Living in Los Cabos: How It’s Done

Last Sunday at the Caboholics convention Meet & Greet I had several people come up to me and ask the same question. That generally means there are others out there who would appreciate the same information. So, for those of you who want to know how I managed to make my dream of moving to Cabo work here is my story.

We knew we wanted to retire to Mexico (well he could have been humoring me) and started visiting various cities. On our first trip to Cabo I knew this was the place. We started looking at real estate during that first week, but there was a problem. I’d consider us comfortably middle-class; we both had good jobs but we were in no stretch of the imagination wealthy. We saw what was in our budget for a starter vacation home and it wasn’t pretty. Anything we could afford would have been too expensive to repair and then maintain. It wasn’t until our second visit to Cabo that we were successful. The real estate agent was showing us the same inventory we’d seen several months ago when the agent on one of them piped up and asked if we’d ever considered buying a lot. Actually, we had never thought of that. Since she worked for the developer of the neighborhood we liked (Pedregal) she started showing us lots that she considered good buys.

One building site in particular intrigued us. It seemed priced low compared to the others and we were fairly certain there would be a view of both the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez from the second floor. So we shocked ourselves by snapping it up. And did absolutely nothing with it for several years. Since property taxes are so low, and lots only pay ½  the homeowner’s dues it was inexpensive to maintain. In the meantime it was appreciating in value and we were paying down our first mortgage. When the housing market in California started to recover we were in a strong position to take a home equity loan and start building a little gem of a vacation home. And yes, it did have a double view! Alternatively we could have sold the land for at least twice what we’d paid, to be used against a finished property. When we were ready for Bob to retire we were all set for the move to Cabo.

So that’s how the game is played. And now is a good time to get into that game. It’s no secret that Cabo’s real estate market took a major hit during the recession and prices are down considerably.  Building lots in particular have been dead and prices have plummeted. Some sellers are financing, which is particularly attractive. For example, on the Cabo side of the corridor the median price for a house rose 18% in 2014. Lots didn’t budge. So buying a lot on the corridor would seem like a smart move: you know lots are going to catch up sooner or later. If you’re three to four years from retiring to Cabo it would behoove you to consider this strategy as the timing is impeccable. Who knows? Maybe a few years from now somebody will be asking you how you made your dream work.

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of Cabo Realty Pros. She has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over fourteen years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine and a member of the Board of Directors of our Multiple Listing Service MLSBCS. You can read more of her articles on the website blog www.caborealtypros.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541. You can listen to our 24/7 broadcast on http://www.livecabo.net for a mix of happy music, weather reports and local information.

© 2015 Carol S. Billups

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