Owning real estate in Vallarta-Nayarit (or more specifically how we became property owners) in a quaint Mexican fishing town.
Cindy and I now are permanent residents of Mexico, living and loving in Vallarta-Nayarit. We are “both feet in” here in our beloved fishing village, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Canadian born, we are now hyphenationials. (new word, you heard it here first!) We are either Mexi-Canadian, or Can-exican, you pick. Either way, we spend 80% of our time in Vallarta and the rest of our time in the northwest, (in BC and in Washington). But, to paraphrase David Byrnes of The Talking Heads… “How did I get here?”
Feeling burnt out, I called “sabbatical” at age fifty. Good sport that she is, Cindy agreed to a year-long break from work, to be spent mostly in Vallarta, our “go-to” vacation paradise. The kids had flown the nest a couple of years previous, so the timing was right. We didn’t know what the future held, but now might be our last chance to make such a move, before settling into our senior years.
In June that year, we made a recon mission to scout out the north shore of the bay, in search of a long-term rental. We looked in Bucerias and in La Cruz, (either would have suited us well), and settled on La Cruz. We returned to Vancouver to plan our sabbatical, and to watch the clock tick down to September 27th, day one of our adventure in paradise.
After a couple of months of pretty much full-time loafing about, my real estate trigger finger began to get itchy. What harm could it do to check out a few condos? I mean, it costs nothing to just look. The sellers accepted our offer, and we would soon be proud owners of a brand new 3BR condo. We paid less for our 3 BR penthouse, (with a spectacular view of the bay) than we would have paid for a 1 bedroom condo in suburban Vancouver (with a spectacular view of the condo across the street). The property taxes are less than a hundred bucks per year. Yes, per year. ( Editor’s Note/spoiler alert it’s now available for purchase)*
Phase 1 property owner: Frequent flyer/investor;
Our idea at the time was that we would fit into the “frequent flyer” form of investor. We would use our condo two or three times a year for 2-3 weeks or so, then rent it out and/or share it with friends and family. The income would more than pay for upkeep and HOA/Strata fees, and the condo would eventually be a family legacy. We took delivery of the condo in February and had great fun furnishing the place. We continued to enjoy our “sabbatical” and continued to fall under Vallarta’s spell. As summer 2010 rolled around, we somewhat reluctantly prepared to head for the cooler climes of the northwest, and the return to our pre-sabbatical life- whatever that was to mean.
Phase 2 property owner Snowbird;
Well, yours truly didn’t handle the “re-entry into reality” very well. The urban density and traffic snarls that I used to accept with a shrug, and the go-go-go of big city life had me wanting to go-go-go back to Mexico as soon as we could. I love my hometown and all my peeps, but Vallarta had spoiled us for life. I started to conspire as to how we could semi-retire to Mexico. Cindy and I had really enjoyed working together to furnish our new condo, her design credentials and my project management and Spanish language skills made us quite a team… maybe we could provide that service to others
Phase 3 Semi retiree C&C;
So we began doing turn-key furnishing and outfitting of new condos for other like-minded souls who had taken the plunge and purchased properties here. We were busy enough, and we got to spend time with our other favorite pursuits, Cindy’s writing screenplays, and my jamming at local live music venues. We have numerous friends here who are also semi-retired, working part-time online… and then we spotted another property, a giant but extremely neglected house on the beach- that one’s a story of its own.
Phase 4 Both Feet In;
Now we’re settled into our 5 -10 year plan. Cindy and I have two businesses here:
• Our Boutique Beachfront Hotel/Inn, where Cindy, the Chief Rejuvenation Officer runs the show, with help from me.
• Real Estate Services, which is my main gig, with support from Cindy.
As mentioned above, we now live 80/20, Vallarta/Northwest. During the summer we spend time with friends and family up north, as well as connect with existing and prospective clients there. It’s cool because many of our guests at the inn and real estate clients are also folks from Canada and the States. Many have become great friends. It’s pretty great.
So that’s how Cindy and I “do” Mexican property ownership and “semi-semi-retirement” here in Vallarta. Your way of doing so could include some or many of the elements above. We have friends here from all ends of the spectrum. I’ll introduce you to some of them in my next post.
Saludos! Chris
