San Felipe Real Estate Musings

San Felipe Real Estate Musings The Blog

2007-12-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to San Felipe Real Estate Musings.
San Felipe Real Estate Musings has been created as a companion site to My San Felipe. Subscribe (Bottom Of Page, Post (Atom) before the $ price goes up or someone else gets yours... lots of great stories and thoughts about San Felipe's Real Estate Boom.

San Felipe Real Estate Market Passes "The Coffee Test"

2007-05-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Si San Felipe's real estate market successfully passes "The Coffee Test". Details are brewing and will be ready to serve soon.

FOR SALE...Sweeping Views of San Felipe's Marina District

2007-02-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

Built on a double lot this completely turnkey home has been recently remodeled. Very Mexican stylized Casa has everything you'll need to enjoy the ultimate in San Felipe living. All City services, central air, 2 car garage and three large bedrooms with 2 1/2 baths. Second lot is currently a beautiful garden setting with mature trees, established gardens and a Palapa overlooking Playa Paraiso and the Marina. Lot is titled and could be sold or built on. click on image for larger view. Click here for more pictures. From the US 011 52 1 686 171-7159 local 044 686 171-7159

Ground Breaking Party at La Hacienda

2007-02-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

We need a reason to party here in San Felipe? The folks at Mi Casa del Mar at La Hacienda are kicking up their heels Saturday afternoon to celebrate the next phase of their ambitious development plans. Everyone in the development & real estate biz is invited and the best part is we can call it work. See you there. Click on image for details

Mexico's economy loses steam

2007-02-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

Sluggish manufacturing and falling exports to the U.S. are blamed for the deceleration. Slowing growth could spur emigration. Is Baja part of this Mexico? Last paragraph notes the highlight in Mexico's 2007 economy is construction.

And then there is this article

GE Money on track to lend $150 mln in US-Mexico mortgages in 2007

2007-02-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

MEXICO CITY (MarketWatch) -- GE Money, the financial services arm of General Electric Co. (GE), expects to lend about $150 million this year to U.S. residents who want mortgages to buy residential property in Mexico. $$$$

San Felipe's Holy Grail, 2nd Home Financing

2007-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

San Felipe's Holy Grail, 2nd Home Financing. A major hurdle to the true development of the resort area of San Felipe has been the reality that lots of cash is required. In-order for Americans to purchase a vacation or second home in San Felipe, and Mexico in general, it was pretty much a cash transaction. Laws allowing for the purchase and ownership in trust of desirable coastal properties in Mexico changed in our favor in the 90's with the introduction of NAFTA. Want a house on the beach in San Felipe? You can have one, but up till now you would be expected to pay cash. Many found that they had the equity in their US homes to find the capital or raided other investments to find the legal tender to complete their purchase. San Felipe's prices, compared to California's real estate values are still a bargain but the cash requirement has kept a significant number of hopeful buyers out of the game. The holy Grail for both developers and buyers has been 2nd home financing, and like the Holy Grail everyone has been searching for it, and no one has found it.
San Felipe has had it's fair share of potential White Knights ride into town in their shiny Hummers, Land Rovers, and Escalades offering to the alters of developers what they claim to be the Holy Grail. After all their Pomp and Circumstance they return to the North, largely never to be never seen again.
An other group of Knights have been around town lately and on Tuesday January 30th presented to a handful of Developers and Realtors their version of the coveted Holy Grail.
These Knights, Larry Wray and Geoffrey Kovacevick of Express Mortgage Lenders in Palm Springs rode into town with with their direct lenders Jorge Ojeda and Cathy Green of Collateral International, a family business headquartered in Birmingham, AL who has been financing second homes in Mexico since 1995. They even have a track record for closing loans for second homes in San Felipe. They presented their case that in addition to closing loans in other Mexican locals that they have tested their Holy Grail with CIMA Development Group, the Architects and Developers of San Felipe by the Sea, they even brought along the top management of CIMA Development Group to give support to their Holy Grail, and described in detail their trials and tribulations, what they have learned in the process that works and what doesn't in the San Felipe Market.
They painted an accurate picture for us, of who they were and who they were not. They are not the answer to all financing needs in San Felipe. They have chosen the second home market to develop and thrive in. They offer fixed rate loans and have home purchase, construction loan, and cash out products using the Mexican property as collateral. They vowed to do it the right way, and spoke briefly about some of the fallacies of the current trends of devaluing a Mexican property purchase for tax purposes and how those practices were hindering the availability of conventional mortgage money. Taking the high road and bringing transparency to real estate transactions in San Felipe, including the best true market appraisal of property values is the key to their business of offering convention Mortgages. This new transparency will come with some costs i.e. higher fees and taxes but in the long run is better for everyone involved and will spur additional investment in San Felipe's growing real estate market.
Commitment was the commitment they were selling. Over all I was impressed with these Knights who say Yes, not like the Knights who say nope. They are a high energy group who promise exceptional service, accessibility, and the ability to close loans. Is this the Holy Grail that San Felipe will drink from?

The Donald Acts Out

2007-01-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

Donald Trump Vs Rosie O'Donnell This is the behavior of a man who's Brand lends credence to Billion dollar Real Estate deals?
I don't get it

Real Estate Sales, The Media, and The Brand

2007-01-05T13:52:00.001-08:00

GMAC rolls out 30-year mortages for Mexican homes

2006-12-29T13:40:00.001-08:00

I love Google. I am also falling in love with this communications via Blogging. The ability to network with people whom I'd never meet is starting to show me new ways to do business. Just this morning Google sent me an alert to a search query that I had submitted to show me articles about Real Estate in Baja. I get these alerts almost daily and to tell the truth the last few months the related alerts have been just slightly weighted by articles about Donald Trump and the barley in Mexico condo project he sold his name to, that is located on the other side of the Peninsula. The Donald certainly is a media hound. Today's alert introduced me to a Blogger from my old stomping grounds in the San Francisco Bay area. Patrick's article Transparent Real Real Estate not only alerted me to GMAC's valuable new 30 year mortgage product designed for Mexico, Inman GMAC Article but his assessment of the "transparency" in Real Estate that he hangs his business's name on is exactly what our little slice of Baja needs. Transparency is the key to enabling more people with the opportunity to invest in the growth of Baja's Real Estate market. In addition he appears to be a blogging Guru and offers free blogging advise to Real Estate Professionals...What a find...Thanks Google More on the needs for transparency in Baja.

San Felipe's Newest Resort Ready To Take Shape

2006-12-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

The entire development when completed will include 12 condominium towers, a new marina, an Arnold Palmer designed golf course, a medical center and spa, 700 housing units and infrastructure to support this destination resort. The total site area is over 2000 acres including 9 beaches and 2 mountains adjacent to the quaint village of San Felipe, Baja, Mexico. More info Artist's Rendering

Building In San Felipe, True Stories Of The Tortoise & The Hare Tales Of Mr. Rogers Vs Mr. T

2006-12-23T23:20:00.001-08:00

*Fred & Ethel, and *Ricky & Lucy, each purchased a fabulous Ocean View Home Site in a highly desirable development with striking views of The Sea of Cortez, The City & Beaches of San Felipe & Awesome Macharro Mountains. ( * not their real names & the story line draws no connection to personalities, unless you can read between the lines.) These view properties compete with the best resort areas in the world and are currently selling at very attractive prices considering what comparable properties would cost in already developed hot spots around the world
While Rickey & Lucy's, and Fred & Ethel's Homes are less than a football field's length away from each other. Their stories about their building experiences are as different as Jeckle & Hyde. (Click here for story)

The 64 Thousand Dollar Question The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2006-12-23T18:48:00.000-08:00

Posted to My San Felipe Dec 23 2006
Sean,

I am the proud owner of a piece of property on the beach at a development south of town called Las Palmas. The bank trust is almost through the massive Govt. maze and I am thinking of putting a beach house on the property. The problem is I am really concerned with finding a contractor I can trust who will do the job on time and on budget. My experience so far is everything moves very slowly and you can't count on what your told in either cost or time estimates. I'd love to be sipping margaritas atop my beautiful beach home but getting from lot to house looks like it could be daunting to say the least. What are your suggestions?

Tom in San Diego

Hola Tom,
I remember meeting you on one of your exploratory trips to San Felipe. Thanks for writing and congratulations on your purchase. Beach Front Property in a great neighbor... lucky guy. Important Post Click For Balance Of Article

A Nice Hotel In San Felipe? Try These

2006-12-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

Roy in response to your question regarding a nice hotel here in San Felipe I would say
there are several hotels in town but I haven't stayed in any of them. I heard from my friend Sue who traveled here frequently while her new home was under construction. She told me she had stayed in several hotels here in town and most leave a little to be desired. More often she ended up staying at El Cortez. America's big business hotels have spoiled us. I have stayed in a few hotels in the US where the room quality probably surpassed all but the most elegant of homes, but not here...yet. In town there are a couple I can tell you a bit about. The Red Lobster is right downtown, has nice clean rooms and a very nice restaurant. If you came down here with the El Dorado tour you may have already stayed there. The biggest draw back that I heard from one of my friends who was down on here with a tour was the barking dogs. You might remember my reference to Mariachi Bands? late night noise especially on a weekend is part of the charm...unless you insist on wanting to sleep. (Click here for more places to stay)

Real Estate Sales, The Media, and The Brand

2006-01-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

San Felipe's Real Estate market, is still offering excellent values but word on the street is the number of properties sold has been down the last few months. There are several reasons to believe this a temporary blip in the sales graph in this escalating market with more home site and condo inventory coming on to the market. The California & Arizona Real Estate market is experiencing a softening (or whatever they are calling it in the press this week) more

an other is seasonal. This time of year we have the snowbirds here. These folks, mostly already retired, escape the winter conditions of their summer residence for the better winter weather that San Felipe enjoys. Many already own property here and many others bring RVs residing out of site in their favorite camps while others may rent the growing number of vacation properties. The certainly represent a portion of San Felipe's growth however I believe the majority of the resent growth that San Felipe has seen is the second home, investment or retirement home purchases from California & Arizona who have been fortunate to own highly appreciating property and see the opportunity to benefit again in the San Felipe Market.
I was discussing this idea at the local watering hole last night with a Real Estate Salesperson who's been selling San Felipe property for 3 years. While agreeing with some of my presumptions on the topic he interjected that he thought that Baja had been taking it in the shorts by the media. I'll admit that my first visit to San Felipe three years ago I was prepared for the possibility of bandits on the highway...Gun toting uniformed kids at roadblocks unnerved me the first time, and we carried travelers checks (allowing us to meet lots of new people while standing in lines at the bank). After being in San Felipe for a few days I would gladly take my chances on the streets as waste so much time standing in lines at the bank. In my 3 years of experience in San Felipe I have never had an encounter that I would consider threatening, and my experiences in Mexicali, Ensedana and Tijuana have been equally pleasant & issue free.
I still read the news my fellow Real Estate Salesperson cited: Drug gangs out gun Police, kidnappings of business executives and smuggling tunnels in Tijuana, More drug related violence in the border towns of San Luis Río Colorado, Agua Prieta, Nogales, Ciudad Obregón, Navojoa, Hermosillo, Caborca, Guaymas. Border Issues & Alerts, A fierce Presidential election, (do you remember hanging chads?) and a really bad loser resulting in civil unrest & disobedience, while in other news the Mexican military invades Oaxaca, after the police were run out of town by protesters wanting the resignation of their Governor. Add to all this the new Berlin wall they are talking about constructing on the US Mexican border and I can start to see how the media could be affecting the flow of new investors into Mexico and could be affecting us here in San Felipe. On the other hand the media didn't seem to affect the sales of new condominium in Rosarito with the Trump Brand attached. Maybe Mexico should look at its Brand.