Queretaro website and it also looks like a great school. Most of the website is in Spanish but we noticed they have a "Schwimmfest" or Swim Festival...so they must have a pool. We'll definitely go check that school out this summer. 
Scott



shelleyjb said:


> Ha! Scott - then I didn't tell you anything you didn't already know, but glad to share my story of the visit anyway. I will keep you posted and you do the same
> 
> Shelley


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## shelleyjb

wkelley said:


> Shelly,
> We've been going to the area as tourists/visitors for many years but never really with an eye towards living there, until recently. So we are doing quite a bit of research. We just went to the Colegio Suizo Queretaro website and it also looks like a great school. Most of the website is in Spanish but we noticed they have a "Schwimmfest" or Swim Festival...so they must have a pool. We'll definitely go check that school out this summer.
> Scott


Thanks, Scott. I will check it out too and someone recently told me about the Thomas Jefferson School, so I am going to look into that one as well.

Take care,
Shelley


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## Rakkasan

wkelley said:


> Hello,
> We are doing some research on moving to Queretaro next year and would like to connect with expats in the area and particularly those with school age kids. We have seen the JFK International School and Queretaro Intl School websites and plan to pay them a visit when we are in the area in early July. We plan to look at neighborhoods in Jurica, Juriquilla, Alamos, and Campanario with an eye towards renting a house. We are looking for information on quality of life, activities for kids, opportunities (for me) to learn Spanish.


I have been living in Mexico for almost two years now (Chichi Suarez, Yucatan) and my family and I are considering a move to Queretaro in the near future and would be happy to share our experience with you.

I retired from the Army in 2014, hit me with a PM and we can shoot the crap.


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## Isla Verde

Rakkasan said:


> I have been living in Mexico for almost two years now (Chichi Suarez, Yucatan) and my family and I are considering a move to Queretaro in the near future and would be happy to share our experience with you.
> 
> I retired from the Army in 2014, hit me with a PM and we can shoot the crap.


It would be helpful if you also shared your experiences living in the Yucatan with the rest of us on the open forum.


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## Rakkasan

Can do. Which is the open forum?


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## Isla Verde

Rakkasan said:


> Can do. Which is the open forum?


This is the open forum, as opposed to communicating with individual forum members via PM's.


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## wkelley

Rakkasan,
I don't see where I can send you a PM. I'm about a year out from retiring out of Ft. Leavenworth. We are heading down this summer to do some exploring in Queretaro...check out schools, neighborhoods etc. How do you like Yukatan? I've been looking at rental prices on-line in the QRO area and I'm a bit surprised in the prices. We'll keep looking around. We may look toward San Miguel as well.
v/r
Scott


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## Isla Verde

wkelley said:


> Rakkasan,
> I don't see where I can send you a PM.
> Scott


Once Rakkasan has made 5 posts, you can send him a PM. Just click on his username and the drop-down menu will make it clear what to do.


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## Rakkasan

wkelley said:


> Rakkasan,
> I don't see where I can send you a PM. I'm about a year out from retiring out of Ft. Leavenworth. We are heading down this summer to do some exploring in Queretaro...check out schools, neighborhoods etc. How do you like Yukatan? I've been looking at rental prices on-line in the QRO area and I'm a bit surprised in the prices. We'll keep looking around. We may look toward San Miguel as well.
> v/r
> Scott


Congrats on being a year out, long road brother! I like the Yucatan a lot, there are challenges such as the heat, bugs and cost of services but as a whole it is a great place.

My family, which includes my 80 year old Mom, really struggles with the heat which is why we are considering other areas. I've been to QRO several times as my wife is from Mexico City and we decided to start there. We are also considering Puebla and Oaxaca.

I had a good friend of mine retire out of Leavenworth a few years ago as well.


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## wkelley

Rakkasan,
We spent some time looking at real estate on-line at: Bienes raíces México | Clasificados de propiedades - Lamudi. Even with my limited Spanish it was pretty easy to navigate and we found about 60 rental homes in QRO in our price range. As a point of comparison we also looked at San Miguel and found some fully furnished places starting at about $1500.00 a month, http://sanmiguelrealestate.com.


We visited my wife's aunt in Merida many years ago and yes...it was hot! Good luck on your relocation. We'll be down in the QRO area in about a month doing a little Recce.







Rakkasan said:


> Congrats on being a year out, long road brother! I like the Yucatan a lot, there are challenges such as the heat, bugs and cost of services but as a whole it is a great place.
> 
> My family, which includes my 80 year old Mom, really struggles with the heat which is why we are considering other areas. I've been to QRO several times as my wife is from Mexico City and we decided to start there. We are also considering Puebla and Oaxaca.
> 
> I had a good friend of mine retire out of Leavenworth a few years ago as well.


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## Rakkasan

wkelley,

Sounds good.


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## Rakkasan

As well, I'll shoot ya a PM with comms and hopefully we can link up when you arrive and have a few cold ones.


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## jim42

*Veterans Organizations*

Any veteran posts in Queretaro? What is airport code? I am retired AF and planning a vacation down there. Thanks, Jim


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## HeidiSMex

Hi there - I registered to this form specifically because *I am interested in getting the details of the american real estate agent you found in Queretaro!* I am coordinating a project for my company and I am preparing a business case for the possibility of opening up our first Mexican office in Queretaro (we are an American company - but I am working out of their Canadian office). I need to research everything from schools for the kids to housing to banking, etc....

Thanks!!

Heidi


shelleyjb said:


> Hi wkelley,
> 
> We are also planning our move to QRO at the end of June/first of July. I have gotten very little response from this forum specifically about the area, but I did visit earlier this month. I really liked it a lot! I crammed in quite a bit for a one full day visit, but it was worth it. Any reservations I had about moving there are now gone. I looked at both schools you mentioned; however, JFK was on holiday the Friday I was there, so I was only able to look at it from the outside and the guard was nice to give me an information packet. I think we are going to go with ISQ mainly because my son swims and they have swimming whereas JFK does not. ISQ is also a little cheaper, but that is not a main factor for us - just wanted you to be aware.
> 
> I also visited about 5 houses in Jurica and Juriquilla - both areas I am interested in renting a house. The houses were a bit above our budget, sadly, because they were absolutely beautiful and I fell in love. I really did not want to come back home! So when we get down there this time, I will have to look within our budget
> 
> I stumbled across a wonderful realtor while I was at the hotel in Juriquilla (her sister really - she overheard me asking the front desk clerk about realtors and she mentioned her sister! Very serendipitous) If you would like her name and email, feel free to message me and I will be happy to share with you. She is both Mexican and USA citizen and lived in the US for many years - San Antonio as a matter of fact, just down the road from me. What a small world! Actually, almost everyone I spoke with had friends and/or family somewhere in the US - usually Texas or Florida. lol She made time for me that Friday evening since I was on such a tight schedule and rearranged her plans to show me the houses. Her children all went to JFK and she loved it - they are all grown now, but she spoke very highly of JFK. She said nothing wrong with ISQ, but she had more experience with the other.
> 
> I also squeezed in a road trip to San Miguel de Allende to see if I would prefer it there, but, alas, I like QRO better. SMdA is a beautiful, delightful city, but I liked the bigger city and I just happened to have a drunk American walk up to me at noon and ask me if I knew where his house is because he lost it. Ha! Driving and parking was also a nightmare and I really like driving myself since I have a busy schedule with my son.
> 
> Anyway, I digress! Maybe we can meet up in QRO when you get moved and settled in. We have a 9-year old son, so it would be nice if he had a friend to help make the transition easier (and for me too!)
> 
> Good luck and keep me posted,
> Shelley


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## ojosazules11

HeidiSMex said:


> Hi there - I registered to this form specifically because *I am interested in getting the details of the american real estate agent you found in Queretaro!* I am coordinating a project for my company and I am preparing a business case for the possibility of opening up our first Mexican office in Queretaro (we are an American company - but I am working out of their Canadian office). I need to research everything from schools for the kids to housing to banking, etc....
> 
> Thanks!!
> 
> Heidi


Hi, Heidi, and welcome to the forum. 

Heidi, you are going to have to make 4 more posts (they can essentially be about anything or nothing...), and then you can send a private message to Shelleyjb to have her send you the info about that realtor. The private message (PM) function only activates once you've made minimum 5 posts.


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## HeidiSMex

Hello, Can you provide me with the name of the American Realtor you met at the hotel? Currently looking to establish contact with someone who knows the Queretaro area well.

Thanks


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## shelleyjb

Hi Heidi,

As soon as you are able, send me a PM and I will be more than happy to share the information I have with you 

Good luck,
Shelley


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## HeidiSMex

trying to! apparently I have to make several posts before I can PM...grrrrr


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## HeidiSMex

I have to make 5 posts before I can PM???


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## HeidiSMex

I don't even see where I can PM you directly?


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## HeidiSMex

sorry for the random posts I am making - trying to get enough posts so that I can PM!!!!!


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## Isla Verde

HeidiSMex said:


> I have to make 5 posts before I can PM???


Yup. That's the rule for everyone.


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## TundraGreen

HeidiSMex said:


> I don't even see where I can PM you directly?


If you click on a person's name at the top of one of their messages, you will get a drop down menu. One of the options on the list is to send them a Personal Message.


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## HeidiSMex

Hello, yes I tried that but the option is not there for me yet  I have made over 5 posts I think??


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## TundraGreen

HeidiSMex said:


> Hello, yes I tried that but the option is not there for me yet  I have made over 5 posts I think??


I believe it sometimes takes a little time for the system to authorize PMs after you have made 5 posts. Living in Mexico teaches one to be pacient. It is useful in a lot of places, including here.


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## HeidiSMex

LOL Unfortunately I won't be the one moving to Mexico - I am only coordinating the relocation of one of our employees AND preparing everything for a business start-up


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## TundraGreen

HeidiSMex said:


> LOL Unfortunately I won't be the one moving to Mexico - I am only coordinating the relocation of one of our employees AND preparing everything for a business start-up


That sounds like my idea of a nightmare. You get to deal with all the bureaucracy of Mexico without the benefits of living here.


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## Isla Verde

TundraGreen said:


> That sounds like my idea of a nightmare. You get to deal with all the bureaucracy of Mexico without the benefits of living here.



I agree. It's hard enought dealing with Mexican bureaucracies in person. Having to do it long-distance (if that's even possible ) seems like an impossible task.


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## shelleyjb

HeidiSMex said:


> sorry for the random posts I am making - trying to get enough posts so that I can PM!!!!!


Hi Heidi,

I can't send you a PM yet! As soon as I see the drop down by your name appear, I will send you the info. Maybe you can respond to me one more time 

Shelley


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## shelleyjb

Heidi,

I was finally able to send you a PM with the info. Let me know if you need anything else!

Best of luck,
Shelley


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## wkelley

Hello!
This is a follow-up to my original post. We are finishing up a 2 week vacation/fact finding mission to the QRO area and I wanted to share a few of my observations. Thanks to the info I gained from the Expat Forum we visited the following schools: JFK, ISQ, Colegio Suizo, Wexford, and Colegio Celta. The prestigious International Baccelaureate program is offered at JFK, Colegio Suizo, and Colegio Celta so these schools are our front runners. Colegio Suizo is unique in that it provides a quadra-lingual program: Spanish, German, English, and French phased in over several years. Most offer a variety of after school programs but only Suizo, ISQ, & Celta offer swimming. The Instituto Cumbres looks like a very good Catholic school but we aren't looking for a religious based program. 

Queretaro is a very nice city with a beautiful downtown. It's grown like crazy in the last few years so you'll notice lots of new housing developments. We saw houses in Jurica(older suburb with wide leafy streets) and Juriquilla (newer with many new gated communities). 

A couple intersting things happend to us on our trip. First, while in the Sancho Panza bookstore in downtown QRO we started talking to the owners and come to find out thier daughter graduated from Indiana Univ like I did. So we had a very nice conversation with the owners and later recieved a nice email from thier daughter. The 2nd remarkable thing is that we bumped into a circle of older gentlemen speaking in German in the Italian Coffee Co. by the arches to Campestre de Jurica. We sat down and talked with them for a few minutes and learned there is a German Community in QRO. It just so happened that we were looking at rental homes today one of them was owned by a German couple that lived next door. Unfortunately they weren't home or we would have said hello. 

So all in all... a great trip. We have plenty of information to mull over and to make our decision.
As most people know...the Mexicans are a very warm and welcoming people. I was surprised on this trip how many fluent English speakers we came across.

Prudent precautions are still in order for traveling in/through Mexico. Travel only in daylight hours using Cuota (toll roads) and watch out for the speed bumps...Topes! After hitting one to quickly we caused some minor damage to our rental car which we were able to repair with minimal time and money. Additionally, a good road map(Guia Roji)and a new GPS helped us navigate both in/around QRO and to the beach in Manzanillo. Despite both of these...we still got lost a few times but as we've learned...it's all part of the process! We actually ran across a few of the schools we wanted to see...while looking for other locations!

Happy Travels!


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## shelleyjb

Hi Scott (wkelley),

Thanks for the great update. We are here in QRO now and have looked at houses for a couple of days. We have made our pick so now it's just the paperwork. As for the school, I think we are going to go with JFK. As you've experienced, everyone here has been so nice and helpful to us too. We're really enjoying getting to know the city and exploring. Good luck to you and your family 

Shelley


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## TravellingTiko

Anyone still in Queretaro? I have lived in Mexico for 6 months now and the only expats I have come across are through work. I just moved to Queretaro and would love to touch base with some people who have been in town for a while.


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## Judyp7754

TravellingTiko, 

I am a Canadian that moved to Queretaro June 8th, 2016. I currently rent a home in La Joya and am looking to meet expats for conversation etc. My son lives with me. My ex and his wife live here also. The ex has been here 6 yrs. do you know of any expat groups that get together on a regular basis here in QRT?

Judy


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## TravellingTiko

Hi Judy,

You have been in Queretaro longer than I have. I moved to Mexico in May but have moved a few times since. I have only been in this city for a few weeks. I know that there are expat groups based out of Mexico city but they travel to surrounding towns often.

TT


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## wkelley

Hello,
We are planning on moving to QRO this coming summer. It looks like there is an active expat group and you can find thier website here: incq

Best of Luck!


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## circle110

wkelley said:


> Hello,
> We are planning on moving to QRO this coming summer. It looks like there is an active expat group and you can find thier website here: incq
> 
> Best of Luck!


We are moving to Queretaro this summer as well. We lived in Guanajuato for 5 years between 2009 & 2014 and I never paid much attention to the expat community there since I had many Mexican friends and my wife is Mexican and doesn't speak much English. Then, in the last year there I started to get to know some of the local expats and it was very rewarding. I decided I was a fool for ignoring them previously. 

I don't want to make the same mistake in Queretaro, so I am glad to see that there is a group there and I will seek them out. Wkelley, perhaps our paths will cross as newbie expats in Queretaro!

Thanks and best of luck to you.


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