Category Archives: Mexico News

Bargains Beyond the Border – Get Past the Blood and Drugs: Mexico’s Lower Cost of Living Can Avert a Tearful Retirement

by Tom Kelly

Description: News reports — including a segment on 60 Minutes — have depicted the entire country of Mexico as being an absolute mess, awash in blood and guns on every street corner. Ironically, people living there have a dramatically different perspective, especially in the “fly-in” destinations that continue to hold their value.

Click to buy the e-book: Bargains Beyond The Border by Tom Kelly

Click to buy the e-book: Bargains Beyond The Border by Tom Kelly

Despite what you may have heard, read and seen, the country is not under siege. The laid-back lure of Mexico’s beaches, forests, deserts, people, and culture has been capturing visitors and second-home buyers for decades and has become an international draw no longer driven solely by Americans and Canadians. Not only is land plentiful, exotic, captivating, and beautiful but also it is typically more affordable than most of the property found in America’s getaway areas.

Much has been written about the kidnappings, roadside hijackings, crooked cops and ever the infamous bandidos in some of the regions of Mexico. Most of the violence south of the border, however, is directly related to the drug cartels and the authorities who are trying to eradicate them. There is absolutely no pattern of any innocent U.S. citizens being randomly murdered in drug violence.

In this book, we will meet other second-home buyers, investors and retirees who share positive views about living and investing south of the border. We will show you their answers to our questions about crime and occupancy in key areas of the country. We’ll also explain why Mexico will become a needed alternative especially for 59,250,000 baby boomers that have not saved enough to fund their retirement years.

You can buy the E-book for $6.95 here.

—-

Browse for Real estate for sale in Mexico.

 

Mexico: The Royal Tour – Official Trailer

He’s traveled with the King of Jordan, the President of Peru, the Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Jamaica…. Now, Peter Greenberg joins President Felipe Calderón, one of the most dynamic leaders of Latin America, for a history-making television special.

read more »

Mexico safer than headlines indicate

Written By Christine Delsol

Quick – which national capital has the higher murder rate: Mexico City or Washington, D.C.?

If you answered Mexico City, you’d be in good company – after all, Mexico is a war zone, isn’t it? But you would be wrong, on both counts.

Based on FBI crime statistics for 2010 and Mexican government data released early this year, Mexico City’s drug-related-homicide rate per 100,000 population was one-tenth of Washington’s overall homicide rate – 2.2 deaths per 100,000 population compared with 22. (Drug violence accounts for most murders in Mexico, which historically does not have the gun culture that reigns in the United States.)

Mexico safer than headlines indicate

Mexico safer than headlines indicate

And while parts of Mexico can be legitimately likened to a war zone, drug violence afflicts 80 of the country’s 2,400 municipalities (equivalent to counties). Their locations have been well publicized: along the U.S. border in northern Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas states, and south to Sinaloa, Michoacan and parts of San Luis Potosí, Nayarit, Jalisco, Guerrero and Morelos states.

The flip side is that more than 95 percent of Mexico’s municipalities are at least as safe as the average traveler’s hometown. Yucatan state, for example, had 0.1 of a murder for every 100,000 people in 2010 – no U.S. tourist destination comes close to that. Most cities in central Mexico, outside of the scattered drug hot spots, have lower murder rates than Orlando.

It would seem fairly clear – fly, don’t drive, across the border into the safe regions. Yet whenever people say they are going to Mexico, the invariable response is “Aren’t you afraid?”

Media sensationalism accounts for much of the wariness. “Gangland violence in western Mexico” “Journalists under attack in Mexico” and “Mexico mass grave toll climbs” sound as if the entire country were a killing field. The story might name the state, but rarely the town and almost never the neighborhood. And some reporters apparently are confused by the word “municipality” – some of the killings reported as being in Mazatlan, for example, actually happened in a town miles away from the city – akin to attributing East Palo Alto’s slayings to San Francisco.

But the biggest factor may be that travelers looking for a carefree vacation simply find it easier to write the entire country off than to learn what areas to avoid.

The Mexico Tourism Board is working to change that. Efforts so far have concentrated on getting accurate information to travel agents, who funnel the lion’s share of tourism to Mexico’s popular destinations. Independent travelers’ primary source of information is the State Department travel alerts (travel.state.gov), which are finally getting better at pinpointing the trouble spots.

“We are trying to work with U.S. authorities in making these travel alerts specific and not general,” said Rodolfo Lopez Negrete, the tourism board’s chief operating officer. “Unfortunately, they have projected a somewhat distorted image.” read more »

Sales Start With A Bang At Santa Barbara In Bajamar

By Julia Simms

Two Homes Sold in Santa Barbara in Less than One Month

Since taking over sales and marketing at Santa Barbara in Bajamar less than one month ago, Baja Real Estate group has notched two home sales, according to Broker Max Katz.

Condo in Santa Barbara At Bajamar

Condo in Santa Barbara At Bajamar

Katz says the timing is right to reinvest in Baja and the coastal development of Santa Barbara as retirees are starting to look at Northern Baja once again as the place to retire.

“We are bringing a renewed vision and new home prices to the development just as real estate sales start to pick up in the Baja region,” he said. “Homeowners love the exclusivity of Santa Barbara and the lifestyle that Baja allows them to live  – one they wouldn’t be able to afford in the United States.”

Santa Barbara is a 104-unit condominium development within the gates of Bajamar, a 600-home planned community and golf course fondly called “Pebble Beach of the South” by American expatriates living in the area. Bajamar is 15 minutes miles south of Rosarito and 35 minutes north of Ensenada in the Riviera Baja region.

“I am not surprised that the first two homes sold so quickly at Santa Barbara,” said real estate agent Roy Warfield, who has been actively selling real estate in San Diego since 1995 and in Northern Baja since 2007. “I see the opportunities that Baja has to offer for people looking to live on the water at a fraction of the price of the United States.”

One of the Santa Barbara buyers, Tim DeBerry, agrees.

read more »

Choosing to retire at Calafia Condos – Testimonial – Baja Real Estate Group

Brad Billingsley, an American retiree living at Calafia Condos, talks about why he chose to retire to Mexico and why he chose Calafia Condos.

For more information on Calafia Condos visit http://www.calafiacondos.com. Click here for even more real estate in Mexico

Baja Real Estate Group – Open House at NAOS Living

Catherine Krupsaw from the Baja Real Estate Group and Sales Associate at NAOS Living, takes us on an Open House tour around the 1 Bedroom + Den model unit at NAOS Living.

NAOS Living is an elite beachfront residential resort located at the Northern end of Rosarito Beach in what is known as the ‘Riviera Baja’. Host to a diversity of amenities, NAOS Living focuses on health and wellness both as a theme and as a lifestyle, providing comfort, luxury and a privileged location featuring a 4 mile stretch of sandy beach, near by commodities and unsurpassed views of the Coronado Islands. For a complete list of NAOS amenities visit http://www.naosliving.com.

Browse for more Rosarito Real Estate and Mexico Real Estate.

U.S. Real Estate Buyers Visit Baja California and tours with The Baja Real Estate Group

The Baja Real Estate Group hosts a Lunch break at the Calafia Hotel & Spa in Rosarito Beach with visitors from Sampson California Realty as part of the Baja Realtor Tour on June 25, 2011. Features Hugo Torres Chabert, former Rosarito Beach Major and owner of the famous Rosarito Beach Hotel as a special guest.

San Ysidro “The world’s busiest border crossing” is going to get a bit narrower By: Miguel Sedano

Crossing through the San Ysidro Port of Entry from Mexico is a slog during the best of times for more than 17 million vehicles a year, but the trip promises to become even more challenging, starting Monday June 20th 2011 as a number of lanes are taken out of action for 30 hours at a time into July.

Click two times to Enlarge San Ysidro 2014

Click two times to Enlarge.

The first set of closures — four lanes on the east side of the port of entry — begin Monday at 8 p.m. and will last until 5:30 p.m.Tuesday. Workers will be stringing auxiliary power and data lines to entry booths in preparation for the dismantling of the building over the booths.
The entire border crossing is undergoing a three-phase, $517-million expansion and renovation which is expected to be completed in 2014. When completed, northbound vehicle inspection lanes will increase from 24 to 34. Southbound lanes will increase from six to as many as 12.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has provided a tentative schedule of lane closings. Each set of lanes will close at 10 p.m. and reopen about 30 hours later at 4 a.m. The schedule is subject to construction progress:
•    June 22-24: two lanes from the west side
•    June 24-26: three lanes from the west side
•    June 26-28: three lanes from the west side
•    June 28-30: three lanes from the west side
•    June 30-July 2: three lanes from the west side
•    July 5-7: three lanes near the middle/west
•    July 7-9: three lanes near the middle/west
Border crossers can call (619)-690-8999 for the latest information on which lanes are being closed and length of wait times at San Ysidro. Crossers hoping to use the nearby Otay Mesa Port of Entry can call (619) 671-8999 for the same sort of information.

Click two times to Enlarge

Click two times to Enlarge

 

Mexico is also developing a new southbound crossing known as El Chaparral, at a cost of more than $50 million.
If you are thinking in moving to Mexico, don’t think more act today.  We Can Help.  Call today 858-433-0561 or email Miguel Sedano  info@rentinginmexico.com the perfect home is waiting for you.

The Expendebales Enjoy Puerto Nuevo Style Lobster in Rosarito Beach

American channel TMZ aired the visit that Silvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren made to Rosarito Beach, in Baja California Mexico where they enjoyed a Puerto Nuevo style lobster.


Browse for Rosarito Real Estate, Mexico Real Estate and Baja Real Estate.

First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’

Written by: Oliver Lyttelton – THE PLAYLIST

It’s always said that when it comes to breaking into the film industry, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and it’s hard to deny that nepotism is rife in the industry. But when it’s meant that talents like Sofia Coppola, Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Drew Barrymore, John Huston and, uh, Clint Howard, to name but a few, it’s hard to complain too much. Today we’ve obtained an exclusive first image of a project that utilizes a number of members of famous film-making families, and it’s looking pretty promising.

First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’

First Look At Salma Hayek & Mathieu Demy In ‘Americano’

Actor Mathieu Demy comes from famous film-making stock, being the son of French film-making giants Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy, and he’s already racked up an impressive career in front of the camera, in films like “God is Great, But I’m Not,” “Aram” and “The Girl On The Train.” Now, according to a press release from BAC Films International, who’ve picked up all of the worldwide rights to the project, he’s made his directorial debut, on a self-penned project entitled “Americano,” and he’s attracted fellow filmmaking family members to the cast like Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Carlos Bardem, the older brother of Javier Bardem. But the film will be toplined by Demy himself, opposite international star Salma Hayek.

Demy will play Martin, a man grieving from the death of his mother, and escaping a failing relationship, who returns to Los Angeles, where he grew up, to sort out his inheritance. Troubled by childhood memories, he goes off to track down Lola, a Mexican woman (Hayek) who he knew in childhood, eventually finding her down at the Americano club in Tijuana, where she works as a stripper. Mastroianni will play Martin’s ex-girlfriend, while Chaplin will play an old friend of the family who kicks off his quest.

Demy comments in the press release “”Americano” is a film I have been working on for years. I wanted to tackle a theme that directly relates to my history, my identity: transmission. What do you inherit from your parents? How do you deal with it? And how do you write your own story?” And it seems like he’s using the unique advantages of his own upbringing: “I used footage from one of my mother’s film, “Documenteur”, where she filmed me when I was 8 and was living with her in LA. Those images find a special echo in the film, and question our relationship to fiction and reality. But I also wanted to do a universal film, that will travel and please all type of audiences. That is why I decided to gather a very special cast, whom I must thank for their support and their faith in the project.”

The film’s now in post-production, having recently wrapped its multi-lingual, globe-spanning shoot—it lensed in Paris, L.A. and Tijuana, and will be in French, English and Spanish—and should apparently be ready for the festival season in the fall, so a bow in Toronto or Venice wouldn’t be out of the question. Les Films du Losange will distribute in France, and BAC Films will be the sales agent. It all sounds fairly intriguing, and Demy’s parentage alone is reason enough to make us very, very curious about what he’s come up with.

Browse for Mexico Real Estate and Real Estate in Baja.