looking for expats in Tequisquiapan

[mimms]

My husband and I currently live in Mazatlan but thinking about moving inland to get away from the summers and soaring prices. I'm looking for expats that live in or around Tequisquiapan, or San Juan del Rio that might be willing to correspond with me.

I've done many hours of research on-line about both locations but I don't get very much info. Especially our need to find an English speaking real estate agent who has information about the rental market.

Mazatlan is getting so expensive and the summers are so brutal that we need to find a bit less expensive place to live and at the same time get away from the heat.

We would consider areas outside of Guadalajara but not the Chapala area. However when it comes to Guadalajara and where one might find the right neighborhood it just overwhelms me. I can't begin to know where to start!

We need to vacate our current rental sometime in the early spring as as such we need to start our search by mid-January by visiting a few spots.

In the meantime if I could email with a person or two who lives in any of these areas and might have information or suggestions for us I would be so grateful.

As an example, if you were to ask me about moving to Mazatlan, gave me a short want or needs list for a rental property, I would be able to give you some pretty good information about pricing and what to expect.

If there is anyone out there who I can write or call I thank you in advance.

I may be able to help you. Get a few more posts and then send me a Private Message. (I was unable to send one to you, as you only have one post. I think you must have 3 or so before this feature works.

[mimms]

Originally Posted by GringoCArlos

I may be able to help you. Get a few more posts and then send me a Private Message. (I was unable to send one to you, as you only have one post. I think you must have 3 or so before this feature works.

Since I sure you can't leave an email address here I will say think you and try to post something else. Wonder if this counts?

[conklinwh]

There are a number of people that post on this site and live in the greater Queretaro area. I believe awhile back, you would need look at past threads maybe 6 months back, there was a person very positive on Tequisquiapan. Only people that I have met from San Juan del Rio and Ezeliel Montes, the next town, were Mexican. I do know that there is gated golf course community in San Juan del Rio if that helps.
I've always thought that Tequis was a very different Mexican town. Basically built as a Mexican focused resort around the hot springs. It is an interesting place with some good restaurants but I always think of the song about "faded Rose".
My choice if I were looking in that direction would be Bernal both for the town and the access to the Sierra Gordas.
We live about 45 min north of Queretaro off highway 57 in what is called "one of the 4 ghost towns of the Bahio".

[mimms]

Originally Posted by conklinwh

There are a number of people that post on this site and live in the greater Queretaro area. I believe awhile back, you would need look at past threads maybe 6 months back, there was a person very positive on Tequisquiapan. Only people that I have met from San Juan del Rio and Ezeliel Montes, the next town, were Mexican. I do know that there is gated golf course community in San Juan del Rio if that helps.
I've always thought that Tequis was a very different Mexican town. Basically built as a Mexican focused resort around the hot springs. It is an interesting place with some good restaurants but I always think of the song about "faded Rose".
My choice if I were looking in that direction would be Bernal both for the town and the access to the Sierra Gordas.
We live about 45 min north of Queretaro off highway 57 in what is called "one of the 4 ghost towns of the Bahio".

Thank you so much. I understand that I need to post 3 times, or so, in order to email privately. Guess I'll think of more questions.

After going back a few months I did see a bit of info on Queretaro. Bigger city, maybe a few more expats, shopping, restaurants, etc? That might suit us as well. We just don't know much about other areas of Mexico with regard to re-planting ourselves there. Bernal I've not heard of but I will drag out my trusty map and see if I can locate it, sounds interesting....tell me more!

For us this general area has great appeal due to easier access to the US. Mazatlan is two full days or 3 depending on how one feels about going over the mountain to Durango. A really horrible trip.

The bottom line is this.....we are not newbies to Mexico and as such we understand the challenges and joy of living here. Mazatlan is not for us any longer. We don't want to own a house....been there done that more times then I can recall....we want to find a decent rental property that we can afford on our fixed income and stay put. We are open to any suggestions.

In the meantime I will keep poking around on the forum for more info.

Thanks again.......Mimms

[conklinwh]

Bernal is one of the 3 or 4 largest monoliths in the world. It supposedly has a tremendous life giving aura and great spirituality. We go there as a small expat population with some friends.
We started in San Miguel but migrated to the small ex-mining town of Mineral de Pozos. They don't like links here but I did write an article on why & how called Mineral de Pozos: Magical Tranquility that you can google if interested.
Interesting is that one of the reasons that we picked Pozos is that just off hwy 57 and easy days drive to Texas.

Keep posting Mimms, I just tried another PM but it won't go through yet. :-)

Rentals depend on what you are looking for, ie furnished or unfurnished, number of bedrooms, etc., your language abilities, amenities wanted, budget etc.

San Gil is a high end development located about 8 km above San Juan del Rio along the autopista to Queretaro, with a golf course, good vigilancia, larger lots and homes etc. It's residents include many doctors and some extranjeros and they usually work in either Queretaro or San Juan. Shopping is in San Juan or Queretaro.

San Juan del Rio is a small industrial-type city, with low unemployment, lower costs, low crime, smaller houses, and Spanish speakers only. Shopping includes Sam's Club, Aurrera (Wal-Mart MX), Soriana, Comercial Mexicana and Chedraui, a cinema, and a pretty main street area. The central area also has a lot of shops and parks. San Juan is next to the autopista and there is good bus service to Queretaro and Mexico City.

Tequisquiapan is more of a semi-"touristy" type small town feeling (and I would agree with Conklin's "faded rose" description). There are more hotels, spas,etc. There are several residential developments which lie just outside of Tequis (1 to 3 Km away), and a golf course development. Tequis has more English speakers and expat residents than San Juan does. It is about 15 minutes to San Juan del Rio, or 1/2 hour to Queretaro. There is a mall and a central shopping area. Prices are generally higher than San Juan, and slightly less than or equal to Queretaro.

Any of these three areas give you easy access to Queretaro with its wide choice of restaurants and museums, universities, regional healthcare and specialists, small international airport, etc (and heavy traffic at times). Queretaro also has a major bus station with routes to almost anywhere in MX.

[mimms]

Thank you, thank you. I was going to post more over the weekend but we had company and now I have a big push to get ready for a big Thanksgiving dinner we are a part of.

Does this count as a post? If not I will try to post something else this afternoon when I return from the market.

Looks like we can narrow our search to Tequisquiapan or Queretaro.......can't say which we'd be leaning towards but the bigger city might suit us better????

I do have questions about the weather (I'll use that as a post questions) and to answer your question about rentals.....we are on a fixed income so we have a fairly small budget. Sort the old champagne taste and beer pocket book cliche.

We don't mind doing a bit of upgrading to a property but only if we can get a long term lease. We have our own furniture and that can be tough here in Maz because it's such a seasonal place and most landlords don't want to remove the furniture.

Ideally we want a 3-2 with a decent outdoor space of some kind (patio, balcony), and a place for our car. Unfortunately our budget is $5500.00 pesos. tops. Of course it wouldn't surprise me if we find ourselves priced to low but it doesn't hurt to investigate the possibilities.

I hope this qualifies as a post but if not I will post something else in a few minutes.

Thanks...........

[mimms]

Originally Posted by mimms

Thank you so much. I understand that I need to post 3 times, or so, in order to email privately. Guess I'll think of more questions.

After going back a few months I did see a bit of info on Queretaro. Bigger city, maybe a few more expats, shopping, restaurants, etc? That might suit us as well. We just don't know much about other areas of Mexico with regard to re-planting ourselves there. Bernal I've not heard of but I will drag out my trusty map and see if I can locate it, sounds interesting....tell me more!

For us this general area has great appeal due to easier access to the US. Mazatlan is two full days or 3 depending on how one feels about going over the mountain to Durango. A really horrible trip.

The bottom line is this.....we are not newbies to Mexico and as such we understand the challenges and joy of living here. Mazatlan is not for us any longer. We don't want to own a house....been there done that more times then I can recall....we want to find a decent rental property that we can afford on our fixed income and stay put. We are open to any suggestions.

In the meantime I will keep poking around on the forum for more info.

Thanks again.......Mimms

Conklinwh..........Hope I got the name right! I have studied my very detailed Mexico map but I'm unable to find Bernal.

Do you drive to Queretaro for supplies?

Second question.....what's the drive time, generally speaking, to Laredo. When we drive NOB we just go...we don't stop except for gas and pit stops. That is an important issue for us......how long it takes to drive to the border!

Since it sounds like Bernal is pretty small are there places to rent....like a house? We are not in the market to buy or build at this point.

Anyway, I'd like to know more, if you have the time, about your town, the expats there, etc.

Thanks so much...........Mimms

[conklinwh]

Mimms, a couple of things:
-1st, we don't live in Bernal, we live in Mineral de Pozos. I mentioned Bernal as it is the one place that side of Queretaro that I really like and you mentioned Tequisquiapan and San Juan del Rio. Bernal is on the road parallel to hwy 120 that goes through San Juan del Rio, Tequisquiapan and Ezequiel Montes. It is about even to Ezequiel Montes in terms of distance from hwy 57. It might show up on your map as Pena de Bernal.
-Mineral de Pozos is about 45min north of Queretaro off hwy 57. It is also about 45min north east of San Miguel de Allende. It takes us roughly 8.5 hours to get to the border whether Laredo or near Matamoros although we have a friend that drives monthly to see her kids in San Antonio and swears it is only 7.5 hrs to Laredo. We like the road around Ciudad Victoria and cross south of Harlingen. This is a prettier drive, almost no tolls and minimizes hwy 57 north of San Luis Potosi. Pozos has about 30 full time expats and another 30 part time out of a population of about 2500. I tend to do a lot of local shopping in San Luis de la Paz(5mi), weekly shopping in San Miguel where also have mail drop/bank and monthly shopping in Queretaro. We don't have a hugh selection of rentals but 5500 pesos would work.
Have a great holiday!