Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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Baja Realty Lesson
The Nextoos
The concept of Nextoos is universal because it concerns real estate. I developed the concept here, in Mexico, so I will explain it as it applies
locally. Initial investment (U.S. dollars) estimates are examples only. Initial costs do not include closing fees, taxes, bank trusts, escrow or
title fees, transfer fees, etc.
Categories of Baja California realty use/ownership:
Category 1: Time Shares. (Almost not worth mentioning)
Time Share people don't really OWN Real Estate. They have a reservation to use developed realty. For two or three weeks per year, these folks from
North Dakota (and all over, really) have, for a price, the right to stay in a hotel or condo in a famous tourist destination/port like Cabo San Lucas
(for example) on the tip of the Baja California peninsula. The people who sold them this particular Time Share package, at these particular Time
Share Hotels or Condos, made the sale by convincing the would-be buyers that when they used the facility, the people in the next room/suite/bungalow
would be just like them. The whole place would be full of people just like them -- the pool, the bar, the restaurant, the shops. In this setting,
the promise was, they would not come in contact with any Mexicans except the diminutive lady at the store that sells T shirts. This little women
speaks English. She can say "$5.00, $12.50, $15.00, small, mediums, beeg, extra beeg." etc.
Investment: $12,000, 7 to 10 years. Financing available.
Category 2: Condo Buyers.
Just a step up from Time Share people. As a hoot, they buy a cute condo with a view of the ocean. They can use it in many ways. They can visit the
place themselves, they can let their friends and family use the place, they can rent it out. They also enjoy some protection against other
neighbor/buyers being not just like them; being bothersome, loud, rude, whatever. The protection is a contract called CC &R's, Conditions,
Covenants and Restrictions. I won't go into them here but to summarize, No Loud Noise, Small Pets Only. If the pet is a dog, it may not bark, it may
not poop.
Investment: $50,000 to $250,000. Financing available.
Category 3: Trailer Park Space Lessors/Renters
These are the crazy people with the campers, trailers, motorhomes. They travel all over, the people in the next space are rarely just like them.
They don't care; they are almost always drunk. Some of these parks have year-round tenants who sign leases, others have a constant turnover. They
have a set of park rules that start out just like the CC&R's. There are a few minor differences that have to do with length of unit (that means
the camper, trailer, motor home), noise and garbage. Small pets are allowed. If the pet is a dog, it may not bark; it may yip, still no pooping.
Investment: $250 to $600 per mo. Leases to 15 years--$20,000. Financing available.
Category 4: Village Property Buyers
This group is just a click up from Trailer Trash. Having only Social Security or some kind of disability check coming in once a month, they can't
afford much. They wind up buying a lot or an old Mexican house on a lot, sometimes with a view of the ocean. This is not Cabo San Lucas. These
places are little Mexican pueblos. No REAL ESTATE AGENT is involved. The lots/houses are dirt cheap -- the reason -- the people next door, the
Nextoos, ARE NOT JUST LIKE THEM. They are Mexican people. They never heard of CC&R's. They have many dogs that bark and poop all over the
place. They have no indoor plumbing, they drink beer, play Mexican music, real loud, late at night. They keep chickens, cows, goats; the smell is
horrible. All these negative things are magnified if the neighbors are Right Nextoos, nothing between your lot and theirs except a little barbed wire
fence.
Investment: $35,000 Cash
Category 5: Real Estate Buyers
Now we get close to the meat. These folks are serious. They like it here. They find a nice lot, build a house overlooking the ocean. Or they find
a house on a lot overlooking the ocean. The REAL ESTATE AGENT strongly suggests a price on the property based on the view, the number of rooms and
the Nextoos. The people next door, the Nextoos, are people just like them. In fact, very often the people next door, with the much bigger house, are
better than them. In this setting, at least along the beach in Cabo San Lucas, the CC&R's are not necessary. If the buyers have dogs, they do
not bark and they have never pooped.
Investment: $400,000 to $6,700,000 Financing available.
Category 6: Realty Speculators
My favorite category. I am a Realty Speculator. Speculators rarely worry about the people Nextoo their property. The plan is usually long-range. In
my case, an old Mexican man sold me a big chunk of land. No real estate people have looked at this land to establish its highest and best use. It is
a whole lot of cactus. Someday I'll build a house; for now I'm just camped out here. The property is way out in the puckerbrush. No water, power,
nada. If I need CC&R's they'll just be for me. No REAL ESTATE AGENT was involved. There is no view of the ocean (I can see a small mountain to
the south, way off). I got the place for next to nothing. When I get some money ahead, when I can make some improvements, a fence, a big gate, just
like a Rancho, I'll have a big sign above the gate -- the name of my spread, Nextoo Nothing. To pay the property transfer fee I had to sell my dog.
I need this space, this solitude. I'm a writer, did I mention that? You'll be seeing my books on the bookstore shelves. My first work is a kind of
"How To" on real estate. The title is "CC&R's After 2000, Are They Tight Enough?"
Investment: $4812 plus l978 Chev. P.U., 2 used electric hand drills, 1 used 13 inch T.V. (or equivalent) No financing available.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sling time!
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wow osprey - that was some good poop! you put it in perspective, i am in a catagory, no. 3 now but climbing the charts to no. 5 with a bullit! you
didn't mention squatters though, you know the ones who show up anywhere on a beach and pitch a tent or park a moho - crash a while then move on -
nothing permanent just roving.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 4969
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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| Quote: | Originally posted by capt. mike
...the ones who show up anywhere on a beach and pitch a tent or park a moho - crash a while then move on - nothing permanent just roving.
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...a "Baja Nomad" you might say?
Sorry... had to. 
[Edited on 6-19-2005 by BajaNomad]
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting:
https://www.regionalinternet.com |
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Jack Swords
Super Nomad
Posts: 1094
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: Nipomo, CA/La Paz, BCS
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Village people
As a previous owner in catagory 4 for 11 years, I have to say that was the best experience I have ever had in Baja. Being a part of the Mexican
neighborhood resulted in lifelong true friendships and great improvement in speaking Spanish. To hear dogs, chickens, and children today reminds me
of waking up in the "neighborhood". Lessons learned beyond Spanish were tolerance and acceptance and differing points of view.
Wonderful way of sorting out the real estate in Baja. Well told, thanks.
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