Category: Mexico houses Page 2 of 4

This is the view from the lower azotea (there is one up higher) in the first house we bought in Mexico. He has some finish work to do, but it is easy to imagine the setting for carnes asadas. This house is the one that we turned into apartments way down the hill from the one where we plan to live. We can hardly wait for it to be completed.

I am putting this image up for future reference. Tío Lauro took the picture before the front of the house started changing. We should get some great new pictures within the next couple of months as Lynn finishes with infrastructure work and starts adding some finishing touches to the ground floor apartment.

We have been thinking of a good name for the house. We have really never named any of our houses, but it somehow, in the spirit of Grandpa Milo, to give it a good name. La Casa de los Ventanales del Cerro de las Mitras was the first name proposed (by Tío Lynn). We actually kind of like that, but have not really settled on anything yet. We are hoping our friends will help us pick a good name. We might even get a plaque!

Lynn is putting the final touches on the apartments and potential buyers have set appointments to come seem them. The top picture is the base for the stairway leading from the main azotea to the azotea on the roof. The middle picture on the left is the equipment room with part of the hot water heater and two of the air conditioning units. Too its left is the asador on the main azotea and the grill that will sit over it is the bottom image.

Lynn’s construction team should finish putting one of the final touches to the apartment construction: the stairway to the second azotea (roof entertainment area). It truly is turning into an amazing rebirth of what was not a very impressive building. At this point, we are trying to decide whether we want to hang on to the building for a while or sell it as soon as we find a buyer. Either way, we want to rent out the all the apartments so we either have cash flow to build a fund for our next project or to make the sale of the building more attractive to investors. Either way is fine with all of us. Lynn will decide.

Toda la perrada fueron a ver las casas, la foto arriba y lo de abajo a la derrecha del mero abajo estuvieron tomados por el hueco que va a estar el balcón de la primera planta de la casa del cerro. Estamos super animados con todo. El hueco como esta ahorita esta en la foto de la izquierda de abajo. Los que fueron so Rigo y so familia, Grandma Conchita, Lorena, Lauro, y Lynn.

Lynn is working with Lorena on the financial aspects of our little remodel projects in San Pedro and, today, she is going to do a walk-through of both of them. He sent us this picture of the work he is doing to build a balcony on the first floor of the house on the hill. It is going to change the character of the whole house. It completely opens up the first floor, both in terms of the view and of how much light will come in (that is a south facing window). The thing that is great that you cannot see because of the clouds is the mountains above and on the other side of the valley–the famous ‘M’ formation.

The image to the left is of the street or front-of-the-house view (away from the spectacular valley view) side of the house. It should be noted that there is a really nice view of Cerro de las Mitras looking across the street from where this picture was taken, but not nearly as nice as the valley below and mountains across the valley behind this view. When Tío’s Lauro and Lynn took Grandma Conchita to see the house last weekend we arrived at a consensus on a new first floor design that we believe will add a TON of value to the house and make the first floor a much desirable place.

There is only a medium size window in the wall at the back of the second floor. It lets in a good amount of light, but it is not really possible to see out very well. We knew we could not attach a balcony to the back of that first floor because we would be encroaching over our neighbor’s property line. The thing we figured out is that we can build a balcony by tearing down the wall a the back of the first floor, putting up balcony railing (a short wall, actually), adding sliding glass windows to from the top of the railing to the ceiling and then building a new interior wall a couple of meters away from that outside wall. There will be french doors in the interior door that lead out to the balcony. All this means we will have spectacular views of the valley behind the house from the Azotea (essentially a floor above the second floor that is mostly open, but that features a roof, bathrooms, an outdoor kitchen, a hot tub, etc.), the second floor and the first floor. We are working through the structural issues right now, but we think it is going to work great!

It is another beautiful day in the barrio in San Pedro. My brothers-in-law, Lauro and Lynn, took Grandma Conchita up to look at the house on hill and at the apartment building which is still not quite complete. It is getting close, but there always seems to be on other “little” thing to do. The view here is from the second floor balcony looking to the right in the direction of the Huasteca and the location of the new Tesla factory in construction in Santa Catarina. Lauro showed live video of the house and the hill. I am glad he did because we decided, on the spot, to add a balcony to the first floor so there will be more light and a great view out to the valley below.

People are finally scheduled to move into the apartment building in San Pedro by the end of the week. Lynn is still fighting through the endless details. A hot water heater install, checking all the plumbing and rechecking the gas connections, finishing trim work, and endless amounts of cleaning. When everyone is moved in, we will make a big push to sell the property so we can start another. The property is already on the market for sell and we have had a good bit of interest, but Lynn feels like we can get a better price if the whole building is rented and producing income. The Tesla factory construction start is happening on schedule, but the build out schedule has slowed due to market conditions. That plant is an easy commute to our building so it has an impact on property prices. We are hopefully viewing the slowdown as a benefit. We are hoping to get this property sold and another one or two purchased before things really heat up. We would be quite happy for another year or two before the whole thing explodes into real estate activity.

I texted Lynn today to see if he was letting his workers have the day off since it is almost New Year’s Eve. He said no because he is about three days away from the first two renters moving in on January 6 and there are a bunch of uncompleted small details. He sent me this picture with three of the six mailboxes installed (the other three are at the second house entrance. The first renters moving in is coming a lot later than we hoped and expected, but the apartments are also a lot bigger, went from four to six units, and include a lot more amenities than we had initially planned. Their are two azoteas now and they are way nice with a mesquite grill, a bathroom and shower (I think), and spectacular views from both the upper and lower azoteas. The apartments are already on the market for sale and we have interest, but we have found the potential buyers are very attracted to buying the place full of renters. All six units have been spoken for, but there needs to be a bit more diligence on a couple of them before we sign contracts.

Lynn sent me a couple of images from the lower terrace at the apartment building. I thought they were really nice. Things are not as hazy in the morning. This is a lot lower on the hill the house we are remodeling so the view from there should be even better. I can imagine how nice it will be to sit on the balcony up there in the morning, drink my coffee, and enjoy the view. The top image is of the Huasteca. To its right, out of view, is where the new Tesla plant is being built. The bottom image is of the “M” formation. Below the M is the rich part of San Pedro. The part you cannot see from the apartments that is visible from the house is out of view to the left of the bottom image and includes a bunch of big skyscrapers and more mountains.

Lynn has started sending updates on the house on the top of the hill again. The goal is to get the first floor apartment livable enough for Conchita, Lorena, and I to survive there while Lynn is working on the rest of the house. We plan to take a trip down there in February with an outside chance that it will be earlier or later depending on the progress. Lynn promises me that the house is going to change rapidly now as most of the infrastructure work is complete.

Another house across the street from our first remodel in San Pedro has started a remodel. That is the second one that has done this. Those two houses and the one we purchased, honestly, were the trashiest on the street. These three remodels will very much upgrade the general feeling of the neighborhood by a lot. Lynn says people are keeping things a lot more orderly, too–sweeping the sidewalks and street in front of their houses. Very, very cool result.

Lorena visited the houses with Lynn, his three boys, Lynn, Jr., Marlon, and Bruno, Tío Lauro, and Grandma Conchita last night. It was cloudy and rainy, but Lorena reported the nighttime view from the balcony was still pretty spectacular although the clouds got in the way of the mountains so all you could see was the city lights. The apartments a little further down the hill are pretty much complete except for some details so Lorena got the final set of pictures we will be able to get until the renters move in. Lorena’s internet connection was pretty spotty, so she was only able to send a few pictures. She and Grandma Conchita are on their way to the airport to come home right now, so I will wait until she gets her and I can download them from her phone before I put anything up.

Lorena had to get some paperwork done at El Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE). My understanding is that her “official” residence is whatever is on her voter credential and has an impact on how property taxes are assessed and also for how much sales tax has to be paid when you sell the house. We are going to make the apartments our official residence until Lynn is able to finish up the remodel on the house up on the hill, at least to the point where it is livable. We are really looking forward to spending some time down there.

Later today, Lorena is going to take some pictures of both places that I will try to put up if any of them are any good. Not much progress has been made on the house on the hill because Lynn has been finishing up the apartments so renters can move in over the next few days.