Moving soon

GOOD FOR YOU TWO!!! I am happy to hear you are going to live here in the most beautiful country in the world. I have lived in Guate for 20 years. I lived a short time(one year) in Antigua, but for the most part in Guatemala City since my office was in the city. We are currently building in San Lucas and hope to live there by the end of the year. San Lucas is only 10 minutes from Antigua.

Not sure what kind of advice or what questions you might have but you can ask away. Unless you drive down I would bring just your clothes and the most important little things you have. Rent of course for at least a year to see if Antigua is the place you want to be. There are many places for rent in Antigua but you need to be careful not to pay too much.

If you want to, send me a personal message and I will respond back as soon as I can.

Thanks and look forward to hearing back.

Well the time has come for my wife and I to move to Guatemala.  We looked at several areas to move to and chose Antigua.  It is close enough to the airport in Guatemala City for people to come visit us and offers many things to do.  Our first order of business will be to find housing.  Any suggestions?  Also we need a good lawyer to help with a permanent visa.  We are retired and will be doing volunteer work.  We have some leads but are open to suggestions.

Thank you who have posted in this forum.  There was a lot of good information.

Check these sites www.revuemag.com, http://www.novantigua.com/es/iniciohttp://antiguarealty.net/http://www.realestateinantigua.net/antigua/home.html

However your best bet is to find an inexpensive hotel to stay at for a week or so and walk the town and look for rentals. Rentals not advertised are usually much cheaper than on these sites. Although casanova has some good prices.

Good luck and let us know when you arrive and how things go.

Yes, there are certainly "Gringo prices" -- particularly in Antigua. Do your homework on prices. Another good place to check is http://guatemala.craigslist.org -- not because rental prices are necessarily good there but because there are lots of rentals in Antigua listed.

Getting connected with a local who is not trying to rent to you is another good step. For example, Korina is the owner of Sunrise Travel in Antigua (7832-4715). Bottom line is get yourself there (cheap hotel makes perfect sense) and start talking to people. You will find lots better deals that those offered by "professionals".

I seem to have problems finding info on land or places for rent in the Peten department? We plan on flying in to GUA mid Nov and staying till mid Jan. We plan to rent a car, we will be traveling with our grandsons and one (9 yrs) is in a wheelchair so buses would be tough. Are there any non-gringo car rental locales? If so a 4x4 suv or something large enough for handicap gear, wheelchair etc would be perfect, we can make do with something with a good sized trunk. I am assuming the buses are not very handicap friendly? We have traveled around Mexico quite a bit, this will be the first time in Guate and 1st international trip with grand boys.

I have never been to that particular area but my experience in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panajachel is that you will find lots more options (generally at lots better prices) once you are at your destination. Thus, planning on a short hotel stay while you get connected may make sense.

The only caution I toss out is you have picked peak tourist season so that could make things harder.

Your assumption about the buses is correct. There is no issue with space for things but don't expect to find a bus with a wheelchair lift. On the other hand, people tend to be very helpful here.

Good luck.

Thank you, he is small enough and th other grandson large enough to pick him up and put him on the bus as I stash his folding chair i storage or on bus or? Just would not want to have to do that constantly, gets heavy, fast.