BajaNomad - retiring relocating to rosarito or ensenada

retiring relocating to rosarito or ensenada

DrG - 11-26-2010 at 10:24 AM

Hi,

I am new to the forum. We are thinking of early retirement (in our young 50's) in either rosarito or ensenada within the next 2-3 years. We are thinking of buying now due to "good" deals in the present real estate market. Any comment would be appreciated in regards to which area might be better, current market conditions, crime etc. Thank you to all who may reply.

BajaGringo - 11-26-2010 at 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DrG
Hi,

I am new to the forum. We are thinking of early retirement (in our young 50's) in either rosarito or ensenada within the next 2-3 years. We are thinking of buying now due to "good" deals in the present real estate market. Any comment would be appreciated in regards to which area might be better, current market conditions, crime etc. Thank you to all who may reply.

Lot of good deals right now but they will also be hard to sell if you should discover that it isn't a good fit. I suggest you rent first - minimum 6 months. That will give you a good idea if the neighborhood / Baja / Mexico is what you really want for retirement.

Good deals will still be there a year from now. Renting first you will have a lot more time to look and a lot more information to make the right choice.

Just my two cents...

DENNIS - 11-26-2010 at 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaGringo
I suggest you rent first - minimum 6 months. That will give you a good idea if the neighborhood / Baja / Mexico is what you really want for retirement.

Welcome to BajaNomad, DrG. Kind of young to be retiring down here...doncha think? You'll be like the children at the party. :lol:

Anyway...Ron's advice above should be more than a suggestion. It should be mandatory. The people from whom you ask advice might be less than objective and some will even be self-serving in efforts to sell their property. You just have to see it for yourself.
C'mon down and spend a week in Rosarito, then Ensenada. It will be time well invested.

DrG

bajaguy - 11-26-2010 at 10:47 AM

Quote:

Please check your u2u message....upper right corner of this page by your log in info

Mike99km - 11-26-2010 at 11:14 AM

BajaGringo is right on! Mexico isn't for everybody. If your life has be just your way you might be disappointed :lol:

Make a list of the things that are important to both of you and rank them. Then find something that fits the list. After you rent don't bring down anything you can't lose. Get to know the neighbor's and the hood.
The first rule of investing in Mexico " never more that you can walk away from".

schwlind - 11-26-2010 at 11:21 AM

I too agree with everyone who's replied thus far... Solid advice IMHO!

bent-rim - 11-26-2010 at 12:51 PM

You might want to check out some other parts of Baja to live unless you need to be close to the border. Mulege, Loreto, La Paz, Todos Santos and the San Jose/Cabo areas are possibilities. It might be faster to fly from Cabo to San Diego depending on the wait time to cross the border. Enjoy your retirement.

Woooosh - 11-26-2010 at 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bent-rim
It might be faster to fly from Cabo to San Diego depending on the wait time to cross the border. Enjoy your retirement.

Sadly true.

SENTRI

bajaguy - 11-26-2010 at 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bent-rim
You might want to check out some other parts of Baja to live unless you need to be close to the border. Mulege, Loreto, La Paz, Todos Santos and the San Jose/Cabo areas are possibilities. It might be faster to fly from Cabo to San Diego depending on the wait time to cross the border. Enjoy your retirement.

Not if you have SENRTI and cross at Otay......have not waited longet than 15 minutes.

BajaGringo - 11-26-2010 at 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by bent-rim
It might be faster to fly from Cabo to San Diego depending on the wait time to cross the border. Enjoy your retirement.

Sadly true.

Plus you can get a friendly rub down going through security on the way back. I wonder if we can pick who gets to frisk us???

:lol:

Bajahowodd - 11-26-2010 at 03:39 PM

You bring up a point. Not sure what the current requirements are viz foreign countries. I do know that last time we flew out of Mexico to the states, they were not requiring shoe removal, although so many gringos were used to the drill that they just took them off automatically.

Mike99km - 11-26-2010 at 04:14 PM

We rejected down south for now. With sentri crossing north is faster. I wanted Baja Sur or the mainland, the wife talked me in to La Mission and then to San Miguel. I fell in love with Ensenada. Three hours door to door going south, 3 1/2 coming home. Major Medical is 1 hour away (wife prefers that). Easier to stay in touch with friends living in CA. Much cheaper than flying south. The land of plenty is just over the boarder. A great jumping off spot for trips south. If you don't like the neighborhood it's easy to change a lot of options. The only thing I dislike is getting pass the boarder. I would still own there now it I thought we could be getting down more. The family comes first and trips south have been cutback for the time being.
I believe that the airport world wants to behave like sheep and have a false belief of security. :spingrin:

rent first!!

skipowell - 11-26-2010 at 05:01 PM

Dr G
Another reason to rent first is you will find some amazing deals! Try out a few neighborhoods. Once you find the one you like let the neighbors know you are interested. We just picked up a second house in SADM for agreat deal as we found someone that wanted out and needed cash ASAP
Short term rentals are no problem in this market and well worth the time to check out neighborhoods.
If you are interested in checking out SADM (north of Rosarito) let us know as we have a fully furnished nice place that you can rent for a very resonable price as we wait for the market to recover!

Woooosh - 11-26-2010 at 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

Quote:

Originally posted by bent-rim
It might be faster to fly from Cabo to San Diego depending on the wait time to cross the border. Enjoy your retirement.

Sadly true.

Plus you can get a friendly rub down going through security on the way back. I wonder if we can pick who gets to frisk us???

:lol:

Ya know- I was thinking the same thing. If you opt out or get pulled aside for a TSA pat down, you should be able to pick which one gets to play with your junk. I see a 6' transsexual TSA agent at DIA and a pat down by her scares the hell out of me. H/She is very nice though and always smiles at us

[Edited on 11-27-2010 by Woooosh]

BajaBlanca - 11-26-2010 at 07:08 PM

Dr G welcome to Baja Nomads !!

I agree with the above. Rent first because living in Baja is NOT the same as visiting. Even if you visit often.

I do think that living near an airport here and there is a very good idea - or living near a bigger city like Cabo, where there are good medical facilities is also good. Much as I love where we live, in retrospect, I might have rethought that.

Thing of it is - if you really want peace and no crime, you have to go much further south, I think, and also opt for a small village. All good decisions to make. Wish you the best of luck with this new transition.

tripledigitken - 11-26-2010 at 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca

..........Thing of it is - if you really want peace and no crime, you have to go much further south, I think, and also opt for a small village.....

SAGE advice.

Donjulio - 11-26-2010 at 09:54 PM

I agree with most of the advice above. I would not buy though until you are ready to retire. Prices down here are not going to go up in the next 2-3 years. They will probably go down quite a bit more. You will be able to get some phenomenal deals when you are ready.

absinvestor - 11-26-2010 at 10:17 PM

Definitely rent. In 1995, we sold our home in Colorado and moved to Punta Banda which is about 20 miles south of Ensenada. At the time we were in our late 40's.(We got married right after college and our 2 kids were on their own.) Financially we could retire full time in Mexico but not in the US. We had planned to buy but luckily wanted to be directly on the beach. Much of the land was Ejido owned and involved in various law suits. We decided to rent. We found a wonderful rental directly on the ocean and signed a 6 month lease. We stayed in Punda Banda for 2 years. During those 2 years we returned to Colorado 3 times to visit our two children and the two children came to visit us 3 times. (We thought the children would visit the "Mexican beach home" more often. Money wasn't their problem but both had limited vacation time.) After two years we returned to the US. We loved Mexico but the wife couldn't get over missing the two children. (We have always celebrated every birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas etc as a family.) Secondly, the summers on the Pacific side are great but the winters are chilly. I spoke some Spanish but quickly realized that the high school Spanish wasn't sufficient. No option to "press one for English" and simple things like changing phone companies, reporting electrical outages, and even searching for a home became problematic. (When vacationing in "resort" Mexico I got a false sense that my Spanish was pretty good.) After a couple of months of struggling with the Spanish language, I enrolled in the Spanish Institute and after about a year became relatively fluent in Spanish. Living in Mexico is much different than visiting for a couple of weeks. We plan to move back to Mexico in the next couple of months but this time we will keep the home in Colorado and spend a few months at a time in Mexico. For us, we like warmer winters so this time we will find our Mexico home in Baja Sur. Definitely rent for a minimum of 6 months before commiting to buy. Mexico is great but the services are not anywhere equal to those we come to expect in the US. Good luck and be careful. We almost "purchased" a home that we would have subsequently lost when the courts ruled against the Ejido. Ron

capt. mike - 11-27-2010 at 07:06 AM

are you that medical examiner pathologist on TV? if so really like your show.
i'd go someplace warmer myself. those towns can be cold and gloomy a lot.

durrelllrobert - 11-27-2010 at 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Woooosh

If you opt out or get pulled aside for a TSA pat down, you should be able to pick which one gets to play with your junk. I see a 6' transsexual TSA agent at DIA and a pat down by her scares the hell out of me. H/She is very nice though and always smiles at us

[Edited on 11-27-2010 by Woooosh]

If you're like me and have a hip or knee replacement you don't have the option of a full body scan. You just go directly to the pat down and the 6' + guy that did mine at HIA last week did not worry about touching my junk (repeatedly) :mad:

DENNIS - 11-27-2010 at 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by durrelllrobert
You just go directly to the pat down and the 6' + guy that did mine at HIA last week did not worry about touching my junk (repeatedly) :mad:

I THOUGHT I saw a strange face in your car when you got home. :lol:

Von - 11-28-2010 at 10:02 PM

Always rent first. And im from Baja and my whole family is too since 1930s'

At least 6 months at a time . Good luck.

Bajafun777 - 11-28-2010 at 11:40 PM

DRG, Try renting at Las Gaviotas as it is just about 8 miles south of Rosarito and you can take toll road all the way down to it at the Puerto Nuevo exit and once off drive back north about 2 miles to Las Gaviotas. You can go online to check out the rental. Do not let the daily or weekly dream prices by owners scare you, as if you are wanting long term 4 to 6 months to check it out you can do so for around $1,200 a month bargain hard as many not renting due to bad T.V. and newspaper accounts on Mexico border cities. They have a few homes selling in this secure home area of about 390 homes starting from $170,000 up to $2.5 million and it is very well kept. However, you may find leasing on a year to year basis more to your liking after you try it for at least 4 months.

Nice people there and security is friendly once they get to know you. Some of the more expensive homes go for higher rent but these homes are fully furnished, large pool, large hot jacuzzi, limited access beach to outsiders due to cliffs,rocks and ocean so almost like a private beach in some regards. Nice local places to eat, drink and be merry,LOL I won't say them here but Splash, Ruben's Palm & Grill and Bobby's Spa are close by Las Gaviotas for good food,music and of course the "cold ones" LOL.

DrG - 11-29-2010 at 04:59 AM

Thank you for all the responses. We are still looking and speaking to as many people as possible to find out opinions as to comparing Ensenada, Rosarito, La Paz. We are looking at Califia, Cub Merana, and there is a new project on the horizon Nalas in Rosarito. We would like a community atmosphere to be able to meet and socialize not just move down and be isolated. Any ideas abut Ensenada and condo's/communities? Still considering all 3 areas and would welcome any more feedback. We plan on visiting early in the year and then again in April. Disconcerning with all the negative press about safety near the border.

SDRonni - 11-29-2010 at 07:06 AM

Dr. G:

If you're checking out Calafia, be sure to check out Las Olas Grand, right next door. We've been there a year now and absolutely love it! The amenities are phenomenal, the location is great, the beach (a beautiful rocky cove) is private, the property is impeccably maintained. The parking garage is totally secure and guarded. They are planning to put in a full-service spa and a rooftop restaurant. Our grandsons love to check out the critters in the tidepools at low tide. We love watching the dolphins and seals, and the whales during the season. We feel totally safe there, and love that we can access our place without going through town if we choose. Go to lasolasbaja.com to check it out. You can certainly rent, short or long-term, to see how you like it. We have never been happier. We live in San Diego and love that we can be to our Baja heaven in only an hour door-to-door. :tumble:

If I can help with any questions you might have about Las Olas Grand, feel free to U2U me.....

[Edited on 11-29-2010 by SDRonni]

Dr G

bajaguy - 11-29-2010 at 07:25 AM

Did you get the u2u message I sent to you???

DENNIS - 11-29-2010 at 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DrG
Any ideas abut Ensenada and condo's/communities?

Lots of ideas....very few condos....as yet.
It was a visible, southward growth of the high-rise buildings as they sprang up through the Rosarito area and further. All of a sudden, most construction came to a halt as the economy in the states fell apart.
I can see that slowly changing for the better now. Tourism is growing and events, such as the races, are drawing larger crowds. [Americans have short, forgiving memories]

Eventually, the coastline around Ensenada will be overgrown with condo towers, but that doesn't mean there arn't nice areas in which to live.

Like I mentioned way earlier, you should come down and see for yourself.

Sweetwater - 11-29-2010 at 11:16 AM

I've just returned to the snowy north after 2 weeks in Baja for the off-road race. I'm watching closely to this thread and appreciating the well thought out responses.

I retired April 30th after 30 years at the UofU at the ripe age of 54....since turned 55 and have been trying to scout out the rest of North America on my motorcycle.

I have a family member who has been placed on Coumadin (warfarin) for life due to a genetic clotting problem. The drug is easy to access but I wonder about getting INR checks in Baja....is anyone familiar with the process? I was particularly fond of the areas south of San Felipe to LaPaz on the Sea of Cortez....I'm definitely NOT a resort style folk.....

Club Marena and the Baja Country Club

bajaguy - 11-29-2010 at 11:22 AM

Are owned by the same development group:

http://bajacountryclub.com/

http://clubmarena.com/

DENNIS - 11-29-2010 at 11:55 AM

Quote:

Well....since you don't seem to be afraid of work, I'll guess that INR checks arn't welfare. So....what are they?

Just an FYI, Coumadin here costs 215 Pesos for a box of thirty tablets. How does that compare to the stateside price?

INR Checks

bajaguy - 11-29-2010 at 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sweetwater

I have a family member who has been placed on Coumadin (warfarin) for life due to a genetic clotting problem. The drug is easy to access but I wonder about getting INR checks in Baja....is anyone familiar with the process? I was particularly fond of the areas south of San Felipe to LaPaz on the Sea of Cortez....I'm definitely NOT a resort style folk.....

Can they do the INR checks at home?????

DENNIS - 11-29-2010 at 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy

Can they do the INR checks at home?????

Oh. I guess it isn't money. So....what is it?

INR Checks

bajaguy - 11-29-2010 at 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy

Can they do the INR checks at home?????

Oh. I guess it isn't money. So....what is it?

http://www.stoptheclot.org/News/article120.htm

Woooosh - 11-29-2010 at 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by DrG
Any ideas abut Ensenada and condo's/communities?

I used to think that was the case (real estate recovery coming), but I'm not so sure now. I think there needs to be a "re-set" in the pricing models. The new towers and condos in BajaNorte were designed and built based on the housing prices at the PEAK of the southern California market. The selling point was (all other things being equal) you could get a comparable housing experience for less money in Baja. When the condo prices in California fell, sales in Baja stopped. No one had any home equity to pull out to pay cash for a Baja residence. The blame was given to crime and the swine flu- but imho it was as much economic based as anything else.

I think the condo buildings that are finished with units selling over $350K are going to sit empty for a long, long time. If I was in the process of building a "luxury" condo project, I would find a way to scale the units back/down so their prices would fall between $150-$250K range. That is the range I think will prompt sales, provided financing at reasonable interest rates is available. The days of everyday people plunking down $350K in cash are gone unless they sold their other residence. Renting is the way to go until the dust settles.

Bajahowodd - 11-29-2010 at 03:19 PM

Agree with Wooosh on the pricing re-set. Especially when it comes to developers. Perhaps tourism is recovering a bit, but I don't see a recovery in housing for some time to come. The fact that people were using ephemeral wealth to buy second homes is something that's not going to be repeated any time soon. Any guesses as to how long it will take for prices NOB to move into the plus side?

DrG - 11-29-2010 at 03:21 PM

Sounds like sound advice. I could not agree more, I think the current situation is units were built at the peak of california real estate and although less expensive still then Calif. maybe too high for the area to keep drawing interest. We are trying to due our due diligence and looking at all options. I appreciate the comments.

INR

bajabound2005 - 11-29-2010 at 03:49 PM

You can get an INR at any lab in Baja. It's called Tiempo de protombina or TP. Cost is about 7 bucks. They draw the blood and the next day you go and pick up the written report. We email the INR numbers to the doctor's office in the US. In some cases, the doc wants to see the report, so we scan and email the report. Easy.

Sweetwater - 11-29-2010 at 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajabound2005
You can get an INR at any lab in Baja. It's called Tiempo de protombina or TP. Cost is about 7 bucks. They draw the blood and the next day you go and pick up the written report. We email the INR numbers to the doctor's office in the US. In some cases, the doc wants to see the report, so we scan and email the report. Easy.

Thanks, it should not be insurmountable....is there a directory of labs somewhere or are they only located in bigger towns...?

Many anti-coag clinics here are run by pharmacists rather than infernal med docs who are already too busy....and too expensive....

If I understand the situation, an INR or Tiempo de Protimbina is only needed every 2-3 weeks in a stable patient.....I just hope the labs equate since a "Prothrombin time" or Pro-time is not the same as an INR..... :?:

Got to take that medical spanish course.....