What was your experience building a home in Mexico?

Question

Just moved to Los Cabos in Baja California Sur. My fiance is a Mexican citizen so we have a lot of options as far as buying property and building our home.

We would like to hear about your experience building your home in Mexico- for example; how long did it take? what year did you build? What costs did you face? What sq foot costs did you find? Any advise for those considering the same path?

Answer 1

If you want to fit in, leave the re bar stick up in the corners, build it out of cement blocks and paint it turquoise. To really make it look authentic, have a clothesline on the second floor and have a Volkswagen that doesn't run anymore sitting out front and get yourself a few chickens. Paint a red and gold stripe all the way around also Carta Blanca Cerveza signs!!!

Answer 2

It is slow. You have to be on top of the builder AND his employees on a daily basis. They will try to do things their way which is usually wrong. Do not accept shoddy work, incomplete work, changes in material or design which you did not request. Make sure you get a receipt for any material bought, if possible buy the material yourself so the contractor doesn't rip you off. If any material is left over demand that it be returned to you. If the contractor or his employees want it SELL it to them.

Good luck

Answer 3

the construction in mexico is very different than it is in the united states, the answer you got previously is from someone that probably does not know about the existance of architects. in mexico the architect that designs your house most of the times can play the same role as a general contractor, the mexican architects have training to design and to develope the project, the time it takes depends of course on the kind of proyect you want and the money you want to spend, an architect normaly will charge you a flat rate to design the project and a percentage of the money you spend on material and labor, he will take care of the permits you need to get and deal with the people tha t you buy material from and the workers, to give you a bare idea, you can buid a house in about a year if working steadily

Answer 4

I didn't build a house, but Barry Golson built one in Sayulita (just north of Puerto Vallarta), and he wrote a book about the experience.  Click the link to see info on the book.