Baja / Los cabos

[FlyerInHi]

awesome view!!

[FlyerInHi]

The Mexican peso has been hit hard in the last couple years. Did that affect real estate or are the transactions in USD? Should Mexican Americans be arbitraging?

[matt]

Thought I’d share where we ended up on this project. Total investment of 800k purchase price plus 200k to renovate. Enjoying it right now and the area is booming.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16947602?location=Rancho%20Cerro%20Colorado%2C%20Palmilla%2C%20Mexico&s=97LXrRIL

Matt

[moneymaker]

Looks great! Was in Cabo in May for the first time and visited Cabo Wabo for some great food and ambiance, picked up some guitar picks for my son. Would definitely go back to spend more time there.

[ocrenter]

[quote=matt]Thought I’d share where we ended up on this project. Total investment of 800k purchase price plus 200k to renovate. Enjoying it right now and the area is booming.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16947602?location=Rancho%20Cerro%20Colorado%2C%20Palmilla%2C%20Mexico&s=97LXrRIL

Matt[/quote]

Looks great! How’s property tax and HOA compared to State-side?

[matt]

Property tax is a couple of hundred bucks a year. HOA is 3000 / year which mainly goes to the administration and the 24 hour gated security. Other HOAs like Palmilla or golf communities can be higher. Energy costs are high and hurricanes a risk making solar an interesting question. I invested 25k in aluminum accordion shutters shipped in from Florida. Also installed a back up generator in case of power outages. Water is supplied by the city into two pilas, one for the main house and one for the casita. Septic tank/ grey water system also in place. Lots of learnings compared to California :).

[FlyerInHi]

Love it.

I would rather stay the middle of party town but I’ll tell my brothers so they can do Airbnb family holidays which is the only they travel.

I see you have split AC units instead of central AC.

A few hundreds $ on property taxes is a dream come true. In a Cali if your house is $4 million, you could be paying $50k in taxes, a budget that would allowed to live so well in Mexico. And that won’t get you that kind of oceanfront.

Are you splitting your time between US and Mexico? Will you eventually make Baja your permanent home.?

Eventually, Im going to split my time between SAN, HNL, BKK or somewhere in south East Asia, maybe Southern France if i can afford it. But condo living for me. Airbnb home share is awesome. Why let a perfectly nice place stay empty when it has economic potential and you can spread enjoyment to other people.

[scaredyclassic]

wow.

i just stayed 5 days at an airbnb in newport beach. about 1/2 that price, but a dump. nice dump, but still…

yours is bitching

[FlyerInHi]

BTW, how does your HOA handle short term rentals?

Here, the HOAs are all in bed with one another. The managers are venal shitheads who go to training seminars and come back wanting to enforce the rules even when there are no complaints and it’s not a priority for the board. Basically the management scare board members to turn against their neighbors. I should know because I belong to several boards.

There are also city and county ordinances that jealous neighbors use when turning against their neighbors.

My friends are to be empty nesters in the SF Bay Area. They remodeled their master suite into a studio and plan to list it on Airbnb. I told them “you’d better have permits for the side door and kitchenette, because you will soon find out who your real friends are. It doesn’t matter that you hosted all the neighborhood kids for 18 years. Your real haters will be coming out of the woodwork.”

[matt]

Thanks for the kind wishes all and sorry for the delayed response.

We are not at retirement age yet but it could be an option to live in Mexico off the rent of our la Costa oaks home. Ideally a small apartment in Barcelona on the side as well :). Right now I am working in the UAE and saving every penny I can for the future and our kids college… so I do need to start generating some cash from this place.

The main thinking on the investment was the realization of how little 1m can buy you in so-cal + the financial burden of property taxes. And the desire to create an option in a lower cost of living country. We are currently getting a maid all day for about 25 dollars and if u choose to live within your means even Los cabos can be affordable..

The HOA over here is fine with short term rentals. The only peculiarity being they do not allow you to rent the casita but I’ll see if I can get away with it!

[ocrenter]

[quote=matt]Thanks for the kind wishes all and sorry for the delayed response.

We are not at retirement age yet but it could be an option to live in Mexico off the rent of our la Costa oaks home. Ideally a small apartment in Barcelona on the side as well :). Right now I am working in the UAE and saving every penny I can for the future and our kids college… so I do need to start generating some cash from this place.

The main thinking on the investment was the realization of how little 1m can buy you in so-cal + the financial burden of property taxes. And the desire to create an option in a lower cost of living country. We are currently getting a maid all day for about 25 dollars and if u choose to live within your means even Los cabos can be affordable..

The HOA over here is fine with short term rentals. The only peculiarity being they do not allow you to rent the casita but I’ll see if I can get away with it![/quote]

Great job with the house. I agree, do you park a million in a tract home from the 60’s in an iffy neighborhood in SoCal or do you just go for the best Cabo has to offer?

You mentioned solar and hurricanes. I suppose if the panels are flush against the roof that should be ok. But that’ll raise the cost of investment significantly. But then again, with Mexico’s infrastructure, it pays to be energy independent. Tough decision.

[Author]

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