Explanade, the problem with tv shows like House Hunters International, is that they are a tv show with an agenda. They never show you the other side of the coin. They only ever paint a rosy picture where everyone lives happily ever after.
If you watch carefully, it often isn't hard to see that the home the are looking at is owned by someone else who bought their 'vacation paradise' and is now trying to sell it. As I wrote above, locals know when foreigners want out and the only chance you have of selling anywhere near your purcahse price is if you can find some other foreigner who still has rose coloured glasses on. The question you need to ask and get the true answer to is, 'why is this house for sale?' My experience is that if you could get the answer to that question for say 100 properties, they would fall into categories. The majority would be people who bought with the same ideas as you had and have now discovered that the reality is not as they expected.
My advice is always to rent before you buy and live there for at least a year. That's for people planning a more or less permanent move.
For people in your situation iac1003, my advice is however hard it is to find a place, rent for that first season. Somewhere that you find you like once a year for a few weeks might not turn out to be somewhere you really want to live for 8-9 months a year.
There is a little place called Borrego Springs in the S. California desert area that I have been visiting on and off for over 30 years. I love it there for the hiking and when I took my wife there for the first time about 10 years ago, she loved it as well. So we decided to try it on a longer term basis. The first time we rented for a month and were very happy. The second time we rented for 2 months and my while we had no problem finding things to do and enjoy, my wife felt it was a bit too long. We'll do a month again or maybe 6 weeks but that's it.
The problem with buying before you find out and then discovering it's not for you, is obvious. Yes, "If it doesn't work out, we can always move back.", is true but the question is at what cost? Owning may cost you less over the long term than renting, but ONLY over the long term. Rent, rent, rent, before you buy.
"Having just been there we found that long term rentals are not that easy to find but cheaper condos for sale are plentiful." Take another look at what you wrote. First, long term rentals are NOT hard to find. You're talking about Puerto Vallarta where there are thousands of rentals available. But what you may not like is the price of renting long term. You see that cost as being a sizeable chunk of money you could put onto buying instead. That's true, but again it assumes you buy and remain happy for 5-10 years at least before you want to sell.
You say, cheaper condos for sale are plentiful. OK, WHY are they plentiful? If you buy and then at some point want to sell because as you say, " there will most probably be a time when we would not be able to live independently there.", implying you would sell and return to living in the USA, how easy do you think it would be to sell? Are you assuming you will be able to sell and recoup your money, perhaps even make a profit? What projections for the future of Puerto Vallarta as a vacation destination have you looked at that give you confidence?
Read this article:
http://tourismintelligence.ca/2006/11/14/is-your-destination-in-decline/
Where would you say Puerto Vallarta is in it's life cycle? It seems pretty obvious to me. Personally, I see it as a losing proposition. IF I were interested in buying in Mexico at all, it would be in an emerging destination.
You say, " I look upon this as an adventure to be had while still able to enjoy it.", but in fact you appear to be a 'dependable', (Stanley Plog's Model in article) having vacationed in PV for 15 years. That's hardly adventurous. Maybe it's time to try somewhere else. Huatulco or even Puerto Angel or Puerto Escondido which are more built up. All still on the rise, not the decline.
This of course is all just my personal opinion iac1003.