[BajaGringo]

The prices are definitely going up down here but only one listing under 300K? Maybe you should look what the non-gringo realtors are offering there right now.

To help you I shortened your link and shared your question to our Facebook group…

https://facebook.com/groups/TalkBaja/posts/5990670610947495/

[bajajeepers]

Thank you!

[JuanSoler]

You might need to stretch your budget just a little but before doing that I would do some research on the rental market to make sure you can justify it. Other options would be to look at just buying some land for now with the idea to build slowly as your budget allows or just look somewhere else. There are some great buys out there of you stay away from the higher traffic areas. That may actually be an even better option for you in retirement.

[bajajeepers]

We can spend up to 300K without having to go further into debt which is our goal but you did make a good point about maybe Todos Santos might look different to us at our target retirement age of 55 vs right now. The wife has been so head strong about Todos Santos so I will have to think about how to open that can of worms with her.

And thanks for the advice.

[Cruiser]

Everything is going up – everywhere. A good friend has his eye on a fixer upper in Ensenada with a great view and he has been talking to the owner about buying it, but the price keeps going up every time he asks. I told him he needs to buy it or stop asking. Here where I live I couldn’t afford to buy right now if I was just getting into the market. Crazy times.

[Cruiser]

Maybe you need to just go down there and spend a week house hunting, walking through the areas that interest you and talk to the locals to see what is available and what the real selling prices are, not what an agent is listing it for online. A lot of Mexicans prefer to sell on their own and not with an agency.

[bajajeepers]

That will probably be our next move, to see if we can find a FSBO

[laguera]

It used to be 300,000 dollars for a home was a lot of money. Today, not so much anymore in popular areas where foreigners like to rent and buy houses and it really is making it more difficult for Mexicans to buy.

[tom-lindsay]

We have wondered about exactly that – how these price increases are affecting the locals who live in those communities?

[laguera]

It is becoming a real issue for many in those areas where foreigners are renting and or buying. We see it around Ensenda, Tijuana and Rosarito too.

[mikel]

Really sorry to hear how we are making it more difficult for local folks to be able to buy a home in their own community.

[laguera]

My cousin there has real estate sales people knocking on her door every week, asking if she wants to sell?

[bajajeepers]

Mexican RE agents have learned the art of canvassing neighborhoods from realtors up here in the US. We get lots of junk mail and business cards left stuck in our door every week from one realtor or another. It’s really just too much some times.

[laguera]

I love the USA but I wish that Mexico would not copy everything from here so much.

[bajatraveler]

My sister-in-law and her husband were down there looking at property last April and came back quite disillusioned, thinking that the prices were a lot less. They are planning a trip to Loreto next month and from there will head up to Mulege, looking for a small home that could function as a vacation rental when they aren’t there. They have a budget of around 225K and said they only saw 2 properties under that in TS and both needed a lot of work. I warned them that Loreto might be nearly just as bad and their best bet will probably be Mulege.

[bajajeepers]

Yeah, it’s really crazy what they are asking for homes still needing a lot of work

[bajatraveler]

They don’t mind (and probably prefer) a home with some work to do. He’s a retired carpenter and a great cabinet builder. But they don’t want anything with serious plumbing, electrical or foundation issues.

[maxmo]

The prices on homes for sale in Todos Santos is simply crazy. My mom was born there and spent the first 10 years of her life in El Pescadero before my grandfather moved the family to Ensenada in the early 1970’s. Some of the family stayed behind and today most of them are thinking about selling and moving to a cooler climate in this crazy market.

[BajaGringo]

Where in Pescadero?

[maxmo]

The middle of town about a block west of the soccer field as I remember it.

[bajajeepers]

Any pre-sales info / photos?

[nashsimpson]

Both Todos Santos AND Loreto are way overpriced IMHO. You’d be better off in Asuncion, Mulege or La Paz, depending on the climate and lifestyle that best suits you.

[BajaGringo]

Cabo, Todos Santos, Loreto… they all may have been the image of Eden back at some point in time but with increasing traffic and demand for property, those areas today seem to defy what personally inspired me to want to build a life here. I pray the pavement never reaches La Chorera in my lifetime, even if it means our home will never reach a market value of seven figures…

[bajajeepers]

Personally, I would be somewhere along the Pacific side on a lonely beach with nobody around (except maybe a taco stand) but to get my wife to agree to move south I have to meet her halfway, which interprets into we need to be on the grid and in close proximity to nice restaurants, stores and (fairly) good roads with a decent hospital nearby and an international airport within a 2 hour drive. It’s far from my ideal but it’s the price I gotta pay to play.

[JuanSoler]

Some people are comfortable living with few services and others require the streets to be paved with fast internet and a modern hospital around the corner. More services usually means higher property values which is why oceanfront property in Ensenada, Loreto, La Paz and Cabo San Lucas sells for a lot more money than oceanfront property in San Quintin, Bahia Asuncion or Bahia de Los Angeles. Which is why I can’t figure out why oceanfront property in San Juanico is so expensive?

[nashsimpson]

I think surfers are in a category all their own and the fact that there are no services available somehow makes the area seem more attractive (more remote).

[sawdogger]

Growing up in San Diego we made dozens of trips down to the mid-northern Baja Pacific coastline in the 90’s and early 00’s and a few trips down to Scorpion Bay and one to Cabo – Todos Santos. The prices they are asking in some areas down there today are just crazy, just like the prices north of the border these days and part of what drove me to move farther north, away from all the crowds and endless, overpriced cookie-cutter houses. If your wife wants that for retirement then I would just stay put where you are at and then look into buying a piece of land in a remote coastal community. There you could just build a palapa and park your van when you come down or leave a motorhome/5th wheel. You’ll save lots of money and grief as well as help keep the housing prices more stable and accessible for the locals.

There are still lots of deals to be had on lots along the Pacific coastline south of Ensenada. You just got to get in your truck and drive down, ask lots of questions and keep looking around – the best options available today are not listed on any website.

Think Erendira, Colonet-Cuatro Casas area, San Quintin and Punta Baja.

[tom-lindsay]

Based on some of the prices we have been seeing lately, we may en up doing exactly just that. Maybe @BajaGringo can show us around the San Quintin area and offer some suggestions..

[BajaGringo]

With enough advance notice and if the stars align just right, anything is possible…

[mx-rider]

Or if you prefer the Sea of Cortez side, San Felipe, Bahia de Los Angeles and Mulege still have some relatively inexpensive options as well.

[sawdogger]

Of course, but I made the assumption they for good surf. Looking back in the thread now I am not sure why I assumed that? In that case, there are a whole bunch more locations that would work and keep the budget in check.

[bajajeepers]

Lots of areas with good deals if you know where (and how) to look. You might have to give up on some services, pavement, etc but to many of us – that’s part of the draw to this place.

[mx-rider]

yeah, not much surf on the Baja side of the SOC until you get way down south