Sid’s Story
Hello, my name is Sid Grosvenor.
I live, work, and play in the beautiful Lake Chapala area of Mexico. My past lives include being a Dallas Police Dept. Commander, an Attorney, (Juris Doctor – Southern Methodist University with Advanced Studies in International Real Estate Law at the University of Exter, Exeter England), and a Real Estate Investor/Broker.
My late wife, Patricia, and I spent several years checking out possible retirement destinations. We checked into retirement possibilities in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and various locations in Mexico. We decided on Lake Chapala, Mexico! All things considered, it was the best for us. It just might be best for you too!
Before I lost my wonderful wife of 36 years to cancer, Patricia and I enjoyed living part of each year in East Texas and part of the year here in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. After her death and getting my grief under control, I decided to return to Mexico. I’m very glad I did, because I found the second love of my life here, Arcelia ( R – say LEE ah). After a lengthy courtship (almost 2 years) we married.
We are very happy here and would like to invite you to visit our lovely area. Check out the various sections of ChapalaClub.com, read and comment on our posts and ask any questions you may have, subscribe to our free RSS, email notification service AND, you can even customize your portal’s home page (Yahoo, MSN, etc.) to add ChapalaClub.com to it and keep up with all the latest news about Lake Chapala Mexico, (you may even want to drop your current news feed from ABC, NBC or CBS as their news is usually not very positive and ours almost always is.)
What do I do to stay out of trouble here at Lake Chapala. Well, I’m currently associated with Lake Chapala Real Estate as a Buyer’s Agent Realtor.
As a Realtor member in good standing in our local MLS group we call GIL (Groupo Inmobilario del Lago) and a member in AMPI (National Professional Mexican Realtors Association) I can help you with any home or lot offered by any of the area member real estate firms.
It’s in your best interests to contact me to help you. Read on to see exactly why.
The main searchable Multiple Listing data base has hundreds of homes in all different price ranges offered from all over the Lake Chapala area.
The Lake Chapala Real Estate Market:
The homes listed in pesos will likely be Mexican sellers. You can approximate the price given in pesos into dollars by dividing the stated price in pesos by the current exchange rate which is about 10.5 to one as this is written. The result will be very close to the asking price in dollars.
For example a home listed at 880,000 pesos would be listed at approx. $83,809 USD.
Homes here may or may not be less expensive than where you live now, since so much depends on just where you live and market conditions there.
Homes here are built stronger and of more durable materials than are used North of the Border and they are built using a lot more hand labor. A typical home here takes from 8 months to 12 months to build as a result.
Land is valued higher here than in some parts of the USA. In our area except for very large tracts, land is sold by the square meter. A square meter is approx. 10.76 sq. ft.
I tell you all of this as a reality check for you since many people think that land and homes here are very inexpensive. That depends on your frame of reference of course.
If you are coming from an inflated market then the homes seem very inexpensive. But, if for example, you are coming from the Southern USA then the homes here may not seem so inexpensive.
But, even if homes here are at or even above the cost of comparable sized homes where you live, there’s a lot to offset the cost of buying a home here… and you should consider all your expenses here compared to all your expenses where you live now to see just how much better off you would be financially living here compared to where you live now.
Real Estate Taxes at Lake Chapala and Ajijic:
Your property taxes will be almost nothing here. For example, I value my home at $200,000, but my property taxes are under $80 USD per year.
My utilities are a lot less too than they would be in the States. And, almost every other expense I have would be well under the USA costs.
Well, thanks again for reading this admittedly long post and joining Chapala Club. Membership has its privileges, as you will soon discover. I truly look forward to being of service anyway I can.
“My promise to you is to treat you as I would want to be treated if our roles were reversed. In short, I know you have a choice in just who you put your trust in to help you discover the Lake Chapala area.”
I strive every day to be a better husband, father, grandfather, person, friend, and Realtor. I have many, many delighted clients/friends. (Personal references upon request).
One more very important thing I want you to carefully consider before going to the data base link I’m about to provide to you.
I act in the capacity of a “Realtor Buyer’s Agent”. Now you could just go to the listing seller’s agent on any home you find in the data base without my help. But consider this: Who does the listing agent represent and just who is he or she looking out for?
The listing or seller’s agent represents the seller’s best interest, not yours. This is as it should be. But you should have someone representing your best interest too!
So, I strongly advise you to use me or some other buyer’s agent to represent your best interest.
A buyer’s agent can usually find out things from the listing agent and other means available that you could not find out on your own. OK, here’s the database link
Siempre tu amigo (Always your friend) , Sid
sid@chapalaclub.com
Comments
9 Responses to “Sid’s Story”
Dear Sid:
Sometimes stuff just feels right. Sometimes sharing the feeling can make a whale of a difference years later. In about 1972 I landed in California and thought about buying a house. I found a real estate gal who I liked and stuck with her as the only person to go to for quite a long search. She knew what I wanted. We couldn’t find it — so I rented at the beach and also has an old house which was a tear-down but right on the campus where I was teaching.
It was over a year later that Elaine called and said “Steve — I found your house!”. She was absoutely right, and I was thrilled to live on Butte street for years. It was a little single story charmer with a pool in the back yard. I took the lumber from a very old gas station that was being torn down and converted the entire huge back area to redwood decking. For then, the pool was fantastic as a way of living, though for the maintenance, it’s the last full pool that I’d want to own;-)
I was looking at Craig’s list the other day – dreaming as usual when I ran across a FSBO that I’d love to be able to think about more seriously. I don’t know if it’s overpriced or not, but it’s charming, the right size, great location within a block of la Bodega on Privada – a block from the lake.
http://guadalajara.en.craigslist.com.mx/reo/959235255.html
This little place has possibilities for us. Love the large room upstairs for work, the great kitchen and high ceilings. Love the brick work on ceiling in dining area. It’d be nice to have a bit more yard – not a lot — but some space for gardening and maybe some hydroponic greenhouse. It’s a bit hard to see what the outside of this thing looks like, but love the upper patios, and wonder about yard security for parking the van, and keeping bad guys out of the bedrooms upstairs;-)
The house is owned by the publisher of the subscription-site, MexicoConnect, with it’s great long standing forums on Mexico. I’m an organizational psychologist as you may remember, and so was this guy in a previous Canadian packaging. I can’t think of his last name at the moment, though there’s a chap by his same name who does software and lives down there who did Judy King’s site. Small darned world.
Care and appreciation…
Steve Iman & Kenny Gardner
sciman@csupomona.edu
Hi Steve, Thanks for your comments. I always enjoy hearing from you via e mail and now via the comments section here.
I know your a smart careful guy, but for the benefit of others who may be reading our comments I feel obligated to mention to potential home buyers here at Lake Chapala Ajijic the following:
If you decide to buy a home from a FSBO, remember to have a recommended Notario to check all the paper work.
But, also remember that the Notario doesn’t act as an escrow agent holding the money and performing other related services not associated with the deed itself.
The GIL (Groupo Inmobilario del Lago) Realtors which are members of the MLS with the website http://www.mlsmexico.com/chapala routinely act as escrow agents for the purpose of holding initial payments (Escrow deposit) in their USA Bank Escrow accounts with wire services, being sure that the utilities are pro-rated and changed to the new owners name, and many more details associated with a sale that Notario’s typically have no part in.
I’m not saying never buy a home from a FSBO. What I am saying is to be very careful. Best to contact a GIL member firm to assist with the closing such as “Lake Chapala Real Estate” (www.choosechapala.com) 766 – 4530 and ask for Marvin or Barbara. This is the best way to insure that the closing goes smoothly.
Thanks again for your comments. Siempre tu amigo, Sid
Hi Steve, Thanks as always for your comments. You have a nice writing style.
Yes, I know just what you mean about sometimes a place just seems right.
My advice would be to just be very careful when dealing with for sale by owner properties. I’ve bought them myself in the USA, but as a lawyer there I drafted my own sales contract and had been a broker so I knew the ropes.
Mexico is different. Different laws, Different traditions. Different Business practices etc.
I hope our readers do not interpret these words in a negative way as my intent here is not to attack Mexico or it’s laws or traditions in any way, but only to advise those not familiar with them to be sure and get a clear understanding of everything involved BEFORE you commit to buy any property.
This is one of the major functions of the Realtor members of the GIL and the MLS associated with GIL (Groupo Inmobilario del Lago).
For Sale by Owner properties are not inherently bad, but you must be your own advocate is my point. As an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Realtor and member of GIL my highest priority is to protect my clients best interests.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and dreams with us.
Siempre tu amigo, Sid
Hello
I am looking to rent 2 bedroom house or condo close to amenities for June or July 2009, before I make any decisions about buying there. Please send me any available information.
Thank you
Frank
Hi Frank, I hope you’ve received my e mail directly to you. It was a bit long to add to the comments section here.
If other Club Members have rental questions please send me an e mail directly to Sid@ChapalaClub.com and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
All for now, Siemre tu amigo, Sid
Sid:
It’s nice to read your story and have you join my Linkedin group. Perhaps I might retire down there – very nice website.
Randy
Hi Randy, Thanks for taking the time to check us out here at ChapalaClub.com. Yes, Lake Chapala is the perfect place to practice the writers life. We even have a writers club here. The writers club members are at all levels (from accomplished published poets and novelists to beginners) but none are copy writers.
The arts of all kinds are alive and well here. Thanks again Randy. Sid
Hi Sid : totally enjoy the website and appreciate your Chapala videos. Very informative. Never been to Chapala but plan to come down sometime between April – June 2010 to check it out as my possible retirement home. Anybody there from the Sacramento Calif. area? Is there a knitting/crocheting club there? Gracias!
Hi Nancy, Yes, there must be a few. I’ve sold homes to several folks from California and of course they lov eit here.
Please let me know when you’re ready to come for a visit, because I want to be sure and schedule some time to show you around the area and answer all your questions.
The time of year you’re planning to visit is a great time to come… but then there’s never really a bad time weather wise at least to visit here.
All for now. Thanks for your comments. Sid
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