Cancun Condo

[jimnjana]

Anybody own a condo in cancun? Would you buy it again? May have posted question before, but meeting with Realtor on Monday. Concerns regarding property management, ease of selling, foreign ownership will likely prevent me from pulling the trigger. But, I do love the beach here. The realtor lives in the building I'm interested in so hopefully will provide some useful insight into condo association.

 

[flyingaway]

Interested in knowing that price range of the condos on sell there.

 

[targatom2019]

don't you have to go through a bank trust to own real estate in Mexico.

 

[jimnjana]

don't you have to go through a bank trust to own real estate in Mexico.

Not sure. I'll ask on Monday.

 

[jimnjana]

Interested in knowing that price range of the condos on sell there.

Under 100k to over 1million USDs. We are looking at the low end.

 

[Onward]

If condo is within 31 miles of the coast, and you're not a Mexican citizen, you'll have to buy it through a Mexican bank trust or "fideicomiso." The ongoing cost is typically around $500/yr.

 

[Sunset]

How many years have you returned to this same spot on the beach that you love ?

Are you planning to move there , or just vacation ?

Has the realtor tempted you claims of all the money you can make renting the unit while you don't use it ?

Have you talked to other owners like yourself ?

 

[brett]

How many years have you returned to this same spot on the beach that you love ?

Are you planning to move there , or just vacation ?

Has the realtor tempted you claims of all the money you can make renting the unit while you don't use it ?

Have you talked to other owners like yourself ?

Those are the questions we asked ourselves when we looked at buying a vacation home in the sun. We considered Mexico, and to a much lesser extent Costa Rica and Panama. We spoke to people who had been longer term owners. The best piece of advice we have rec'd so far from owners is rent for two or three months for at least two years. Spend a month in each of two or three areas/complexes of your target destination.

We asked ourselves two other questions. How many months in each spot would we want to spend each winter. And....would it discourage us from travel to other destinations.

In the end we did not even get to the financials. We have briefly re-visited our decision each year for the past eight or nine but always come to the same conclusion. The only decision we did make was to make Mexico our target destination if we decide to buy.

 

[jimnjana]

How many years have you returned to this same spot on the beach that you love ?

Are you planning to move there , or just vacation ?

Has the realtor tempted you claims of all the money you can make renting the unit while you don't use it ?

Have you talked to other owners like yourself ?

First came her 22 years ago. Have come back about half dozen times. Probably a month or two a year for vacation, with options open for longer stays. Realtor has not said anything, in fact maybe the opposite regarding management of condo building y. If we decide to buy she will likely manage it for us, we are not expecting to make money, just help with cost of ownership

 

[Koolau]

I think kcowan is our resident expert on Mexico. I'm reasonably certain he would know the answer to your question. YMMV

 

[Sunset]

OP - As you live in Indialantic FL, you question is not quite as understandable as say a Canadian/Northern USA located person asking about Cancun.

If you were planning to relocate, I get it, but to just have a vacation spot, when you live in a warm vacation spot already, doesn't seem to be a big difference in lifestyle, and not worth the risk of foreign ownership.

 

[kcowan]

I think kcowan is our resident expert on Mexico. I'm reasonably certain he would know the answer to your question. YMMV

When we retired in 2002, we had a 3-week timeshare that DWs father had purchased in 1984 on the ocean in Puerto Vallarta.

We spent a month on the east side of Florida and next year a month on the west side. We preferred Mexico to Florida and DW speaks fluent Spanish.We also rented condos to augment our 3 weeks in PV. We ran the numbers, and buying made more sense if we stayed longer than 4 months.

So in 2007, we purchased. We spent 6 months and saved a bunch of money because PV costs less than Vancouver to live.

In 2019, we purchased a new preconstruction condo (another long story), sold our old condo in July and moved in Jan 2020. On paper we made 2 million pesos on the sale.

Escritura is the title to your unit, and it is held in a bank trust (fideicomiso) costing $500/yr. Electricity, internet and property taxes are extra costs.

My impression is that prices have dropped about 25% since Covid.

 

[Vacation4us]

We would never buy in Mexico but we live in California. If we lived in an area that had snow half the year there may have been more appeal. We still prefer tropical beach type vacations but Mexico is off our travel list.

It’s a country DH refuses to drive in which makes it a no go for us. DH had a friend that owned oceanfront in Rosarita years ago then the Government said he owned nothing. Buyer be ware.

 

[Montecfo]

When we retired in 2002, we had a 3-week timeshare that DWs father had purchased in 1984 on the ocean in Puerto Vallarta.

We spent a month on the east side of Florida and next year a month on the west side. We preferred Mexico to Florida and DW speaks fluent Spanish.We also rented condos to augment our 3 weeks in PV. We ran the numbers, and buying made more sense if we stayed longer than 4 months.

So in 2007, we purchased. We spent 6 months and saved a bunch of money because PV costs less than Vancouver to live.

In 2019, we purchased a new preconstruction condo (another long story), sold our old condo in July and moved in Jan 2020. On paper we made 2 million pesos on the sale.

Escritura is the title to your unit, and it is held in a bank trust (fideicomiso) costing $500/yr. Electricity, internet and property taxes are extra costs.

My impression is that prices have dropped about 25% since Covid.

Kcowan,

What are your thoughts on safety in Mexico? I used to think the tourist areas were fairly safe but not sure to what extent that still holds

 

[CoolChange]

Prices?

...

My impression is that prices have dropped about 25% since Covid.

Are you saying a 25% price drop in condos and other real estate or general living expenses in Mexico?


I have not been there this year

 

[kcowan]

Kcowan,

What are your thoughts on safety in Mexico? I used to think the tourist areas were fairly safe but not sure to what extent that still holds

We always wear 3-layer cloth masks (one filter layer) and avoid places that do not treat customers with respect, same as in Canada.

The stores, La Comer and Costco, are better than Canada for Covid. We returned in July to Vancouver and our biggest concern was the air flight through DFW with a layover but American did a good job.

There are unmasked people in PV but also in Vancouver and up here, the stores do not require masks.

(We have found that many of our friends live in fear.)

 

[kcowan]

Are you saying a 25% price drop in condos and other real estate or general living expenses in Mexico?


I have not been there this year

New construction. Better offers or perqs thrown in. Don't know about rentals except many are empty. If anything cost of living has increased due to Covid.