Mexican Retirement Community – Established Favorites vs. New Options

While there are a number of favorite Mexico retirement communities, with a very significant population of retirees from the U.S. and Canada, reaching up to 15,000 in places such as Puerto Vallarta, there are also some areas which are just now being discovered as good locations for expats to choose as home.  If you are wondering which Mexico real estate option is  ideal for your retirement, here’s a brief comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the two options.

Established Expat retirement communities

Advantages:

• large community of neighbors from back home in a similar age group, and of various interests
• most modern, world-class services available to serve a large tourism industry and expat community
• up-to-date hospitals (significantly cheaper than in the U.S.)
• large shopping malls
• English movie theaters
• international selection of restaurants
• world-class golf
• direct flights to most major U.S. and Canadian cities
• cost of living and real estate noticeably low compared to North American counterparts

Disadvantages:

• “small town” feeling not as strong with growth and development (not in all cases)
• prices higher than other parts of Mexico (but still cheap compared to U.S.)
• some world-class luxuries (PGA Golf, for example) will have world-class prices; this is true globally

Examples:

• Puerto Vallarta (on the Pacific coast)
• Lake Chapala (in the Central Mexican interior, close to Guadalajara)
• Cancun & Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen, Tulum)

Up-and-coming Mexico Retirement Communities

Advantages:

• small town, quiet atmosphere
• close-knit expat community
• very relaxed society, slow pace of life
• lower priced real estate (some excellent deals can be found)
• generally very low cost of living – retirement savings go further
• basic services available, some areas including world-class healthcare and modern malls, others with few options

Disadvantages:

• Some services are less convenient, requiring a longer drive
• Fewer expats, harder to find similar interest groups
• Further drive to international airport, or not as many flight options – stopovers necessary

Examples:

• Campeche (Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf coast)
• Costa Maya (Yucatan Peninsula, 5 hrs south of Cancun)

Think about what kind of retirement you are planning on.  Explore your options and talk to an experience agent.  These two categories are very broad generalizations, and within each one the variety is broad.

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

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