Starting the Last Quarter
The adventure begins…
Why this blog...
I find one of the best ways for me to make sense of the changes in my life is to write about them. In this blog, I hope to take you through what is happening from today...August 6, 2017 until November 1 when we will be moved to a new home in Ajijic Mexico.
A person only has one life to live and I am anxious to make
the best of what will happen in the last quarter. The first 75 years (now
starting the 76th) have been a thrill beyond my wildest dreams. Of
course there were the usual “ups and downs” but amazingly truly more UPS! I can smile when I think of our four children
and their successes in life, families, and our four wonderful grandchildren
Three of us, Angie and our friend Trish are
exploring the idea of moving to the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. How about that
for an adventure!!! Trish is a dear friend who will need to have some support because of serious vision problems. Ajijic is a town of
about 20,000 ex-pats from America, Canada, and some from Germany and other
countries around the world. Lake Chapala
is the second largest fresh water lake in Mexico and lies about a half hour south of Guadalajara. Lake Chapala and the neighboring town of Ajijic
lie at 5000 feet above sea level and have a temperature range of 50 – 80
degrees year-round and has been named as one of the top areas in the world to
retire. For information check this out... https://internationalliving.com/5-reasons-make-lake-chapala-mexico-retirement-destination/
Our adventure began with an
exploratory week in late July/early August, however with the amount of research available on the internet,
YouTube videos, and more, we almost felt as if we had already arrived. Beginning our journey from Sanford Florida,
Trish’s home, we flew to Houston, then on to Guadalajara where we were picked
up and driven to an AirB&B which was our home for a week. We arranged to have a driver take us to get a
feel of the country and understand how far each community is from one
another. We started with a visit to The
Lake Chapala Society, an organization developed to make the adjustment
easy. In addition to having a great FAQ
product, they offer many other activities, classes, clubs, etc. We found a
number of rental houses on their website, which are amazing, many of which are
“all inclusive” meaning they come with a housekeeper, gardener, and all
utilities and taxes paid. There are many
rentals based on the season. Many people
like the idea of going back to Canada or the States for either the winter or
summer, while others have left it all behind and are full time residents. We were excited about the markets filled with
fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, poultry and just about anything you might
imagine.
We are even more adamant after being here that
we do not want to drive a car. The cost
of renewing your shock absorbers on the cobblestone streets would be more than
the car itself.
What about the houses here in the states…Reading and research
has advised a four-step process. Make a
list of what you must have, what your kids might want, what you might store,
not knowing whether you might want it later, and what you are going to sell, or
give away. Since Trish is renting, it is
not a problem, but we will be putting our house on the market this week. Since the market
is good right now, I am hoping for a 30 to 45 days close. We have investigated Auction houses that will
come and clean out your house, and take it to their place to auction. We need to do more investigation but this
certainly seems like a great option. Experience
with our own parents has shown, that our belongings probably have little
interest for our children, but of course they will be welcome to anything we
have.
Our AirBNB in Ajijic was a three bedroom 2 ½ bath in an area
called Floresta, which was near the center of the area where we want to
live. We had appointments with several
realtors and fortunately found one realtor who had three wonderful
choices. After viewing all of them, it
was an easy decision to choose and we secured a beautiful rental for November
1. Enough about the real estate
situation.
This has been more than we
ever expected. The Mexican community is
so warm and helpful, nothing like you would find in Nogales or other border
towns. They do not see us as “rich
Americans” because they understand we
are bringing money into the community and most of the Ex-pats who come here are
here to have a better life and retire in more comfort, spending cash which
improves the economy of the community. After
being here only a few days, one quickly begins to understand that more than
half of what we pay to live in the US is based on what regulations the lawyers and
politicians come up with that eventually end up costing you more and more for
less and less. (Don’t want to get into politics too soon)
We did do considerable research before arriving and found
restaurants and points of interests that we had to explore. In the city of Ajijic)(pronounced
Ah-e-heek) our first adventure was a local favorite called Chile Verde. We watched the woman make the tortillas right
in front of us, and we ordered enchiladas (3) tacos (2) Chili Rellanos (2 way
too much to eat) and Carne with tortillas
all with rice and beans and a beer. We ate our fill and took away enough for our
dinner that evening….Yummmm
We have eaten at many of the higher end restaurants in our exploratory week which we would not do every day, but have seen what the community has to
offer. El Tango and La Mission were two excellent choices. Great steaks, seafood and more.
We are really excited about our new home. It is in a section of Ajijic called El Dorado, a gated community with patio homes. We are looking forward to having a maid, a gardener and be able to enjoy what the house has to offer. For me, the best part is the beautiful kitchen where I can cook all the fresh fruits and vegetables and fish. When we were at some of the local carnecias the meat looks so fresh I can hardly wait. We also have a large veranda with comfortable seating and an outdoor fireplace. Here is a short video link Angie made showing the house and community.
https://youtu.be/XE7bzF36x9s
Sadly, as I end this first posting, I am back to reality. Was up in the attic this afternoon deciding what might sell on Craigslist or a Garage Sale, what will go to the Goodwill and what is headed for the trash can. Fortunately were are not collectors so it will not be too difficult.
I hope you will join me in this adventure and would welcome your comments.
Blog Post 2.
ReplyDeleteTime is ticking… kinda like Trump and North Korea…(well almost)
Now that the official date to be in our new home in El Dorado, Mexico is set in stone as November 1, I started with the foolish idea that three months is PLENTY of time to get everything ready. As I look around I see “things” that I have taken for granted so long, I apparently have dismissed them from my mind. NOW I look at them and think…what the HELL am I going to do with that? …and even more…how much do I think it will sell for!
1. I picture it on Craigslist and I imagine calls saying “ Hey Buddy, Are you kidding? That there is the dumbest thing I have ever saw on Craigslist! I will give ya $10 just to set er afire!”
2. The next mental video clip pictures yours truly sitting in a lawn chair at my garage sale with all of my treasures creatively strewn on the driveway complete with little yellow stickers on everything. I know that will require signs, a newspaper ad, change for the purchases, etc. The only benefit will be to learn the “haggling technique which should come in handy in the coming Mexico months.
3. My final plan at this juncture is to call one of two reputable Auction Houses in the area and have them come in a truck, clean out the house completely and take it to their facility and have a big sale. To test this last theory, Angie and I are going to go to one auction this week and a different one the next week to see just how this goes. Of course I will let them know when our stuff is going to be auctioned, they will need to set up extra chairs to accommodate the “thousands of buyers” who will flock for these treasures.
The calendar for these happenings is (as of today)
August 11 – October 11…..Option 1 Craigslist
October 14- 15 Option 2 Option 2 Garage Sale with yellow stickers
October 29 Auction Option 3
There are some benefits of all this action. We cleaned out the bar area and found some alcohol treasures we had forgotten. The long forgotten bottle of Kahlua really benefits your morning coffee. That leftover tequila makes for a good margarita…the marsala wine…well that got poured out as did some of the other interesting finds….hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Steve, what about health care in Ajijic? Is it all fee-for-service? It sounds like an exciting adventure. Thanks for sharing. PS - I can't get the sign-in to change. I used blogspot for my blog when we were in India. Kay
ReplyDeleteKay, We have done a BUNCH of research and from all accounts the medical care, eye care, hearing care and dermatology are excellent. Many highly qualified doctors have moved to the area from the US and Canada. There is affordable Mexican catastrophic insurance and world class hospitals in Guadalajara as well.
DeleteThe continuing saga...
ReplyDeleteHow quickly things change when you do not know what you are doing, (which for me happens with surprising regularity.) Yesterday and today we had appointments with two Estate Sale companies. Both came in and looked at our “stuff” and affirmed they could do the job. One point both said, “Do not have a garage sale and do not use Craigslist, because people who come to Estate Sales, know this and are less likely to buy knowing you had these items on craigslist and estate sales do not haggle. So the need for little yellow stickers and a lawn chair in my garage will not be in the foreseeable future. ( I believe that was option 2) Whether or not this is entirely true, I am not sure, but I am going to take their word for it and have removed items from Craigslist and it is relief not to have to deal with the hassles of a garage sale. Recently, I was involved in a Craigslist scam where a person wanted to buy my bike, which I had listed for $100. After some smooth talking, he wanted to send me a check for $1650 which he did. I was to cash it and send him $1500…now I know sometimes I am an easy mark, but with a little thought, he sounded like his native language might have been Pakistan, he was calling from a Texas area code, the check was from a car dealership in Pennsylvania and the envelope the check came in had a return address of Healdsburg California. HMMM! The amazing part of this was even after I had shredded the check, told him never to call again, a woman (presumably his spouse) called Angie’s phone and tried to get her to bite on the same deal!….. Reporting it to the police and Craigslist, I could actually hear the shrug on the line when they said, “It happens all the time, thanks for calling.” Lake Chapala and Ajijic are sounding better all the time.
Looks like a great blog. How do I subscribe?
ReplyDeleteHenryb to be truthful, this is my first attempt but I would start by going to blogspot.com and see if there is information available. I would welcome your comments.
DeleteSeptember 13 Time marches on, or in this case it is like you are on the Indy 500 track trying your best to not get run over. September 2 rolled around and we knew we needed to get our home on the market. When we moved here four years ago, we were given a gift of a great realtor. As we were in Phoenix waiting for the house to be built, Whitney Morgan, was our man, supervising every detail, sending pictures, and using his persuasive skills to get us some wonderful upgrades. So obviously when we were ready to pull the string and get this on the market, Whitney got our first call. To say his marketing skills are great is an understatement. None of this cheap MLS listing in the box by your for sale sign. Take a look at what he did for our home. When I saw it, I felt like calling him and saying, “Stop the sale, I WANT TO BUY THIS HOUSE.” Check out the tour he put our and also did a six page color brochure with stills from this video to put next to the For Sale sign
ReplyDeletehttp://media.brickroadvisuals.com/idx/992538#slide0
Results….you bet. We had three full price offers in 12 days with at least ten other showings. We signed a contract on the 12th and now we are celebrating tonight with champagne and wandering around the house in a daze thinking, what are we going to take that will fit into three suitcases each, and what will go into the sale. The Estate Sale people have stressed that you don’t throw away anything. Half bottles of dish detergent, half bags of potting soil, whatever, so we are really taking their advice. The good part is that you do not need to do anything…no dishes out of the cupboard, no cleaning of the pantry, nothing, nada…We are testing this theory by going to one of their estate sales this weekend to see how the process works. Will let you all know.
Today was cleanout the files day. Making a huge pile of documents that need to be shredded and the rest will go into the recycle. Didn’t really realize the importance of grocery receipts from 2004 but for some reason we hung onto them like they were birth certificates.
You need to publish a video montage of your new home!
DeleteBill Langley
September 19. DANG…DANG…Dang…Selling a home is not what it used to be. You could go to a house and trade it for a one eared mule, a hound dog and a promise to work the field next year. First buyer…full price offer but wanted too much in contingencies and we finally terminated his offer. Second buyer offered full price with no contingencies but could not get the loan. The third buyer was so excited she offered full price, but then we found she had not even put her house on the market yet, and we would be in Mexico trying to figure this out. However, the fourth time was the charm and as of now all the paperwork has been signed and we close on the 18th of October. Whew!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe had gone the sale our estate sellers were having last weekend and came away with mixed feelings. First, the house was ancient, an old woman (probably my age) had died and had lived alone for many years and NEVER threw anything away. Can you say fox fur wrap and a rabbit hair coat? The kids wanted the estate sellers to do the best they could and then I think the rest was going to be sent to the land fill. To say there was virtually NOTHING anybody wanted is a complete understatement. There is another sale a week before ours and it is a high end sale and I am anxious to see that one. In the mean time I am taking pictures to send to the company to put up the week before the sale.
Today we went through the bins from the attic. We now have an Angie “ not sure what to do with this…maybe take it…maybe give it to the kids, maybe put it for sale, or maybe landfill it. Same with me but we consolidated many bins so there is much more room in the garage.
Next on the agenda is the house inspector for the new buyers. He is coming tomorrow and will be here for about three hours. We need to be gone during that time, but really feel since the house is only four years old and we are not abusive, all should go well.
Since we are having the estate sale on the 20th and 21, the occupancy was delayed to the morning of the 22 so everything has to be removed on the final day of the sale. The estate people guarantee they will have it all gone and we have arrange for our wonderful housekeeper to come in and make sure everything is spotless for the new homeowners.
Funny things happen when you go through this. We had a piece of art sitting on a tall table. I remembered we had a matching table that was a bit smaller and I started looking for it so I could photograph them side by side. We hunted, discussed, cussed, for several days and finally figured we had lost it, given it away or something. That night when I sat down to watch tv, I turned to get the remote and had to laugh. There was the table. We had been using that table for three years between our chairs and it became invisible.
Hi Steve & Angie, Jane & I have enjoyed your Blog and hope you will continue.
DeleteI sent you a link to a site I found which paints a very rosy picture of the Lake Chapala area and includes a very comprehensive list of the costs for living related to renting and buying.
Perhaps you can include the link for your fellow bloggers (www.accesslakechapala.com).
You certainly have found a wonderful spot in Mexico in terms of climate, affordability, proximity to a large city with modern medical care, full shopping, great transportation access back to the States and friendly locals. I might just talk Jane into a vacation to the area. We are tied to Arizona with family and business but are always looking for a vacation spot for a month. I bet the lake has wonderful fishing! I am really glad you found a buyer for your home and fully understand the plethora of decisions one has to make to get rid of all the "Stuff" accumulated over the years.
Bon Voyage and Good Luck,
Steve & Jane
driveusa101@gmail.com
Any Idea how to exchange "Unknown" with my name?
ReplyDeleteSunday…The final countdown is on…Five days from today we fly to Florida to help our friend get rid of all her “stuff” as well. Then it is off to Mexico on the 31…(Halloween seems appropriate for this nightmare)
ReplyDeleteThese final days are a mixture of discovery of items long forgotten, remembrance of joys and sorrows connected with “things”, relief of disposing of collected nonsense and decisions of what needs to be moved on to a new life. As mentioned, we had decided each of us could have three large suitcases plus a back pack and a small roller case with a limit of 50 pounds per bag.…..almost made it…but then there was the printer we had forgotten about and my French Press coffee pot. Off to the store for one more suitcase. We found a hard side on sale that looks like something Andy Worhol would have designed with hearts, love and wild designs. Certainly will not be difficult to spot this one on the luggage carousel.
Monday…The Estate Sales people arrived at 6:30 am this morning to take pictures and start pricing the materials for the sale Friday and Saturday. Also this morning I have a final doctor’s appointment to get my medical records and fill any last prescriptions I need to have filled before the end of the week. Need to make more signs to place around the neighborhood, announce the sale on the neighborhood email, and advertise on Craigslist. Postal change of address, setting dates for shutting down electricity, gas, water and trash. Finish packing the last of the items and of course drinking one more great bottle of wine…darn, but it HAS to be done.
New owners and their agent want to do a walk through at 4:15 today…the house is going to be in total disarray with everything down off the walls, but there is not much we can do about that. I have emptied all the bins in the garage and place all the “treasures” on bins with boards so people can walk up and down rows and shop. Not to forget that Angie must spend several hours everyday on line with her many students and classes for American College of Education. Needs internet until the last minute this week.
Tuesday…sign the closing papers 9 am and that should put a final stamp on this long process. More staging, pricing and display. Seems like a light day, but I know that will change…Angie is returning her car to the dealer this morning. She is sad to return it because she really liked the car but we no longer will need it and when we think that we no longer need the gas, upkeep, car insurance, AAA....it makes us feel better. Tomorrow we have rented a van from the airport that we will use to transport luggage on Friday morning. When we get back, I will take my car to Car Mart and sell it as well. Will keep you posted
Hi Steve & Angie, Hope your flight to and first week in Ajijic has been less hectic than getting ready for the move. I just am amazed at how much you had to do to prepare for this adventure in changing your lives so dramatically. I am impressed at how you handled the move away from family and friends. I thought about how this would impact me and then realized that most family and friends would just as soon visit in Mexico than where we live now and just about as often! My research on retirement, assisted living and long term vacation spots in Mexico has really opened my eyes. Last week 60 Minutes did a segment on Mexico and the Americans and Canadians who are realizing the benefits of retirement and assisted living care in Mexico. Hope you keep up your Blog! By the way please check and make sure that my email address in your files is driveusa101@gmail.com. I am closing out my AOL account. Thanks!!! Steve
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