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Baja Real Estate Overview for 2010
To begin, it appears that many people are not aware that the Baja peninsula is approximately 1000 miles long and is made up of two separate states, Baja California (Norte) and Baja California Sur (south). I suggest to those prospective buyers they do their home work using sites like www.BajaInsider.com and other sites like wikipedia as well to see what areas, climates, conveniences, towns, schools and activities you are interested are available. In this article I will discuss the different areas, safest places and ways to invest in a home in Baja whether north, south or anywhere in between.
I receive many inquiries from people that want to buy in Baja but they have no idea of the geography of the Baja Peninsula. I have had people ask about buying in Cabo for example but they want to be near the U.S. border. Well Cabo is at the far end of the Baja Peninsula, over 900 miles from the U.S. Border; while it is only a 2 hour flight approximately from Southern California, Las Vegas and Arizona, it is a long 2 day drive from the U.S. border.
E-Book on Baja Real Estate |
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A newly created resource for buying homes in Mexico is a E-book written by Susan Fogel. If you are interested in buying this online you may A major factor in your decision process will be what conveniences, electricity, water, stores, schools and activities such as golf, fishing, diving or surfing these to need to be looked at carefully. In some areas like Ensenada or the Los Cabos area you can have all of these things however you may find that the heat of the summer for a few months is too much in Cabo or the cool of the fall and winter too much in Ensenada. You will find that Baja is a really a land of contrast that offers a lot of everything but not always in one place.
As far as amenities go, you must decide what is important to you. Having an international airport, modern shopping and golf nearby; whether to be on the electric grid or solar, having water piped or trucked in (which is common in some areas) or solitude with a long drive to civilization. Most of this article is for those looking into properties near or within an hour of major towns. The more rural properties require extra research as they will not necessarily be a part of a development or are in an area that is more difficult to obtain permits, more costly for the construction and have additional work to subdivide or obtain services. Generally making it less safe to purchase or see an easy return on your investment.
Another major factor in researching properties of Baja is the climates for partial or year round residents. All the costal properties are more moderate in temperatures than inland properties but there is a large difference in air and water temperatures between Ensenada to the north versus Cabos San Lucas in the extreme south. There is also a large difference between San Felipe, the northern most cities, on the Sea of Cortez versus La Paz one of the more southern, major cities on the East Coast. Once you go inland even just a short distance you find some relatively large differences in climates as well as availability of water, services because of the fewer towns of larger populations in the desert and mountains down the entire Baja Peninsula.
In the past 20 years I have personally had friends for example that come down to their favorite area of Baja for part of the year and purchase a home for their future retirement only to find out that the climate year round is not acceptable to them. This happens a lot to the “snowbirds” that come south for winter but when they decide to live here through the summer they realize their dream home is not in a comfortable climate for them as they try to live in Baja full time.
One other major factor in deciding where you might be interested in purchasing a home in Baja is the safety of your investment. While there has been a lot of bad press concerning the safety of living in Baja there are very few areas that are unsafe and not one of the truly unsafe areas would a foreigner want to live in anyway. However as far as purchasing a home and or land in Baja to build on; there are safety issues as far as how and where you make your investment. I recommend these days that people look more closely at developments that already have a good reputation and or references that you may contact. Buying something built and or pre-owned can help assure the property may not have any problems. Many but by no means all of the major developments are properly permitted and obtaining proper title insurance is easy. If you choose to live more rurally or in a home that is not in a development you may still find security in doing so but you must be sure to do your homework well and there is a lot more to do if you are up to pioneering and getting away from it all.
You will also find that in many rural areas that the property and or home values will not escalate as quickly as those in or near some of the larger cities of Baja. If you really don’t care as much about the future value, some of the cities that are not booming or the more undeveloped areas of Baja can be a real deal to purchase but difficult to sell in the future. On the other side of the equation be sure if you want to live in a booming town such as Cabo San Lucas and be aware that it may not grow to be the town you really want to live in for the long term.
There have been many foreigners that have purchased a “deal too good to be true” and of course it turned out not to be true. Avoid long term leases, buying Ejido (yet to be titled township property) lands and homes that are in pre-sale unless the developments have already begun and you can see that they are moving along with the promised infrastructure and amenities.
While I’m not a big fan of living in gated communities this is one way to secure your investment by having others around, security, maintained common areas with most services and amenities readily available. One advantage as well, is getting in while they are being built (pre-sale), with the infrastructure nearly complete or just finishing up, so then you may see substantial gains once the development is sold out. Remember even though you may decide on a existing or nearly completed development that you still need to exercise due diligence and make sure titles, permits, CC&R’s and services offered are available and are acceptable after being reviewed closely.
It still amazes me every day when I hear stories of people that have just become emotional about buying in Baja and not really checked out all that is necessary to protect their investment. Many times they do less than they might in their own country which is of course the opposite of what is wise, especially considering the language barriers for many and the different laws here in Mexico. Yes living in Baja in many different ways can be paradise for many, but you still need to really look into what you are purchasing and if you don’t speak Spanish find a consultant, read what you can in your language and don’t just rely on the sellers or agents to always know everything or look out for your best interest.
Be sure as you do your research of the areas of Baja you make a list of your questions and concerns that you need answered and don’t begin to look at actual developments or properties until you have a good idea of what you life needs are. People are just as varied as this great land of contrast known as Baja and to be truly satisfied it is up to you to make that final decision of where to re-locate or purchase a second home.