# Information on Ajijic Developments.



## Zanadu44 (Aug 16, 2008)

My husband and I have been looking at a variety of the gated developments in the Ajijic area to purchase and eventually move in 2 years. We will be coming to Ajijic for our 2nd visit, the beginning of August and have a buyer's agent. With as much as the internet allows and the assistance of our agent, he has given us information about the developments we are interested in. However, we would appreciate more of an insider's point of view if at all possible. We are interested in Rivera Alta, El Parque, El Dorado, Cielo Vista and La Reserva. Of what we know of, these developments are gated, have a gym, pool and some have tennis courts. We are an active couple which is why we have focused on these. If anyone has any personal experiences with any of these developments, we would love to hear from you. Also, if anyone knows of any other similar developments that we may have missed, please advise.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

In spite of your stated reasons, I would still wonder 'why?' Many of those are built on fill, at least one is notoriously 'high density' and the 'gated' situation does not insure any particular security in many such subdivisions, where they may not actually be allowed to shut the gate or prevent traffic. Virtually all will come with HOAs and the usual infighting, or worse. Non payment of fees is rampant here. There are certainly some very attractive homes and having a 'community center & pool' can be nice. Just be sure you really want to live in a fraccionamiento, rather than a normal home in a normal neighborhood, where you can walk to most everything, rather than have to drive for a loaf of bread, and where you won't have to argue with your neighbors at HOA meetings. Public tennis courts are available and, to a lesser extent, pools or pool memberships, etc.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

As usual, I don't know much about the Ajijic area but I can second RVG's question as to why.
When we decided to build in the San Miguel area we looked at a number of gated communities with clubhouse, pool and fitness area. We quickly decided that if that was to be our Mexican experience that we might as well stay in NC and visit Mexico. I sort of describe it as having a European move to Disney World and think that they are experiencing the US.
I can see that if you haven't had experiences living outside the US, then you might be concerned with a more full emersion and want some Linus blanket.
If that the case, I strongly recommend that you rent and not buy upfront. This will give you time to understand what is really important to you as well as your comfort level.
I think that you will then be able to make a much more informed decision.
When we 1st moved to San Miguel, everyone said we should buy quickly, we rented for what turned out to be 3 years. During that time, what we thought we wanted changed dramatically through our experiences as well as discussions with others on the options.


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