Mexico Real Estate Blog

Great question! After giving this careful consideration, I have come up with a magic formula that will tell you the exact time to buy real estate, right down to the day! There are clearly some good buying opportunities right now in Puerto Vallarta. Last year’s global economic crisis, large inventory of available properties, and “swine flu” pandemic, brought fear and uncertainty in the marketplace. Nobody wanted to be the one who “overpaid” for their Puerto Vallarta home. My experience is that sale prices in the Puerto Vallarta real estate market fell approximately 15 percent. We are seeing a lot of buyers return to the market (December was one of our best months ever), but many sellers are still willing to negotiate in order to make a sale.

There are some factors unique to our area that has helped stabilize prices:

1. The vast majority of sellers do not have a mortgage on their property. Hence, they are not under tremendous pressure to make a mortgage payment. Many owners are retirees, already have their “nest egg” and are not concerned about an imminent job loss.
2. In the last couple of years Mexico mortgages have become readily available for new buyers. This increases their buying power and greatly increases the amount of potential home buyers.
3. The “baby boomer” generation is reaching retirement age and even with this current economic downturn, is the wealthiest generation ever.
4. Puerto Vallarta homes are still seen as an inexpensive haven in comparison to many other world class vacation and retirement destinations.

So that may be a bit of bad news for you now, but it will be good news when you are ready to sell. From your letter, it looks like you have several important criteria that you are looking for in your property. If you were willing to settle for just any generic condominium, you could probably wait to see what happens, as I do not expect the market to turn around overnight. However, if the property you are looking for must have several unique features, you should give serious consideration to purchasing if you find just what you are looking for. I can tell you from experience that, there are active buyers looking in the market right now, (we had a multiple offer scenario last month) and your “ Puerto Vallarta dream home” could certainly be purchased by someone else. Well, enough of this. Lets get down to the reason you have read this far, the “magic formula”. It is really quite simple; the exact day you should buy your Puerto Vallarta dream home is: the day you decide to quit worrying about what everybody else thinks, (myself included) and invest here with a time horizon of at least the next 5 years!

Anything else will just lead to “analysis paralysis” and frankly, you are just better off renting. The time to buy is when YOU decide the time is right. So make your decision, and when the time is right, go out there and make the best deal you possibly can, quit stressing out about it, and enjoy your new home in the sun!

Do you have a question about Real Estate in Puerto Vallarta? Just ask!
Michael Green moved to Puerto Vallarta to take advantage of the unsurpassed lifestyle PV offers. Today, with over 12 years of experience, Mr. Green is one of the most recognized brokers in Vallarta. TOP Mexico Real Estate “Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely!”

Campeche is the state capital of Campeche state on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. The Campeche real estate market has caught our attention and TOP Mexico Real Estate decided to make a discovery trip to find out first hand what is going on in this region. Bob McCain, a good friend of ours who has been working very successfully in the Playa del Carmen real estate market for the past 6 years, invited us out to see some cheap Mexico beachfront real estate!

We left Friday morning and decided that we would take a road “less traveled”. We wanted to see the countryside in the Yucatan peninsula and drove south from Playa del Carmen, passed Tulum, and travelled for another 2 hours until we reached the city of Carillo Puerto. At Carillo Puerto we decided on traveling west across the peninsula leaving the Mexican Caribbean to arrive to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. We needed a map so we began searching the town. Usually a gas station would be a good place to search. Without luck here, we began looking in “papelerias” or a stationary shop. The best we could find was an elementary map of the Yucatan that we had to blow up in order to see the roads. So there we go, 4 hour trip across secondary roads through Mayan country with a black and white blow up copy of a state map.

The Yucatan region is rich in history and ruins from the ancient Mayan culture. You will find world famous pyramids such as Chichinitza, Tulum, Uxmal. But the locals say that there are still thousands of sites that have not even been revealed nor have been found throughout the deep thick jungles. That is very interesting and exciting to think about the many artifacts and articles that are still laying out in the countryside, waiting to be discovered. The history of the Mayans have been examined closely due to their surprisingly advanced knowledge of mathematics and their understanding of the solar system, the sun, Orion Nebula and many other astronomical observations. I picked up a high interest myself on this civilization and started collecting and trying to understand some symbols here and there so I could try to identify and recognize on ruins.  Below for example are the symbols used for counting and you can see these symbols on the Mayan calendar.   The seed type of symbol represents the 0 and the bar is equivalent to 5.  Very interesting.

Our road took us zigzagging through many small villages where we would see the traditional Mayan huts. No corners, but rounded oval walls and thatched roofs.

In one little village we saw in the center square an old church that was built in the 16th century. Haciendas were also seen in the trip which were large plantations of farming communities.

We stopped during our trip at an orchard where many trees for lime and Maymey were being harvested. At the front end of this large parcel of land they had an outdoor, road side kitchen with fold up chairs and tables. They were announcing Maymey fruit, rabbit barbecue food, and roasted chicken tacos. It all sounded good so we stopped and to our pleasant surprise… we had an extremely delicious lunch with Maymey ice cream to round off the meal.

Two hours later, we started to pull into the capital city of Campeche. It was night but immediately we noticed that the downtown area was extremely…. clean. All of the electric wiring had been wired underground and all of the buildings had color combinations that ran the length of the streets. There was not one corner that my wife yelled for me to stop in order for her to take pictures. The Campeche real estate area was looking very exciting as the city was looking very tourist friendly, there were people on the streets and it felt full of life, and the boardwalk along the coast line had people jogging and biking. Campeche definitely had a comfortable inviting curb side appeal.

To see Day 2 visiting the downtown Campeche real estate market
CLICK HERE   MEXICO REAL ESTATE BLOG

Thomas Lloyd graduated from Purdue University Krannert School of Management with a degree in Management/Financial Option Investments. He has been living, investing, and working professionally in Mexico for over 15 years. In the summer of 2009, he received the first federally applied Mexico Real Estate Degree and Mexico Professional Real Estate License S.E.P. #5978657. He is the current president of TOPmexicorealestate, you can contact him at (512) 879-6546 or through the company’s web site www.TOPmexicorealestate.com NETWORK

“Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely!”

As record snowfalls hit the eastern coast of the United States, many people have started daydreaming of being down in old warm and cozy Mexico. Some northerners are even taking steps to deal with all that excess cold weather by jumping on the plane and coming down as February is producing record number of passengers channeling through the aisles of the Cancun Airport. Even in the Mexico real estate arena, I can say that the attention is high and people are looking once again for warmer climate areas, and if the buyers have a tight budget, this is another reason for their high interest down here south of the border. Some are looking for cheap Mexico beachfront real estate, others are looking for non- tourist cities such as what you find in the Campeche real estate regions, and others are just looking for a place with quick and easy access by plane.

Today, in Playa del Carmen I was with a couple from Canada who are in the process of selecting their dream winter home. “We need a place now that we can run south to escape from those chilly winters” said the Mexico real estate buyers. “We plan to be down starting from November, December, and be flying back and forth throughout the spring” This is a typical requirement or usage for the homes being purchased by the average northern snowbird. And because the Canadian dollar has been quite strong in the past several months, many Canadians have been taking advantage of some fantastic opportunities from a slow 2009 season. “I am in the real estate investment game back in my home state, and from everything I have been studying about the Mexico real estate market, I think the next ten years will
continue to bringing many new buyers”

Cheap Mexico beachfront real estate are what many Americans and Canadians expect when first arriving to the popular cities such as Cancun, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas. And when they see the market prices, they become a little disappointed as if their dream home has been snatched away. “It depends on where you search for your property and at what stage of the investment cycle you want to come in” is a comment that Bob Mccain shares with many of the non-Mexican buyers. Bob has been working in the Playa del Carmen real estate market for nearly 10 years and has now been working on a new project on the gulf of Mexico in the Campeche real estate region. “each person has a different need, a different budget, and a different dream” he stated over the phone. “I am excited about this new region because of many reasons but most of all, these prices give many Americans and Canadians that have been hit with the financial crisis, a chance to get that waterfront property they’ve dreamed about.”

Apart from some amazing Mexico beachfront real estate properties, Campeche is also a very exciting city for downtown colonial style homes. Follow us or send some questions that you may have regarding this regions as I will be making a Campeche Real Estate discovery trip in the next several days. If you want to know what the average price per square foot, what are the local shopping centers, what activities occur in the region, what style of beaches, what can you fish. Contact us so we can look up the answers.

Thomas Lloyd graduated from Purdue University Krannert School of Management with a degree in Management/Financial Option Investments. He has been living, investing, and working professionally in Mexico for over 15 years. In the summer of 2009, he received the first federally applied Mexico Real Estate Degree and Mexico Professional Real Estate License S.E.P. #5978657. He is the current president of TOPmexicorealestate, you can contact him at (512) 879-6546 or through the company’s web site www.TOPmexicorealestate.com NETWORK

“Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely!”

The city leaders in the Playa del Carmen real estate market are attempting to take on the tasks of guiding the growth of their exploding city. Playa del Carmen has been cited as the fastest growing community in latin America. The growth in this Mexico real estate region has been fueled by the ever growing tourism industry. About 3 years ago, the Riviera Maya out paced the Cancun hotel rooms surpassing 30,000 rooms along this popular world wide tourist destination. With growth, comes pains. Some of the obstacles faced in our Playa del Carmen real estate region is an uneven economic dependence on one sole industry being that of tourism. If a hurricane effects the tourism flow, or if an economic slowdown effects our target client base negatively, the majority of the Playa del Carmen business community is effected. In other words, all of the eggs are in one basket.

You will hear and read about the initials of P.D.U. quite often while involving yourself in Mexico real estate. What is it?
These initials represent in spanish the Plan Desarrollo Urbano (PDU). Urban Development Plan. This is basically how a city or town plans out the development and growth of its’ city or urban areas. This may involve the planning or designating specific areas for various social activities such as entertainment, business centers, schools, retail areas, and others.

The city leaders in Playa del Carmen have invited the regional real estate board, AMPI Riviera Maya, to brainstorm ideas and participate in bringing solutions to these obstacles. This is an invitation which can prove very productive helping to generate more ideas for guiding the growth of the community…. in a healthy manner.

-Concerns should not only involve defining the business base of inflows of revenue and the diversification of the economic base of the community, but also should include the ecological impact and protection of the delicate natural resources of the community and the regions.

-in regards to real estate, second homes and retirement communities could be very interesting topics which might have a large market base to explore and which would create various activities in the service sectors.

-colleges and education centers are some ideas proposed by some local leading real estate brokers which I consider fantastic avenues to consider. Introducing a university/ies to a community such as Playa del Carmen will bring new leaders and fresh ideas to the region. There appears to be a strong consciousness to “green” ecological friendly projects in this Oceanside city above the normal average Mexican community, yet, when you review various developments in Playa del Carmen and the quantity of “green” being replaced with concrete… it becomes alarming. We need to further protect the green areas. Colleges and education centers also are a treasure chest of activities for people who live 6 months out of the year or who are considering Playa as their retirement destination. (they can inscribe into further educational courses, attend exhibitions or entertainment performances arranged by the colleges, volunteer with college projects etc.)

The Playa del Carmen real estate leaders are coming to an important junction for defining the future of their community. It has grown in record speed from a small oceanside village, and now has a population that is estimated to near 250,000 people. Defining the PDU is the result of careful planning and guiding which requires the input and opinion from many sectors of the market. Thus the invitation of the city to the local real estate board to participate in the future growth of Playa del Carmen is definitely a step in the right direction.

Thomas Lloyd graduated from Purdue University Krannert School of Management with a degree in Management/Financial Option Investments. He has been living, investing, and working professionally in Mexico for over 15 years. In the summer of 2009, he received the first federally applied Mexico Real Estate Degree and Mexico Professional Real Estate License S.E.P. #5978657. He is the current president of TOPmexicorealestate, you can contact him at (512) 879-6546 or through the company’s web site www.TOPmexicorealestate.com NETWORK

“Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely!”

With the opening of the 2010 FITUR (International Fair of Tourism) exhibition, the governor of the state of Quintana Roo, Felix Gonzalez Canto spoke of the beach recovery programs along the Mexican Caribbean. He expressed that the beaches in Cancun and Playa del Carmen are ready to receive thousands of tourists for the year 2010. The fair in Europe is one of the most important exhibitions of the year, which Quintana Roo had a large presence. The Playa del Carmen real estate market feels the positive effects from a strong tourism year. More hotel rooms are constructed, more rooms to be administered which demands more jobs and thus increases in the demand for properties.

The Mexico tourist industry, which also effects the Mexico real market in those zones of high non-Mexican influence, faced a very complex year in 2009. Sales and tourism were hammered downward by the depressed world economic situation, the negative stories regarding Mexico’s war on drugs, and the swine flu warnings. The governor stated that his offices and state have over come these adversities and 2010 promised a return to growth and positive numbers. Tourism in Cancun and Playa del Carmen have the highest figures when comparing the results from the entire country of Mexico. This region is rated as the most important tourist destination in all of the Caribbean zone. This is reflected in the hotel room construction that occurred over the past 9 months. 3,295 hotel rooms have been completed in 2009 for a total of 79,660 rooms.

Thomas Lloyd graduated from Purdue University Krannert School of Management with a degree in Management/Financial Option Investments. He has been living, investing, and working professionally in Mexico for over 15 years. In the summer of 2009, he received the first federally applied Mexico Real Estate Degree and Mexico Professional Real Estate License S.E.P. #5978657. He is the current president of TOPmexicorealestate, you can contact him at (512) 879-6546 or through the company’s web site www.TOPmexicorealestate.com NETWORK

“Mexico’s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely!”