# Paying rent in Mexico



## Me Linda (Jan 26, 2017)

Hi just a question, is rent generally paid by check or cash? Do you go directly to landlord or realtor to pay it? I don't know about walking around with that much money? I hope this doesn't sound like a silly question but I paid for my temporary rental for first month with credit card and have read hear everything is paid with cash


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Cash is king in Mexico. Most expats have their US bank raise their daily limit for ATM withdrawals, visit the ATM when the exchange rate is best, and hoard some pesos now and then. You will probably pay your landlord directly, in cash, unless you have made arrangements to make a deposit, in cash, to his bank account; a common means of paying bills in Mexico. In some cases, a management company may be involved & you might be required to pay them. In any event, keep the receipts, pay in pesos, live and be happy.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Sorry - I live in the 21st century. When we rented we signed an annual lease and took a 10% discount. We sent the owner a SPEI. The relationship stated and ended without any problems.


----------



## Me Linda (Jan 26, 2017)

SPEI ? Sorry gato what is that ? I still live in 1970 lol You sign a years lease and get 10% off , do you pay your rent for the whole year?


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Me Linda said:


> SPEI ? Sorry gato what is that ? I still live in 1970 lol You sign a years lease and get 10% off , do you pay your rent for the whole year?


SPEI (and I'm sorry I don't know what the acronym stands for) is a way for a person to transfer money to another person/company. Kind of like a national PayPal system. Each side has a CLABE (account number). You specify the maximum amount you would ever want to transfer to the other side. We pay our water bill via SPEI as well as our HOA fees. I have purchased merchandise from other people and paid via SPEI...

When you first setup a new 'interaction' it takes perhaps 2 hours for it to be validated/activated. 

Yes - and we signed our annual lease we took a 10% discount when we paid in full. We might have been able to take more but we did not press the issue.


----------



## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Not me. When I pay my rent, it's in efectivo. My landlady usually has some music on and we dance for a bit and then thank each other. Been doing that for over 14 years. Of course, I am part of the family.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

joaquinx said:


> Not me. When I pay my rent, it's in efectivo. My landlady usually has some music on and we dance for a bit and then thank each other. Been doing that for over 14 years. Of course, I am part of the family.


We rented the house from a guy who was an executive at Merck, USA (NJ). Would have been a difficult dance - but we did meet for an hour or so once.


----------



## Me Linda (Jan 26, 2017)

Thank you all for your help , if I have 2 dance may my landlord be tall and handsome. If not I will pay for the whole year and take the 10% !


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Gatos said:


> Sorry - I live in the 21st century. When we rented we signed an annual lease and took a 10% discount. We sent the owner a SPEI. The relationship stated and ended without any problems.


I also live in the 21st century in Mexico. However, unlike you I do not have the financial means to pay an entire year's rent at one time. Since my landlord is an old friend who lives down the street, I walk over there at the end of each month to pay the rent in cash. We don't dance, but he does serve me tea and cookies!


----------



## sunnyvmx (Mar 14, 2010)

Be careful. Mostly I have rented without a lease, but what looks like a good deal for a 10% discount may cost you plenty if for some reason you want or need to leave early. I lost my last month's rent and security deposit for breaking the lease, but it was necessary. If I had paid for the year in advance, I would have lost a lot more. Refunds are difficult to obtain if not impossible here in Mexico. Never pay more up front than you can afford to lose. Pay when the job is done.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

I've come to realize that my wife and I live in a different Mexico than a lot of you. That's fine - but ya'll should probably take anything I post with a grain of salt because our situations would seem to be very unusual.

We spent months looking for a house to buy - must have looked at at least 100 houses in all sorts of areas. We already had a closing date set for our house in the US and here we are in Mexico with no place to stay. We were working with a very professional Century21 realtor (Canadian/Mexican). He approached the owner of our second choice home and asked if he would be willing to rent for a year - I think he was hoping we would end up buying (which we didn't). The realtor wrote up the lease - he took the 10% discount off. We had absolutely no issues getting our security deposit back. I think we actually lived in that house 11.5 months and took our sweet time moving into the house we ultimately purchased.


----------



## Me Linda (Jan 26, 2017)

After reading everyone's posts here I have already contacted a legal office ( Spencer ) I believe before I sign or hire or lease I will run everything thru them , after what I have read on this forum I believe it will be money well spent! This board has really helped even with or maybe because of its wide range of veiws ! ?


----------



## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

A lease should be very straight forward but in Spanish

I've had two landlords. In Jocotepec the landlord would send her daughter over on a quad to collect.

In Melaque I deposited to landlords Banamex account because he lived in Guad


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I have always preferred dogs to cats, as dogs are not aloof and offer unconditional love, regardless of status.
What was the topic?


----------



## Me Linda (Jan 26, 2017)

The topic is types of leases, forms and delivery methods of payment. Delivery by dog to risky , they are to easily bribed by biscuits, maybe a carrier pigeon?


----------



## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

The SPEI money transfer is, in my opinion, the way to go. I pay lots of people I do business with here that way. You don't have to carry around cash, you have a "paper trail," well, a virtual one anyway, and you can make the payment from the convenience of your own house. Or, if you just happen to have your account in the same bank at the person you're paying, it is even easier to transfer money. I have a Scotiabank account and was making some regular purchases from a business that also had their account at Scotiabank. It was super easy to set up and make the transfers.


----------



## Me Linda (Jan 26, 2017)

dwwhiteside said:


> The SPEI money transfer is, in my opinion, the way to go. I pay lots of people I do business with here that way. You don't have to carry around cash, you have a "paper trail," well, a virtual one anyway, and you can make the payment from the convenience of your own house. Or, if you just happen to have your account in the same bank at the person you're paying, it is even easier to transfer money. I have a Scotiabank account and was making some regular purchases from a business that also had their account at Scotiabank. It was super easy to set up and make the transfers.


. That sounds perfect, no carrying cash and a receipt, I will go to bank and set up an account as soon as I arrive thank you


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> I have always preferred dogs to cats, as dogs are not aloof and offer unconditional love, regardless of status.
> What was the topic?


I agree with your comment about dogs versus cats, RV, but what does that have to do with "Paying rent in Mexico"? Just wondering . . .


----------

