Thinking of retiring in Guanajuato City area

sisugirl wrote:

Hello all!

I'm new to this forum and appreciate any tips on getting the most of it. I am interested in purchasing a home in Guanajuato and am not sure the best place to start. I've been looking on websites but the sites are not very user friendly and I can't find ratings on real estate agents online. Does anyone have a good referral for an agent? English speaking is a must. I hope to learn Spanish. I'm using DuoLingo but it's slow going.

Buenas tardes!

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

So the problem is Mexico is a face to face hands on,  sort of country.
The best thing you can do is take an exploratory trip, look and ask questions. Start at your chosen hotel.
The internet will not take you where you want to go, so you could set things up from the U.S. To have success you need to go and look. The internet is selling vacations and tours. Many in Mexico have websites, but actually using them is a whole other thing.
We can help with the living in Mexico part after you decide where you are going to be. If you check the housing section tab at the top of the page you could get some ideas about housing in general.

Buena Suerte

Thanks for your response!! I’m definitely planning a trip there. Look forward to learning more on this forum.

Nancy

The older posts might be very interesting and informative for you, so look around.

You are welcome

https://www.vivanuncios.com.mx/s-venta- … 097l1010p1https://casas.trovit.com.mx/index.php/c … uanajuato/https://www.inmuebles24.com/casas-en-ve … juato.html

These links are great! Thank you so much!

You are welcome. Good luck.

Hi Nancy, based on your profile, you are looking at retirement in 15 years. So just a reminder that things change a lot in 15 years.

Personally, we travelled Mexico since 1993, retired in 2003 and became permanent residents only in August 2017 and still opted to rent not buy.

Buena suerte en su proyecto, GyC.

You're right! I am not retiring for quite some time but I'd like to buy now, rent the property out and remodel before I retire. I would most likely remodel anyway, so buying now, while I know it's affordable appeals to me. Yes, things change and I could change my mind but people buy and sell real estate all the time. I understand it's not the best investment, but it's a risk I'm willing to take because the dollar is really strong right now and I'm not looking at a super large investment. I don't need a huge place.

Right now, I'm trying to decide when to visit. I'm thinking of coming in October. I really appreciate everyone's feedback and I'm hoping for more, so please continue to add your thoughts.

My thinking is to buy close to the centre as I think I'd prefer retiring there versus an expat community, but I am a quite social person and making friends is a huge priority for me.  I would hope to make friends with both natives and expats. I'm also keeping my mind open to living elsewhere, like San Miguel de Allende or outside the centre, but I'm also thinking that renting the unit out will be easier closer to the college and centre. One other consideration I have is that I love, love, love the historical buildings. The architecture, colors and mountains are enthralling to me,  I love the brick and wood ceilings and all the tile finishes. I love the quirky design and narrow streets. It's so different from here in Oregon. I would love to have a mix of old world with modern conveniences.

Thanks again everyone, for your input. Keep your thoughts coming.

Nancy

I'm in a similar boat as you, but will be retiring in about 6 years and may move to San Miguel. In my opinion, you should not yet be thinking about buying. You need to make trips down to cities you're interested in first. Then when you think you've narrowed it down, stay for an extended period and get to know the different neighborhoods.

From what I've been able to tell, real estate can take years to sell, so you really want to be sure of your decision before you put those roots down. You can't be sure until you spend time there.

Thanks for the tips! I am going to the area at the beginning of November to spend some time and look around. I did not know that real estate took that long to sell. That helps take some pressure off on making a decision. I was look at the Lake Chapala area, but the houses are selling in a matter of hours and I can't operate under that kind of pressure.