# Cancun & wandering thoughts on property.



## NORM123 (Jul 10, 2009)

Never hear anything about Cancun. Too expensive for retirement?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I don't know about the price, but I have no interest in even going to visit let alone live there. Tourist beach areas are like Hades on earth for me.
Some folks are beach folks, some aren't. I fall in the latter camp.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Many such places are intolerable and very lonely in the hot, humid summer weather. Let's face it; they aren't typical of the rest of Mexico and life in a 'tourist zone' can get old really fast.


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## Tucson (Oct 30, 2010)

We've owned in Puerto Aventuras (couple of hours south of Cancun, between Playa del Carmen and Tulum) for 6+ years now. It's on the Caribbean Sea like Cancun and a lot quieter. It has been called Puerto Muerto by some!! 

We prefer the Yucatan to Northern Mexico and think it is less costly to buy here than in many Northern Mexico places. (Or so we think anyway). It is tropical and humid in the summer, like you would expect it to be. The sea is the warmest and most beautiful body of water we think we have ever seen. 

If you seek a busy place, just catch the Collectivo and travel a short distance to Playa Del Carmen and maybe take a ferry ride over to Cozumel. The Mayan Riviera is our favorite place!


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Most people really like there decision. I do also but hopefully will be neutral in response. I think you are either a beach person or you are not. We aren't willing to put up with the summer heat and humidity whether Mexico, Costa Rica, Bali or Phuket so we live in the mountains. If we were beach people, the last place that I would pick is Cancun as it really is tourist haven and that gets old hat quick. From my limited research, if I were to pick the Yucatan, I would rather look at the Progreso/Sisal/Merida combo, Campeche or maybe Chetumal. However because of my biases, if I were to move more than one driving day from the border, my focus would be San Cristobal or Oaxaca City.


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## Tucson (Oct 30, 2010)

No argument there, Cancun is way too touristy for our tastes too (thus, Puerto "Muerto" suits us fine). 

Have you lived in Mexico a long time? What info can you share with the rest of us? We've figured out how to pay our Telmex and Sky Retenciones bills on-line and are working on figuring out how to pay the Trust fee, property tax and CF electrical services bills on-line or through pre-payment deposits or by means other than using the services of our managing agent there.

Also, I did read on another site that the best way to buy appliances in Mexico is to go to Home Depot, go to the contractor's desk and tell them you are remodeling and want to get the contractor's discount (20% I believe). Then go pick out what you need, bring the tickets back to the contractor's desk and conclude the transaction. 

If you have any good tips to expats trying to live a piece of our own individual version of the good life, please let us know. 

Already I've learned the baggers at the grocery store do not get a salary and the customary tip is 20 to 50 pesos unless it is Costco, then think of a US dollar.

Gracias!!


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

> Already I've learned the baggers at the grocery store do not get a salary and the customary tip is 20 to 50 pesos unless it is Costco, then think of a US dollar.


I think you mean 2 to 5 pesos and Costco is not different unless your hauling out some big stuff and need to load it in your vehicle. A US dollar is around 12.5 pesos.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We are approaching the end of our first decade in Mexico and would find living anywhere else a strange experience now. It does remain a cash society and some bills can be paid online, while others require a visit with a hand full of cash. CFE can be paid ahead, if you are going to be out of country, and the bank trust could probably be paid to a specific account number by wire transfer. Taxes and water will probably require the services of an agent or neighbor, if you will be absent in the months that those payments can be made. As you know, there is usually a 15% discount in December & January. Just be very careful that pre-payments of any bills do go to the correct account. Getting a refund in Mexico is near impossible, even if the error is theirs.
Your information on Home Depot is usually good & we did exactly that in the remodeling of two properties. It saved a lot on appliances and some building materials, plumbing fixtures, etc.
The grocery store baggers don't get a salary, but you are too high on your tips, which are customarily 2-5 pesos or maybe a peso per bag for a very large amount of groceries. Often a kid will help you push the cart to your car and assist in loading. Even if they are too tiny to do much, a couple of pesos will be appreciated. Over tip, and you may be targeted by bigger kids with only greed in mind.....never a good idea.


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

La Paz municipality just enabled online payment for property taxes, so this is likely to be happening in other areas of Mexico. Our water company allows advance cash deposits on account, but that may not be the case everywhere. If you have a Mexican bank account, you can set up auto bill pay for Telmex, CFE, and possibly others.

We didn't have Home Depot when I was buying appliances, but I found good deals in appliance stores, particularly smaller ones as opposed to chains. It pays to shop around. The fridge I ended up buying for about 8,000 pesos was priced as high as 12,000-15,000 elsewhere. I found it useful to buy on the "apartado" system, which is sort of like "layaway" or "90 days same as cash" used to be in the US. I could take advantage of sale prices, while paying over time and not taking delivery until my house was ready.

I'm happy where I am, but Puerto Aventuras sounds like a very nice place to live!


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## Tucson (Oct 30, 2010)

Telmex USA will set up a charge card autopayment for monthly phone service. The servcie charge is $3.00 US per month. The bill paying number (headquartered in Texas) is 1-800-295-6702. You can select English for your language of preference. What you will get from them is an individual client number assigned to your account and they'll fax to you a form to fill out and return. That is all that is needed to set up your service for automatic payments. CFE, I have heard, will allow you to put money on deposit. We will certainly look forward to future changes in how we can pay property tax in the Yucatan! 

That was a good deal on the refrigerator and great advise on setting up the arpatado system, which could be very useful if someone (like us) does not have transportation and need to schedule delivery. 

We've done some traveling around Mexico and love everywhere we have been and the people we've met. For us beach types, the Caribbean called to us and we were compelled to answer! Our community has dolphin pools, restaurants, a couple of hotels, and many homes and condos inside the gated community. The marina sees a wide variety of fishing boats and small yachts. It works for us! And the price was right.

We don't have a Mexican bank account. Do you have to be a full-time resident to set something like that up?


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

I don't think full- or part-time matters to banks, but they frequently require at least temporary resident status ("no inmigrante", formerly known as FM3) to open an account.

As someone said earlier, you're either a beachy person or not. Like you, I need sun, sand, and sea, which played a major role in my choice of retirement location. It's great that you found a place you love. Best of luck!


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

I'm another one who loves the beach, we have a one bedroom condo and a lot in Mazatlan and I actually prefer the hot summers over the winters. We are close enough to the beach that we get a cool breeze from the ocean and the temperature of the water is perfect for swimming. I love the fact that in the summer I never need long pants or sleeves even at night, in the winter you need long pants and sometimes a light jacket as soon as the sun goes down and the ocean can be cold. We usually turn on the A/C only in the bedroom at night just to get a better sleep and don't need it during the day except on rare occasions. We have two minisplits and the electric bill has never been more than 350 pesos. 

We were in Cancun and Playa del Carmen last year. We rented a car and spent a lot of time driving around the area and also looked at some real estate. Beachfront property was very expensive but we found a new subdivision on the west side of the highway as soon as you enter Playa Del Carmen coming from Cancun where they are selling new homes around 1700 square feet for around $100,000 (dollars not pesos) and they are very nice. Probably about a 7 minute drive from the beach. In Cancun we found that the hotel zone and downtown were very expensive and on the other side of downtown where average Mexican families actually live were mostly slums. I'm sure there are some nice neighborhoods but we couldn't find them. If for some reason we decide not to stay in Mazatlan once we get to Mexico full-time Playa del Carmen will make the short list of other locations that we will consider.


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## Tucson (Oct 30, 2010)

When you next travel to the Yucatan peninsula, considering taking a trip further south from Playa del Carmen ("PDC"), towards Tulum. Between those 2 places is Puerto Aventuras. It is really a chariming place, nice sandy beach, a good variety of things to do without leaving the community and it is priced lower than PDC. It is easy to get around and there are rentals through the local real estate agents. Our place is a 2 floor older unit (18 years old) and full of the charm we liked about the old Mexico style. 

You can still buy a nice place there with great views of the open sea, located right on prime marina property, and get about 1300 - 1300 sf, completely furnished, for $240,000. You may have to forego the elevator (older units don't have them) but is a small price to pay and saves time on the treadmill or stairmaster! It is a good launching point to explore the Mayan history, travel to the ruins, and use the ADO bus connections to explore colonial Merida and points throughout Mexico (right up to the Belize border). 

We feel very safe there but realize we always need to keep our eyes open and not become a target, both here in the US and in Mexico, or anywhere else in the world, for that matter. We certainly do appreciate all the ex pat info this site and others have given about living in Mexico re: how to get things done (and get bills paid), where to find things we need or at least, really want, and getting day-to-day info from others in our situation. 

We've been to Mazatlan many years ago and enjoyed ourselves there. The weather and beach activities were just what we were looking for. So much to do and see. Best of luck on looking for the perfect place to settle. Such a challenge.


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

Tucson said:


> When you next travel to the Yucatan peninsula, considering taking a trip further south from Playa del Carmen ("PDC"), towards Tulum. Between those 2 places is Puerto Aventuras.QUOTE]
> 
> We did go to Tulum and Coba so we would have driven right past Puerto Aventuras. It looks nice there but we really like having the amenities that a city has to offer so I don't think we would consider anything smaller that Playa Del Carmen. For us the plan has always been Mazatlan but the drug violence has been getting worse there over the last couple of years. They are killing an average of 4 a day in Mazatlan and not all of the victims are involved in the drug trade. I know this because my wife is from there and has lost some family members. Recently somebody very close to her who was not involved in anything was shot in front of his son and pregnant wife by a group of men armed with AK47 assault rifles.


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## Tucson (Oct 30, 2010)

How senseless and sad this loss of life was. Our hearts truly go out to his wife, son, baby-to-be, and your wife. The "average" (4 a day) is alarming. 

We used to live (very briefly) in New Mexico. Our (then) builder told us a story of a young relative of his who finished evening rehearsals for his wedding which would have taken place the next day. Some thugs with guns opened fire upon the group of young men, standing outside the church, leaving the would-be groom paralyzed from the neck down, forever. No wedding the next day. Albuquerque, NM as well as other places in the US have problems, too, but 4+ a day? How do people leave their houses to shop?

We lived near Juarez, MX (Las Cruces, NM) and used to make day trips there to buy what-ever, enjoy the bus ride, and experience a fun lunch in Mexico with friends. Now, people are being killed at such alarming rates, no one would think of going anywhere near there. It is crazy. 

(Snipped advertising paragraph}

Everyone has their own special wish-list of things they want from their new and prospective "home" in Mexico (mountains, beach, urban, rural, etc.) and the great thing is, there's so much to choose from. If I were looking at SE Mexico (i.e. the states of Yucatan and Q. Roo), I might consider Merida; it is close to beaches, has a large ex-pat population, an airport, and it is really quite cosmopolitan while retaining the charm and character of old colonial Mexico (or so I hear from them, anyway).

We are big fans if Mayan culture, the warmth of the people, and enough of a difference between Northern Mexico and the South. We are so appreciative of everyone we've exchanged postings with, sharing their thoughts on life where they live it in Mexico, challenges they meet and how they overcome those obstacles, and just living in a foreign country.


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## ShowMetheWater (Nov 2, 2010)

f3drivr and/or Tuscon -
I was under the impression that I could not own property within a (?) certain distance of water/ocean - is this correct?- We just recently returned from another trip to PDC and Love the Playacar area and we are thinking of moving to that area as we like more of the "city" life as well - though Puerto Adventuras is nice also / Tulum was little too rustic for us


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Within border and coastal areas there are restrictions. You must hold property in a bank trust. The interior of Mexico allows you to hold property by normal deed.


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## ShowMetheWater (Nov 2, 2010)

RVGRINGO said:


> Within border and coastal areas there are restrictions. You must hold property in a bank trust. The interior of Mexico allows you to hold property by normal deed.


OK - thank you - I guess I missed the part about "hold in Bank trust" the first time around


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

My wife has Mexican Citizenship and our properties are in her name. This saved us the initial cost of setting up the trust which can vary but I hear runs around 30,000 pesos and the annual fees of around 3000 pesos per property. I sometimes wonder what my rights would be as a foreigner if anything ever happened to my wife or we were to get divorced. We did spend the money to get a will done by a Mexican Lawyer and we were married in Mexico with shared assets which supposedly gives me the right to half. Still though I wonder.... Once we move there full-time I plan to go for my FM2 right away and Citizenship 2 years later, then have the properties put into my name as well.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

It is interesting, in Mexico, that husband and wife each own half of the property, rather than 'joint tenancy' as we know it in the USA. As such, the survivor actually has to close and pay the associated costs of the notario and re-registration of the property. So, a will is necessary to insure that the deceased's half doesn't automatically go to his/her children, if that is not desired. In Cancun, this would probably apply to the trust arrangement, as well.


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## Tucson (Oct 30, 2010)

Our marina property is held in trust by a Mexican Bank. Our trust fee costs about $600 a year and we pay the bank by using our American credit card. The trust is for 50 years, renewable. The bank holds the property in the buyer's name; the trust is how to circumvent the the prohibition on non-Mexicans owning land within 10 miles of the coast. The trust was set up for us at the time we bought our property.


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