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TBo

Sep 8, 2010, 9:16 PM

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Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Howdy,
Since I've been exploring the GTO.list website that was just recommended on another thread, I've looked at some of the vacation rentals there and been shocked at the monthly prices. Out of about 10 listings, I found none less than $750/month, most a hundred, or two, or three more. I realize that a monthly vacation rental would be pricier than what you might pay monthly for a longer period, a year or maybe even 6 months. I also realize from years of rental experience that a lot of what you can get depends on who you know and, especially, timing. My wife and I are hoping for a pretty inclusive rate of about $600/month for a place that is pretty clean, attractive but not at all fancy, small but located in a vibrant neighborhood, lacking a few amenities some might consider necessities, and most all luxuries. I'd like to hear that's still possible in such places as Guanajuato, SMA, Morelia, Patzcuaro, but I am certainly open to alternative locations, although not summer heat and humidity. Thanks, and if you can point me to other threads or forums where I can find this info/advice, I'll take that, too.
Tom

Anonimo

Sep 9, 2010, 3:18 AM

Post #2 of 32 (5803 views)

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Re: [TBo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Speaking very generally, if a property is listed on the Internet, it will cost you more than if you were in the place of interest, networking one to one, reading notices on physical bulletin boards and just looking for "se vende" or "se renta" signs on buildings.

Yes, it's more work, but it often pays off.

Saludos,
Anonimo

johnv

Sep 9, 2010, 8:02 AM

Post #3 of 32 (5771 views)

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Re: [TBo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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In the city of Guanajuato, there is a weekly publication called "El Chopper". It is the main source of real estate advertising for the city and surrounding area, both for rentals and houses for sale. It can be purchased at any news stand in the city, and comes out on Saturdays. It commonly sells out though by Tuesday, so it it a good idea to buy your copy on Saturday.

Guanajuato is not the cheapest city in Mexico, but I think you can find a rental easily in the range you have mentioned, especially if you don't look on the internet, as advised by Anonimo.

sparks

Sep 9, 2010, 8:58 AM

Post #4 of 32 (5753 views)

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Re: [johnv] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Chopper Renta

http://www.semanariochopper.com/...ion-576&Itemid=5

Good possibility you'll need to pay 700+ if you want fully furnished and ready to move in, linens etc

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

(This post was edited by sparks on Sep 9, 2010, 9:01 AM)

jerezano

Sep 9, 2010, 10:55 AM

Post #5 of 32 (5727 views)

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Re: [sparks] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Hello all,

Guanajuato is now known as the Yuppie capital of Mexico. Of course the rental prices are high and will be higher in the future.

Why not consider el Peñaso de Bernal? True that city is flooded on weekends by Mexico City tourists and prices tend to be high on shops and restaurants that are open only on weekends but for permanent city residents, the living is cheap and while real estate lots are expensive, long term rentals can probably be found at prices well below that $750 usd per month. Too, Bernal is near everything. It is only a short distance to the major cuotas to the South, to the North, to the West and to the East. Also the climate is typically central highlands (perhaps a bit cold in the winter) but most residents do not need air conditioning or heating. It is not really distant from Queretaro, nor even Guanajuato, nor Mexico City if one has a car.

Too, that flooding by tourists on weekends creates a lot of high-end shops (really expensive) offering merchandise that is really high-end as well.

Or a village somewhere near Bernal? Or if you must even near Guanajuato.

Hasta luego, jerezano.

db52

Sep 9, 2010, 2:43 PM

Post #6 of 32 (5696 views)

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Re: [TBo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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If this link works, here are furnished houses and apartments in Guanajuato. One and two bedrooms--but you can modify tyhe search.

http://search.vivastreet.com.mx/...end]=2&end_field=

(This post was edited by Rolly on Sep 9, 2010, 2:53 PM)

TBo

Sep 9, 2010, 8:07 PM

Post #7 of 32 (5646 views)

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Re: [sparks] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Thanks for the link, Sparks. Using Google Translate to read these pages en ingles, I can see how gaining fluency in Spanish over the next couple of years will definitely pay off in ability to find and negotiate for an affordable casita.

johnv

Sep 9, 2010, 8:55 PM

Post #8 of 32 (5637 views)

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Re: [jerezano] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Yuppie capital of Mexico ??? You're lucky if there are 400 foreigners in Guanajuato, with a population of 140,000, would hardly qualify as a capital !
Nevertheless, I have often thought of checking out Bernal, but now that you mention the flooding in of outsiders on weekends, I don't know. There is no such flooding in of outsiders in Guanajuato on weekends, that I know of.

jerezano

Sep 9, 2010, 9:20 PM

Post #9 of 32 (5631 views)

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Re: [johnv] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Hello johnv,

Didn't you know that Mexico has its own version of Yuppies? Yuppies are not all gringos to point up the obvious.

And no, I never found Guanajuato flooded with tourists. But yes, flooded with people wanting to be tourist guides and selling them tacky tourist souvenirs and junk. That is true both for the Cervantes Festival, when the flood of college kids is really noticeable, and also for the rest of the year. I have been in and out of Guanajuato at least five times now, with stays of as long as a week. And yes, although not flooded like Bernal, there are a lot of tourists. It is a much larger city than Bernal too, so the effect in Bernal is more noticeable.

Be all that said, I must say that I too like Guanajuato. I just wouldn't live there because prices are skyrocketing just as they have in San Miguel de Allende. I couldn't afford it, although I know that people who have lived in an area for a long time, just like SMA or Ajijic etc, know the ins and outs of the city and can live very economically. Isn't there a couple living in San Miguel de A who claim they can live there quite comfortably on their Social Security Income? Much as I like SMA I personally could not do so.

Bernal is flooded on weekends with parking problems etc because of Mexican City tourists being able to drive there so quickly, spend the week end, buy high end merchandise in wool with European up-to-date styling, the nearby winery and tour and the spectacular floodlighting of the Penasco. Also all the other high-end art, furniture, jewelry etc available. Good hotels and excellent week end restaurants. Entertainment in some restaurants just as in SMA. Nevertheless with Monday the Penasco is not floodlighted until the next weekend. The high end shops have all closed, as have most of the really good restaurants, and the streets are clean and lots of parking. In fact to a tourist a dead village. To a resident a delightful place to live.

Also the residents of Bernal claim to have the longest lives of anyone else in Mexico. Who knows? Attributed to the magic mountain.

jerezano.

Anonimo

Sep 10, 2010, 12:39 AM

Post #10 of 32 (5609 views)

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Re: [johnv] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Bernal is a pretty little place; but after a day, my blood sugar rose excessively from the preciosity of the place. It left me with a sense of unreality.

Saludos,
Anonimo

Hound Dog

Sep 10, 2010, 10:32 AM

Post #11 of 32 (5557 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Bernal is a pretty little place; but after a day, my blood sugar rose excessively from the preciosity of the place. It left me with a sense of unreality.

I like that word, "preciosity". It seems to me that San Miguel d´Allende, GTO suffers as well from an excess of "preciosity".

For years I aspired to live in or near "precious" St. Helena, California in the Napa Valley only to finally achieve that goal in the 1990s and subsequently suffer Anonimo´s blood sugar reaction so terribly that when I left there, I did not stop until I arrived in Mexico. Happiness, as it turned out, was the Napa Valley in the rear view mirror.

I am reminded of when I first moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s and noticed in newspaper classified ads for real estate that some homes and condos were advertised as "BHPO". I asked my colleagues what that meant and they explained that that meant the residence was not located in Beverly Hills but had a Beverly Hills Post Office address. That, apparently was worth a lot of money in those days. So some postal employee from Torrance was to be greatly impressed that one lived in the BHPO area as he/she sorted through the day´s junk mail..

Freedom is to finally not give a damn what others think of where you live.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Sep 10, 2010, 11:09 AM)

Rolly

Sep 10, 2010, 10:45 AM

Post #12 of 32 (5549 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Freedom is to finally not give a damn what others think of where you live.
Or what you drive or what you wear.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

TBo

Sep 10, 2010, 10:35 PM

Post #13 of 32 (5470 views)

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Re: [jerezano] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Jerezano, As a couple who have lived into their middle age with a woeful paucity of ambition, my wife and I are in a similar situation as you re: needing to live on not too much more than our Social Security. Tom

TBo

Sep 10, 2010, 10:36 PM

Post #14 of 32 (5469 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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I appreciation the wry humor in your characterization of Bernal. It sounds to me like Sedona, up here in the states.

TBo

Sep 10, 2010, 10:43 PM

Post #15 of 32 (5468 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Hound Dog, I usually associate this "preciosity" that's come into the discussion with a lack of much, or any, dimensionality. I would have thought Guanajuato was big enough to have multiple identities. No?

Peter

Sep 10, 2010, 11:41 PM

Post #16 of 32 (5460 views)

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Re: [TBo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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The city of Guanajuato has kind of a unique layout, kind of bowl-shaped with some narrow streets, houses built in several stories going up the sides of hills, and tunnels excavated with passageways that seem to lead to surprising places. Artsy and touristy. I visited there and spent the night one time while travelling with some Mexican friends. We saw some of the sites and when asked by them what I thought of the place I answered, "Con queso." They took that as an adequate description.

I have a friend in Morelia that was an exotic male dancer in Guanajuato for a time. He now lives back in Morelia with his wife and kids in an exclusive neighborhood in a house his father-in-law bought for them that has seven baños, at least that many bedrooms, two guest or servants houses, and a gym and sauna - in the house, not part of the common grounds. His sister who is a dentist in San Miguel de Allende shrugs her shoulders unimpressedly about Guanajuato and comments that the food around there is not very good and town smells bad because of the sewer system is inadequate. I didn't notice a bad smell on my trip there. The people of the town are nicknamed "ranas" and you could expect to hear a lot of frogs croaking after a rain shower. The area may be of particular interest if you are a rock hound.

I thought the place was interesting and would not be a bad place to live. I didn't check out the prices but would not guess it to be a low-cost area. As with any place in Mexico though, if you have a determined interest to live in that town you could probably do some searching and find something within your budget even though it may not be your dream house.

Anonimo

Sep 11, 2010, 1:22 AM

Post #17 of 32 (5448 views)

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Re: [TBo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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In Reply To

I appreciation the wry humor in your characterization of Bernal. It sounds to me like Sedona, up here in the states.

It's really worth a visit, for an afternoon, or perhaps overnight. It's a "B&B" sort of place.
Have a look at the pictures; first those of my friend, Larpman:
http://www.pbase.com/larpman/bernal, then my few:
http://picasaweb.google.com/...Queretaro42907356AM#. Mine lack that certain "glow" that Larpman's have.

Saludos,
Anonimo

gpkgto

Sep 11, 2010, 6:03 AM

Post #18 of 32 (5427 views)

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Re: [TBo] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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I am not sure what you would find available since there are few (no?) gringos living there--but I always thought Dolores Hidalgo might be a good and less expensive alternative to both San Miguel de A. and Guanajuato capital (as we call the city of Guanajuato here in the state of Guanajuato). Dolores has some charm and is very close to San Miguel and not far from Guanajuato.

Guanajuato capital IS a big tourist town, but the tourists are more Mexican. (As the gringos bail on San Miguel--because of the bad US economy and the bad press in the US re: visiting Mexico--the tourists there are also becoming more Mexican). The University of Guanajuato and the state government keep the city busy during the week, so the centro/downtown area is always bustling. Living on the callejones may seem charming, but wait until you have to carry your groceries or a garrafon of water up a hill all the time--it may get tiring--literally and figuratively. We considered moving there before we decided on Irapuato (no charm, no tourists), but after several days looking at properties (we were living in Leon at the time) we lost interest.

Anonimo

Sep 11, 2010, 6:52 AM

Post #19 of 32 (5420 views)

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Re: [gpkgto] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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I thought that the small town of Sta Rosa, GTO was appealing. But I can't give any details other than the notable restaurants, the mayolica taller, and the conservas store. I believe it gets cold in winter.

Saludos,
Anonimo

sandykayak

Sep 15, 2010, 1:57 PM

Post #20 of 32 (5167 views)

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Re: [jerezano] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Hello johnv,

Isn't there a couple living in San Miguel de A who claim they can live there quite comfortably on their Social Security Income? Much as I like SMA I personally could not do so. Jerezano.>> You might be thinking of Carol Schmidt (and her partner Norma). google falling in love with san miguel...(that's the title of her book). they have an active site/forum. Also, Carol is a co-author with Rolly on the most recent moving to mexico book. (Rolly, pl insert link)
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

Peter

Sep 15, 2010, 2:01 PM

Post #21 of 32 (5164 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Social Security payments could quite conceivably be over $2,000 per month with two people receiving roughly equal sized payments. Yes, I could live quite comfortably in SMA on $4,000 a month, perhaps even in Valle de Bravo for that as well.

sandykayak

Sep 15, 2010, 2:20 PM

Post #22 of 32 (5153 views)

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Re: [Peter] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Gosh, I don't know anyone with $2K SS. I think their range was in the low to mid $1K+. This is for 2 people, not a single person. You're the second person I've heard making sarcastic comments about their "How to live on SS income" premise. I wonder why?
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

Peter

Sep 15, 2010, 2:45 PM

Post #23 of 32 (5145 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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No sarcasm intended. I bailed out for retirement early and before my Social Security has kicked-in. My annual statement still tells me my SS would be over $2k if I wait until 70 to draw it.

Not knowing how much one is receiving leaves that amount fairly open. I don't see two people living on SS and making jointly over $4k per month to be out of the equation.

Even in the highest-cost areas of Mexico there is still low-cost housing available. The question is, how much luxury do you require?

Papirex

Sep 15, 2010, 4:28 PM

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Re: [sandykayak] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Two years ago, the maximum Social Security payment was $2100 Dollars per month, I don't know what it is today. The average monthly benefit is much lower than the maximum. I do not receive the maximum payment, but close to it. If necessary, we could live on that income alone here in Cuernavaca, which is neither a very cheap, or expensive place to live. My Mexicana wife never earned any US Social Security benefits in The US.

We do live a little high on the hog here, I did earn three union pensions during my working life, one tiny, one small, and one very comfortable, in addition to my Social Security benefit. That is four sources of regular income. My monthly income in retirement does exceed $4,000 US Dollars per month.

I started doing serious planning for my retirement when I was just 29 years old. That may seem like a young age, but I was raised during the great depression, and I have always been aware that we all get old. If we don't start planning for our retirement early, we will be in a world of hurt when we do inevitably reach our “Golden years.”

A Social Security benefit is based on a persons lifetime earnings and it was never intended to be a full pension, but only a supplement to any other pensions or investments a person may have, it does that very well. I get my Social Security payment on the third Wednesday of every month, Today I received it. My wife, suegra and I went out for a very nice breakfast, then I bought some needed clothes. We also bought tickets for the Bi-centennial Independence Day dinner that The Newcomers Club is hosting tomorrow. No budgeting, or pre-planning necessary. Painless to just do it.

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

Reefhound

Sep 15, 2010, 4:56 PM

Post #25 of 32 (5118 views)

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Re: [Papirex] Shocked at GTO rental prices

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Why is your wife not eligible for spousal benefits?

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