# Buy Real Estate but not live there



## dodox23 (Aug 22, 2016)

Hello together, 

My name is Olli and I am from Austria. I plan to buy an Apartment / House in Mexico. Location is not fixed yet. 

I want to retire in 10 to 15 years and then move to Mexico with my pension.

The challenge is to buy a House now ( because the Money is available and the prices are affordable ) but not living there the whole year. Maybe i can stay in my House for 1 Month per year. 

My Mexican friends told me its risky to do it like i mentioned. Because there are people who looking for empty houses. Stealing or Occupation of the Property is more then realistic he meant.


I want to build up a second base outside of EU during the next years. So it will be easier to start a new life if i have a "Fully loaded" House, Bank account and so one. 

Looking forward for your suggestions. 

Olli


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Just to give you an idea - we live in a very nice community - with 24 X 7 security. There are 44 houses. Perhaps 5 or 6 are for sale. Perhaps 7 or 8 are lived in year round. Some are visited occasionally on weekends. 2 of the absentee owners are German. We bought our house from a German/Columbian couple who bought it from a Swiss guy. 2 houses are currently listed on airbnb.

It is going to depend on the area you choose - and the price/cost.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Gatos said:


> Just to give you an idea - we live in a very nice community - with 24 X 7 security. There are 44 houses. Perhaps 5 or 6 are for sale. Perhaps 7 or 8 are lived in year round. Some are visited occasionally on weekends. 2 of the absentee owners are German. We bought our house from a German/Columbian couple who bought it from a Swiss guy. 2 houses are currently listed on airbnb.
> 
> It is going to depend on the area you choose - and the price/cost.


A nice community? Could that be because most of your "neighbors" are rarely there?


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## dodox23 (Aug 22, 2016)

Thanks Gatos for your input. 

Maybe i will not live in Mexico forever , Uruguay is also a beautiful and interesting country. 

My budget is limited and my pension as well. ( The Statutory pension system in Austria is going to collapse ). 
I don't want to invest so much on my first house. Like 400.000 MXP is possible. 
I guess in this Budget it will hard to find 24x7 secured areas. 

My Mexican friend mentioned 2 Mio MXP is needed for a "safe house"


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Isla Verde said:


> A nice community? Could that be because most of your "neighbors" are rarely there?


Our best Mexican friends are neighbors - but their house is maybe a half mile away. They are there most of the time - but lead very interesting lives and travel a lot. A lot of our neighbors are snobs - but we don't bother each other.

It is a nice neighborhood (for us) because there are less walls than most of the places we checked out during the year or so we hunted for a house. All utilities are in the ground. From our living room I can see perhaps 40 miles to the South and 20 miles to the West. But - it would be nicer if it looked out over the ocean...


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

I am a single 71-year-old American woman living in Mexico City in an apartment in a normal middle-class neighborhood and feel perfectly safe here. No need to opt for a gated community with 24x7 security.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

But do you own your apartment ? and if not do you think you could buy something similar for less than $25K USD ? How about a house for that price range ? 

The city we live near - you are going to need about 4 million pesos to get a house with decent 24 X 7 security. I think you might have trouble finding an empty lot for 400,000 MXN.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Gatos said:


> But do you own your apartment ? and if not do you think you could buy something similar for less than $25K USD ? How about a house for that price range ?
> 
> The city we live near - you are going to need about 4 million pesos to get a house with decent 24 X 7 security. I think you might have trouble finding an empty lot for 400,000 MXN.


No, I don't own my apartment and have no desire (or the money) to do so. In my area I'd probably need to spend around $50,000 US to get something decent. My comment was meant to show the OP that you don't need to live in a gated community to feel safe in a large city like CDMX.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Isla Verde said:


> No, I don't own my apartment and have no desire (or the money) to do so. In my area I'd probably need to spend around $50,000 US to get something decent. My comment was meant to show the OP that you don't need to live in a gated community to feel safe in a large city like CDMX.


Ok. Got it. You live in the shadow of the US Embassy in Mexico City and feel safe. Not to be argumentative - do you have bars on your windows ? What floor do you live on ? How many locks on the front door ? Would you feel as safe if your apartment was in EdoMex ?

Recall - Olli wants to 'buy' something today and prepare it for his twilight years some 10-15 years down the road. He wants to spend around $25K US. 

Olli - did you envision something with cement or earthen floors ? How much would what you have in mind cost in Austria ? Where is your Mexican friend living ?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Gatos said:


> Ok. Got it. You live in the shadow of the US Embassy in Mexico City and feel safe. Not to be argumentative - do you have bars on your windows ? What floor do you live on ? How many locks on the front door ? Would you feel as safe if your apartment was in EdoMex ?


I feel safe but not because of my proximity to the US Embassy. I feel safe because the front door to my little bldg. closes with a noisy BANG whenever anyone enters or exits the bldg. and because anyone without a key needs to be buzzed in. I live on the fourth floor in an interior apartment with windows looking out on an inner court. The apartments that look out onto the street do not have bars. Just one lock on the front door. I don't know anything about living in the EdoMex, though I know that the crime rate is high there. In the end, it all depends on the neighborhood you live in and how helpful your heighbors are. You seem to be much more overly-conscious of security than I am. Where in Mexico do you live and how long have you lived there? I will celebrate my nine-year anniversary of living here next month!


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

The OP states: ""My budget is limited and my pension as well. ""
I was under the impression that one needed around or equal to $1500 USD income from pensions a month to be able to get a Temp. Resident Visa , maybe the OP can enlighten us on the amount of pension he will be receiving just to see if he qualifies for Mexico...

He would also have to pay someone to keep an eye on the house and maybe keep the weeds cut...

I actually know of brand new houses in gated developments in an area of pleasant weather year round in the 400,000 to 500,000 Peso range........


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Isla Verde said:


> I feel safe but not because of my proximity to the US Embassy. I feel safe because the front door to my little bldg. closes with a noisy BANG whenever anyone enters or exits the bldg. and because anyone without a key needs to be buzzed in. I live on the fourth floor in an interior apartment with windows looking out on an inner court. The apartments that look out onto the street do not have bars. Just one lock on the front door. I don't know anything about living in the EdoMex, though I know that the crime rate is high there. In the end, it all depends on the neighborhood you live in and how helpful your heighbors are. You seem to be much more overly-conscious of security than I am. Where in Mexico do you live and how long have you lived there? I will celebrate my nine-year anniversary of living here next month!


Well we celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary yesterday  We have been in Mexico for four years now. But we have always been security conscious. When we lived in the States we had impact glass on the windows and doors AND hurricane shutters on top of that AND an alarm system. We felt very safe - and at relatively little cost. So here we have our 24 X 7 security. When a visitor arrives they search the trunk and provide a credential. When they leave they search the trunk and return the credential. We have a one story (well 1.5 storied) house. Perhaps a year ago a house was actually held up at gunpoint. It was people who had been doing remodeling work for them and they had been warned about some of the people beforehand. The gardeners at another house broke into 2 houses. They were caught on camera. I have installed the exact same security system here as we had in the States. Normally it is not armed but it is nice that it issues 'ding-ding-ding' when something is opened. When it is armed and triggered you may hear it in Mexico City. As I already mentioned we really can't depend on our absentee neighbors (nor our 4 cats).

We are just very middle class Americans living a very middle class Mexican life.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Gatos said:


> But do you own your apartment ? and if not do you think you could buy something similar for less than $25K USD ? How about a house for that price range ?
> 
> The city we live near - you are going to need about 4 million pesos to get a house with decent 24 X 7 security. I think you might have trouble finding an empty lot for 400,000 MXN.


I see lots of billboards for fraccionamientos with houses for less than $400,000 mxn. They are usually located outside of cities and are tracts of 10s or 100s of identical houses with 2 or three bedrooms. They commonly have gated access and are probably very safe. You would have to be very unlucky for someone to pick out your particular house to burglarize out of the hundreds of neighbors. They don't appeal to me much because they are located far from any services and require a car for everything. But they provide relatively affordable housing for many Mexican families.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I see lots of billboards for fraccionamientos with houses for less than $400,000 mxn. They are usually located outside of cities and are tracts of 10s or 100s of identical houses with 2 or three bedrooms. They commonly have gated access and are probably very safe. You would have to be very unlucky for someone to pick out your particular house to burglarize out of the hundreds of neighbors. They don't appeal to me much because they are located far from any services and require a car for everything. But they provide relatively affordable housing for many Mexican families.


These fraccionamientos you write of sound somewhat like Levittown, the boring ur-suburb outside of Philadelphia that my family moved to when I was nine, one of those places about which you can say, "There is no there there". My parents liked it because the price for a four-bedroom two-bath house with a yard was affordable on my father's salary. Ever since I left home, I have lived in cities all around the world that were as different from Levittown as I could find.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> The OP states: ""My budget is limited and my pension as well. ""
> I was under the impression that one needed around or equal to $1500 USD income from pensions a month to be able to get a Temp. Resident Visa , maybe the OP can enlighten us on the amount of pension he will be receiving just to see if he qualifies for Mexico...
> 
> He would also have to pay someone to keep an eye on the house and maybe keep the weeds cut...
> ...


Right now for most Mx. consulates for a RT visa the monthly deposit is about $1,200 USD and some consulates want $1,250 USD. The Las Vegas Mx. consulate last Oct. wanted to see $1,000 per month USD deposits. The Mexican Embassy in Washington DC on their website stated it is $1,500 USD per month. Some consulates only accept pension income and some accept pension income or pay stubs from a current US job and a completed filed IRS form from last year, etc..


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

AlanMexicali said:


> Right now for most Mx. consulates for a RT visa the monthly deposit is about $1,200 USD and some consulates want $1,250 USD. The Las Vegas Mx. consulate last Oct. wanted to see $1,000 per month USD deposits. The Mexican Embassy in Washington DC on their website stated it is $1,500 USD per month. Some consulates only accept pension income and some accept pension income or pay stubs from a current US job and a completed filed IRS form from last year, etc..


He is talking about buying now but not living in Mexico for 10 or 15 years. I can't remember, are you allowed to purchase property as a tourist, without a visa?


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

dodox23 said:


> My Mexican friends told me its risky to do it like i mentioned. Because there are people who looking for empty houses. Stealing or Occupation of the Property is more then realistic he meant.


Sounds like what my wife and I did: Bought a large beach lot in Colima almost 20 years ago for < 8,000 dollars, and built a small house about 4 years later. No 24/7 armed security, 15 foot walls, razor wire or a piranha-infested moat. Just one of the local guys keeping an eye on it and watering the plants. Before I retired this year we were able to visit once a year for three weeks while the Guadalajara in-laws checked in every three months or so. In those 15 years we had one break-in. Because we kept few possessions there, only a microwave and an old bicycle went missing. The cost of repairing the pried open door was the biggest loss.
As far as someone adversely occupying your property, it's true that in Mexico squatter's rights are more solid than in industrialized countries, largely in the spirit of the 1910 Revolution when large landholdings were confiscated from wealthy absentee owners and redistributed to peasants who worked and lived on the land. It can still happen, but I doubt it could be done in less than a year.
I'd suggest you go ahead and put a down-payment on your retirement dream---land's not getting any cheaper. Just get to know some locals, ask around and find someone trustworthy to keep tabs on it while you're gone.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> I see lots of billboards for fraccionamientos with houses for less than $400,000 mxn. They are usually located outside of cities and are tracts of 10s or 100s of identical houses with 2 or three bedrooms. They commonly have gated access and are probably very safe. You would have to be very unlucky for someone to pick out your particular house to burglarize out of the hundreds of neighbors. They don't appeal to me much because they are located far from any services and require a car for everything. But they provide relatively affordable housing for many Mexican families.


There is an area like you describe about 40 miles (perhaps an hours drive) from where we live. I can see it from here. Ya know - that is the one place where there seems to be a gang shoot-out every weekend. Earlier this year they killed the mayor of the town who I think was in office for about a month. I can't imagine a foreigner moving to such a place. Sure they may not target you in your 'home' - they will get you in the street outside.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Gatos said:


> There is an area like you describe about 40 miles (perhaps an hours drive) from where we live. I can see it from here. Ya know - that is the one place where there seems to be a gang shoot-out every weekend. Earlier this year they killed the mayor of the town who I think was in office for about a month. I can't imagine a foreigner moving to such a place. Sure they may not target you in your 'home' - they will get you in the street outside.


Those fraccionamientos are ubiquitous. I highly doubt that they are all riddled with gang violence. I am sorry the one near you is.

However, I doubt that any of them would appeal to many foreigners for other reasons.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> Those fraccionamientos are ubiquitous. I highly doubt that they are all riddled with gang violence. I am sorry the one near you is.
> However, I doubt that any of them would appeal to many foreigners for other reasons.


The description sounds like Infonavit housing, the government program where workers build up credits that pay for a substantial amount of the purchase price, but not always. They're small, identical, modest, jammed together and _usually_ decent and safe. I've several in-laws that have purchased them and are happy there. OTOH, some Infonavit developments have been monumental failures, as if they were designed to be ghettos from the start. Poor roads, inadequate sewers, distant schools and inconvenient public transportation are the recipe for disaster. Whole blocks of such in Tlajomulco, barely 7 years new, are now abandoned to gangs and squatters.


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## LMtortugas (Aug 23, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> I am a single 71-year-old American woman living in Mexico City in an apartment in a normal middle-class neighborhood and feel perfectly safe here. No need to opt for a gated community with 24x7 security.


Isla, well stated! 

When I exited north Dallas for infamous Sinaloa I left along with it “locked communities,” electronic gate keys, obligatory manicured lawns, and all associated paranoia that somebody might actually transgress upon all of it. 

So far…. No regrets & still alive


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

Hi Olli, you say you want to purchase the house or apartment now because "the money is there and the prices affordable." However, I would suggest that you keep your money in a safe investment until you are actually ready to move here. The reason is that there are so many different places in Mexico with varying climates, cultures, etc., that you may want to try visiting different parts of the country until you find a place you truly like.

Generally speaking, the best advice on this board for people looking to move here in retirement is to rent for a while first and don't buy real estate until you are sure (relatively speaking) that you have found the place you want to stay. You have the next 10 to 15 years to make visits to different parts of Mexico and pick a few places for closer examination. Take advantage of that time and don't get yourself locked in to one place just yet.

That's my two centavos worth of advice.


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## dodox23 (Aug 22, 2016)

Thank you all for the Input. Its maybe a good idea to live temporary in Mex before get there deeper involved. Also interesting to know that i need to have 1200-1500 USD per Month to immigrate. 

Does anyone know about the Process for a Post Office Box with an Address ?. So i can organize all Topics ( Bank account ...) and let the Mail be delivered to that Mailbox.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

dodox23 said:


> Does anyone know about the Process for a Post Office Box with an Address ?. So i can organize all Topics ( Bank account ...) and let the Mail be delivered to that Mailbox.


Are you referring to a private post office box (in Spanish "apartado postal") at a branch of the Mexican postal system (Correos Mexicanos)? That can only be done once you're living in Mexico and have a Mexican address.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

dodox23 said:


> Thank you all for the Input. Its maybe a good idea to live temporary in Mex before get there deeper involved. Also interesting to know that i need to have 1200-1500 USD per Month to immigrate.
> 
> Does anyone know about the Process for a Post Office Box with an Address ?. So i can organize all Topics ( Bank account ...) and let the Mail be delivered to that Mailbox.


There is an expression in English - 'what came first the chicken or the egg'. Everything you do in Mexico requires a 'comprobante de domicilio'. Even today - four years after arriving here - we carry copies with us all the time. Normally that is an electric bill, or a telmex bill. You will need that to open a bank account (other than a non-interest bearing checking account), probably to get your resident credentials, insurance, post office box - pretty much everything. At various times you will be asked to provide two personal references. 

I believe you had mentioned that you had Mexican friend(s). Perhaps one of them will allow/help you get a Telmex bill with your name on it and their address (assuming you don't have a rental address before that). I am not sure but I believe there may be a distinction made between mobile and landline bills. I know the first year we were here - when we rented the electric bill was never in our name - but we had our own Telmex fijo (landline).

A Postal Box is incredibly cheap btw - perhaps as little as 200/300 pesos per year.


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## dodox23 (Aug 22, 2016)

@ Isla Verde. 

I know from Austria , that everything what you do , needs a Address. And I think with an Address it will become easier to get an permanent visa. 

So i want to open a Post office box as a Address. 

@ Gatos, 
we got the same Saying in German  "Was war zu erst da ? die Henne oder das Ei ?"
Thank you for the Insight about your experience. 
Is the Bill for only one Month needed or like the last 3 Month ? 

So as Summary out of the Discussion i understand it in that way. 

1. Rent a appartment , Travel around for a final residence finding. 
2. Collecting the Bills ( Bills on my Name ) 
3. Creation of Bank account and so one


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

A Mexican consulate or embassy in your home country is where you must apply for a residence visa before you enter Mexico. Otherwise, your stay as a tourist in Mexico is limited to 180 days. A tourist visa may not be renewed or changed in Mexico in most cases.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

dodox23 said:


> @ Isla Verde.
> 
> I know from Austria , that everything what you do , needs a Address. And I think with an Address it will become easier to get an permanent visa.
> 
> So i want to open a Post office box as a Address.


I doubt if a PO box will count as a "real" address for the purposes of getting a permanent visa. The important thing will be your income. In any event, you can't get a PO box without a "comprobante de domicilio", which is proof that you have a Mexican address. Even if you have a Mexican friend who can lend you one, you still have to sign a form to apply for an apartado postal. I know because I have done this every year since moving to Mexico in 2007.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

dodox23 said:


> @ Isla Verde.
> 
> I know from Austria , that everything what you do , needs a Address. And I think with an Address it will become easier to get an permanent visa.
> 
> ...


A PO Box is someplace you can have mail sent - but it is not going to satisfy the requirement to have an address. btw - when we first got here we knew no one. We were working with a professional realtor trying to find someplace to live - and from time to time we used his address / phone number (as needed). We did have a very good working relationship with him (and he made a very handsome commission when we purchased our house).

Is HSBC bank in Austria ? If so - you can probably walk into a branch today and open a Mexican checking account. Of course you may want to be sure which place in Mexico you want to settle in first.

You will only need one month's bill as proof of residence - but I believe it can not be older than 3 months.

I don't know what the current financial requirements are for a resident credential - but I think they are higher for permanent versus temporary.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I would not buy a house or condo now for retirement 10-15 years out. Too much can change, both on the side of your wants & needs and on the side of governments & politics in the countries you might move to or from. Owning houses & condos involve expenses for insurance and other things that you wouldn't recoup unless you were renting, which is way too much hassle and risk. 

If I was very worried about the cost of homes skyrocketing and I was desperate to lock something in now, I would buy undeveloped land. It can't burn down. If you make sure you really own it properly in the first place it usually can't be stolen (except by the government) and you don't need to insure it. Also, where home prices rise a lot, most of the increase is in the cost of the land, not the structure. I read once that no matter where you go in the US, the cost of building an equivalent house is pretty much the same, within 5-10%, it's the location of the land that makes one place more expensive than another.

But buying unbuilt land has its own pitfalls, such as discovering later that the government won't let you build on it, or you can't get electricity or water, or you have no sewer system access and the ground won't support a septic system. I don't know if Mexico has any "squatter's rights" laws you have to worry about.

Personally, I prefer financial investing (US stocks), but I understand that most people don't have the head & stomach for it.

All the above is general advice, not really specific to Mexico.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

eastwind said:


> I would not buy a house or condo now for retirement 10-15 years out. Too much can change, both on the side of your wants & needs and on the side of governments & politics in the countries you might move to or from. Owning houses & condos involve expenses for insurance and other things that you wouldn't recoup unless you were renting, which is way too much hassle and risk.
> 
> If I was very worried about the cost of homes skyrocketing and I was desperate to lock something in now, I would buy undeveloped land. It can't burn down. If you make sure you really own it properly in the first place it usually can't be stolen (except by the government) and you don't need to insure it. Also, where home prices rise a lot, most of the increase is in the cost of the land, not the structure. I read once that no matter where you go in the US, the cost of building an equivalent house is pretty much the same, within 5-10%, it's the location of the land that makes one place more expensive than another.
> 
> ...


Mexico has its own specific gotchas. You do have to be careful with squatters. They have more rights that in the US, although I don't know the details. Another concern is Ejido land. This is land that is held in-common by communities. It dates back to the revolution and can make getting title to property risky. There is a case going on now in Tulum of hotels that are on contested land.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Squatters can be a serious complication in Mexico, and it can take years to get rid of them. If they improve the property, and/or pay some utilities, they can end up owning the land. Be careful.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

RVGRINGO said:


> Squatters can be a serious complication in Mexico, and it can take years to get rid of them. If they improve the property, and/or pay some utilities, they can end up owning the land. Be careful.


Yes they can, and more easily than in the U.S. I think we're all in agreement that leaving property abandoned for 15 years would invite such, but let's not get paranoid. If the OP plans to visit every year, like he suggested, it shouldn't be a problem. Far less so if he follows my advice of enlisting a trustworthy local to keep him informed as to what's up in the meantime. Squatters are only a problem if they're allowed to put down roots.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

perropedorro said:


> Yes they can, and more easily than in the U.S. I think we're all in agreement that leaving property abandoned for 15 years would invite such, but let's not get paranoid. If the OP plans to visit every year, like he suggested, it shouldn't be a problem. Far less so if he follows my advice of enlisting a trustworthy local to keep him informed as to what's up in the meantime. Squatters are only a problem if they're allowed to put down roots.


A trustworthy local, eh? Do you have any suggestions about how the OP could go about finding someone like that? Visiting a property once a year doesn't seem to be a very practical way of preventing it from falling into the hands of squatters, not to mention keeping it in good physical condition. Just my opinion, of course.


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

dodox23 said:


> Hello together,
> 
> My name is Olli and I am from Austria. I plan to buy an Apartment / House in Mexico. Location is not fixed yet.
> 
> ...


I think the disadvantages of long distance ownership over a period of 10-15 years far outweigh any advantage of buying now on current prices, unless you could buy beachfront property on an unknown cover that will be developed soon, which as a foreigner, you can't do.

Over a range of 10-15 years, history says you can invest in the U.S. stock market and get far superior returns than any current interest rate investment.

I'm no advisor or expert, but you can do research easily via google.

The simplest and safest method for the non expert is to invest in the top rated index mutual funds. They don't depend upon hotshot gunslingers who try to beat the market, but instead buy stocks that mirror the market. They also have much lower annul costs to investors, as computers make most of the investment decisions.

You wouldn't investment all of your capital at once, especially now with the market at an all time high. Instead (and there are multiple books and websites explaining this), you investing at what is called "dollar cost averaging." That is, you invest the exact same amount for each period, say monthly, no matter what the market is doing.

When the market goes down that particular month, you are buying more shares. As the market goes up and down, over time, you accumulate more and more shares bought at lower prices, and therefore, if you finally sell to buy your house when the market is at a high point, your profits will be much more than the overall market climb in that period of 10-15 years.

Of course, there is always the big BUT, past performance is no guarantee of future developments.

If you had invested your entire nest egg right before the 1929 crash, it took 30 years or so to make it make back. If you had invested it at the low in 1932, you would've been a multi-multi millionaire in 15 years.

"During the 20th century the stock market returned an average of 10.4% a year. Just $1,000 invested in 1900 would be worth over $19.8 million by the end of 1999. At 15% average return per year, it only takes 30 years to turn $15,000 to $1 million."

However, the average per year since 1932 is more like 8.5 percent.

The Historical Rate of Return for the Stock Market Since 1900 | Stock Picks System

The great John Bogle is the investor who developed the way for the small investor to reap the returns that previously only the rich could afford in found the Vanguard Funds. Nearly every one of its funds in indexed, taking something like 0.03 percent per year. There are of course other mutual fund groups that focus on index funds.

If you read investment journals that have advertisements for mutual funds, you'll see managed funds that have active managers that ballyhoo returns of 20 percent or more , but that is usually over a small period of time, a year or two, or even up to five. But over the long haul, 10 years or more, no investor beats the market.

hedge fund managers become billionaires fast because they can convince rich people they can beat the market consistently. They have a lucky run of a few years with a few million, and use that to take in billions of new funds, can't keep it up, but by taking 8 percent a year, get to be billionaires themselves. And of course, many try to keep put the high returns by seeking insider information illegally, and get away with it for a while.

These go-go hedge funds you read about take up to 8 percent or more per year of their investors' money.

Unlike putting your money into U.S. banks, of course there is no insurance.

As far as I know, foreigners can invest directly into mutual funds. 

All of these mutual fund families have different index funds to spread the risk - in the S&P 500, in small companies (which over time have the very highest returns), medium companies, those that give high dividends, those that seek to seek largest share price growth, international markets, real estate.

You are investing in something very real, and odds are that in especially in 15 years, you'd be able to buy double the house you could buy now. Of course, my view is slightly colored as my wife paid cash for a brand new house about 30 miles outside Mexico City in a brand new development, but lost it all after moving to the States, even though she had a brother and sister with houses in the same development, for living in once they retired from jobs in Mexico City. They all lost their houses. People moved in and claimed them.


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## dodox23 (Aug 22, 2016)

Thank you all for the advice. I will reconsider it. Squatters seems to be a big problem. Can they clam the House also if i leave it for one or two month ? Like when usually stay there , but going for Holiday for 6-8 Weeks


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

Isla Verde said:


> A trustworthy local, eh? Do you have any suggestions about how the OP could go about finding someone like that? Visiting a property once a year doesn't seem to be a very practical way of preventing it fromfalling into the hands of squatters, not to mention keeping it in good physical condition. Just my opinion, of course.


The house he's planning will take a while to build, and it's a good idea to be there during the process. Quite a few risks involved there also if the owner is absent. like switching purchased materials for inferior ones. But that time can also be used to make some local connections. Anywhere there are vacation houses or expats who live there only part of the year, there are certain to be people with a house-tending business.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

dodox23 said:


> Thank you all for the advice. I will reconsider it. Squatters seems to be a big problem. Can they clam the House also if i leave it for one or two month ? Like when usually stay there , but going for Holiday for 6-8 Weeks


Squatters cannot claim ownership for 2 years and they need to have done improvements like clearing land, planting a crop and harvesting it, raising livestock, building a structure etc. and proving they did it and in 2 years can file for a review with the land managment dept. [or whatever it is callled] to see if they have a case. There is no guarantee they will transfer the title to the squatters. 

I had 2 sets of squatters in a house I left empty with nothing in it and the first set were there at least a couple of months. I paid a lawyer $400.00 USD and he found some pólice on patrol and had them thrown out. The second time about 1 year later 2 famlilies with small children moved in and painted the house pink, inside and out. The lawyer found some pólice on patrol and they went there with him, talked to the squatters, who were they a few months, and said they didn´t want to be involved.

The lawyer went to the army base and got a few trucks full of military guys and took them to throw them out at 10 PM on a Sunday night. The pólice came by to help and blocked off the street while the military did the "acción" and many pólice came driving by to see the "acción" all night long. This time it cost $500.00 USD.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

All this talk of squatters makes me all the more happy with our 24 X 7 security - which pretty much makes squatting very unlikely.

btw - squatting can happen in some very interesting places...

Boca Raton Police, Bank of America Seize $2.5 Million Home From Squatter - ABC News


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## mattoleriver (Oct 21, 2011)

Some things take a while longer to come to the surface.
4,000 homeowners possible victims of Veracruz land fraud


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

dodox23 said:


> Thanks Gatos for your input.
> 
> Maybe i will not live in Mexico forever , Uruguay is also a beautiful and interesting country.
> 
> ...


400,000 pesos for a safe and nice, house will not do the job, other than that, buying a nice and safe house and live in it a month per year, perfectly doable idea, I agree, in the 2,000,000 pesos neighborhood


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