haha thanks TJ. Believe it or not, I actually knew what equity meant! lol How much would you expect to pay for a decent 2 bedroom house/apt in downtown cancun. Any opinions on the Andalucia area? I know it's a little further but it just seemed peaceful when I was there. I believe someone told me that 40% of the cost is a rule of thumb for down payment. Not sure of that number though. My memory is iffy at times, lol. I'd love to find a little casa toward the end of a dead end street.
Two bed houses in Andalucia are about 500-600,000 pesos ($40-47,000 USD) see: Residencial andalucia cancun - Trovit Casas
thank you Steve! some of them look exactly like the one that i stayed in. Is it a decent area? I'm probably not going to have any expensive possessions but I know that while I was their my ex's neighbor was robbed. I know robberies happen all over the world.... but I'm just unfamiliar with the frequency of crime down there. If the house is 55k, how much would be expected to put down? I know they have payment calculators for mortgages here in the US but I'm so completely clueless to how that kinda thing works down there! I'm learning day by day.
I don't really know Andalucia, had to ask Jannet where it was. If it's deeper downtown than Costco I don't know it well I'd say that burglary is no more a risk here than any other big city (Cancun is 1 million population), but like elsewhere is probably more prevalent in lower income areas due to lower security and a higher proportion of local 'undesirables'. Re mortgages, I dont know the answer to your question about deposits but I'd not recommend getting a mortgage here, the interest rates are far too high. Imho you'd be better off renting and saving to buy outright even if it takes a while. 2 bed houses in Andalucia rent for about 3000 pesos ($250 USD) a month.
Thank you for your response!!! I just feel like I have too many questions. On the contrary, if I never ask, then I will never learn! :/ Lol about Costco. I've never been to one! If you pay cash do they drop the price a little bit? 250 a month certainly is not bad at all for a 2 bedroom home..... but when i was looking it seemed like i would have to buy everything(major appliance wise). If I'm going to buy a fridge, stove, etc, I might as well buy. Does Mexico have equity? lol might sound like a blonde question but I've never owned a home before. hahaha. My thing is.... I know if I wait even one more year I can pay it cash. But as of right now I plan to move in January of next year which is already far enough out! lol. I don't know if I will stay in Mexico forever but I would definitely at least like to be there for a little while to see how i really feel about it. I guess if I move in January 2015 I could pay cash and would have no worries about a mortgage. Just utilities and I'm guessing property tax/homeowners insurance? if they have that kind of thing there.
Sellers in a hurry might well drop the price a little if buying in cash rather than waiting for mortgages to be approved etc. Even unfurnished places for rent will usually include a stove, furnished places should include most appliances and furniture. Buying appliances and furniture need not be expensive if you are happy with basics. Equity, well everywhere 'has equity'. For a similar different definition than TJ's above, equity is simply the difference between what you owe on a place and what you can sell it for - it can be positive or negative. In Mexico, with a mortgage at high interest rates, your equity is likely to be negative for a long while until either you pay off a substantial part of your mortgage or the value of your house rises. I would not rely on either. If you can afford to buy a house outright in a year or two time that would be your best option financially imho. Property taxes are so low they are not worth considering. I'd suggest you rent for 6 months with a flight ticket home and see how things go before putting down firm roots. You may hate it once you are actually living here...... most people don't last a year.
Thanks again!! I know when I stayed in andalucia, this one house was 250/month, but i'd have to buy a fridge and a few other big ticket items. I figured they are expensive only because they are thousands here. Same with property taxes. In New Jersey it's insane. We pay nearly 10k USD a year in that alone. I was thinking the same about trying it out for 6 months. I just didn't want to fork out 10% of the cost of the house in renting yearly. I'd probably just get a studio closer to the main routes to test it out. Feel free to suggest any other ideas/advice that you may have! You are all very helpful!
It would be false economy indeed to buy here, especially if you took out a mortgage, unless this had already been your home for a serious amount of time. It can prove impossible to sell a property here, once acquired, so many are on the market and more being built all the time. Instead, come here planning to be very light on your feet. You can get modest priced, small apts downtown that are fully equipped. The first year here your investment should be in you- getting acquainted with life here and finding out if this place truly has any opportunities it is ready to hand you. Many people have come here, crashed and burned, as Steve alludes to: don't let yourself become a casualty by over committing early on, before you've found out more about yourself, and the place, in relation to each other. Take it slow, test the water, and good luck! V.
I am thinking along the same lines as Steve and V. I would have said you can get an okay place in an okay neighborhood with easy access to buses for $40,000-$60,000 US. If I were you I would not even think about buying Until I was 100% certain that I was going to stay here for a long time. There are so many things to consider when buying anywhere, but especially in Cancun. Even if you plan on having a car here you should always think about being easily accessible to public transportation. Someday you want to sell your apartment and a good location is the most important thing. You need to know what happens when it rains. A friend of mine lives about 150 meters from me and cannot get out of his driveway on a rainy day with his mini Cooper because the street is flooded totally in front of his house. Many streets look like perfectly good neighborhoods to you go on a rainy day and the water is a foot deep. I have a car but I have easy access to buses that go to the hotel zone and two most places in Centro including Plaza Las Americas. In 20 minutes or less I can walk to Costco, Walmart, Yaxchilan, Home Depot, Soriana, Chedraui, Mega and the Cancun Outlet Plaza (Paseo Cancun until recently)with a 14 screen theater. I often walk to these places both for exercise and to save a few pesos on gas. I would certainly recommend that you rent for a while until you are 100% familiar with the downtown area and all of the positive and negative things you will have to enjoy and endure on a daily and long-term basis. I am coming up on nine years here and wait too often I tell myself "Welcome to Mexico". And Hammie J, I figured you would know what equity is but if you will look at what I wrote I said normally. The way sellers perceive their equity is as I described. They want to live for free when the dust all settles. You are a great deal younger than I am, heck everybody is younger than me, but I bet I do not even spend 5% of my entertainment money in the hotel zone. I have friends that make less than $200 US a week and wonder why they don't have money left after spending $50 of that in Coco Bongo and $15-$20 for transportation for single night. Two nights ago a friend missed the last bus that runs to her part of downtown, could not get a taxi for less than $100 pesos, did not have that much money, had to pay the driver extra to take her a to an ATM. She barely drinks but she still had to pay $200 pesos for a bracelet. She was hating life yesterday. Just keep your wits about you young lady LOL.
