# We Want Outta Here



## flingdow (Apr 23, 2011)

Hi, I am new to the forum and would like some information.
We are currently thinking about moving to La Paz Mexico. Does anyone have any information on jobs, housing, how it is for expats there and maybe anything you think would be helpful.
We are growing tired of the state that the US is in. We currently live in Oregon but grew up in San Diego.
Thank You,
Teri


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

flingdow said:


> Hi, I am new to the forum and would like some information.
> We are currently thinking about moving to La Paz Mexico. Does anyone have any information on jobs, housing, how it is for expats there and maybe anything you think would be helpful.
> We are growing tired of the state that the US is in. We currently live in Oregon but grew up in San Diego.
> Thank You,
> Teri


Welcome to the Forum Teri. Your questions are pretty general. There is tons of information of that kind in the threads in this forum. I suggest you start by reading some of the existing threads and then if you still are in the dark on something, post a specific question. I think you will find people here very helpful. Short answers to your general questions are: jobs are hard to come by, particularly for non-Mexicans; housing - whatever you and your pocket book want you can find; and finally, don't commit to a place until you have spent a significant amount of time visiting there.

Good luck,


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## Heading South (Jan 29, 2011)

flingdow said:


> Hi, I am new to the forum and would like some information.
> We are currently thinking about moving to La Paz Mexico. Does anyone have any information on jobs, housing, how it is for expats there and maybe anything you think would be helpful.
> We are growing tired of the state that the US is in. We currently live in Oregon but grew up in San Diego.
> Thank You,
> Teri


Have you ever been to La Paz, if not, why are you choosing it over somewhere else?. If you Google La Paz real estate you can find out about housing costs, which like most of Mexico, is well below the U.S. Personally, I would recommend Manzanillo if you want a place with good infastructure, but don't want somewhere over run with tourists.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

There are almost unlimited great places to live in Mexico and an advocate for every one. As the moderator said, the 1st step should to visit a few for extended periods and multiple seasons. This is a really critical 1st step.
I've found that two of the key decisions are beach versus highlands and distance willing to be from the border so would start with those to pick target visits.


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

I've been in La Paz for four years. It's a very enjoyable place to live, depending on your priorities. My best friend is from the Portland area and has been here since 1999. She loves it, and so do I. Your best bet would be to come for a visit and see if it's right for you. The climate is much more extreme than you're probably used to, and the sun is very strong. Think of it as southern Arizona with a rainy season. There can be variations up to 40+ degrees in a given 24 hours. Winter nights can be down into the 30s and summer days into the 100+ range. Mid-August to mid-October can be muggy and oppressive, especially if there are numerous tropical storms. But one reason I chose it is because it's generally drier than other coastal areas. Beaches are lovely and close to town, and the desert scenery is magnificent. There's a gorgeous malecón for walking along the bay, and we have some amazing sunsets.

Homes and lots are available in a variety of price ranges. Some are good deals, and others are grossly overpriced. It's best to visit and look around to familiarize yourself with the neighborhoods. Many online listings that claim to be in La Paz are actually some distance from town.

La Paz is the state capital, a "working city" with a population of about 200,000. It's large enough to have an airport and a nice variety of goods and services, but not so large that it's overwhelming. It doesn't feel "urban". People are warm, friendly, relaxed, and more informal than in some parts of Mexico. Tourism is mostly "eco-tourism", diving, sailing, fishing, etc. There are a few thousand expats, the majority of whom leave for at least part of the summer, but some of us live here year around. It's easy to get involved with groups of fellow English-speakers, but to make the most of living here, you really need to learn Spanish.

As a retiree, I can't tell you much about working, but as noted earlier, it's not so easy. There are many well educated Mexicans in this area. A few foreigners have been successful in real estate, language schools, restaurants, and so on. But at least as many foreign-owned operations have gone out of business after a year or two. If moving here depends on having work, be sure to have a "Plan B".

Hope this helps some!


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## maryellen1952 (Oct 5, 2009)

As others have mentioned, you need to do a lot of research before attempting the move south of the border.
Finding a job in Mexico will be very difficult unless you are in a field that cannot be taken by a Mexican national. Internet businesses are a viable option provided you have several years experience with that.
The majority of Americans who still need to work move to the Tijuana area as it is a free trade zone (with less immigration restrictions) than farther south and there are more age 50 or younger living there due to work in San Diego. And the TJ area is much more Americanized than anywhere else in Mexico for that reason.


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## AHappyCappy (Apr 27, 2011)

My husband and I moved to Mexico about three years ago and we love it. Everything was so expensive in the states and we could only go out once or twice a month. Here in Mexico we can pretty much go out whenever we want and the people are much more social. Getting together with other people at their house or ours is almost a daily event. We have already built our house and just moved in about a week ago. Good luck.


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## PesoBob (Apr 30, 2011)

*Think before you do!*

Hi,
i just read your note here and i just had to reply.
Let me just tell you that you might want to reconsidder how tired you are from the country, state or city you live in. I'm telling you this because Mexico is definitely NOT what it was 11 years ago when i got here. Over the 11 years that i live here now (basically i fell for a Mexican girl and that is still the only and one and only reason i'm here) , i have lived in various cities in Mexico. I lived a couple years in Veracruz, then went to Merida. Lived a couple months in Durango and Chihuahua to finally end up where i'm now in Tulum.
At first you go thru the regular frustrations like all of us with legal permits and visas to be here. You start with an FM3 to be here legally for more then the tourist visa allows you. This Fm3 has to be renewed every year by the way but you can work on this visa.
What do i mean with frustrations? Well, lets just say that whatever is perfect logic to you, means a world of IQ difference here in Mexio. Where they use computers in any other part of the world (Africa for instance), here you will be sitting in an little imigration office with papers around you stacked to the ceiling. Or another example: You stand in line where you finally got most of your paperwork together and before that they told you that you need 3 pictures for your visa. After you stood in line for the good part of an hour and a half the clerk tells you " Well, i'm sorry but you are going to need 5 pictures" , and you will have to go back and get new pictures. Most ExPats on this forum will know what i'm talking about. But you know what , that's still all ok and we all know that this is to be expected in Mexico, not really a big deal. But over the course of some years these little frustrations grow bigger and you will get very tired. If bureaucracy is an issue for you in the states you really do not want to come to Mexico.
But then: WORK, finding a job is not that difficult here. I have found jobs fearly easy. The question is "What kind of job makes you a buck in Mexcio?". I have been waiter, frontdesk clerk, real estate agent and timeshare sales person. needles to say that the regular salary jobs pay you next to none and the ones that do they will not give it to a foreigner. The jobs that pay very well here are the sales jobs. I work now in Tulum in real estate and its going ok (no real estate licence needed in Mexico) . I tried timeshare for a short period of time and i have seen people making a killing with that. I was not succesfull in that timeshare job as i found out that you have to be a rare breed of as*^&%le to do that succesfully. I was just not "in the market" to rip people out of there money.
But now comes to biggest thing where you really need to considder staying in your country. 
After all the frustrations with Mexican way of thinking, mentality, unbordered bureaucracy, jobs and the like , i present to you the one thing that has caused many ExPats wishing they had never build a life here in Mexico,.....THE NARCS. Yes my friends , all the news you hear (which is very likely just 5% of the total) is all true and then multiplied by 10. Most ExPats don't want to talk about it, many ExPats will say that "it's not that bad". Well i like to keep things real. The danger is not so much that there is drug traffic in Mexico because any country has that, BUT, where in the states for instance a maffia family keeps things amongst their own people (like beatings and killings) here in Mexico they absolutely LOVE to involve innocent people like you and me , the regular joe. No let me correct that statement: They are absolutely fascinated to involve innocent people in their s*&^t. And if that does not do the job they will go into a club or a bar with an AK 47 and "just" kill anyone in there. This is kind of their way of showing how tough they are. Sound hard to swallow, well this happens in Mexico at least a couple times per month if not per week. I have seen people chopped up, decapitated and hung from bridges.
We all know that expression "We the people" , well here in Mexico its "We the cartels, then the government who works for the cartels and maybe then the people".
I'm sorry that this sounds all so negative and maybe its your dream to live in Mexico. Many ExPats will still tell you that Mexico is a great place to live, i just like to keep it real. 
Unfortunately its not very easy to take my Mexican family back to my own country because of legal papers and the like but i would happily change your Oregon for Mexico.

Let me know if you need any help with some specifics, here in Mexico i have been there done that ;-)

From an ExPat who wants you to know what you can expect in Mexico.

PesoBob


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

I think PesoBob is feeling trapped by his love for his wife. There are places where Narcos are evident but there are many places where you don't ever encounter them. Just choose wisely. Think of the Cuban district of Miami compared to Sarasota. Same state but much different experiences.

We chose Puerto Vallarta. I can also vouch for the Riviera Nayarit. But the rest I don't know because it may have changied since I was there.


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## PesoBob (Apr 30, 2011)

kcowan said:


> I think PesoBob is feeling trapped by his love for his wife. There are places where Narcos are evident but there are many places where you don't ever encounter them. Just choose wisely. Think of the Cuban district of Miami compared to Sarasota. Same state but much different experiences.
> 
> We chose Puerto Vallarta. I can also vouch for the Riviera Nayarit. But the rest I don't know because it may have changied since I was there.


Yes i indeed feel a bit trapped here. I must say that my last comment was a bit negative about Mexico. I have had just too many experiences in several cities and states where i started thinking if this is the place i realy want to be.

The one thing i have to say about Mexicans is that i have never been discriminated at all.


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## deborahc9133 (Nov 27, 2010)

*I hear You*

I understand the frustration you feel. I never imagined that my country would get this bad. We had to short sale our house in CA, half of my retirement savings was gone almost overnight, our rental property lost all of its equity. We moved to PA for a cheaper cost of living and I cannot find a job, in spite of 25 years of professional experience. My two recent college grads will have a hard time finding a job. All of this adds up to a bleak future. I am 55 and don't have the years for "it to get better". My husband is Mexican but lived in the US for 40 years. We have land in Colima and I have visited many, many times. I never felt scared in Colima and found it to be clean, charming and modern. We are going to move there to make the $$$ go further. it is also very friendly and less stressful. 
I don't want to be negative about my country, as it has given me alot. But things are really so bad now, and gas is just ridiculous now. 

I suggest that you go there first, and not for just a week. You need to not be just a tourist, but feel how it really is to live there. The good thing about Mexico is that you can fly to the US, especially the west coast in less time from the west coast to NYC, good luck


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## PesoBob (Apr 30, 2011)

deborahc9133 said:


> I understand the frustration you feel. I never imagined that my country would get this bad. We had to short sale our house in CA, half of my retirement savings was gone almost overnight, our rental property lost all of its equity. We moved to PA for a cheaper cost of living and I cannot find a job, in spite of 25 years of professional experience. My two recent college grads will have a hard time finding a job. All of this adds up to a bleak future. I am 55 and don't have the years for "it to get better". My husband is Mexican but lived in the US for 40 years. We have land in Colima and I have visited many, many times. I never felt scared in Colima and found it to be clean, charming and modern. We are going to move there to make the $$$ go further. it is also very friendly and less stressful.
> I don't want to be negative about my country, as it has given me alot. But things are really so bad now, and gas is just ridiculous now.
> 
> I suggest that you go there first, and not for just a week. You need to not be just a tourist, but feel how it really is to live there. The good thing about Mexico is that you can fly to the US, especially the west coast in less time from the west coast to NYC, good luck



I would recommend the same. First go to Mexico for a month or two or three. I personally would still recommend to reconsider coming to Mexico but if you really want to take the step just go there, look around. Most people are friendly and are willing to help you where you need any help. I personally encountered some problems (as in my previous posts) but i have never been discriminated for being a foreigner. 
The problem i see in Mexico and could be a threat is that Mexico has been getting much harder in the past 5 or 6 years. Drug cartels have been showing so much violence lately and normal people see this violence on TV and in newspapers that also the normal person has been getting much harder (but at the same time more carefull). 
I live in Tulum now and things are pretty calm down here but if you go an hour south from here to Playa del Carmen or Cancun even , there is a lot a drug violence and cartels running the show. Secuestro (or kidnappings) do happen often in Mexico and is just a real phenomenon. Like someone else said on a different thread "always keep a low profile" , although people get kidnapped that have no money and drive an old beetle (not too smart kidnappers over here).
A new thing that is popping up now is that organized crime is working together with the notaries. For example: Somebody buys a house and to change the papers you have to go through a notary. The notary now knows who is paying, who gets the money, what type of house, which family bought the house, how many kids, annual combined income etc. etc. and now organized crime knows who to target. Especially lawyers and justice department is NOT TO BE TRUSTED. 
I am here because my wife and kids are Mexican but other then that , i would consider moving somewhere else. Actually, i would argue that any South American country is worth moving to.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

PesoBob said:


> I would recommend the same. First go to Mexico for a month or two or three. I personally would still recommend to reconsider coming to Mexico but if you really want to take the step just go there, look around. Most people are friendly and are willing to help you where you need any help. I personally encountered some problems (as in my previous posts) but i have never been discriminated for being a foreigner.
> The problem i see in Mexico and could be a threat is that Mexico has been getting much harder in the past 5 or 6 years. Drug cartels have been showing so much violence lately and normal people see this violence on TV and in newspapers that also the normal person has been getting much harder (but at the same time more carefull).
> I live in Tulum now and things are pretty calm down here but if you go an hour south from here to Playa del Carmen or Cancun even , there is a lot a drug violence and cartels running the show. Secuestro (or kidnappings) do happen often in Mexico and is just a real phenomenon. Like someone else said on a different thread "always keep a low profile" , although people get kidnapped that have no money and drive an old beetle (not too smart kidnappers over here).
> A new thing that is popping up now is that organized crime is working together with the notaries. For example: Somebody buys a house and to change the papers you have to go through a notary. The notary now knows who is paying, who gets the money, what type of house, which family bought the house, how many kids, annual combined income etc. etc. and now organized crime knows who to target. Especially lawyers and justice department is NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
> I am here because my wife and kids are Mexican but other then that , i would consider moving somewhere else. Actually, i would argue that any South American country is worth moving to.


How pathetic. Freedom of speech is a fine ideal but why must we be subjected to the rants of people who have no idea of what they are saying. Peso Bob is an extreme example of the kind of person one finds desecrating the mangrove swamps in Quintana Roo who should never have been allowed to have left the industrial wastelands of New Jersey or some such regional U.S. cesspool to come south and inhabit the once splendid shores of Tulum and the like and Dawg can only wish them godspeed in leaving Mexico and returning to the northern hell they so deserve. .


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Please remember that personal assaults are not allowed on this forum. Many of us have a different view of Mexico than PesoBob or msce9073. We are all entitled to express our opinions, but please refrain from personally attacking people with whom you disagree.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

*How many*

How many times do you warn a poster before you banish him from this board, I know this would not be the first nor last board to have banned him... ( mans best friend indeed)




TundraGreen said:


> Please remember that personal assaults are not allowed on this forum. Many of us have a different view of Mexico than PesoBob or msce9073. We are all entitled to express our opinions, but please refrain from personally attacking people with whom you disagree.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Delete


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## Marchel (May 9, 2011)

*Gettin out!*



flingdow said:


> Hi, I am new to the forum and would like some information.
> We are currently thinking about moving to La Paz Mexico. Does anyone have any information on jobs, housing, how it is for expats there and maybe anything you think would be helpful.
> We are growing tired of the state that the US is in. We currently live in Oregon but grew up in San Diego.
> Thank You,
> Teri


Hi! I'm doing the same thing, semi-retiring early, but going to Chapala. I have friends who recently retired early to La Paz and they love it. In fact their escape is what started me on this path. However, I have friend from Guadalahara and he convinced my to check out Lake Chapala first, because La Paz is so hot in the summer. Going down for my first trip at the end of May. I expect to not want to come back! 

I've done tons of research online and have now joined this forum to get more information. Also, I've been in touch with a RE agent in Chapala who, even though I'm not anywhere near ready to buy, is going to show me around the area. 

I'm hoping to make the move by mid-2012! I am sick of the rat race and the political climate here. I want to forget how to be a project manager, and only use my computer to keep in touch with friends.

Best of luck to you!


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Marchel said:


> I am sick of the rat race and the political climate here. !


What do you mean by that, Marchel?


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## Marchel (May 9, 2011)

*Which one?*



Hound Dog said:


> What do you mean by that, Marchel?


Rat Race or Political Climate? ;o) 

Well, rat race... there's just not enough cheese anymore to keep me on the wheel... just can't do it anymore. I'm ten years away from 'real' retirement and there is just no way I can do it for another ten years... I find myself saying 'is this all there is'? Nothing about what I do is any fun anymore. 

Political climate? Partisanship, hatefullness, bigotry, an unwillingness to even listen to others opinion or attempt to find a way to the middle... And scared to death of another religious conservative in power helping rich people get richer and trying to control my life and personal beliefs.

Hope these comments don't get me kicked off on my first day!


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Welcome Marchel, we find Mexico a great place to live and travel. I certainly hope before you settle down that you look at more than Lake Chapala. The Lake Chapala and San Miguel areas are certainly easy transitions but there are a lot of great places to explore as well as to live.


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## Marchel (May 9, 2011)

*Thank you Conklinwh*



conklinwh said:


> Welcome Marchel, we find Mexico a great place to live and travel. I certainly hope before you settle down that you look at more than Lake Chapala. The Lake Chapala and San Miguel areas are certainly easy transitions but there are a lot of great places to explore as well as to live.


I think Chapala will be my first stop. I'm not in the market to buy property at this time, so I will be free to move on if my travels take me somplace I like better. Also, I like the idea of the temperate climate there and since my aunt is coming with me, someplace really hot is out of the question. Once the transition is made, and I no longer have to work I will be free to explore other areas. 

Thanks again. I hope to 'meet' more folks and benefit from everyone's experience.


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