Purchasing Real Estate South of the Border by Valarie Brown-Coon

The following is the first of a series of articles written by Valarie Brown-Coon,

a dear friend and person who was in charge of my real estate marketing campaign for two years. Besides being like my sister, Valarie is truly a genius when it comes to marketing. Besides owning here own company in Denver and in Yountville for many years, she was the magic behind the marketing for the Yountville Chamber of Commerce and some of the best know events here in the Napa Valley such as “Hands Across the Valley“.

About a year ago, Valarie and her husband, Michael, sold their home here in the Napa Valley to move into a house they purchased and had been working on for the previous two years in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Here is Valarie’s story of that purchase and all it entails trying to remodel in a foreign country. Tune in for the continuation of their sage, their successes and failures, and what it is like to live in San Miguel.

Valarie and Michael San Miguel de Allende

For some of us, the grass generally looks greener wherever we don’t live. That was certainly the case for my husband and I who travel extensively around the world but called Napa Valley our home for 17 years. In spite of Napa’s beauty, we’ve always longed to live abroad, better yet own a piece of paradise elsewhere.

We always thought that place would be in Italy but with the Euro escalating, we found ourselves looking at Latin America and Mexico specifically. Like so many expatriates before us, we planned a 5 day vacation to San Miguel de Allende (SMA), Mexico and found ourselves making an offer on a home 3 days later. What caused us to make such an impulsive decision you ask? Well the extraordinary beauty of this colonial city for one—SMA just received historical recognition from UNESCO as a world heritage site–but more importantly, the THEN exceptional real estate values. For $111,000 we purchased a 3 bedroom home, plus a small adjacent parcel with two ruins on it, totaling roughly 5,000 square feet or 250 square meters (m2). That was June 2005 when Napa’s real estate values were skyrocketing and you couldn’t even purchase a lot for that price.

So with no prior experience, we dove into unchartered Mexican waters and for the next three years, remodeled and built our piece of paradise south of the border…an extraordinary compound that would be considered today a multi-million dollar property in Napa Valley. We could have made do with our modest little Mexican house, but we dreamed of paradise. That meant hiring an architect and builder and designing a master plan for the compound which customized each room to our unique needs and desires.

San Miguel de Allende

In the weeks ahead, I’ll share all that we’ve learned about buying real estate in Mexico, building and remodeling and the things you need to ask yourself before investing here. Permanent resident or investor, renter or vacationer, this is the question you’ll need to answer if you follow my series? What about me you ask? Now that I’m a permanent resident of Mexico, I long for Napa…..but only on rainy days here in SMA.

San Miguel de Allende

Comments

Thornton says

July 24, 2008 at 3:47 pm

I’m assuming these photos are of the “before”?
When will the after photos be available?

Oscar says

January 6, 2009 at 7:01 pm

that’s pretty neat. i was born in san miguel de allende and i must say it is a nice well town. like an outlet mall with a nice vew hehe

Susan says

April 17, 2009 at 6:26 pm

Wondering about buying in San Miguel. Where is the rest of the story? What are real estate prices like there now. I will be there for the whole month of July. Do you sell real estate there?
Susan

- Curtis Van Carter says
  
  April 21, 2009 at 1:54 pm
  
  Hi
  I am actually in San Miguel on vacation. There should be 6 posts which are uner San Miguel de Allende under Catagories. No I don’t sale real estate here but upon my return 4/29, I would be happy to communicate with you about my experiences. I also am considering buying/investing here.
  Curtis
  
Veronica says

May 9, 2009 at 11:15 am

Hello! I must say I was born in San Miguel and I am now in Dallas. If one of you is looking for a great view and size property in down town I have one! Feel free to email me. I miss been there half of my life time was left in San Miguel.

Radha says

November 30, 2009 at 9:21 am

I have a question, what are the costs of renting? I’m one of those Americans falling through the cracks because of a work injury that put me on disability. I can’t make here in the US any more. I’m an artist and can make any thing a great space, but I’m not a wealthy American looking for investments, just a simple and affordable place to live.

- Curtis Van Carter says
  
  December 2, 2009 at 9:51 am
  
  Hi
  I will forward your email to Valarie and ask her to contact you. It is a great place for artists and the cost of living there is very reasonable. Good Luck Curtis