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March 27, 2011 in Business
U.S. owners in Mexico offer different perspective
A presenter at the Mexico Resort Development Conference in San Diego asked anyone in the room to stand up if they knew of any good news regarding the tourism/housing market in Mexico. More people stood to tell their stories than time allowed.
The presenter ended with: “See, there is good news out there – but what is anyone doing to promote it?”
Not all of Mexico is awash in blood and drugs. Much of the violence occurs in border towns, downtown Mexico City and the community of Culiacan, two hours north of Mazatlan. Recently drug-related problems also surfaced in Acapulco. However, much of the country remains a laid-back, comfortable place to live and visit with inexpensive housing and a low cost of living. The flow of North American traffic in the last quarter of 2010 has increased.
“When someone gets killed in New York City, people in Europe don’t boycott the United States,” said Marino Tomacelli, a San Diego resident who owns property on the Riviera Maya. “There’s a general perception that only negative things are happening in Mexico. That’s coupled with an American ignorance of the geography. If there is a mugging at night in Tijuana, they think there is going to be a problem in Cancun and Cabo.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. I continue to feel safer in Mexico than I do in the states. In fact, I think some people are promoting the violence in Mexico to keep tourist dollars in the states.”
Jeffrey Hill, a former Seattle resident, has four vacation rental homes in Puerto Vallarta and one in Florida. He spends most of his time south of the border and part of his year in Fort Lauderdale. He bristles at the mention of crime in Vallarta.
“Would I ever go out walking at 5 a.m. alone in Lauderdale or Miami? Hell no. Just the thought of that scares the hell out of me. There are many neighborhoods in Seattle where I would never go out walking alone in the dark. I feel far safer in Vallarta than anywhere in the states.”
The major tourism markets in Mexico are still appealing destinations to a variety of visitors, particularly with the heavy travel discounting that has occurred over the past year or two. As a result, new second-home projects are being planned in some of the country’s major tourist markets. Many second homeowners and tourists, however, prefer to be removed from major cities.
“There have been no incidences of drug violence in our little beach community of 15,000,” said Glen Triplett of his 5,000-square foot villa at Rincon de Guayabitos, 45 miles north of Puerto Vallarta. “The local people are very friendly and it is a great place to live. We have spent the summer in Oregon and Washington and have frequently been asked about the ‘drug violence’ much more so than in the past.”
Hill has been going to Puerto Vallarta for more than 30 years and has owned property there for more than 11. He estimates 10 percent of his rental clients ask about the drug violence.
“So what do I tell them? If you are a major drug dealer transporting drugs and money back and forth between the U.S. border states and the Mexico border states, then you should be very concerned about your safety in Mexico, or in the U.S.” he said. “If you are a tourist coming to Puerto Vallarta to soak up the sun and put your feet in the sand, then it’s a waste of your time to even think about the drug wars impacting you in any way. There is absolutely no connection between drug issues and tourism in resort locations like Puerto Vallarta.”
Bill Mencarow spends part of his year in the San Antonio area and owns two luxury vacation rental condos in Cozumel. He and his wife have been in vacation rentals since 2004 and regard it as a business, not just a way to try to pay the expenses of owning personal getaways. They aggressively market these units and others that they own on rental sites like HomeAway.com.
“We hear, ‘I’d never go to Mexico,’ but more from people we know or meet, not from rental inquirers,” Mencarow said. “Those who contact us have already decided to go to Mexico, specifically Cozumel, and they almost never ask about violence. At most, we occasionally are asked if the neighborhood is safe.
“If someone does ask about violence, I tell them that being afraid to go to Cozumel because you’ve heard about violence in Mexico is like being afraid to go to Hawaii because you’ve heard about violence in Detroit.”
Tom Kelly is a former real estate editor for the Seattle Times. His book “Cashing In on a Second Home in Mexico: How to Buy, Rent and Profit from Property South of the Border” was written with Mitch Creekmore of Stewart International.
Seven firms or nonprofits win Agora Awards 
JenN on March 27 at 2:51 p.m.
This is a simplistic and disappointing article. I am an American who lives and travels in Mexico full time. Yes, of course one should not walk at night in the early hours of the morning in any city, agreed. The difference here is that in the United States or Europe if one is the victim of a violent crime they can call a reliable police department that will come to their aid. In Mexico if you call the police you are putting yourself in danger as they do not always have your best interest at heart and are often involved with the cartels or looking for a bribe. I would love to see more balanced articles than these American investors trying to sell Mexican real estate. 35,000 Mexicans have been killed since the wars inception, 111,103 homes abandoned on the border alone, 230,000 displaced people. Remnants of the war are in every major city in Mexico it is not just in the North, you are providing dangerous misinformation. Military platoons are deployed in Nayarit near Rincon de Guayabitos, I doubt that is an accident. I experienced them daily in the month of December that I stayed in the area. The cartel is there shaking down business and doctors for drugs and money. We can talk about Mexico in honest terms and still promote safe tourism. I am still living in Mexico and enjoy being here but let us be honest in our endeavors.
inCozumel on March 27 at 3:41 p.m.
I found the article very fair and balanced. I am not sure where you live, JenN. I would love to know as I live in Cozumel and bringing up the drug cartels is what every fear monger is doing. Like drugs don’t exist in the states? How about gangs and murders? Nowhere is perfect but I have lived in Cozumel for 11 years and I do not work in real estate. I do have a business here (a furniture store) and we have a very active community of ex-pats from all over who enjoy living here. I have no idea where Rincon de Guaybitos is, but I know Cozumel, Cancun, Los Cabos and vacation in Los Cabos every few years. I have been robbed in the town I grew up (in Ohio) and also in the Fort Lauderdale area when I lived there for 18 years. Bad things can happen everywhere. Regarding reliable police departments, there is graft and corruption in many parts of the world, not just in Mexico. I would love to know more about your story …. where you are from, where you live,etc. I have told you my story. I think the article is needed and I applaud it.
JenN on March 27 at 10:20 p.m.
Certainly I can elaborate if you wish. I was raped in San Miguel de Allende in centro at 3:00 in the afternoon in 2010. I was advised not to go to the police as the man was an “untouchable” and the police would protect him. I heard he raped a contract killers daughter and is now dead from an “accident”. I was told by my MD not to go to the hospital as I would be at risk for my life. I have traveled Mexico by car mostly solo and have visited most every state and driven the entire Pacific and the Atlantic three times now and driven up central Mexico numerous times. An American man was murdered that lived behind me for seventeen years by a known gang. When in Nayarit the deployment was like a Vietnam movie and in Tepic there are daily unreported killings now. I met Americans on motorcycles that witnessed a car shot up while driving to the hotel where I was staying in Dec 2010. I met an MD that had his family threatened to get drugs to make meth. It is easier for me to show you an unfortunately dated map as it is easier to list the states without a cartel presence. I have driven into multiple deployments with guns drawn, safe I guess, but hair raising unless one is a veteran of a war, I am not. For the most part the tiny tan part in the center is safe, here are the common drug routes though the alliances have changed:
http://mappery.com/Mexican-Drug-Cartel-Territories-and-Routes-Map
This is an older map and the problem has increased. That said I have traveled the world and lived in major US cities and will continue to travel in and own a home in Mexico, the point is the whole country is in a war not just the border states as these writers would like would be investors to believe. Yes, if one stays in at night and stops at check points even if they look unreal they are mostly looking for someone else.
I would not drive a high end SUV or pick up truck with darkened windows at all in Mexico and one must travel with caution. It is too bad that when problems arrive there is no reliable law enforcement. I was in a hostage situation in 2008 and emailed the US embassy emergency protocal address and CNN and no one responded. That was my point when the writer was silly enough to compare the risk as the same in the US and Europe, I beg to differ. I no longer drive to the US from central Mexico because it is unsafe, especially around Monterrey and now Veracruz. All of the sea ports have cartel presence because many drug derivatives arrive in container shipments from Asia. This is very big dangerous business, to underestimate it is unwise. With the largest arms dealer in the world next door (the USA) supplying the weapons to the cartels there is no end in site. The supply and demand economics of drug use will not change. Mexico is most definitely in trouble and has stopped training special forces in the middle east for an unknown reason. That said, VIVA MEXICO! It is a wonderful coutry with beautiful people and an amazing culture. I do believe you can fly in to most “tourist areas” safely without a problem but let us tell the truth please and not spread flowery misinformation.
lutherscott345 on March 28 at 2:22 a.m.
The market rates may have gone down, or remained the same. For the homeowner to get qualified for lower rates, there are certain prerequisites but I would recommend you search online for “Mortgage Refinance 123” before you decide because they can find the 3% refinance rates.
inCozumel on March 29 at 6:32 p.m.
Jenn, thanks for your response. I have been to San Miguel Allende but not in a few years. The other areas around Nayarit are known drug routes unfortunately. I am sorry for your troubles but the area where we live is completely different and to say all of Mexico is like Nayarit is like saying all of the United States is like downtown Detroit. There are many areas in the United States I will not drive or travel to. I would never attempted to take a road trip in Mexico, traveling the roads to Mexico City and other places.
The world has become a dangerous place but I thankfully live on a beautiful island in the Caribbean. Good luck to finding a safer place to call home, whether in the states or Mexico.
eagleproducer on March 30 at 3:04 p.m.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/14/world/la-fg-mexico-toll14-2010apr14
22,000 murders caused by drug cartels since 2006. All over Mexico, not just the border towns.
No wonder real estate is so cheap. Homes in Detroit are hot bargains too.