Off topic--Buying Property in Cozumel

I think we are ready to take the plunge and buy a place in CAM. We are
leaning towards a condo simply as we are not quite ready to retire and live
a life of leisure. We also don't want the hassles of having to have a
caretaker

We have a few questions. A few (OK, a lot) questions. I realize that some
of
you may not want to post on-line, so if you would like, please contact us
direct at: MSLF500@Verizon(remove).net If you like, you can leave me your
phone number and I'll call you back.

We are looking in the $400-600,000 price range. Our plan is to stay there
3-5 times per year and rent it out the rest of the year.

Asking price- how much flexibility is in the asking price? I always like to
find out where the bottom line is. We looked at a couple and the price came
down 7% w/o asking. I was thinking 20% less would be a good starting point
and hope for a 15% discount. We are looking at a new building that is not
completed at this time. Comments?

Has anyone found a bank in the US that will finance a property?

How much should I pay a year for the trust account? I heard as low as $250
and as high as $550/year

If you rented your place out, who would you recommend to handle leasing?
What commissions did you pay for them providing the renter? How about if
you provided the renter?

Do you have a property manager? What's the monthly fee for that? What does
it cover?

How often do you have the unit cleaned when occupied? Daily? Every 3 days?

Do you supply the towels and sheets or is there a linen service that
provides it as part of the maid service? If you supply the towels and
sheets, how do you determine the quantity of overstock?

Do you pay the utilities direct or have the property manager do it for you?

On average, what percentage of the year is your condo rented?

A lot of questions, but my guess is there are probably a few people out
there who know the ropes.

Thanks.

Mark Lindsey

Mark,
I don't know a whole lot, but I do know that non-Mexicans cannot buy
land within something like 60 miles of the ocean. Condos work because
you don't own the land. Also, the Mexican government owns the immediate
sea short, but I'm not sure how far above high tide that goes.

Why would a US bank finance property in Mexico? That's what Mexican
banks are for. But ask your US bank. If they can't answer the
question, maybe there's a reason.

What sort of an interest rate can you get? Fixed or floating? What
about inflation and exchange rate risk? What restrictions are there on
moving your money between the US and Mexico. What if the law changes?
Elections are coming soon. Don't forget that anything over $10,000 gets
reported to the IRS in the US.

What sort of permits do you need from Mexico for the real estate and for
longer stays? What sort of insurance do you need?

Do you have a lawyer in Mexico to do some estate planning under Mexican
laws? Property is always probated under local laws. You will need a US
lawyer to coordinate things back here also. If you get into a dispute
over some detail of the purchase, mortgage, local taxes, etc. do you
have someone who will represent you? Is that person well connected?

We've all had dreams about owning a place in Cozumel, but the details
can make if very risky. I like to stay at what used to be Costa Club.
It's changed hands just about every year. Reading between the lines,
they have almost always sold individual rooms as condos to finance the
operation. Then they go bankrupt and the condo owners lose their
investment. Sorry, they are Hotel Cozumel. They used to be Magic
Sunset and Hotel Brisas.

"Invest locally, travel gobally."

Dr. yak



Mark Lindsey wrote:
> I think we are ready to take the plunge and buy a place in CAM. We are
> leaning towards a condo simply as we are not quite ready to retire and live
> a life of leisure. We also don't want the hassles of having to have a
> caretaker
>
> We have a few questions. A few (OK, a lot) questions. I realize that some
> of
> you may not want to post on-line, so if you would like, please contact us
> direct at: MSLF500@Verizon(remove).net If you like, you can leave me your
> phone number and I'll call you back.
>
> We are looking in the $400-600,000 price range. Our plan is to stay there
> 3-5 times per year and rent it out the rest of the year.
>
> Asking price- how much flexibility is in the asking price? I always like to
> find out where the bottom line is. We looked at a couple and the price came
> down 7% w/o asking. I was thinking 20% less would be a good starting point
> and hope for a 15% discount. We are looking at a new building that is not
> completed at this time. Comments?
>
> Has anyone found a bank in the US that will finance a property?
>
> How much should I pay a year for the trust account? I heard as low as $250
> and as high as $550/year
>
> If you rented your place out, who would you recommend to handle leasing?
> What commissions did you pay for them providing the renter? How about if
> you provided the renter?
>
> Do you have a property manager? What's the monthly fee for that? What does
> it cover?
>
> How often do you have the unit cleaned when occupied? Daily? Every 3 days?
>
> Do you supply the towels and sheets or is there a linen service that
> provides it as part of the maid service? If you supply the towels and
> sheets, how do you determine the quantity of overstock?
>
> Do you pay the utilities direct or have the property manager do it for you?
>
> On average, what percentage of the year is your condo rented?
>
> A lot of questions, but my guess is there are probably a few people out
> there who know the ropes.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Mark Lindsey
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are not a
citizen.

Lawrence

"Lawrence" <coralsea5@citlink.net> wrote in message
news:1117750846.737807.92800@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
> rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are not a
> citizen.

That's a defeatist attitude to take. When I travel, I act like I own the
place and thereby gain respect. If that doesn't work, try shouting.

In article <119v27764kv0nac@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
<mossman@qnet.com> wrote:

€ "Lawrence" <coralsea5@citlink.net> wrote in message
€ news:1117750846.737807.92800@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
€ > Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
€ > rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are not a
€ > citizen.
€
€ That's a defeatist attitude to take. When I travel, I act like I own the
€ place and thereby gain respect. If that doesn't work, try shouting.
€
€

Slowly, being sure to annunciate each syllable carefully and clearly

Alan Street wrote:
> In article <119v27764kv0nac@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
> <mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
>
> € "Lawrence" <coralsea5@citlink.net> wrote in message
> € news:1117750846.737807.92800@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> € > Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
> € > rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are not a
> € > citizen.
> €
> € That's a defeatist attitude to take. When I travel, I act like I own the
> € place and thereby gain respect. If that doesn't work, try shouting.
> €
> €
>
> Slowly, being sure to annunciate each syllable carefully and clearly

In Spanish. Otherwise German.

Thus spake Alan Street <agstreet@nonono_san.rr.com> :

>In article <119v27764kv0nac@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
><mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
>
>€ "Lawrence" <coralsea5@citlink.net> wrote in message
>€ news:1117750846.737807.92800@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
>€ > Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
>€ > rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are not a
>€ > citizen.
>€
>€ That's a defeatist attitude to take. When I travel, I act like I own the
>€ place and thereby gain respect. If that doesn't work, try shouting.
>€
>€
>
>Slowly, being sure to annunciate each syllable carefully and clearly

It helps to use an accent and foreign sounding words.

--
dillon
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

So far our attempt has been sketchy......

While we where there, they discounted the asking price by 7.5%. I was told
they were discounting the price because the project wasn't finished yet, but
was schedule to be finished on 6/15. That was two weeks ago. I've stayed
in touch with the realtor and worked with my bank to secure financing. I
finally got a bank commitment yesterday and, sent via email a contract to
purchase this AM with a 15% discount as the unit we selected had a
restricted view from one of the rooms. It was rejected with a counter from
them of 4% less than asking. Of course, now the completion date is 6/30
instead of 6/15.

I don't know if this is a typical Mexican negotiating ploy or if the owner
just reneged on the deal that was offered off the cuff. Anyone with any
experience on negotiating down there that has had this happen to them? For
an order of magnitude, this is a $500,000 USD purchase.


"Dr Yak" <Dr.Yak@NoSpam.Com> wrote in message
news:429FAE3D.1000408@NoSpam.Com...
> Alan Street wrote:
>> In article <119v27764kv0nac@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
>> <mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
>>
>> € "Lawrence" <coralsea5@citlink.net> wrote in message €
>> news:1117750846.737807.92800@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
>> € > Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
>> € > rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are not a
>> € > citizen.
>> € € That's a defeatist attitude to take. When I travel, I act like I own
>> the € place and thereby gain respect. If that doesn't work, try
>> shouting. € € Slowly, being sure to annunciate each syllable carefully
>> and clearly
>
> In Spanish. Otherwise German.

"Mark Lindsey" <mslf500@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:RBPne.15938$qJ3.4279@trnddc05...
> So far our attempt has been sketchy......
>
> While we where there, they discounted the asking price by 7.5%. I was
> told they were discounting the price because the project wasn't finished
> yet, but was schedule to be finished on 6/15. That was two weeks ago.
> I've stayed in touch with the realtor and worked with my bank to secure
> financing. I finally got a bank commitment yesterday and, sent via email
> a contract to purchase this AM with a 15% discount as the unit we selected
> had a restricted view from one of the rooms. It was rejected with a
> counter from them of 4% less than asking. Of course, now the completion
> date is 6/30 instead of 6/15.
>
> I don't know if this is a typical Mexican negotiating ploy or if the owner
> just reneged on the deal that was offered off the cuff.

They offered you a 7.5% discount and you effectively turned it down when you
countered with a 15% discount. I don't think they should be held to their
original offer after that, nor do I think they have "reneged" on anything.
The only way he could have "reneged" is if you would have accepted the 7.5%
discount and then he refused to honor it.

It is the same way right here in the states. Based upon standard realtor
contracts, once you counter an offer, that offer is gone unless the
seller/buyer chooses to put it back on the table. But they are not bound buy
law or by any standard of behavior to do so.

Dr Yak wrote:
> Alan Street wrote:
> > In article <119v27764kv0nac@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
> > <mossman@qnet.com> wrote:
> >
> > € "Lawrence" <coralsea5@citlink.net> wrote in message
> > € news:1117750846.737807.92800@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> > € > Tred lightly - you are in a foreign country and they play by their
> > € > rules. You have no say in what goes, especially since you are nota
> > € > citizen.
> > €
> > € That's a defeatist attitude to take. When I travel, I act like I own the
> > € place and thereby gain respect. If that doesn't work, try shouting.
> > €
> > €
> >
> > Slowly, being sure to annunciate each syllable carefully and clearly
>
> In Spanish. Otherwise German.

No. Much better in Chinese! And give them the Kung Fu Hustle.

-- Bob.