The beach gringo knows how stressful moving to a new country can be, trust us, if there was an item to be forgotten or a mistake to be made. We have done it. With this in mind here are some helpful hints and some of the pro’s and cons when house hunting
Sand or concrete, everyone loves the sand, and the beachy feel it gives your house, you may notice that quite a few houses will have concrete patio’s or decks instead of sand, we personally started with a sandy yard and within 2 years changed it to concrete. Sand gets everywhere, in your house, the pool, clothes and no sooner do you sweep it up than it is blown all over again, and if you have pets, concrete is much easier to clean,- Parking- lots of houses do not have driveways, on-street parking is very common. Most houses are build right to the property line to maximize the outdoor areas that are used more as living space than a driveway. Most people are ok with this and some aren’t, personal choice is what it comes down to,
- On the beach or near the beach- you will hear people talk about being on the beach or third row, second row etc etc. If you really want to be on the beach then be prepared to pay top dollar as well you will pay additional taxes (beach tax) and your maintenance costs will be far higher. Remember all beaches in Mexico are public land and while you may live on the beach, it is not your beach. Costs from a 3rd or 4th row house, which would be about a three to five minute walk to the water are about 35-45% lower than on the beach,
- The sand in the Yucatan has a high lime content, plays havoc on everything from paint to pools to car filters to appliances to water systems, take this into account when house hunting, higher end appliances and north American made cars tend not to do well and don’t last as long as expected and replacement parts are expensive,
- Filtered or Fill and Dump Pools- our first pool was a “fill and dump” pool, basically no filter system and required more effort to keep clean, usually every 30-45 days the pool is dumped and then refilled with clean water, while cheaper to maintain and no hydro charges for a pump and filter system it is a bit of a pain when waiting for it to refill and then to warm up. You will find that during Norte season it is a bit harder to maintain and keep clean. We switched to a filter system 2 years ago (was @ 3500 USD to install) and find it much easier to maintain. So if you want a pool, again personal choice but for us we find the filter system much better.
See you on the beach….
Steve “The Beach Gringo in Chief” Patterson