The time to retire has arrived, and you have decided to buy a retirement property in Mexico. But where should you start? These are the five elements to have in mind when looking for a new house.
If you have already decided that you want to live in Mexico and the city where you want to spend your retirement years, you can start by giving your wish list to your agent.
5 elements to have in mind when looking for a new house
Location
Once you are clear about the amount you want to spend to buy a property, the first thing you want to think about is the location of such property.
Get to know what the blocks are around the property for sale. Come up with your own opinion of what you are looking for. Surely, it depends on what type of property you are searching for. Look for a property close to places related to your hobbies and lifestyle. Then assure that the property is close to those places. For instance, if you love going out to eat, you should be close to where there are several restaurants or cafes.
On the other hand, if you like exercising a lot, choose a house near a park that offers exercise or sports tennis courts, fitness centers, etc.
Or rather, you’re looking for someplace that’s up and coming, and you are a little more interested in appreciation potential. Then the ideal thing would be to look at a neighborhood that’s slowly starting to pick up demand or attraction. That is an up-and-coming neighborhood. You must keep an eye on that.
Amenities
Talking about amenities, hobbies, and the buyer’s taste are very important when choosing a home. First, some standard amenities or hobbies are walks on the beach. Therefore, looking for a place on the beach or within walking distance to get to the beach would be ideal.
Those are the kind of amenities you want to be looking out for. You want a place where there is a Tennis court, or Powerball, or maybe a pool in your condo. Those are a couple of the popular sports amenities. Having a good gym with A/C is another popular amenity that you may look for.
Keep your eyes wide open, and share that wish list with your agent so that he’s looking, wide-eyed looking, for those types of amenities. Fortunately, most of the gated communities in Mexico offer those amenities.
So again, talk with your agent, and speak with current neighbors that live there. Those are good sources of information. Business owners are ideal because, most likely, they’re purchasing in a neighborhood based on economic returns.
On the contrary, a family is probably not so much concerned about appreciation. However, they’re looking for a location that offers amenities nearby—things such as schools and parks. And maybe for people who like to spend less time in their kitchen and walk around to go out to eat, they’ll be looking for places within walking distance to eateries.
Safety
Another element that you should keep in mind is the city’s safety or the town where you’re looking to. Make sure that your agent shares with you the safety of the area. Most agents or reps will be able to research and have that information available readily.
Usually, your agent will know where some of the rougher parts of town are. They will also know where most like people or people with similar backgrounds and similar income levels usually migrate to. Therefore, that’s something to be asking for when you’re comparing different properties.
Remodeling or renovations done to the house
Another element to research when you’re looking at a property is the status of the house. If some areas need remodeling or need upkeeping, you could talk with the seller and negotiate a price of the approximate cost to do such renovation or improvement. Undoubtedly, that can be a negotiation point.
Your agent might be able to introduce you to a professional home inspector or an architect that can inspect for you. In that inspection, they can verify the status and identify areas that need improvement. A good agent will be able to guide you.
Additionally, if you have some ideas to remodel or add a pool or something of that sort, you can have an architect do a quick quote. She can visit the property that you want to invest in so that you can take that into consideration when comparing it with the actual cost of the house plus any additional expenses or investments that you might want to add.
Legal Status
The legal status is quite simple. The first due diligence that the lawyer does is to ensure that the person you’re in contact with is indeed the person with the legal right to sell the property.
That’s why you hire a lawyer who will make sure that the person who presents himself can make that decision to sell the property or if they have a joint legal right to sell. Because sometimes, as you know, there could be a wife and husband, and they both must sign to sell the property.
If you want to ensure that the seller has a right to sell the property, you have your lawyer do the due diligence. She will verify not only that the person who offers the house has the legal right to sell it but also if the seller still has monetary obligations. To see if he took out a loan and is using the property as a guarantee.
This is one of the main reasons we recommend you hire a lawyer. Because they can go to the public registry and make sure that there are no liens put on the property, that is, before going through a lot of expenses and then arriving at the notary to be surprised.
