Casa Francisco: Building a Home in San Miguel de Allende

As people in my Baby Boomer generation contemplate how to spend their mature years, one idea that often comes to the mind is the possibility of buying a second home, perhaps in a country less expensive than the U.S., that could be comfortably used for retirement living in the future as well as a vacation home and rental property in the meantime.




That idea came to my partner and me about 5 years ago during a spur-of-the-moment one week vacation to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Although we'd heard quite a bit of good fanfare about this quaint town of fine weather nestled 6,500 feet above sea level in south central Mexico, our vacation time for many years prior was spent with friends in Antigua, Guatemala, a place that still is one of my favorites of any city I have visited in Latin America to date.



At that time, while our long-term plans did include the possibility of buying a second home, Guatemala seemed a bit too risky given its instability seismically and politically. Italy, home to my maternal grandparents, was always a fantasy country for me to think about having a second home, or any home for that matter, but the distance and the precious Euro made it much less probable.



Despite having arrived in San Miguel with no plans to even look at real estate, we could not help but do so the first morning we arrived. There's something immediately inviting and comfortable about San Miguel that tends to draw people's minds to the thought of living here. Within an hour, we devised a requirement list for a home in San Miguel; we were on the hunt for a fixer-upper that had to be in the center of town and be priced under USD$300k. People familiar with San Miguel know that the last two "must haves" are often mutually exclusive.



Different from today, which is a slower-paced buyers' market, 2005 was a hectic and inflated sellers' market that caused any potential buyers to make a decision very quickly lest other bidders, and there were two others in the case of our property-to-be, got to the contract stage first. After cutting through red tape, of which there always is plenty in Mexico, we placed a 10 percent cash deposit on a one-story crumbling adobe hovel built in the late 1700s that originally served as a livery station just 4 blocks from the town square. Suffice it to say that friends back home in San Francisco were in a state of disbelief when they saw photographs of what we had just purchased.



Within a year and a half from the start of re-construction, we had a beautiful 2-story, 2,600 square foot home with 2 bedrooms, 3 full baths, a studio/office, an outdoor sala, an open courtyard and a roof terrace with stunning views of church domes and mountains. Lovely. We decided to name it after the prior owner, Francisco, whose family had occupied the property for at least 4 generations.



So what? Readers who have built in San Miguel are most likely yawning if they've gotten this far in the post. Yet, I know they too can identify with a "look back" and come up with a list of items they'd pass to others who contemplate constructing or remodeling a home in San Miguel.



Well, here is my list:



1. If you love it, buy it. Life is too short. Be sure you are comfortable with the level of knowledge of your realtor, who should be able to recommend one of the only 14 attorneys in town who are able to consummate real estate sales transactions. Think about obtaining title insurance, especially if you are purchasing land and/or there is any reason to doubt the clarity of title.



2. Read "On Mexican Time" by Tony Cohan. This will adjust your expectation set to some of the realities of building in Mexico and of life in Mexico in general.



3. Interview at least 3 to 5 architects in San Miguel, and there are many talented ones, to see what they can/cannot do for you. Be sure to get a list of things that are restricted by zoning codes, especially if your property is in the center of town. Make a short list of 2 architects and choose between them. Be sure to get a warranty for a period of time after construction for the tweaks that WILL need to be made. Most architect/builders will give a 1-year warranty.



4. If you are pressed for time to build, be there as much as you can to oversee the progress of construction. If not possible to spend a lot of time there during construction, at least be there for much of the finishes, which you will see every day and have to live with.



5. Obtain an FM3 visa as soon as you can so that you can start the 5-year time clock of ownership period that is required to become exempt from the current property sales tax laws. Make sure water and electricity billings are in the name(s) of those whose names appear in the deed.



6. Mix a margarita or open a Bohemia beer, and enjoy the start of life in San Miguel.