When we first arrived in Ajijic, Lake Chapala paying bills could sometimes be a challenge as I have mentioned before. First you had t find the bill in question and then began the process of finding out where to pay said bill.

Our property tax bill in Canada for our house in Toronto was going up to $6,000.00 Cdn. when we left in 1994.

You can imagine our very pleasant surprise to find that here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala property taxes were substantially lower.

For the first few years of owning a home here our property tax bill was paid by someone else who paid several tax bills at the same time saving us the possible frustration of finding out how to pay it ourselves.

Last year we paid it ourselves for the first time and we delighted at how easy it really was.

The place where you pay it is relatively new as opposed to the hole in the (more…)

Well the holiday season has once again drawn to a close. For many of us this is a huge relief.

The turkey, goose and , in our case, Beef Wellington has been consumed the festive brunches have been served and the holiday cheer (wine and a variety of festive drink) has also been enjoyed.

Presents have been exchanged and in, some cases, exchanged again and the Christmas stockings have been put away for another year.

Trees have been taken down or are about to be taken down January 6th which is Three Kings Day (which is the traditional time for dismantling decorations as it is the 12th day of Christmas) and brightly colored ornaments have been put back in their boxes.

Christmas china and cutlery has been cleaned and put away and the arduous (more…)

It is May 1st and most of the snowbirds have gone home. April in Ajijic was a beautiful month weather wise and not as hot and dusty as it sometimes can be.

The season of the snowbirds is approximately from after US Thanksgiving in November to just before Easter in April.

This is a very busy time in Ajijic with lots of traffic and lots of people looking for properties to buy or rent and business in general is very good.

A lot of these snowbirds occupy the time of the various Ajijic Real Estate Agents without any real desire to make a decision but rather just having a look around as it were. This is fine as often they need a first visit to decide whether or not Ajijic is the place for them to either retire or to have a second home to rent out during their time up north.

The summer, however, can be a very good time for serious buyers as the Ajijic Real Estate people have more time to spend with them and also sellers can be more motivated as the bulk of the prospects for their properties have left and they are left (more…)

Our next move was to a beautiful new three bedroom house in Villa Nova west of Ajijic.

This was a beautifully built house on two floors and was fully and very tastefully furnished. The views from both floors were lovely of Lake Chapala.

One of the bedrooms our daughter called “the princess room” as it had twin canopied beds which she loved and claimed as her own on sight.

The master suite had a balcony overlooking the garden and pool and a very modern bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and separate walk-in shower, a granite counter top with two sinks and a huge walk-in closet that I still dream about

The living room, dining room and kitchen were an open concept and there was a nice outdoor patio and swimming pool area. The kitchen had all the modern amenities. (more…)

The Racquet Club is west of Ajijic in San Juan Cosala. We lived there in a 4 bedroom house with an amazing view of Lake Chapala. It had 4 fireplaces and was brand new with wonderful tile floors and a beautiful kitchen which also had a wonderful view of the lake.

The Racquet Club also has a community centre affair with 10 newly topped tennis courts, a hot spring and regular pool, hand ball courts and a nice little snack shop that used to have wonderful fresh juices such as orange and carrot.

We enjoyed living in The Racquet Club but for us there were a couple of down sides.
At the time our children were going to school in Chapala so that was a bit of a hike and also when it rained we might have been living in a sieve. We did not have enough towels to put up against the doors to keep the water out but I am sure this is not a problem for everyone. (more…)

From La Floresta we moved into a 5 bedroom, 8 bathroom ex drug dealer’s house in Lower Chula Vista which did give the home a certain cachet. In the large kitchen there was a small TV monitor which let you know who was at the front door when the doorbell rang. A convenience I certainly have missed in subsequent houses.

This was a magnificent home. It had a casita with separate living room, bedroom and bath.

Four other large bedrooms and three baths completed the sleeping quarters. Three of these four bedrooms looked out onto a patio with mature trees and a beautiful stone wall. The master suite, of course, had a Jacuzzi and a solarium filled with plants in the bathroom. The walls in the master suite, guest bath and casita were fabric lined which was a very elegant touch. (more…)

After our house in the village we obtained a 4 bedroom house in Upper La Floresta. It had a small pool, casita (which was a handyman’s delight), tennis court and soccer field which was terrific for our children then 10 and 12.

We were on the last street in front of the mountain and the view of them was fantastic.
The down side of being next to open fields however, was the scorpion population which we soon had under control thanks to the scorpion resistant chalk available at the tiangis (Wednesday market).

The garden had mature fruit trees and we could not consume fast enough our supply of avocadoes, limes and wonderful small sour oranges which were great for marmalade. It had a lovely covered area for outdoor entertaining and barbequing. (more…)

There are so many wonderful areas in Ajijic and we have lived in most of them. I thought I would tell you a bit about the different areas over the next few blogs.

The Village of Ajijic

We first lived right in the village in a beautiful 4 bedroom home with a garden that was full of mature fruit trees and 3 fountains. This house was very Mexican with a hacienda feel. It had a lovely outdoor terraza area where we spent most of our time enjoying the garden.

If you came to the front gate you would have no idea of what was behind the walls. It was very private with all the amenities. We did not have a view but the garden which went the full block offered hours of pleasure along with mangoes, limes, avocados, oranges, grapefruit and many other succulent wonders including assorted birds and flowers. (more…)

Everyone knows that the real estate market in the US and other parts of the world is not at its best at the moment.

However, here in Ajijic although it may not be flourishing, there is still money to be made in real estate.

If you buy a home in Ajijic now you will still get a good return for your dollar and the resale factor is still intact.

What a lot of people are doing is buying a home now and renting it out until they are ready to move here full time. You can expect a rental of approx. 8-12% of the purchase price. A reputable realtor will help you find renters and even manage your property for you for a reasonable monthly fee.
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We have lived in most of the areas of Ajijic since we moved here in 1994. We started out by renting a 4 bedroom house in the village. A lot of people love living right in the village of Ajijic because of the easy walking access to everything. We found it to be quite noisy. The master suite had a shouting gallery which overlooked the street and when the Mariachis would play or the street vendors pedaled their wares it sounded as if they were right in our bedroom.

From there we rented a four bedroom house in upper La Floresta which had a tennis court and soccer field which was great for the kids. We were on the last street in front of the mountains and our house teemed with insect life. It was a very nice quiet community with good security. The house was very basic, however, and not particularly comfortable.

Thanks to friends we heard about a rental in lower Chula Vista which was a 5 bedroom house with a beautiful pool and large garden and we were extremely happy with this house as the rent was a virtual steal. (more…)