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Better place to reitre: La Ventana or Maui
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real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14796
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I am one of the 30 really qualified to answer that question.

BTW Lapaz in the summer mornings is 75-78 degrees.

laventana if you are on the beach highest recorded temp I have is 96 in 15 or so years. in general 88-92 is our daytime high temp on the beach in the shade and not high humidity. away from the beach add 10 degrees if the daily breeze does not hit ya. Nights are the temperature of the sea 84. LaPaz gets a pacific breeze late at night to cool it down and is kitable in the summer.

In LV if you are going to be here in the summer if you build build with insulation. And have at least a 20 by 10 pool. Make sure the pool has a shade system. with that your electric bills will be about $100.00 a month.

We have a local intern doctor... I needed 7 stitches from a bike fall, it cost USD7.00. Had a allergic reaction to a bee sting one time and hits from Man-O-Wars and got shots Adrenalin and other cocktail and including shots the cost was US$10.00. These are recent college grads that finished their internship and have one year of volunteer work. Oh the waiting line was 5 minutes. LaPaz 30 miles away has all kinds of doctors, and to fly to one of the Mexican medical tourism hospitals is cheap. These tourism hospitals are rated as competent as many US hospitals at a fraction of the price. I think there are only 2-3 of them. But there are direct flights to those cities.

We do have a Costco but it is a 2.5 hour drive. sams club 45 minutes. I hit Costco about every 2-3 months. Yep own an extra freezer. our fruits and veggies are very low cost vs USA.

Cost of living here is very reasonable. If you like fish the daily catch can be bought for 3-4 us$ per lb. Yep when tuna are here it is $4.00 a lb. If you like a real nice marbled Rib Eye steak from senora it is about $6.00 a lb.

Serious crime level in baja sur is lower than SanDiego, at one point LaPaz was in the top 3-5 for lowest murder rate in North America.

If you do get island fever down here, hop on the ferry with your car and in 500 miles you are in Nogales. That 500 miles is a 4 lane divided road with no mountain passes and no cows and services every 30 or so miles. Low cost hotels that are nice the entire way. Coming back I can cross the border early in the morning and be on the ferry that night and in LaPaz the next morning early.

Going to a movie in LaPaz in English will cost you a whopping 3-5 dollars.

I went to buy property in Hawaii when I sold a technology, but nope could not afford windsurfable beachfront. So was going to move to Australia which I could afford beachfront but realized my family and friends would not visit at 3k a shot airfares. Then discovered baja.

as far as the rest of the issues of yes this is a very very quiet area. But I am so busy I do not even notice. And as many point out living here winter and somewhere in US summer is the best of two worlds for affordability..

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Last edited by real-human on Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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MrFish



Joined: 04 Sep 2009
Posts: 248

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 1:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Agree with what Dean posted, will add that sailing or kiting on the south winds in the spring or summer in La Paz is very doable in the early morning also, up to maybe mid August, when it dies other than the occasional tropical storm, and switches back to north winds in October.

That month and a half or two months though has some dead flat calms which make for great snorkling and diving.
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Machu



Joined: 06 Aug 2000
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are not yet retired, I would not make any long-term commitment to either place until you've spent at least a year in each location. In my experience, a person's perspective can completely change once that paycheck stops coming in and you actually have an abundance of free time and a myriad of new choices available. It's a life-changer, for sure.

There's no reason to rush into any decision. Stay a year in one location, then try another. If you can afford it, check out other places in the world and don't tie yourself down for awhile. Be careful you don't leave one rut just to jump into another.
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real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14796
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

solid advice from Machu. Granted it took me 1 week down here to begin looking to buy and I paid at the time 3 times more than any property sold at the time. But it was a double wide lot and you can't take it with ya when you die, so spend.

You could even live in LaPaz and rent there is about $500.00 a month if you are a city person. You can easily rent someones place for the summer in LV too, for cheap... few were designed for summer use is the issue, ie no insulation so electric bills can be outrageous. only winter renting is pricey..

I do not think anyone has lost money in their land investments to date down here. I ran into a seasoned realestate person from the bay area that came down to investigate this year, he is a kiter projects a 10% growth on the desirable properties per year.

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Goodwind



Joined: 06 May 2005
Posts: 323
Location: On water

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bajaDean wrote:
solid advice from Machu. Granted it took me 1 week down here to begin looking to buy and I paid at the time 3 times more than any property sold at the time. But it was a double wide lot and you can't take it with ya when you die, so spend.


I heard that foreigners are prohibited to buy water front properties in Mexico. So, that's not true?
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real-human



Joined: 02 Jul 2011
Posts: 14796
Location: on earth

PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

windgood wrote:


I heard that foreigners are prohibited to buy water front properties in Mexico. So, that's not true?
I think there are some Hawaiian land Island that is a similar that it is some 50? year lease. whereas ours are automatic renewable 50 year leases.


It is not just water front but within something like 30 miles of any shore and 50 miles of a border. Well that law which was in their constitution is about to be changed. Should be ratified and in place next year.

But in the past when there is a law there is a way. they allowed two ways around it that have been taken to their supreme court and allowed. Put in a corporation or second let a Mexican bank "hold" your title. The cost per year for a bank to hold your title is about $450.00. the up front charge to get a trust is about $3,000.00 again these will go away next year some time.

BTW they have a 11% IVA tax on all things except food in Baja that may go up to 16%. Our property taxes are about $70.00 a year to $500.00 for a few million dollar home. Pay early and get a 40% discount.

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scottwerden



Joined: 11 Jul 1999
Posts: 302

PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 12:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Machu makes a very valid point. We are going thru the process of retiring and it is a big change, especially if your work life was at all intense and consumed a lot of your life. My wife and I almost bought land in LV with the idea of retiring there, at least part of the year, but realized we would go nuts living there - too isolated. We considered other parts of Mexico and even Central America and traveled and looked around a lot. We ended up on Maui which is also isolated but much less so than Baja, IMHO. Of course world-class windsurfing in 80 degree water helps a lot. For the moment it is fun but we may end up someplace else some day.
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keycocker



Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Posts: 3598

PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My social crowd is expats from many countries.
Manchus method is the only one that works.
You will need to find something to do in your host country or you will go nuts.
Windsurfing won't be enough.Jobs are scarce for foreigners nearly everywhere.
Right now you have a life, some friends and family, a movie theater you like....
Giving up on that can be no big deal if you have an interesting new set of things to replace them.
Many expats, and retirees with a new Winnebago, spend their time drinking and watching TV. Going to Baja or Maui is no cure for this trap.
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