Thinking of Buying a Yucatan Beach Home?

Don’t leave your brains at the border!  Buying a home is one of the most expensive purchases that you may make in a lifetime.  Even here in the Yucatan where homes are much more reasonable you want to enter the process with your eyes wide open.

If you are dreaming of a vacation home or a full time residence in the sun with views like this, keep reading.

Before you make your purchase here are a few questions that you will want to ask your realtor;

·        How many years has your company been in business?  New real estate “companies” open every day, do you want to work with an established company or a “newbie?”

·        How many sales does your company average in a year? It goes without saying that the more experience your realtor has, the smoother the buying and closing process is for you.

·        Can you provide me with referrals and phone numbers of satisfied and repeat clients?

·        How many years have you lived full-time in the Yucatan? A realtor that has only been here for a year or two is not going to have the knowledge of an established company.

·        How many properties do they have listed, a few of their friends and neighbors?  Or, do they offer homes in all areas and price ranges?

·        Is your company a registered company in Mexico? In order to do business legally in the Yucatan a company must be registered with the government, pay an accountant monthly and report all income received.  Our company is registered as an S. A. de C. V. so that all of our business transactions are legal and recorded.

·        Do they recommend a lawyer or a Notario?  All real estate deals must be researched by a Notario Publico.  This is very different position than a Notary in Canada or the US.  My next post will go into that more in depth.

·        Are they a full service company? Will they be there only for the sale? Or will they have a plan for aftercare assistance including bi-lingual concierges, airport pickup, rental car advice, property management, rental assistance; aid you in purchasing, food, furniture and decorative items?

The Mayan Living Real Estate team is composed of American and Canadian owners and is committed to helping you find the best home at the best price possible and ensuring a seamless transition.  For more information on our listings please go to www.mayanliving.com. Please feel free to drop us an email at yucatansandman@gmail.com or call us on our US landline: 302-200-0461

 Experience the magic of Mexico today!

Our clients are happy to speak to you. Here is a picture of Donna and Joe at their closing last year.

Hoping to hear from you soon!  Until then we are just “Chillin’ in Chelem.”

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."

Before and Afters - for my Fabulous Swedish Friends, Peter and Marie!

One of the things that I love the most about our job is meeting great people! Every time we are getting ready to meet new people I always wonder, what are they going to be like? Will they like me? Will I like them? Will they love Chelem like I do? I have to honestly say my feelings get a bit hurt if they don't love my little village.

A few years ago I started corresponding with a client from Sweden, Marie. She had never been to Chelem, but had traveled in Mexico extensively in the past. As we kept emailing back forth she found a house on the Mayan Living website that she wanted to buy. The house was right around the corner from me so I knew the area like the back of my hand. The problem was that she wanted to buy it sight unseen and it needed ALOT of work. I tried to discourage her, sending her links of other homes in the same price point that needed less renovations. However she was adamant on the one she wanted......I learned later that when Marie makes up her mind about something that there is no needed trying to change it:)

Long story short, she and her husband Peter bought the home without ever seeing it. Doug and I sent photo after photo of all the work that needed to be done, but, it didn't matter, this was the home they both dreamed of.

I'm sure that you can imagine how nervous I was when they flew in from Sweden to see their new home. Marie and Peter were both thrilled! They loved Chelem, they loved the local people and they loved their house, YEA!!!!! The very best thing about it all was how much we loved them, they are absolutely some of the coolest and best people we have ever met, Doug and I felt that we had known them forever. They feel right into the groove of Mexico, practicing their Spanish, eating local seafood and understanding that they weren't in Sweden and things aren't done the same here as in the country they came from.

We introduced them to our Mexican "son" who does most of all construction and repairs for us and they treated him like family. They discussed what they wanted done, pricing etc, all in Spanglish and then started upon their renos.

Every winter they come down for a few months to languish in the sun, have a few beers and enjoy life. This winter they weren't able to come due to some health issues and we miss them terribly! Because we haven't seen them I wanted to dedicate this post to them and show you some of their before and after pictures of their beach cottage.

This is what their dream home looked like when they bought it:

This is the front of it today:

A "before" side view:

And after:

The kitchen before:


And after:




One of the bedrooms, look at the walls......



Actually the whole ceiling and roof had to be replaced!

Master bedroom after:

The back of the house before:

And a peek through the new sliders in the dining/kitchen area after:

And another peek:

Their new living room, with arches added to separate the space:

Marie and Peter have created their own personal paradise for very little money, Peter said he spent about $20,000 USD including new wiring and plumbing, wall in the backyard the pictures above and a back yard terrace. In his words, "it's almost free!"

We miss you guys terribly this year and hope that you will soon be here to enjoy our little slice of heaven with us!

Here is a picture of Theo and Ursula's home right across the street:


Your other neighbors directly in front of you:


Theo and his new puppy Bob, wanted to tell you "hi" and saludos:

And of course I know that you want to see the beach!

Here is the ocean at your entrada:

And a pelican relaxing in the sun:

And to my blog readers here is photo of Peter and Marie, aren't they gorgeous! We just love them!

Marie, we are sending you our love and positive thoughts! We can't wait for you to be back so we can catch up and have a cold one! Until then we are just "Chillin' in Chelem."

Weekend in Chelem

The past week has been a calorie laden one for those of us from the US. After having a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, I felt that I should try and walk off a few of the pounds that I probably gained. This was my favorite pic from this morning:



The weather may be getting chilly back home, but it's always nice here in paradise!

Have a great weekend, Thanksgiving pictures will be posted soon! And of course, if you want to live the dream like we are, don't forget to check out our website, Mayan Living or give us a call at 302-200-0461, we'll be happy to help you or answer any questions.


Until then enjoy the weekend, warm breezes and cold beers coming at ya from Chelem!

SUNDAY IN MERIDA

For those thinking of making the move to the Yucatan here are a few reasons:
Mexico is the US' closest neighbor to the south, here you can enjoy a luxurious lifestyle for less.
Enjoy your life in your dream home on the beach or a glorious colonial in the heart of Merida. Looking for seclusion and privacy? Take a peek at some of the smaller villages located around Merida.

We who live at the beach do so for a reason, we are beach people! We love peace and quiet, cool gulf breezes, shushing palms and the smell of salty air. That doesn't mean that we don't love the city of Merida any less. It's a half an hour away, less time then it took to commute to work back home. Merida always has something cultural happening and Sundays are a great time to head into the city and check out the latest event.

This past Sunday we were fortunate enough to be invited to go to the Oaxaca festival with our dear friends Roberto and Anna. The festival took place at Parque Las Americas in Garcia Gineres. Garcia Gineres is a beautiful, historic and quiet area with more and more ex-pats looking to purchase homes there.


Roberto and Anna



Typical clothing from Oaxaca

Embroidered pocketbooks

Lots of hand tooled belts

Look at the detailed hand work in this dress!

These are a speciality of Oaxaca, fried crickets! I actually tried them, quite crispy and spicy.


And of course this is Mexico, must have some kind of Tequila!


Fresh fruit drinks, also abundant throughout the country.

This is where they have entertainment in the park, singing, dancing and shows. Merida has such beautiful architecture.
All in all another wonderful day in the beautiful capital of the Yucatan, Merida. If you are dreaming of a more relaxing and romantic lifestyle, the Yucatan has it all...rich culture, perfect climate...affordable living...wonderful, inexpensive health care and its proximity to the US and Canada. If I have captured your interest, let me help you live your dream! Contact us today! Let the Mayan Living Team of experienced real estate professionals help you find the lifestyle you have always wanted! We are here to help you before, during and after the sale!

Until then, we are just "Chillin' in Chelem."