Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Some say our lives boil down to the individual choices we make. When I look back over my life that statement certainly rings true. Call it the decision tree of life. We climb out on one limb only to find our way stymied, but with more limbs offering us opportunity or disaster. We reach dead ends and either fall back or jump higher, clasping at something that may or may not lead toward the canopy. Success comes from either making more right decisions than wrong ones or by getting lucky and choosing that one limb that leads directly to the top.
So what does this have to do with living in Mexico? Fair question.
When Lydia and I made the decision in March of 2019 to move to Puerto Aventuras, we were reaching for a limb that seemed to offer clear climbing to sunlight. Stuck in a maze of twigs and branches that obscured our view of the future, we shot our hands out and grasped a solid-looking branch that seemed to offer us a way to reach our next goal: a comfortable retirement. Being self-employed, with too little in retirement investments and too much in real estate equity, we were faced with working into our 70s. But when we reached this little town of Puerto Aventuras on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, we saw a route forward.
More Decisions
So that was our first big decision: move to PA. But that was quickly followed by an endless stream of others. Sell or rent our house in Mount Pleasant? Buy or rent in PA? Condo or house? Marina, beach or golf course? Buy a golf cart or a car? Apply for a permanent or temporary resident visa? “Expedite” the visa or not? These are just some of the bigger forks in the tree. So here’s what we decided to do and, as much as I can explain, why.
Buying or Renting?
This decision took the longest to make and, in the end, was largely made for us. Originally, we wanted to buy a place. We figured that, after selling the house, we’d have as much as $300,000 to spend on a new home. This amount would give us our choice of PA locations, even the beach, if we could live with smaller. Unfortunately, or maybe not, it became clear after the house was on the market for a couple of months, that we weren’t going to be able to afford 300. Probably more like 250. OK, that would still get us a nice place on a canal or the golf course with money left over for travel. But as time went by, and the price of our house kept dropping, we had to make the big decision: do we want to spend almost all of our equity on Mexican real estate or could we become long-term renters?
Now, given our unpleasant experiences during this last year. From living in a house that had been completely neutered by the “staging crew” to having to come up with nearly $20,000 for repairs and cosmetic makeovers, we had both lost the itch to be homeowners again. And, finally, when we decided in the Fall, when the house wasn’t selling, to just leave for Mexico and rent a place until it did, we discovered how nice it was to call the landlord when something in our rental condo wasn’t working.
So the buy rent decision was made. We’d pay off debts and have the rest of our equity to travel, buy a car, maybe a boat. It isn’t an enormous sum of money, but as long as we can pay the rent and our other living expenses out of our established retirement income, we’d be in good shape. And because the cost of living down here, even on the Riviera Maya, is probably a third of what it was in greater Charleston, the numbers work.
How about condo or house? Marina, canal or golf course? I wasn’t much of a tree climber as a kid, but I do remember that once you get started, those first few limb choices are no-brainers. That was the case here. The only place we could afford to rent a house was on the backside of the golf course. This would put us farther than we wanted to be from central PA, and the home choices, at the time, didn’t really appeal to us. So condo it was. I must admit, though, this decision did give me pause. I hadn’t lived in an apartment environment in 30 years. But if we wanted to be on the water, which is what we decided, then I’d have to suck it up and make the best of condo living. Since the beach was too expensive, we were left with two water choices: the marina close to Centro or the canals a little further out, on the other side of Centro. But again, this choice was kind of made for us.
When we decided to rent a place in PA, even though we hadn’t yet sold the house, we found that we had to sign a lease for 6 months minimum, in order to get the “long-term rental” rate. The place we decided to rent was in a small condo complex on the same street we had lived on the previous winter, when we were in PA for 6 weeks. The new place was across the street and a little further down the road, away from Centro, but we felt comfortable with the area and the new place was right on the canal. So we rented it sight-unseen. As it turned out we fell in love with this place. I remember telling Lydia when we first started our search, I didn’t want to be on the ground floor because of storms. I didn’t want anyone living above us, because of noise. And I wanted as much privacy as we could get. Guess what, we’re on the ground floor with a family above us. We have windows and sliders on 3 sides, kind of like an aquarium up against a wall. I live in a fishbowl and I love it.
Soon we will be signing a new lease for 2 years, that was our deal with the landlord, who, in turn, would upgrade the appliances and make some other repairs. We have had some furniture made – a drop-leaf dining table, 4 dining chairs, a bench and a bar. We’re also having some glass blown for custom hanging lights over our kitchen counter. The costs of these things are incredibly affordable, the quality of materials and workmanship very high and the pieces have arrived when expected.
On the other hand, it has taken us some time to adjust to condo life. We have a couple of noisy neighbors. But we’ve found that clearly laying out boundaries has engendered a little bit of respect, and, more importantly, a change in behavior. We have also developed several friendships, especially with Anne and Rick, who live a couple of doors down and are the kind of people who offer help and return favors. They took Manito in when we had to return at Christmas to get ready for the house closing. We’ve been out in their boat several times and they often hang out in our place when the noise around the pool gets too intense. Speaking of Manito, he’s helped us make friends with a couple across from our place who have a chihuahua named Chico. I started playing pickleball with Terry at the courts in the park across the street, and Deborah stops by with Chico a few mornings a week so the two dogs can play while we chat. So, on balance, condo life is good.
The big decisions to date have been on the mark. We have no regrets about selling the house and moving to Puerto Aventuras. We love our condo and have done our best to make it our home. When we hear sad stories about people who, for one reason or another, have to sell their property here, we’re glad that we can pick up and leave if we absolutely need to. And it has been great being near our old friends here and in Akumal, and delightful making new ones. There are many more decisions to come, and we know that not all of them will work out this well. But so far we’re in the plus column.
