My honey and I having been traveling in Mexico since 2016. First Playa del Carmen, then Akumal, and quickly back to Playa del Carmen. We moved in 2019 to Yucatan state because a friend told us you could rent condos and homes right on the beach, something that is almost impossible to do in Quintana Roo for under USD$3 Million.

And they were right, we first rented a condo right on the beach for less than we were spending in Playa del Carmen. We loved it. Since 2019 we have stayed in over 10 different places both on the beach in several areas and Merida, the nearby big city inland.

About 9 months ago, we decided we just loved this area so much that we started looking for a house.

After staying in over 20 different places in Mexico and having stayed in condos and houses in many cities and towns we really knew what we wanted.

We wanted a house. Some condos we stayed in were really nice. But, we liked the privacy of a house.

We also knew that living right on the beach was way more fun than even being one or two rows back from the beach.

My love found a place that she liked. She arranged to see it again so I could have a tour and I saw a lot of potential in it.

Yucatán Beach House

Yucatán Beach House

It needed some work and we would need to buy furniture since we had been just renting furnished places.

The buying process was slow. After the owner accepted our offer it took 8 months to close.

We had to move three times during that time in the area because we couldn’t find a rental for more than 3 months at a time.

There was a unique small technical delay that took 6 months to fix. Plus some government offices were closed and then had restricted hours during the process due to the Worldwide Pandemic. But, once that was all fixed the process was pretty smooth.

Our lawyer and realtor told us about each step and the seller really wanted to sell so it all worked out.

We learned a lot about buying a house in Mexico. It was slow. We got to hang out in two condos on the beach so it wasn’t so bad. You just need some patience so that everything that needs to be done has its time to be completed.

Yucatán Beach Yard with Palapa

Yucatán Beach Yard with Palapa

I wouldn’t have bought a house in Mexico if I just first came here.

It was a process. I needed to get used to Mexico, the culture, and how things work. I highly recommend you make it a process instead of buying a place over the Internet and hoping it’ll all works out.

Living on the beach isn’t easy. There is a lot of maintenance. But, in almost five years of living in Mexico, we have learned how to get help.

Besides the lovely maids, we have had at each of our places we have stayed at which usually came with the place, we have gotten help from grocery stores either via mobile app delivery or hiring an assistant when the pandemic lockdown didn’t allow us to go to the grocery store (due to our age) and we were in a location without grocery delivery service, so we hired someone younger than us that was allowed to go to the grocery store.

I can’t drive so we have learned to hire drivers for when we want to go out. During this time of waiting for the house to close, we went out almost every weekend to see the local sights. We have visited Vallolodid, Campeche, Merida several times, and Celestun. And we look forward to going back and visiting those places plus a lot of new places in the future after we have a few initial house projects done.

The first three days of being in our house have been tidying up and getting our new furniture and space set up.

Expat Chris at Yucatán Beach

At my beach gate

Just got the beach gate workable this morning so we can get to the beach now. Our local helper came over with wirecutters and fixed the fence so it will open again. I got to dip my feet in the Gulf of Mexico. My love just left for Merida to get a lot of things we are missing.

We have a long list of projects we want to do including installing a pool, steam room, and a garden plus solar panels. Solar panels are a really great deal here. It’s the perfect weather and location that makes solar panels really powerful. Plus, the electricity cost here in Mexico is like California USA, very expensive. So the return on investment is pretty fast. It’s worth the expense.

Will show more of the house in the future.

Yucatán Beach

Yucatan Beach