Every year International Living creates a list of the best places to retire for Americans and Canadians. This year’s study involves 24 countries and takes into consideration important factors such as costs of buying and renting, benefits & discounts, visas & residence rules and costs, cost of living, fitting in (making friends), entertainment & amenities, healthcare, healthy lifestyles, infrastructure and climate. And they also make a point of recommending only places they believe to be safe for expat retirees. Last year Mexico came in third place but this year jumped to first place, edging out Panama.

They write: “More than a million Americans live in Mexico, enjoying its lower cost of living, sunny days and proximity to the States. The weaker peso and strong dollar have made the cost of living even more appealing this year. Besides rock-bottom rent prices (Mexico’s housing market remains largely depressed from The Great Recession) and high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare, seniors age 60 and over also enjoy money-saving discounts with the INAPAM Card, which helps savings stretch even further.”

Although Mexico, they also state, still has issues relating to crime in certain states. Although Jalisco is a safety concern, it is more for the area around Guadalajara, and not for Puerto Vallarta or neighboring Riviera Nayarit.

Excellent news for the Puerto Vallarta real estate market as the Vallarta/Riviera Nayart is one of the top three Mexican destinations for Americans and Canadians, along with Cabo and Cancun.

The others in the Top Ten List were, after Panapa: Ecuador, Costa Rica, Columbia, Malaysia, Spain, Nicaragua, Portugal and Malta.

For more information visit here.

Riviera-May News recently posted that Airbnb is building their own luxury apartment complex in the Cancun Hotel Zone, which will compete directly with the hotel sector.

This, they write, came from real estate developer Miguel Ángel Lemus Mateos, who reports that the vacation property platform is in the process of building a 12-apartment real estate project in the Hotel Zone that will cater to luxury vacationers.

Lemus explained that the investment is ready and construction will begin at the end of 2018. The project will have nightly prices reaching as high as $1,000 USD and each apartment will be completely furnished, offer luxury finishes and a minimum of three bedrooms.

(UPDATE 05/07/18: Shortly after posting this story we were notified by Airbnb’s communication’s agency in Mexico that this is actually false – Airbnb is not involved with this project and clarified that they do not have any projects nor partnerships of this sort underway in Mexico, nor planned for the future. They did verify, however, that there is a partnership with Niido in this U.S., for this type of project, as mentioned below.)

This is not Airbnb’s first venture into developing their own real estate projects. There’s already a 324-unit building in the works in Kissimmee, Florida, and Airbnb’s developer partner plans to open at least three more U.S. based projects by the end of 2018.

This seems to be Airbnb’s way to get around tight rental restrictions that effect tenants who want to rent out their units when they aren’t using them. HOA regulations in many U.S. and Canadian city apartment buildings often limit the extent to which this can be done. So rather than trying to convince them otherwise, Airbnb is just building their own rental apartments without the restrictions.

In Airbnb’s Florida project, tenants will have permission to sub-rent their homes on Airbnb for up to 180 days per year, as long as they give their landlord a portion of the revenue they make. The apartments also will be designed to make life easy both for home-sharing hosts and guests — with features such as keyless entry, shared common spaces and a “master host” at each property who can assist with checking guests in and cleaning. The package comes with a new Airbnb-integrated app that tenants can use to manage their short-term rentals.

Hmmm… I wonder how the local hotel associations are going to react to this?

Another post about immigration and the “wall”, but for good reason – the issue is a strong concern in Mexico, and reflects on the relationship between Mexicans and Americans on both sides of the border.

The conclusion of a recent study, by three economists at the University of San Diego, and recently written up in the New Yorker, was that if there was ever any need for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico it should have been built more than a decade ago, because today there simply is no longer a strong influx of people trying to enter the United States. There once was a problem and if built back then it certainly would have deterred people from entering the country illegally.

The economists, Hanson, Liu and McIntosh, write in the study, “The current debate about U.S. immigration policy—with its discussion of walls at the border and mass deportations of undocumented residents—thus has something of an anachronistic feel to it. The dilemma facing the United States is not so much how to arrest massive increases in the supply of foreign labor, but rather how to prepare for a lower-immigration future.”

The truth is that the number of undocumented entering the U.S. is falling, and there are actually more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in.

But that’s today. If economic circumstances changed, such as a crises in Mexico or a high demand for low-skilled workers in the U.S., illegal immigration could become a problem once again.

Well, circumstances in Mexico have changed, but that work against this probability. First, in the 1960s Mexican women had, on average, almost seven children each. Today that figure is just over two – about the same as in the U.S. This means fewer young people looking for work today and the foreseeable future.

Secondly, between 2000 and 2010 the number of federal agents policing the U.S.-Mexico border rose from 8,600 to more than 17,000. As well, hundreds of miles of fencing have been erected, and border agents have also been equipped with high-tech equipment, such as surveillance drones and movement sensors.

The question to be asked is whether the wall passes the cost-benefit test. Does it justify the expense, which has been quoted as potentially being as much as $20 billion. With close to 20k border patrol officers already on the ground and 650 miles of border barriers already in place, it seems that the extra deterrence effect of the wall would be low while its cost would be enormous. And what about the moral or ethical cost – does the world really need another wall? And what would such a wall mean for economic and social relations between the two countries?

The study concludes, “in effect the United States already has a wall in place, with hundreds of miles of new fencing, the rollout of technologically sophisticated border surveillance, a near quintupling of Border Patrol agents since the early 1990s, and the criminalization of illegal border crossings since the late 2000s.”

It was announced this week that so far this year there has been a 40% drop in illegal immigration from Mexico to the USA. Perhaps the fear of retaliation or facing the consequences for migrating illegally, from Trump and his administration, is working. Why go where you aren’t wanted and perhaps end up in jail or just sent back?

But another report recently came out, which was featured in a number of Mexican news outlets, that stated there may be many Americans who are illegal immigrants, living in Mexico.

For an increasing number of Americans, Mexico has become a place to have a second home, somewhere warm to go to during the winter months. Real estate markets such as Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel Allende, Cancun and Cabo San Lucas, experienced a slowdown after 2008, but recently realtors and developers have been busy catering to an increase in demand.

In contrast to this, a number of Mexican publications (El Informador, Excélsior, Imagen Radio), recently published that the number of Mexican residency permits issued to Americans declined sharply last year. Permits issued in 2016 were one-third fewer that in 2014. This led them to suggest that perhaps a large majority of American expats are living in Mexico illegally.

They indicated that between 739,000 and 1 million Americans live in Mexico, and that the majority do so illegally. Does this mean Mexico has an illegal immigrant problem of Americans, as the U.S. does for Mexicans?

One report quotes the U.S. State Department as estimating that 1 million U.S. expats live in Mexico and that 934,698 do so without documentation. Another states Mexico’s statistics agency, in its between-census estimates of 2015, said there were 739,168 Americans living in Mexico, but only 65,302 of them had the required documentation from the National Immigration Institute.

There may be a simple answer as to why issue permits are down by as much as one-third. First, recent changes to immigration laws has made it easier for Americans to stay longer in Mexico under a simple tourist visa. In the past it was for 90 days with an option to renew for an additional 90 days. Today the tourist visa is good for 180 days.

Secondly, for those who own real estate, in the past it made sense to obtain a permit for permanent residency as it could mean saving money in capital gains taxes when you sold. But the rules and the enforcement of the rules regarding capital gains are much more rigorous, to the point that most real estate lawyers and agents recommend, that, if you are only going to be using your property for six months of the year, keep it simple and just come to Mexico on a tourist card rather than filing for FM 2 or 3 residency.

Also, in the past it made sense to obtain FM-3 status so you could bring a used car down from the U.S. for less than buying one in Mexico. That is certainly no longer the case, having an American car here is now more of a liability. Another reason to just use a tourist card.

I think what these news sources need to do is explain what they consider to be “living” in Mexico. Just because someone may own a home here doesn’t mean they are living here full-time. Many Americans, and Canadians for that matter, “live” here, but for less than six months, the maximum amount of time you can do so legally on a tourist card. That works just about right, for by the end of six months the weather is getting back home and they are ready to migrate north.

But even then, stating that 90% of the Americans living in Mexico are doing so illegally? That just makes no sense, and I haven’t found any credible reports to back it up. The data simply isn’t available.

Either way, this shouldn’t be an issue. Most Americans in Mexico are not working but are retired and spending the money they earned back in the US now in Mexico. That’s great for Mexico and its trade balance with the U.S., so I don’t think they should be complaining about this.

I recently spoke with the president of CBI, Joshua Rappaport, about how the industry has been performing and what types of products are available to foreigner looking to buy in Mexico. Joshua is originally from Canada but has been living in Vallarta since 2003. He’s been in the mortgage business since 2006 and has since then has helped many people obtain financing for their new home not just in Puerto Vallarta, but in other popular Mexican tourist destinations as well. Over the years he has worked closely with numerous Mexican banks to develop mortgage options that would work well for his foreign and national clientele.

Joshua introduced to me a new mortgage he is currently offering that has a 0% interest rate. How is that possible?

Well, although the rate may be 0%, there are other charges one will incur. The banks make their return through an upfront origination fee (built into the closing costs), a monthly administration fee, and a slight increase in the monthly payment each month. Some people might consider the monthly administration fee to be an interest rate which Joshua informed me, to works out to be about 3.25% annually, which is still a very good rate for a Mexican mortgage. Please note, that the law in Mexico requires mortgages to have life and property insurances, which are also paid via the monthly payment. The monthly payment consists of principal, insurance, administration and the update. Depending on the amounts, approximately 70-80% of the monthly payment is paid towards principal.

This particular mortgage product comes either with a 10-year term with a 35% down payment, or a 7.5-year term with a 50% down payment.

As an example, for a property purchase price of US$400,000, monthly payments would be US$3,076 of which $2,222 would be going to principal while the remainder would cover life and property taxes and the administration fee. There would also be a monthly payment increase of approximately $4.50-6.00 USD for every $100,000 USD in property value, so in this case, the monthly payments would increase by approximately US$20.00 each month. Although these amounts are presented in U.S. dollars, the loan and payments are actually in pesos.

Along with taking care of all the financing details, CBI also coordinates all aspects of the closing with the notary, appraiser, establishing the trust and escrow account, with total closing costs usually adding up to between 8-10% of the purchase price. However, approximately half of the fees can be financed, so the buyer needs out-of-pocket approximately 4-5% of the value of the property for closing costs.

To qualify for the loan the client needs steady, documentable income (tax returns preferable, although bank statements are a viable alternative for self-employed borrowers), and credit with a minimum 700 score. The time frame for approval is usually about 3-4 weeks once all documents have been submitted. And once approved, it takes about 1-2 months to close.

For more information regarding CBI mortgage products, contact them at (322) 222-1113 or [email protected].

On March 4th, at the Rivera Molino Plaza on the southside of downtown Vallarta, the annual Vallarta Real Estate Fair, produced by the Timothy Real Estate Group, will be taking place from 9AM to 2PM.

Whether you’re a buyer, seller or currently holding a piece of real estate in Mexico, there’s a good chance you’ll learn something at this unique event. You will hear the latest market statistics and industry trends, meet the professionals and gain insight and practical information on all aspects of buying and ownership in Mexico. Topics that will be covered will range from legal and notarial services, escrow, loans, property insurance and local banking to rental services, property management, construction and design.

A panel discussion, on topics from the basics of the buying process and closing costs to the intricacies of cross-border taxation, will complement the exhibitors’ booths. The Fair also offers important information about living and enjoying life here in the Banderas Bay area. Meet talented health, wellness and lifestyle specialists.

March 4th from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Admission is FREE! For more information, visit VallartaRealEstateFair.com.

I wrote about Costalegre a few months ago, but recently had to go to Manzanillo to visit family and friends, and so had the opportunity to see how things are progressing along this coastline south of Vallarta. The ride down on highway #200 and through Costalegre is a beautiful drive, but it can also be very slow, especially around El Tuito and again just north of Barra de Navidad. In these locations the road is narrow, very windy and can be quite slow if you get stuck behind large trucks. In between these two points the road is being widened and repaved, still with two lanes but now wide enough for a car to pull over a bit and allow someone to pass. Construction continues on the highway, while also widening some of the bridges, but at the pace they are going, they are going to be working on this road for some time to come.

I have travelled this road numerous times over the past 30 years, and although the highway has improved, there really haven’t been a lot of changes on this coastline. Careyes, Cuizmala and Las Alamandas are still there, but the hotels of Tamarindo and Hotelito Desconocido, are not. El Tucan has been shut down for many years now, but it seems the hotels around the bay of Tenacatita, such as Punta Sirena and Blue Bay Los Angeles Locos, are still quite active.

The hotel at Tamarindo is suppose to become a Four Seasons, although I’m not aware of how far along that project is. And there is supposed to be a new Luis Vuitton hotel (Cheval Blanc), going in near Chamela, but it was difficult to see any sign of activity from the highway.

Work has been going on for some time on building a new airport near Chalacatepec and the new mega-development of Xala, where there is supposed to be a One & Only hotel being developed. On my return I saw a large sign for this airport and project, with a brand new paved road leading off towards the coast. I took it and all was fine for a couple of kilometers. But then the road turned to a gravel and then finally just ended. No airport, no Xala, just a dead end. On the way back I met a rancher on horseback on the side of the road so I stopped and asked him what was going on. He said that the runway was there, (and I can see it on Google Maps), but not paved, and there is no easy access to it. And he wasn’t sure if they even were still working on it.

Progress on the airport seems to be like many of of the supposed projects taking place along Costalegre; whatever progress there is, it is slow going, and information regarding it is even harder to come by. Seems not a lot has changed over the past 30 years. Maybe that’s exactly the way many prefer it to remand, unspoiled, on this amazingly picturesque coastline.