Most people don’t think or consider the possibility of owning property away from their home country. Which is somewhat interesting from a money conscious point of view. Owning in Mexico couldn’t be easier than it is today. So why are most of us insisting on vacationing 2-4-5 times a year now? We like to escape our everyday troubles and sit and sip on margaritas and soak up the sun. What use to be a “once a year” thing for a lot of us, has become intrinsically more frequent. Let me ask you…Why did you buy a house in Canada or the United States? What was the point? I am guessing that the point was that you were getting tired of renting and wanted to sink your hard earned money into something tangible, perhaps something that could appreciate and make money back for you. With most of us, that is exactly what we did. My next question is, when are you going to consider applying that same principal to your vacation dollar throwaways? So here are the facts:
We know that as we get older we are vacationing more frequently…like we said, up to 5 times a year in a lot of cases. I know personal friends that go more frequently than that in fact. Essentially they are renting either a hotel room, all inclusive package, AirBnb’s, VRBO’s…and the list goes on. Back at square one with the renting. The decision you made to get smart and stop throwing away your money and putting it into real estate in Canada or the United States, was perhaps one of the best decisions you made in your life. The horror story of 2008 with the real estate market in the United States and foreclosures was devastating, and I cant ignore that some of you reading this are thinking… “this guy is crazy”. Honestly though, I believe the majority of us reading this blog right now has had great success with real estate and perhaps has built us whatever small fortune we have today. Yet we have overlooked the opportunity of seizing that day again.
We are older and wiser and what was a no brainer back home, hasn’t even crossed our minds in a vacation investment property. You are the landlord, you hold the rights, you block off the dates and enjoy it whenever and however you want. But wait! The money isn’t going out the window anymore is it? The rental market in Vallarta couldn’t be stronger. You also don’t have all the rules associated with renting that we do in Canada and the United States. As an owner of Mexican property, it is your legal right to rent your property out. No judge or jury in the South here will tell you otherwise. The point I’m trying to get across is that, this is a business here. When you are buying property in Vallarta for you to enjoy, you are also buying a business opportunity. You are buying what you bought 10 years, 20 years, 30 years ago in Canada and the U.S. You are buying a way to hold on to the money that you are spending on vacations. In fact, you are buying a profitable business, depending on how much you’d like to pay attention and nurture that business. And if you feel like doing none of the above, there are property management companies (we know a great one in particular) that will help you yield returns and have your vacation investment do what its suppose to do, and that is, keeping the money and putting it directly back into your pocket.
Damian Bassett
THE JOHNSON & BASSETT TEAM