I’m familiar with Manzanillo and like it very much. It’s true that more Canadians seem to move there than Americans, but that isn’t true of Mexico as a whole. For whatever reason, Americans don’t seem to be as aware of Manzanillo– probably a question of marketing.

Let me introduce myself: American female; have lived in several places in Mexico over a period of a dozen years or so, and visited over a longer period of time.

The only area in Mexico that has the weather benefits of San Diego is the Pacific Coast of the Baja Peninsula, especially the corridor leading from Rosarito Beach to south of Ensenada. The rest of coastal Mexico is considerably hotter and more humid, especially in the summer. That holds true with Manzanillo, too.

Manzanillo is favored by many retirees for several reasons, not the least of which being that it’s less expensive than many more well known coastal cities. It is also less touristy than places like Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, with a real Mexican feel to it. The winters are wonderful there, and the scenery outstanding. The Las Hadas resort is where the movie “10” was filmed. Manzanillo is just now entering a bit of a boom with the development of the Cascadas de Manzanillo residential project on 530 acres. Yes, Canadians are buying there. Overall, it’s a very pleasant place to live or visit.

The real estate boom already spread to Mexico, and it’s already following the US bust, too. Some places felt the boom more strongly than others, such as northern Baja and Puerto Penasco on the northern Sonora coast. Real estate prices rose dramatically in those places, but they are now feeling the affects of the slow down. The Rosarito Beach area has seen sales slow down dramatically this year, and Puerto Penasco had a real rough 2006 in terms of sales. (The latter should have been expected, as its market consisted mostly of Arizonans buying overpriced luxury condos as an investment. There is now a glut of condos, with more in the pipeline, and Arizona’s real estate market is in the tank– which can’t help but affect PP.)

As for the safety of buying real estate in Mexico, it’s as safe as anywhere else but you have to do your homework. What happened to those poor retirees at Punta Banda outside of Ensenada was an anomaly, not the norm.

Anything in particular you want to know about? Ask away and if I know the answer I’ll tell you.

I’m no defender of Mexico, but it has been a good investment for alot of people over the last 30 years. It all comes down to risk reward. I’ll say this in defense of Mexico. If its so unstable at this point, why can you get American title insurance? I know you can as my father lives there.

I haven’t been to Manzanillo since my fathers boat broke down in the bay next to Las Hadas almost ten years ago. It was nice and sleepier than Mazatlan or PV. Its also a heavy port so there is industry other than tourism.

As to Canadians, there are alot of them in PV and Manzanillo, as well as Mazatlan. The pacific coast of Mexico seems to be a favored travel destination. Most places you go put out Canadian flags whenever they put out an American one (PV at least.)

Josh

“You bet the government is corrupt. So is the US government. The latter just hides it better.”

tigerdog, I think you pretty well said it. In the US we are more sophisticated and profit legally. But in the end, it’s all about profiting and becoming rich.

Rich country vs. poor country is like family vs. a poor family. A rich family eats at the table with luxurious china and silverware. They have impeccable manners and seem beyond reproach. A poor family eats at the kitchen counter out of the pots. The poor family’s habits look really bad and unsophisticated.

As to the average age of retirees, I’m afraid I don’t know that. Keep in mind that not all gringos living there are retired; there are younger people as well, some with children, who have managed to open and run various businesses.

For pretty good info about Manzanillo, including real estate prices, you should visit this website: http://www.gomanzanillo.com/ Spend some time there.

Not everyone who decides to retire to a foreign country is happy with their decision. How content you are will be due in large part to your ability to adjust to a culture that is very different from what you are used to. One of the hardest things for Americans and Canadians to get used to is the slow pace. Mexicans work hard, but they’re in no hurry. Manana technically means “tomorrow”, but in reality it just means “at some time in the future”, lol. They don’t live by the clock in the same way that we do.

I’ve never come across an online forum for Manzanillo, but it might be helpful to you to visit some forums for other cities in Mexico that have a large expat community. Mazatlan comes to mind because it bears a lot of resemblance to Manzanillo in many ways.

For instance, both cities have a well developed tourist area that is pretty much separate from the main city. Both have other industry to support their infrastructure, so they are not totally reliant on tourism– and that makes them more relaxed.

Mazatlan’s message forum is quite active, and you can get a good feel for what it’s like living in Mexico that will stand you in good stead in Manzanillo or anywhere else– things like what paperwork you need, bringing your “stuff” down, etc. along with more intangible things. These are helpful people, and if you have questions they’ll answer them for you. See http://www.whatsupmaz.com/folder_06/forum_tree.asp

Another good place to look is at the San Carlos forum. San Carlos is north of both Mazatlan and Manzanillo along the Sea of Cortez. About a 5 or 6-hour drive from the Arizona border. This is a very pleasant retirement/second home town in the Sonoran Desert, just a few minutes drive from the Mexican city of Guaymas. I mention it because since most of the gringos living there are retirees (and snowbirds who spend the winters), you might get a feel for what it’s like to retire in Mexico. The specifics are different (climate, etc.) but the basics are the same.

See http://www.vivasancarlos.com/bulletin/index.html for that message board.

All three of those places have good marinas, by the way, for your boat. 🙂

Note that summer is the tourist season for Mexican families and all 3 places are very popular vacation spots for middle class Mexicans. So the tourist areas are really only drowsy for a couple months in the spring and fall.

I hope this is helpful to you.

I dunno, tigerdog. Maybe it’s because my universe of Mexicans is limited to three La Jolla families. But, all three families left Mexico because they found it dangerous. One fellow told me his family left after his brother was murdered in a botched kidnapping attempt.

Sure, all three Mexican families in my universe have money (and two are Jewish). But, since most Americans are relatively wealthy compared to the typical Mexican, wouldn’t any American be a potential target?

jg, your Mexican friends are correct that Mexico is a dangerous place for wealthy Mexicans. That does not translate to being a dangerous place for gringos, though, with a few exceptions. In border areas such as Tijuana and Juarez, gringos who own businesses there or work for/run maquiladoras are very occasionally targeted for kidnapping, and that’s a very scary thing. I stress the word “occasionally”.

Tourists and retirees, though wealthy by the standards of ordinary Mexicans, are not generally targets of violent crime. They improve the living standards of the locals in the community with the money they spend in the area, and in general there is a pretty good symbiotic relationship going on. As in any place in the world, there are occasional break-ins, petty theft, muggings, etc. (much of that is drug related, just as it is in the States), but if gringos felt in danger there wouldn’t be so many of them living there.

The most recent data I read from the US government reported that they are sending in the vicinity of 750,000 Social Security checks to Mexico, and both the US and Mexico governments agree that the number of expats living in Mexico is almost certainly under-reported.

OK….here's a "litmus Test" of sorts to qualify the supposed "parallels" of Mexico as opposed to the USA….Tigerdog seems to be trying to compare the two, so lets try it this way:

Your pulled over for a traffic violation in Mexico: 

A, You accept the ticket he is NOT going to give you 

B, You give the "officer" your nice wrist watch that he is seriously eyeing

C, Drop a "Twenty" on the ground and tell him to have a nice day 

ANSWER: C is most correct,  B is almost correct

Now here in the good ol USA you get pulled over for a traffic violation:

A. Sign the ticket  he is most definitely going to give you.

B. Get ready to be strong armed by the traffic laws and their penalties if you contest it. Expect to spend 5 G's Minimum !

C. Rearange your ENTIRE life 8 weeks from now to appear in court and waste most of the day. Oh and dont forget, spend 22 dollars for parking 6 blocks away

D, drop a "twenty" on the ground and tell the cop to have a nice day

ANSWER: A-B-C are correct, D will land you in jail….

Come to think of it, maybe the system in Mexico is better ! Its certainly more efficient and definitely way cheaper.

I love Mexico, I spend a LOT of time and a LOT of money there, I just wouldnt retire there thats all.