How I Purchased Investment Property In Mexico
After years of paying someone else's mortgage by staying in their vacation rentals, I purchased my own! I'm sharing what I did as a way to diversify my investment portfolio & share what I've learned!
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Why I Purchased a Condo as an Investment in Mexico
Since the advent of Airbnb and VRBO, when I travel I almost always elect staying in someone’s home or condo those rather than traditional hotels.
Why? Because there’s always a basic (or sometimes fancy) yet functional kitchen with a stove to make a couple of scrambled eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich and a refrigerator to store my favorite beverages. I don't need to pay $50 for a hotel breakfast to have two eggs and a coffee when I can do it myself. So having a kitchen when I'm traveling is always a big bonus. There's always more space than in a traditional hotel room and when traveling with my daughter, she gets her own room and my husband and I get ours. That makes for a much happier vacation for everybody! Bonus points if there are two separate bathrooms so that everyone isn't fighting over the shower and vanity space.
After going on a Christmas and New Year's trip (and locked into those two weeks only because that's when people with school aged kids can travel), I realized what I had spent to stay in someone else's condo that I had found on Airbnb, and yes, it was lovely, but I realized I just paid their mortgage or lined their pockets.
And that’s when I decided that I wanted my own property. And I began exploring how to make that dream a reality.
Why I’m Sharing My Experience
Whenever I mention that I own investment property in Mexico at a dinner party or in passing to somebody, everyone stops dead in their tracks and wants to hear my story. It instantly becomes the most “fascinating” topic and people seem genuinely interested and just can't believe it and just can't believe it's possible!
So I figured if so many people in my actual real life are that interested and curious, maybe my readers here are curious as well. So I figured I’d share what I’ve learned along the way to help someone else if this is your dream and your journey.
The other things I've learned as I've gotten older is that you can't be afraid to take some risks in life, you can't be afraid to live your life to the fullest (in light of my recent health scare this is especially true), and to do the things you want to do - even if they’re not what ‘everyone else is doing’. You never know if it will end up being one of the best things you’ve ever done.
That’s not to say this has come without sacrifice. It’s come with tons! All entrepreneurs and small business owners know this especially well. I work tons - nights, weekends, and holidays for nearly the last 17 years creating content on the internet. But with that sacrifice, I’m grateful that I have been able to provide for my family, to save money, and to invest.
Why Buy Real Estate in Mexico?
Over the years, I’ve loved traveling to Mexico. With close proximity to Southern California, air travel is generally pretty reasonable and the flights are short. The beaches are beautiful, the weather is stunning 9 months a year, and the food is incredible. Why not!
In California, unless you're incrediblyyyy wealthy, it's pretty tricky (nearly impossible) to buy real estate in today’s market and get ahead on it. If you can’t pay cash, the amount of your mortgage is likely going to be more than you can rent it out for. And banks don’t like to give loans on investment property, so it’s almost a moot point.
However, prices in most parts of Mexico are a fraction of what they are in coastal California and it makes a real estate investment more attractive. And actually possible!
So I decided to move some money from my retirement accounts to real estate there.
The other reason why I chose to use some of my retirement money in an investment property is because quite frankly I want to “enjoy” my retirement money and have it working for me and have some benefit now, during my younger years, not just when I’m 70+! Seeing numbers grow in a 401k plan or a Roth IRA are certainly nice but sitting on the beach with a beautiful view and a tropical drink in my hand, knowing that this too is a retirement investment, is nicer for me. To each their own of course.
