Hello all, I have been searching for a furnished apartment for the months of November through the end of February in the downtown area of Cancun. I have been in touch with two agencies based in Cancun and have specified to each of them what my requirements and needs are for an apartment as well as the desired location. One of them, Casa en Cancun has been very helpful and has emailed me many times and I have put the agent in touch with a dear Mexican friend of mine so that my friend can view the available apartments and choose a suitable one for me. The other agency, metroscubicos.com , no matter what I tell them via email, has been sending me listings for whatever they have - Hotel Zone, Puerto Juarez, Playa and on and on - furnished - unfurnished...whatever they email me... I have emailed this agency (IN ESPANOL..!) to no avail. The most difficult thing for me to understand is that the 1st agency has informed me that a rental for any period of time (in my case, 4 months). They cannot tell me the availability until just two week prior to the start of the rental period..............!!!! How is one to make plans....????? Most people i know of, like to do advanced planning so that they can prepare well in advance - flight reservations - packing - shipping of a vehicle - etc.......... The story that I am told is what may be available now may not be available for the 1st of November.....and that i should call 2 weeks in advance....... To avoid this, I have even offered to pay in advance for the full 4 months - NOW.. To avoid the uncertainty associated with this problem.. Any suggestions would be appreciated or even personal experiences by those who had also planned to do this. Thanks, Ken
I don't have any suggestions, although I'm sure someone else will. Can't say I blame the homeowners... they're probably holding out til the last minute to see if they get a full-time renter. My only idea would be to offer MORE money than they're asking, as an incentive for them to take a risk on someone who will only be there 4 months. If not, I'd look for something advertised as a vacation rental. Something that says "se renta por mes" or "se renta por semana", for example. You could look at Anuncios gratis en México, anuncios clasificados en México (Compra - Venta en México, Contactos en México, Motor en México, Viviendas - Locales en México, Comunidad en México,...) or Anuncios clasificados gratis | Locanto México
Hi Ken metroscubicos.com is not an agency it is a website where agencies advertize the properties they have for rent or sale in all Mexico and they are not based in Cancun, so you're barking up the wrong tree there I'm afraid mate. If I was a landlord I'd try and wait until 2 weeks in case some one comes in for a longer term agreement. Why would I take my property off the market and risk losing an extra months rent and possibly a longer term income? Surely if you want the property you should rent it now and pay October as well? When I rented properties in London I would never have taken the property off the market for more than a month prior to the move in date. I can understand your thinking if you were renting a vacation property in the HZ or something, but you are renting a regular apartment in downtown where the owners want as long a term as possible. To sum up, there is loads on the market, why don't you come closer to the time and then spend like a week going round looking for somewhere while staying with your friend. There is so much available that you'll find something in a week.
I was under the belief that the purpose of CancunCare.com was to help one another with critical and pressing problems which others may have and other members may be in a position or have specific knowledge regarding a posted question..... BUT it seems that after my posting and only 2 replies that people are much more interested in what they see as a problem........IE Barking dogs, upholstery. where do you eat, mosquitos, dog poop on the sidewalks, wher can I buy a computer monitor....and a plethory of other "issues" People are eager to offer advice or comment on all of these.....but when an individual is asking for a solution to his or her problem...very few responses...
cc was wonderful for me when i first came down i had many questions,had them all answered here!!!!shipping cars boats where to buy certain foods and you know what i still come on here and ask and they still answer, i love this site dont know what i would have done without them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!thanks guys
Ken, I think that people have told you what they know, and understand, about the rental situation here. They can't make it change for you. It's relatively easy to find and rent a place to stay, here: in fact, a great many places are sitting empty, for lack of demand. I see the posts of owners who complain of lack of demand. However, they have an approach that they take to renting their properties which you seem to be finding difficult to accept. If you can accept the advice that's been given, you'll be OK, I think. Everyone of us has a roof over our heads, and none of us is a genius. There are cheap places you can stay for the week to ten days it could take you to sort our where to live, after you get here, if you choose that option. (The place I had in mind for you may be available, then, but the owner is in Israel, right now, so I can't see what she has to say about it.)
Thanks V for your input..as you know doing things remotely from Massachusetts can become aggravating.and with the mental set of Mexicans not wanting to rent for just 4 months when their rental apartment sits empty producing no income fro them...I would think that just a few would be a bit more accommodating...... Ken
I believe the other 2 posters gave you good information when they suggested you come earlier and look for a place then. When Cancunenses need a new place to live, we simply walk around neighborhoods we like and look for Se Renta signs in windows and call to set up appointments to see them.
It's human nature that people are primarily concerned in solving their own problems rather than those of others. The forum isn't a 'Cancun support desk' where you're paying for a service and should expect something for your money. It's a free resource, 'staffed' by the good people who give the benefit of their knowledge, advice, opinion and time for free. That said, Mat and Gringa both gave very good advice and there was not much I or anyone else could add to their replies imho. I have said mutliple times on the forum that setting everything up before you arrive is not the greatest of ideas. One of the reasons is, as you are experiencing, landlords are not willing to hold empty properties for months without payment, when they might well rent it out to someone else tomorrow. I'm sure this is not peculiar to Mexico. Other reasons are agreeing to rent a place you havent seen, and being charged the gringo price because you're obviously from out of the country. Far better to stay in a hotel for as long as it takes and do the house hunting while you're here, and in a position to move in tomorrow. It's always better to negotiate from a strong position than a weak one.
I don't think anyone was ignoring you or uninterested... my experience on here is that people answer what they can. If you got few responses, it's either because a)they don't know the answer, or b)the question has already been answered fully by another commenter. In this particular situation, I still think that most property owners wouldn't rent out a house/apartment so far in advance for such a short period of time. If I were in their shoes, I'd hold out a few more months and see if I could get a permanent renter, unless I were to get an amazing offer. It's just good business. I rather liked Mat's idea of coming here and staying with your friend for a few days while you look around. It would be easier to find someone willing to rent on shorter notice, and you could probably find something more suited to your needs. In Cancun, I always recommend seeing anything in person before committing. Even in more upscale houses, the water may not work, the power might be busted, etc etc etc. It's probably more convenient for you to wait until you arrive. There's tons of stuff available, and finding something suitable within a few days should be a breeze. Oh, and I also wouldn't recommend getting professional help for your search. You'd probably get things done faster by going out in the neighborhood you want and making phone calls yourself, like Susan suggested.
