# House in Rosarito, looking for advice



## mohoxrevolution (Apr 14, 2018)

Hello all,

Some background: My wife and I are 27y/o from the Midwest, she is a Mexican Citizen with residency in the USA (here since 8 yrs old) and I am a born US citizen, Pakistani by origin with basic conversational Spanish down.

My wife's grandmother in Mexico is selling a small 1BR house with a larger lot around it, in Rosarito. It is in "Benito Juarez", near Federal Highway 1. She is selling it for $50,000 and it's something I'm possibly interested in buying from her. I should have more than $50k saved by the end of the year, and currently am saving at about a rate of $10k/year (to give an idea of what kind of impact this would have on my finances). Another option may be to give a high % down payment, and pay the rest off gradually. 

I'm wondering if this would be a good investment opportunity given our background and other information mentioned. 

In short, I would like to know what people from the area (especially American expats) think:
1) Is it a good place to live? In terms of safety, proximity to important things, etc.
2) Is it in a good place to possibly rent out as a vacation home? 
3) Being that we live fairly far away, is there any risk of squatters seeing an empty property and causing problems? 
4) Being that we are fairly far from retirement, is it worth getting and holding onto now, in hopes that value will grow in the future, or even just be a good place to retire? Of course, the answer to #2 would affect this question.

I don't know what other information or questions to include in order to determine if this is a good consideration to make, so please let me know if you have more questions, or if you have any information I didn't ask about. 

Thank you!


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## KingM (Apr 2, 2018)

Have you been there? That's the first thing to consider.

#3. Yes, high risk when you're managing any property at a distance. If it's an investment, buy something close to where you actually live. Otherwise, I can pretty much guarantee it will turn into a nightmare at some point.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Since you wife is a Mexican citizen put the title in her name only...In yours you would need a Fedicomiso or Mexican Bank Trust which is a costly hassle...Does it have an Ocean view? Squatters can be a problem,
So can being 18 miles from Tijuana...I suggest you Google " crime in Rosarito " read some of the problems and make a decision...Also if you rent it you will have to pay Mexican taxes...suerte.
Just my dos centavos.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Being a landlord of a property in the next block to you can be a challenge, mitigated only by using a management company known to you to be reliable. Being a long distance, and in another country, landlord is almost guaranteed to be a losing proposition.
Given your age and its location, you should probably keep your money and not buy this property.


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## NCas (Sep 9, 2013)

1) Is it a good place to live? In terms of safety, proximity to important things, etc.

I've only been living in TJ for just over a year and from what people tell me there is a lot of growth so a lot of places are being developed it depends where the house is located. However, Rosarito is also expanding a lot they've been working on the roads a lot and it's a popular destination on the weekends. I think it's a little safer than TJ.

2) Is it in a good place to possibly rent out as a vacation home?

I've seen other expats but not as many again depending if the house is more in the interior or on the coast. Please remember that if the property is rented for more than 15 days to anyone person you'll have to report those earnings to the IRS. Thought you'll have to do some research as my memory is spotty.

3) Being that we live fairly far away, is there any risk of squatters seeing an empty property and causing problems?

Yes, so it's probably better to rent it out as soon as you can. But you can probably hire someone down here to manage the property or a small company that manages the property. There seem to be a lot of those around here I can probably get you the name of one that used to manage the apartment I currently rent. I'm sure you could get away with asking a lot of questions without committing to hire them.

Good luck


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

2) Please remember that if the property is rented for more than 15 days to anyone person you'll have to report those earnings to the IRS.

The IRS has nothing to do with Mexico's tax laws, Your wife would have to get in touch with SAT or Servicio de Administracion Tributarla - nicknamed Hacienda ) to get an RFC number which would be the tax identification for doing business in Mexico...Although IRS and SAT share information so you would not be double taxed for income........


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## NCas (Sep 9, 2013)

chicois8 said:


> The IRS has nothing to do with Mexico's tax laws, Your wife would have to get in touch with SAT or Servicio de Administracion Tributarla - nicknamed Hacienda ) to get an RFC number which would be the tax identification for doing business in Mexico...Although IRS and SAT share information so you would not be double taxed for income........


That's right I forgot you mention your wife has Mexican citizenship, my mistake.


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## KingM (Apr 2, 2018)

NCas said:


> That's right I forgot you mention your wife has Mexican citizenship, my mistake.


Not that the OP has ever returned to the post (or the forum).


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

KingM said:


> Not that the OP has ever returned to the post (or the forum).


Still, answering questions helps future folks who use the search function.

Another risk with squatters... and this varies considerably by state/municipality/etc...

Sometimes, squatters can "take over a house" legally, if they've demonstrated they've paid the taxes for the property and have made considerable upgrades to the property. (Put up fences, repaired the home, etc...)

I've heard of people coming back to Mexico after a handful of years, and having their home not legally be their home anymore. You need to have a "contrato de arrendamiento" with the renter, and you need to be on top of everything. (IE... make sure the gas/light/water is in your name.... even if someone is paying it, as much as possible needs to be in your name, and at the same time... make sure those bills are being paid, you don't want your renters to leave you with thousands of pesos of unpaid utilities.)


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