When it
was time for my wife, Rebecca, and I to make our break with the corporate
world and make a real family life for our young son and ourselves we moved
to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. This was a good starting
point since I had only used Spanglish since college and I had to relearn
true Spanish. We opened a property management and rental company there
and were amazed at the reception that we got in a short time. SMA is a
wonderful place, we still have our business there and still spend a good
bit of time there but that is not what I am here to tell you about.
Last year Rebecca
and I took a vacation to drive the East Coast of Mexico and look for a
beach house we could use for vacations. We drove the coast from Poza Rica
down to Veracruz nosing through small out of the way beach villages but
we never came across one that had that certain “feel” that we were
looking for.
We were
about to turn back toward SMA from Veracruz dejected but didn’t want to
waste the extra week we had set aside for this trip so we followed the
coast first south, then east than amazingly north and east again. We
came to Merida, the capital city of the state of Yucatan. Having lived
in Mexico for 3 years at this point the first thing that struck us was
how clean this city of 750,000 was. The old architecture and proximity
of the Mayan ruins was great if only it had been on the coast instead of
30 miles inland. We are from the Texas gulf coast and have always had an
affinity for the ocean.
When we
mentioned this we were directed to Progreso due north of Merida on the
Gulf of Mexico. We followed what had to be one of the best roads in
Mexico for the ½ hour drive to the beach. The road literally ends
at the Malecon, sea wall. The water was not a sparkling blue but rather
varying shades of light green. Surf was almost non-existent. The Malecon
was lined with restaurants and small hotels. There was a calm about the
town and a welcoming sense to it. Before we had even gotten out of the
car Rebecca and I both knew we had found a place with our “feel”
but we also knew that we were now more than 1000 miles from SMA. We decided
that we would spend the rest of our vacation here anyway.
We found
out that Progreso was THE place to spend summer vacations for the wealthy
of Merida and Mexico City before Hurricane Gilbert 13 years before. There
were many grand old houses along the malecon that just needed some TLC
to breathe life into them. The beaches were pleasant, as were the onshore
breezes in the afternoon. The people were a delight. During that brief
stay we found cheap flights advertised between Merida and Mexico City,
only 4.0 hrs. From SMA and we began to think we could make this work for
a vacation home. Unfortunately, by this time we had to get ready to return
to SMA.
Four months
later there was a lull in the tourist season in SMA so I took the opportunity
to run back to Progreso and look for something we could rent or buy as
a vacation home. The trip over was smooth and a rental car easy to come
by.
I looked
at a great variety of houses, apartments, beach front condos etc. in Progreso,
Chixculub, San Benito, Uayumatin, and Chelem before I finally decided to
rent a condo for a year to see how we liked it. I still had two days
left before my return flight so I decided to get a head start on what I
intended to do when we had more time to spend here, be lazy. I was strolling
along a street between my hotel and downtown when I saw a run down, old
manor house for sale. On a whim I called the number and was allowed in
to see the place. I must admit I fell in love with it right away but I
figured the price had to be way out of my range. It had 8 bedrooms,
3-car garage, a small pool and a very large lot. (Not exactly a vacation
cottage). I asked the price and I was amazed that it was within the
budget and the next thing I new I had an agreement to buy the place.
That was
when the real work began. How to justify to Rebecca, who still had
not seen the place, that we needed a house like this one. How to justify
the expenses of remodeling our, “vacation home.” How to handle
the legal work of a foreigner buying beach property from 1000 miles away.
In central Mexico where we lived foreigners can own fee simple but this
was the beach and that was different.
I got a
recommendation for a good attorney who spoke English. My Spanish is
passable but I wanted no misunderstandings in this. I was told that I had
two options for the purchase a bank trust if this was to be a private home
or a corporation if it was to generate revenue. That was when the light
went off in my head. I had always wanted a beach side B&B of my own.
This justified the remodeling expenses, the size and even made it an easy
sell to Rebecca. The only problem now was how to have two businesses 1000
miles apart. Rebecca solved that by training our manager in SMA to take
on some extra responsibilities so that we didn’t have to physically be
in SMA all of the time.
After 2
months of trials and tribulations to make sure we had everything in order
it was time to close the deal. I drove out with our 15 passenger van
loaded to the rafters with many of our things that we would need out here.
I arrived
two days before the scheduled closing and to no ones great surprise the
closing was delayed. It did finally happen a week later though.
I moved in to a house that had been practically abandoned for 12 years.
I had no running water, no electricity and I couldn’t even really secure
the doors in the house. That was 8 months and many more dollars than I
had originally intended to spend ago and I could not be happier with what
we did.
We closed
in September and in November cruise ships started to arrive. First one
every Wednesday, then two a week until this spring when there were 5 a
week. In January the State of Yucatan started pouring money into Progreso
to give it a face-lift for the cruise ships passengers. The houses in town
started to be fixed up in February. A new shopping plaza and movie theater
just broke ground. It now seems that this area is springing back to life.
We discovered
that there was a small year-round expatriate community and of course, the
snowbirds from Canada in the winter. There are still deals to be found
but they are getting fewer and farther between. Several units in a beach
front condo complex near us sold recently in the 40,000 USD range in only
3 weeks. Mirror images of these are for sale in another complex for 60k-70k
USD. The newer houses and condos to the east of town command more money
and Chelem is the least expensive area. There is talk a ferry service starting
between Progreso and Florida beginning this summer. Our sleepy little Fishing
village has become a destination.
With all
of the changes Progreso still remains a quiet peaceful and safe place to
live. A few blocks away from the main street (80th) and the malecon,
Progreso is tranquil even on the busiest of days. Almost anything can be
obtained in Progreso itself, but it you want US style shopping, Merida
is only 30 miles away with malls, multiplexes, department stores, chain
restaurants and everything else that we have run away from but still like
to visit on occasion.
Come visit
us in Progreso sometime and it may have the same effect on you that it
did on us. If you have questions about how to get here, where to stay,
what to do, buying real estate, or anything at all, feel free to contact
us at casaquixote@prodigy.net.mx
, we will do our best to help you.
Curtis Harrison
Casa Quixote
B&B
Progreso,
Yucatan
