Hello everyone and welcome to Live and Invest, Mexico! 

This is a personal story of how I became involved with Mexico.  For many years my family and I went to Hawaii.  First we tried Kauai, then Maui, and finally the Big Island of Hawaii.  We loved to visit the Big Island and we did for many years.  Finally, one year I thought to myself, "We should buy something." and so we began our search.  We looked at quite a few properties and found some that we liked.  During this process we became friends with our realtor, Ginny.  She knew the properties and she knew what we were looking for.  Well, we just couldn't make up our minds about which property to buy and then our friend Ginny said, "If you're retired and can live anywhere, why would you want to live here?"  We were astounded by this remark and she could see the surprise in our faces.  She continued to say, " The cost of living here is very high.  Electricity is expensive and taxes are outrageous!"

This started us thinking about other places where we could enjoy the sun and sea.  Someplace close to home and only a few hours by airline to reach.  Our son suggested that we look at Mexico.  He said he had seen some travel shows on TV and it looked great to him.  This began our search of areas in Mexico.  We found many places that we could live or visit and we found great places on or near the water.  One of the best things that I noticed is that the Mexican people are very friendly and welcoming.  This is one of the things I enjoy most about Mexico, it's people. 

The property taxes are almost non-existent.  (About 1% of the property value.  A $250,000 USD home is around $250/year in property taxes, or less.)  The cost of living beats Hawaii, hands down!  My wife and I were with some friends in Merida (a colonial city in the Yucatan).  We stopped to have some lunch at a sidewalk taqueria.  Three of us had a plateful of tacos each, one had Huevos Rancheros (ranch style eggs).  We each had a fruit drink (Fresca) and the bill was less than $10.00 with the tip included!  The next day we took a taxi to the Colonial Center and the fare was $3.00!  A good 2 bedroom, 2 bath home can be rented for $800/month.  A couple can have a house keeper and gardener, 3 days a week, eat out, maintain a car, have cable TV, internet, and telephone for under $2,200/month!  This includes medical insurance and incidentals.  (See "Retiring In Mexico" in this web site.)

Mexico has become our "Hawaii".  It's closer, cheaper, the folks are friendly and you can drive there if you want!  It's also on the same latitude as Hawaii and has many of the same plants that we found so attractive in Hawaii.  We now own a nice little two bed/bath condo in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle just two blocks from the ocean and a $4M USD high end marina.  Many new shops and boutiques are being built but there is still the little fishing village with all of its charm, intact.

Send me an email and I'll be glad to send you more information. 

-Regards,

Joe

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Last modified: 04/21/10