Planning a Move to Ensenada

[claudioc]

One thing to take into consideration.

Residential wise: If you are planning to rent a home In Mexico, having 12 cats in your house is not something that many real estate agents would like to have. So bare in mind that many realtors will be a little bit turned off by such a matter.

There are a lot of realtors that work with US retirees, so your best bet is to contact those, I could put you in touch with professional ones from Asociacion de Profesionales Inmobiliarios de Ensenada (APIE), similar to NAR in the USA. You will not get the higher prices from brokers like REMAX and Century21.

Let me know if I can help you. But Google for it....APIE and call them up directly, telling them your situation and see if the Association can help find you a realtor that can cater to your needs.

If you are buying a home you will not have any problems with that....

Cheers.

Claudio.

[seajay44]

Hello, Claudioc:

I believe that I am solving the problems of the 12 cats. I am now working towards 6. More about that later....

I may buy. How is financing handled there? Qualification?

Thanks for the info regarding real estate agents. I am hopeing to go down to Ensenada in a couple of weeks to look things over from the perspective of a resident rather than a tourist.

What about bringing personal possessions into Mexico: How .much? How easy or hard? Problems? What to bring what not to bring? Etc. What do you think I ought to know about this.

Thank you.

Seajay44....

[RVGRINGO]

WOW! I'm beginning to wonder if Seajay44 is just pulling our collective leg.

Anyway, here are the short and sweet answers:

You are still allowed to bring only two pets per person, with all the appropriate health forms, etc.
The vast majority of homes in Mexico don't have mortgages. However, if you don't really need a mortgage and have lots of collateral, you might actually be able to get one. That's how you qualify. Interest rates would be much higher than in the USA and the term of the mortgage would be much shorter. That means high payments.

You can drive down with a car full of used possessions, possibly get a 'green light' and not even be inspected. However, avoid new stuff; especially electronics less than six months old and don't let the total value be over about $1000 USD. Otherwise, you might have to use a customs broker.
On the other hand; once you get a 'no inmigrante' visa, you can go to a Mexican consulate in the USA and get a one time permit, called a 'menaje de casa', good for a limited period, with which you can bring down your entire household without paying duty.
Frankly, the expense and hassle of bringing a lot of 'stuff' may outweigh the fun and adventure of having a big garage sale, then refurnishing locally in your new house.
That said, Baja tends to be a strange world of its own and your mileage may vary.

[Mikewo]

It's worth mentioning that the closing costs are extremely high in Mexico and if you finance those fees will grow even more. The best way to acquire property is by paying cash. If you don't have the money on hand and you own your current residence you may want to get creative and do a reverse mortgage or pull equity out. If those options are not possible, which given the real estate climate in the US, is likely then I would suggest leasing a house. I own land in Mexico and would encourage others to do so, but I have chosen to lease the different houses I've lived in over the years. I plan to one day build my dream house, but for now that is still a dream! To buy a finished house or buy land and build a house you will come out of pocket a significant amount of money, no way around that. On the flip side, you can probably find a great house just outside of Ensenada on the road to La Bufadora near the beach for a few hundred a month. I was just there looking and was happy to find many reasonable options. In my world, when I can spend less than $6,000 a year for a house with an ocean view there is no reason to own.

If you are dead set on owning another option would be to find a development with developer financing, there are a lot of options today, but I would not buy anything unfinished without a construction performance bond in place.

I spend a lot of time in Ensenada and an certain you will love living there.

Good Luck,

Mike

[seajay44]

I appreciate this information on buying as it is not what I imagined would be the case.

Your suggestion of leasing sound like what I should do as I do not have a lot of liquid capital at this point. It is especially encouraging to me to hear that currently there are a lot of "reasonable options" available.

Also encouraging were your words, "I spend a lot of time in Ensenada and an certain you will love living there."

Thanks for your ideas and information.

Seajay44....

[seajay44]

Hello, RVGRINGO:

No, I'm not pulling your leg. I'm curious as to what it was in my posting that suggested this idea. I am very serious, although I may sound a little stupid and simple sometimes. I'm new to this, and I do admit sometimes that in my imagination things are always a little more simple and easy that they really are, but I am sincere.

As I've indicated, I am working on significantly reducing the number of cats to a smaller number that I can get across the border in stages in a single day.

Thanks for the info regarding mortgages. This is what I needed to know to plan specifically for my financial circumstances.

I especially appreciate your advice regarding bringing possessions into Mexico in stages. In fact, that would alleviate a lot of stress for me. Now, I know that I don't have to pack everything up and the cats and try to get it all down to and across the border within one 24 or 48-hour period. I can do it in stages--cats first with some possessions, then the rest later. That takes a load off my mind.

I don't have an extraordinary amount of possessions (like the cats, I'm working on cutting it down to a bare minimum) I want to bring, and I like your idea of "refurnishing locally."

Thank you very much, RVGRINGO for your input. I appreciate it.

Seajay44....

[seajay44]

Thanks, Conklinwh:

I'm sorry, but somehow I missed your response. I am sorry. Thanks for the information and suggestion for the cats. I am trying to narrow the number down to 6. All of my cats are indoor and I have no screen doors with no real problem. I just have to watch what I do.

Thanks again.

Seajay44

[seajay44]

Hi, I'm not sure how to post a message that I'm sure that everyone will read, but, in an attempt to do so, I am posting a reply here for BajaGringo:

I did get down to Ensenada the July 20-22, but the trip didn't go as smothly as I'd hoped: I had arranged to pick up a Budget rental car in Tijuana and drive down with my step-son who lives in TJ. They wouldn't take my debit card, and, as I had used it before in Mexico at the ATM to withdraw funds and thought there'd be no probblem with it, I didn't take a credit card. No rental car. So, we took the bus down from Tijuana to Ensenada, and it was a very pleasant trip, reasonably priced, and on luxury busses that made the Amtrak bus look like a third-world country, bus stations relatively conveniently located, etc. Rented a very reasonably-priced hotel room in downtown. Nothing fancy but OK and convenient for people who had to walk.

I'm not sure what the cause was (I've never had problems with the water before, but I did eat a late breakfast before we turned in), but I woke up the next AM with Montezuma's Revenge. Got dressed immediately and went to the Farmacia across the street bought the right meds, and started taking them immediately. No more trots, but I felt weak and didn't do much that whole day. The next day, I felt better, and, through a couple of contacts that I already had downtown, got some information and asked them to start looking for what I wanted, and, after eating again, we hit the bus back to Tijuana as I had a long circuitious trip back home starting relatively early the next day. In Tijuana, I stayed at a friend of my step-son's who also was willing for gas money to drive me where I need to go, to the bus station and back, etc.

If you will remember, I was worried about Internet access as I have to work online everyday, but I had no problems finding conveniently-located, friendly, and inexpensive Internet Cafes in both Tijuana and Ensenada.

Altogether, although the trip did not really go as I'd hoped (I wanted to drive around and actually look at some rentals in Ensenada), I think it worked out pretty well. I learned a number of things that I needed to know to keep the green light on for the planned move towards the end of the year: I made some good contacts, I found the city very clean and attractive (as I had remembered it), my step-son also liked it (as he will be coming down with me), and, in the face of several minor emergencies, I was able to put fall-back plans into operation with few problems. So, after all that, I came back with a greater motivation to get myself in gear, get rid of a lot of possessions that I'd had for too many years, find homes for most of my cats (I've got some help for that from a local pet protection group), get myself together, and get to Ensenada.

I'm sorry that I was not able to connect with those of you that I indicated that I would. I will keep in touch here as I know there will be many more concerns and questions before this becomes a reality, and I am hoping to come down again in October to make specific arrangements for the move in mid or late November and hope to see you then.

Thank you very much.

Seajay44
seajay44 is offline Reply With Quote

Originally Posted by seajay44

Thanks, Conklinwh:

I'm sorry, but somehow I missed your response. I am sorry. Thanks for the information and suggestion for the cats. I am trying to narrow the number down to 6. All of my cats are indoor and I have no screen doors with no real problem. I just have to watch what I do.

Thanks again.

Seajay44

[seajay44]

Hello, I've been gone for a while, but my plans to move to Ensenada have not changed. I have four jobs currently, so I have not had a lot of time what with keeping up with them, clearing through 30+ years of personal possessions, papers, etc, to determine what I need to have and what to dispose of (a lot). I am still hoping to make my move in late November or early December. I am now at the stage where I have to take specific (and immediate) action to obtain my resident visa. It is in that regard that I am seeking advice regarding how specifically to go about that process. Which should I go for, the FM3 or FM2. I am over 60 and have a proveable income from outside Mexico and some financial assets. I would like to pursue business interests in Mexico, but do not have a great amount of money to invest. I am currently a professional teacher. Can I apply for FM2 status as a teacher? Do I need a Mexican immigration lawyer? How much will that cost? There are also probably a lot of questions that I have not asked here that I should have, but that is why I am posting here, hoping for some expert guidance. I am seeking relevant and useful information, please!

Thank you.

Seajay44

[seajay44]

I can't figure out how to do a new posting in this thread. I have posted a new message as a "reply," but I'm not sure that will get the attention of the all the participants in this thread, many of which have provided me with very helpful information previously. If someone can tell me how to do this correctly, I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Seajay44....