CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION, CONSTRUCTION!

This has been a week of holidays here in Chelem.  Monday was Children's Day, Tuesday was Labor Day (holiday for professionals, banks, lawyers office etc. were closed.  And then Thursday, low and behold is one more holiday, this one if for concrete workers, so supposedly none of them worked.  I want to give you a few pictures of my backyard in the past week or so and then show you some of our clients projects.

When we first bought our home 2 years ago, this is what the backyard looked like, don't be deceived, that is not grass that you see, it that horrible stuff that only grows those nasty stickers that attach themselves to anything that walks:

I was eager to get the pool up and running!  It wasn't filtered, which is a very common thing in this area, but we figured with daily maintenance it would be just fine!

 
All the nasty weeds in the yard had to be removed, and then I was ready to start planting in my very own private paradise.  I carefully took snippets of real grass, cuttings of plants and starting fixing up the backyard:

We decided that we needed electric run along our wall for a more romantic and resort style setting at night,

We had lots of fun in the pool and I loved watching my flowers and palm trees grow,

Finally we had a beautiful backyard living area,

Newly painted walls, Mexican wall sconces, plants growing beautifully, ahhh, almost paradise,

But as we humans are, we felt that we needed a couple of more things.........pool filtration and a concrete terrace on the same are where I had so carefully and loving planted grass.  So the construction starts again, we contact Joel Medina and the work begins.........

Here is where they are digging up my grass for the new terrace,

The pool is empty once again awaiting jets, skimmer and filter. The dirt that dug up all around the pool is in flower beds....

Supplies fill up my front yard, but, soon we will have a great filtration system and a new terrace.  As the work progresses I will post more pictures.

All of this happened over a 3 holiday week, pretty impressive for Mexico!  Now to check on our other crews and see what they are doing.

This is the front of Todd and Joys home that they purchased in January,

Veronica Torres is our administrative assistant as well as being our project manager.  This is Veronica on the days she works as our clients personal shopper and our administrative assistant,

 This is Veronica managing one of her crews at Joy and Todd's home,

The crew has added new windows, kitchen counters and more under Veronica's careful watch,

New pool being built too!

Veronica and crew invited us over on workers day to check out the progress, have some yummy chicken tacos and enjoy a soda or beer.  Remember, this is a holiday, no one is supposed to be working!

Now we move over to the next project being run by Joel Medina and his crew, they are installing a pool at Andrew and Jane's house. Once again a holiday, but all of our crews are hard at work! 

The pool is getting close to being finished, notice the square holes in the wall, that is for night lighting,

Just one more crew to check on.....we head over to Peter and Marie's home where they are having a new pool installed and AC put in.  This is Angel, one of Veronica's workers.

And of course, here is Eduardo who has been with us for years, he is starting the process for Peter and Marie's new pool.

We at Mayan Living are so happy to be able to offer you your choice of contractors to complete your dream home renovations.  Each and every one of the workers pictured above has worked on our home personally so we can attest to their competence.

If you are looking for your own dream home in the Yucatan and can't afford one that is totally redone remember that labor is so much cheaper here than what you are used to at home.  Find one that you like today and have the work done as money permits.

The Mayan Living Team is here to offer you their expertise, before, during and after the sale.

Until the next time, we are just "Chillin in Chelem."

Buying Real Estate in the Yucatan, Mexico

There have been many articles written on this subject so I'm not going to belabor it, simply provide you with a few facts. Everyday I answer real estate clients questions on the buying process here and I thought it might be nice to have the answers all in one spot. Buying real estate in another country can be a nerve wracking experience, or it can be very easy depending on your attitude and the quality of help and guidance that you receive along the way. Remember that everyone has had a different experience and their perception may not be the same as yours.

Here in Mexico you may hear the term Notario, it has a very different meaning here than back home in Canada or the US. The Notary assumes the greatest responsibility in seeing that the government requirements are met. A Mexican attorney who has been practicing for at least ten years and meets the rigid qualifications required can finally be appointed as a notary. There are only 100 notarios here in the Yucatan, our "lawyer" is actually a notatio. It is important you know that in Mexico, a “Notario” has far more clout than a real estate lawyer. All “notarios” are lawyers, but not all lawyers are “notarios”!

Yes you can legally own property here, there are two ways of doing it, either through a fideocomiso or a Mexican Corporation. A corporation would apply only if you were purchasing multiple properties, opening a business or buying an extremely large piece of land. Normally people purchase through a fideo, this is a trust that is held by the bank, it gives you total rights to your home for 50 years, and is renewable on the 49th. With a fideo you can add on, knock it down and rebuild, rent, renovate, landscape, anything that you can do with your current home. There are many prices quoted for fideo's depending on the attorney you use. Our Notario charges $1300 for the process. The fideo has an annual fee that must be paid, price is depending on the size and location of your home, a good ballpark figure is $400 a year. In addition there are annual taxes that need to paid on your home, ours were $36 this year, we are one block back from the beach. If you live directly on the beach there are also beach assessments.

Speaking of the beach, there is a law called Decreto 801, this has to do with building a new property on beachfront lots, due to the environmental impact there are many restrictions in place now. Unless a beach property is zoned urban you may or may not be able to build on a lot that has never had a house on it. This law is very complex and I am not going to try to interpret it totally. Best to speak with a lawyer or architect on this one.

Most of our clients are on a limited time frame for buying a home, they have a week or less to see the area, meet local expats and see potential homes. We try to devote as much time as possible to ensure that they get a true feel for the area as well as finding out what they really want. Because of this we try to schedule all the time needed for our clients. Once they have found their "dream home," we call our Notario and set up an appointment, generally the next day. This appointment is to sign a contract that states the buying price, owners name and location. The owner is now responsible for getting our Notario all the documents needed to complete the purchase. Our Notario does a total check on all documents, including title search, payment of back taxes, electric and water bills. You then have 3 days from your return home to put 10% of the purchase price as well as the fideo fees in an escrow account that Mayan Living has set up in the USA. The closing process takes approximately 30- 45 days. If at that time all the paperwork has been proven free and clear you are responsible for the other 90%. On the other hand if there are any problems with the paperwork of your home your entire deposit is returned. Many times our new home owners can't return in that time frame to sign the closing papers. If that is your case we can have our attorney set you up with a limited power of attorney, this states that Doug or Sean may make real estate purchases in your name. It does not entitle them to sell any property for you, only buy it. It also allows them to board up your house at your request, in case of bad weather and call the police if someone is on your property that shouldn't be. The cost for power of attorney is $200.

Our services also include, showing you where to shop, where to buy furniture, how to pay utility bills, how to get your utilities hooked up, guidance to local area attractions, where to pay your taxes, referrals for laborers and local contractors. We have a crew that works for us, however their English is limited if you prefer someone else we will be happy to help you. We can also help with referrals for property managers. I wouldn't find it wise to leave my house back home unattended for 10-11 months a year, it is the same here.

Closing costs here are all paid by the buyer and normally run between $3500 - $4000.


Many times we hear clients or other expats say that they would prefer to buy property on their own and save paying the realtor fees. It is easier said than done, first off you need to be fluent in Spanish, secondly many of the owners of beach homes don't live here at the beach, next do you know how to go about the entire process without assistance, will you require assistance later? Do you really want the assistance of someone who has only lived here for a year or two and doesn't work daily in the business? There are many helpful people here in Chelem/Chuburna, many are retired, but not from Mexican Real Estate! Seek their opinions on where to eat, get your laundry done etc. Leave real estate purchase advice to the pro's for your own peace of mind.

Mayan Living Real Estate has been in business nearly 10 years and has a great reputation, there are many fly by night "realtors," out there, buyer beware. We purchased our first home with Mayan Living in 2002 and wouldn't consider working for them if there had been any glitches in our purchase. We are here at the beach for the rest of our lives and consider all of our clients to be new neighbors! All of that being said, we are the number one real estate company in the Yucatan for a reason, we don't just sell you a house we provide the guidance needed to live happily in Mexico. Doug has said numerous times that his number one priority is his reputation so when you see him the next time you are going to wave at him with all 5 fingers not just one!

Warm breezes and cold beers coming at ya from Chelem!