Posts filed under 'Moving Abroad'
We’re preparing a newsletter for next week, and learning a lot more about San Miguel de Allende in the process. It’s long been popular enough with the expat community but a lot of talk is being generated lately about San Miguel’s place in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
San Miguel has long been the haunt of some prolific bloggers, creative thinkers, writers, artists and film-makers. But the most comprehensive post about that news was from Mexico Premier. including a nice list of the other 27 UNESCO sites in Mexico.
The UNESCO site itself describes the Inscription of The Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco this way:
The fortified town, first established in the 16th century to protect the Royal Route inland, reached its apogee in the 18th century when many of its outstanding religious and civic buildings were built in the style of the Mexican Baroque. Some of these buildings are masterpieces of the style that evolved in the transition from Baroque to neoclassical. Situated 14 km from the town, the Jesuit sanctuary, also dating from the 18th century, is one of the finest examples of Baroque art and architecture in the New Spain. It consists of a large church, and several smaller chapels, all decorated with oil paintings by Rodriguez Juárez and mural paintings by Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre. Because of its location, San Miguel de Allende acted as a melting pot where Spaniards, Creoles and Amerindians exchanged cultural influences while the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco constitutes an exceptional example of the exchange between European and Latin American cultures. Its architecture and interior decoration testify to the influence of Saint Ignacio de Loyola’s doctrine.
Here’s a link to some very nice photos of both locations, also from UNESCO. There’s even more here, as part of the Flickr Churches of Mexico Photo Pool.
Lastly but well-worthy of mention is this humorous take at San Miguel Gangs on all UNESCO sites, a comparison of San Miguel with Tallinn Estonia, another new UNESCO inductee. Though they may be dead serious. (It’s definitely one of the best blogs I’ve read this week!) Humor from San Miguel Ex-pats remains a rather precious commodity, check their newsgroups if you don’t believe me. Note that word “Civil” in the title and proceed with caution.
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July 31st, 2008
That’s the new graphic from Livtopia’s Discovery Evening Chicago Page! It’s our first Mexico Discovery Evening in Chicago so we’re going a little extra to make it even more special. All you need to do is register and drop off your business card when you check in.
We’ve planned this special raffle at the same time we’ve been re-locating the event to a bigger and more comfortable meeting room at Rumba to accommodate all of the guests. The chosen winner(s) will fly for free to any of our upcoming “On-the-Ground” Discovery Weekends.
We’re making an extra effort to make sure all the current registrants are aware that the venue has changed but there is still time to sign up! This opportunity for a crash course in all things Mexico (plus some of each of our other countries) will be held at:
Rumba
351 W. Hubbard Street.
Chicago, Illinois 60610
In Downtown Chicago’s Beautiful River North District, on Hubbard and Orleans.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE DIRECTIONS.
A previous LWOB post with further information is updated and can be read here.
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June 20th, 2008
Cuernavaca might be a difficult city to visit for the first time. Thousands of people do though. I wonder about their first impressions.
Thousands of Mexico City residents grow up visiting Cuernavaca like it is second nature, every weekend, every other weekend, or a few times a year. And they won’t think twice about the first impression Cuernavaca gives. Familiar enough, they know that beyond the billboards and the traffic, there are thousands of tranquil gardens.
For the first time visitor, it’s nothing like knowing what’s behind all those walls. Cuernavaca is a private place - a refuge and a retreat. And it does seem to turn it’s back on the people in the streets. At least at first.
But Cuernavaca is world-famous. For gardens in court-yards, for fountains and private places that teem with plant-life in the most stunning year-round climate anywhere.
Visiting again this past week, I was happy to see what is not only a booming economy, new housing creeping up the hills on the outskirts of town but golf courses and recreation areas and more and more places appropriate for vacationers, investors and retirees.
We’ve lined up a few of these to visit during the next “On-the-Ground” Discovery Weekend in Cuernavaca. It’s coming up on July 18, 19 & 20, and it will include at least two new, easy access developments perfect for those who get the idea. But for first-timers it also includes a number of stunning re-sale homes, complete with gardens and quirks and character. As well as a visit to Tepoztlan and houses there. That’s the character that Cuernavaca is famous for. Come and find out why.
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May 23rd, 2008
At one point we were going to try to include Mérida in that list too, but alas it is too far to make it as part of our 3 day Mayan Riviera weekend.
As of now, we’ve got great reasons to check out places all around the Greater Cancún area, including Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen and just about everything in between. Quintana Roo appeals to a wildly different crowd of people than our Pacific Coast locations, so this is a great chance to meet people from divergent locations across North America and Europe.
This first free weekend is going to cover quite a bit more geography than we’ve previously covered, so a bus-tour and a boat tour are both part of the fun. And we’ve already listed dates for May and for July if you can’t make the April dates.
Plus we’re expecting some more specialists in the fields of Home-Owner’s Insurance and Mortgages geared not only toward North American’s but toward expectant Europeans as well. There is a rumor that one of the Developer’s is even offering a 4-wheeled incentive, but I will fill you in on that as details emerge.
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February 19th, 2008
The question is: Can a move to another country offer a cost of living so much lower than the cost of living here that leaving is a positive solution?
I believe the answer is yes. I also believe that thousands of older Americans will be crossing the border in the years to come.
This from Scott Burns, A radical retirement plan, published late last month in the Austin American Statesman, among other places. Burns’ breakdown of expected cost-of-living and income adjustments after retirement from an annual salary of $75,000 and lifetime savings around $100,000 is telling. And he does a useful analysis of the numbers that make the article well worth a look.
Suppose you can find a place where the cost of living is about 75 percent of the cost in the United States — some beach town north of Puerto Vallarta or south of Manzanillo. What happens to your standard of living when you move to Mexico? It rises to the equivalent of about $42,400 in the U.S.
You’re probably not alone in being aware that you may be headed for a big crash in income and meeting cost-of-living expenses at retirement.
Funny thing is, Burns’ explanation of looking for a cheaper place to live ends up sounding not very radical at all, unless perhaps you really have never been out of the US. We talk to a lot of people who plan to retire primarily on a Social Security income with hopefully a bit more coming in from some other source. And there really are places, in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and the DR, that we can show you that will cost a fraction in day to day expenses for what you might pay to live out your years in the US.
I wrote just the other day about Americans finding better deals south of the border, in Mexico and elsewhere that from the radical Wall Street Journal. And the list of articles that I don’t write about, or barely write about just keeps getting longer.
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December 21st, 2007
The very name “Oaxaca” rightfully connotes a civilization not at all ready to be tamed and modernized and cheerfully dragged into the antiseptic light of tourism. The at-first unpronouncable spelling gives way to a city and a state equally at odds with an easy definition and that’s what’s made it a favorite for ex-pats and tourists alike.
But the past year has seen some serious trials. In glorious Mexico, where the sun always shines, Oaxaca got better than a fair share of world-wide media attention, when the Teachers Union went up against the governor of the State. The riots claimed at least 9 lives and the center of the city was occupied both by protesters and 4000 federal police, and left a smoldering ruin. To people watching from around the world, the descent into chaos reminded all of us that this is not some Disneyland but a real struggling society willing to fight for its own survival and freedom.
Oaxaca: One Year Later, in the Washington Post this past week, gives a sobering look at what the city is like today. After what it’s come through, it’s a welcome relief that the situation is not much worse.
One of the real pleasures of writing about relocation to Mexico is that is has always attracted not only people whose eyes are already open, but people who want their eyes open. Of course there are gated communities where nothing so much as a leaf out of place will set off alarm bells, and one can spend a lot of time bemoaning the presence of the people filling those places. One person may actually believe that purchasing a home in a gated, security lock-down development was the wildest, craziest thing they’d ever do. And for that person, of course, it probably is.
But for others, seeking affordable healthcare and housing, not to mention a sense of adventure and the feeling of really living again, places like Oaxaca and many of the shaded cities therein offer a chance to do just that. See Kat Snyder’s post at the Daily Texan:
[Carole] had toured the U.S. in her FEMA trailer which she had been living in since a hurricane hit her place in Florida a few years back. With the cost of living going up in the U.S., she decided that a retiree such as herself would fare better in Mexico. She and her late husband had good memories of Oaxaca, she said, and she could see herself being happier there than in the U.S. with the money she had.
Snyder’s post asks some pointed questions, about the immigration debate at home for example, but she doesn’t address the problems of the previous year in Oaxaca. Perhaps they are already receding in scale when put in a proper perspective.
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December 1st, 2007
Just a couple more good photos of the beach in front of the Embassy Suites Los Marlins Golf Resort where we’re going in December, and here are some of the attractions nearby:
- Los Marlins Championship Golf Course - on site
- Guavaberry Championship Golf Course (designed by the legendary Gary Player) - 1 mile
- World’s largest premium cigar factory, the Tabacalera de García Ltd offers exclusive tours near Casa de Campo – 30 miles
- Capital City of Santo Domingo - 30 miles
- Prime Cathedral (first cathedral of The Americas) - 30 miles
- Christopher Columbus’ Lighthouse and Museum - 30 miles
- Quisqueya Stadium – 30 miles, though night games will be played much closer at San Pedro Tetelo Vargas Stadium in San Pedro de Macoris. The winter baseball season runs from October through the end of January.
- Altos de Chavon, Museum, Artist Village and Culture Center - 30 miles
- La Romana Championship Golf Courses - 30 miles
- Las Americas Interantional Airport is about 20 minutes (15 miles) to the west.
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October 22nd, 2007
This article on Costa Rica in the new BusinessWeek really doesn’t hold much back, (except for the photo which I borrowed from the LA Times piece that I talked about earlier). It was just too good.
On a week-long trip through Costa Rica, I met dozens of retirees contentedly living the pura vida—pure life—a relaxed, comfortable, and affordable lifestyle in a beautiful and welcoming country. On the Pacific coast, where the year-round temperature averages 83 degrees, the main attraction is the outdoors: beaches, deep-sea fishing, and scuba diving.
The migration from North America has sparked construction of luxury homes, condominiums, and resort hotels mainly aimed at baby boomers. One is the Four Seasons resort on the Papagayo Peninsula, which offers rainforest-canopy tours and hiking trips to nearby volcanoes. Next July, AOL co-founder Steve Case’s resort-development company, Revolution Places, plans to break ground nearby on a 650-acre complex featuring two hotels and 320 homes selling from $2 million to $10 million.
That’s just a few paragraphs from the middle, because really, I don’t know who reads BusinessWeek online unless someone like me sends you there. But the whole article is worth a glance if you’re serious about considering a trip. Likewise worth considering is Ann’s comment from the other day, as is her advice to read AMCostaRica. I subscribed and it shows up fresh in my email every day.
Of particular interest was a recent article on foreclosure and a detailed explanation of the process, what to avoid, and how the auction process can work as well. Either way, if BusinessWeek won’t cure your craving for all things Costa Rica, then AMCostaRica should do the trick.
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October 21st, 2007
While the New York Times covers the difficulty of getting back into the states, (get your passport!) the LA Times is going the completely different direction. Easily my favorite part of Saturday’s LA Times special “Your Money” section on Retirement in Latin America, is the slide show & audio interview with Grant Spalding, (click the image above), on his late decision to leave Mexico and head back to the states. The photography is excellent, but the quality of voice and sentiment for Mérida is what is really striking. Funny, Spalding ends up saying exactly the opposite of what I am always telling people, namely, move to Latin America, but I think if you listen to it you will see exactly what I think makes the piece so worth it. He insists several times that in fact Mérida is a better place than it was 20 years ago.
Still, I spent part of this morning, again, talking to some one about the difficulties that foreigners are having finding agents willing to talk to them in Mérida. For that, I still think a Livtopia Rep is the way to go.
This one section of the LA Times has something for just about anyone interested in the region. This piece on the ins and outs of Escazu, in Costa Rica, is also telling.
About 20,000 Americans, Canadians and Europeans have legal, long-term residency, according to government figures. Thousands more are believed to live here on tourist visas that can be renewed every 90 days by leaving the country for 72 hours. It’s a practice that the government doesn’t condone, but it cracks down on it only occasionally.
Again, the little bit of photography in the piece above is terrific, and it’s sadly rare coverage for what is an incredible country, landscape and people. Just about every angle I try to cover is covered in the LA Times section. The Judy King Audio and Slide interview is also quite telling. Her advice, do it for the adventure, not because it’s cheap. “Mexico is not for everyone.” And the photos, this time of the Chapala area do not lead one to believe that the area is watered down and saturated with gringo influence. It’s still very much a Mexican place, and thus, something to be enjoyed.
I’ll also recommend these two advice lists: “10 major tips from people in the know” and “Things to know before you move.” Among the most savory bits of advice from the first list:
9. Relax, and quit whining.
If you do relocate, you’ll be much happier focusing on what you like about your new community rather than obsessing about what’s wrong. Latin America’s languid pace can be exasperating when you’re in a hurry, but the whole point of retirement is to get off the clock.
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October 21st, 2007
This important news comes from the now award-winning blogger, Ines Hegedus-Garcia at Miamism in a post on Florida’s un-regulated building inspectors from a few days ago. There are different reasons to look for a good building inspector (not to mention arguments as to whether the industry should be regulated), and termites is certainly one of them.
Another issue, more of concern to readers here is the less-familiar building and construction techniques that make up so much of the housing stock and real estate you’ll be dealing with in another country especially those outside of the big gated developments. But that said, take a look at this passage from Ines’s post (INSPECTHIS is the pseudonym for the Building Inspector):
We were the listing agents for a CBS (concrete block structure or cynder block structure) house on a concrete slab. INSPECTHIS found that the house had subterranean termites and went ahead to tell the buyer that she should be very concerned about the structural integrity of the house.
I don’t like to intervene with inspectors because you become the “bad one”, but I asked “Why should they be concerned about the structure if it is a concrete house?”. INSPECTHIS went on to say…. listen to this, that subterranean termites EAT CONCRETE!!!
I almost did a flip backwards!! Without being rude or condescending, I looked at the buyer and asked that they get a termite company to do a real inspection and to ask if that was correct. Both INSPECTHIS and the buyer were so mad. Thank God they called a termite company and verified that subterranean termites do not eat concrete and that there was no structural damage to the house.
So you needn’t worry about termites munching away your concrete footer. But, particularly in some of the Livtopia countries where concrete construction is much more common than it might be back home, you’ll want to talk to someone who understands how to pour concrete, and how to build with it. I’ve written about the importance of building inspection and what to look for in the company performing the inspection back here, but Ines goes a bit further in the post that led to the more amusing post quoted above:
When choosing a home inspector there are key questions that must be asked in order to assess the inspector’s experience and expertise.
- How long they have been doing inspections?
- What type of inspections do they do? Condos, new construction, single-family, historic homes (please note that an inspector that does mostly new construction will usually not be a good pick for inspecting a historic house).
- What makes them an expert? Have they had hands-on construction experience, are they a general contractor, do they have an engineering or related building industry degree
- How detailed will their inspection be? will a structural inspection include them going into a home’s crawlspace or attic space or will it only be a visual of the perimeter of the property
- Will they guarantee their findings or will they wash their hands after they leave the property?
We’re talking with a few Inspectors in quite a number of locations in order to add the service to the real estate packages that Livtopia’s Concierge offers so those are the questions we’re asking. We’ll pass those we like onto you. And congratulations to Ines on being named to the 2007 Sellius Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers.
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October 15th, 2007
We’re still celebrating the soft-launch of the New Livtopia Web-Site, but this article in today’s New York Times caught the attention of a few people around Livtopia. We’re doing our very best to get up to some 6 and 7 day holiday real estate tours, but there is no way they are going to cost what the article quotes. We’re hoping to keep them free like the ones we offer now.
The Times Article says:
As the second-home market in Latin America has emerged, so has a cottage industry of tour operators eager to attract foreign buyers seeking vacation retreats and investment properties. Part vacation, part real estate boot camp, such trips walk potential home buyers through the legal and financial particulars of overseas ownership, as well as whisking them on tours of homes and developments on the market.
That’s almost a sense of what Livtopia does, the key difference being that Livtopia is probably the only Buyers Representative working across the Latin American market. So our tours are short and can always be extended. We can always help you to find accommodation before or after if you’d like to stay a few more days, and we’ll really give you a chance to see what’s out there from the Buyers’ Perspective.
Chris Stanley, interviewed for the Times piece put it this way:
“My main goal was to get a sense of the real estate market,” he said. “I could have done it myself, but it would have taken longer to put together and probably would have been more expensive.”
No doubt. And many of the buyers we’re talking to voice the same concerns. But when your vacation is part work too, there’s few better ways to spend it than imagining (and learning about) how good the rest of your life can be.
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