My new condo in Playa Del Carmen ckick hereIt all started off with a thought I had back in February 2021. I was thinking of retirement and where? So I got thinking of two of my favorite places I like to travel to in the past 20 years that are not on the other side of the world. I was looking at Panama or Mexico? They are both great places. After months of research, I chose Playa Del Carmen, Mexico over Panama. Mexico uses the Canadian dollar whereas Panama uses the American dollar as its currency! The American dollar fluctuates too much, difficult for me! Also, there are direct flights Calgary to Cancun twice daily and the flights are not direct to Panama.
I began to do some research about retiring in Mexico and discovered that there was a Consulate office in Calgary. I contacted, the person and he asked me when I was planning to go there. I told him probably October or November, so she told me to call back in September. They also emailed me the link to see if I qualify. I called in September and they said I can’t get in to see them until November 15! They gave me an appointment without a time, I sent many emails with no reply, so I went down to their office for the first time in early October with all my documents in hand. Luck was on my mind that day as I got in to see a Consulate agent that day, so instead of my meeting November 15, I was on a plane to Cancun the first week of November! After Arriving in Mexico, I received a 30-day visa That will give me enough time to make an appointment to finalize my permanent residency. During that time, I began looking at buying a condo! Things began to get overwhelming for me again, lucky me, I saw this young lady, Miriam N Olivera, helping someone else who was English. I asked her if she was an interpreter and she responded, yes! She gave me her card and I noticed she was also a lawyer. Thank God I sent her a message asking her for assistance. She was amazing, took everything off my plate. I have kept her on for the buying of my new condo. I highly recommend Miriam N Olivera as a true professional! It took 8 weeks to get a meeting with the Mexican immigration, but well worth the wait. They are very busy with people from all around the world moving to Mexico! In the meantime, while waiting for my permanent residency, I went shopping for a condo to purchase! I went out with a couple of real estate agents that were amazing, but I found out there is no MLS in his part of Mexico. I had to find agents that worked for the same company. I was staying in Real Ibiza at an Airbnb a place where I stayed a couple of years ago for the winter, I was looking to buy there because I love the area but everything I was looking at while I was home in Canada was sold? While riding on a bus to downtown Centro, I noticed some new condos being built and liked the look of them. I got off the bus to check it out, something in my gut was telling me to do so! As soon as I walked into the sales office, the sales lady approached me Norma was her name and I asked her if I can have a look at their new condos, she told me that they have a promotion for the month of November! Thinking that this was a normal sales pitch, I looked into it further! Clearly, this was a good deal! That same day, the deal was signed because I knew prices in the area and it’s even a better location than Real Ibiza, Wow, I can walk to the mall and Real Ibiza and Walmart in about 5 to 10 minutes. Everything I need is around me. Now it’s time for me to learn after buying a condo in Mexico when you buy a basic condo down here in Playa Del Carmen, it does come with a kitchen and bathroom sinks but that’s about it, Really, there are no light bulbs in the lights. Lucky, I bought what they call furniture meaning kitchen cabinets, stove, closets that are equipped with dressers inside and 3 air conditioners that were not installed. The installation was another story! I am still waiting for all the above to be installed except for the stove and air conditioners and had to pick them up myself, Patience is key in Mexico. I just laugh and put my hands in the air, why get upset? Just laugh. Also, Covid is to blame around the world. At the end of the day, I got a great deal all in total $1.65 million pesos base price $1.5 million to $150,000.00 extras, BTW, the price went way up January 1 2022 to about $450,000.00 more. For the people that know me, I am always good and maybe a bit lucky in real estate…And no my new condo is not for sale!! Now for the tough times, I went through and thank God I had the sales lady Norma and my lawyer Miriam with me every step of the way. I will start off with the Canadian bank I was dealing with. I knew to ship money down to Mexico. I had to go to Canada to do it or have a trusted person I have a joint account within Canada. I took my daughter Tiffany to the bank with me to make a joint account. After finding out how much, I think she was having second thoughts on how she can spend the money lol… So now time for the transaction to happen. It normally takes 3 to 4 days for Canada and Mexico in trust to come through, but a week and a half later, nothing, $500,000.00 pesos were missing and all of us were worried. Tiffany, my lawyer Miriam and the sales lady Norma, anyways in the end, Tiffany was the only one that could stop the transaction and she did. I ended up losing about $5000,00 Canadian from the day. I first thought one point is big, Canadian $$$$ started at $97,423.60 to $103,425,09 I will talk to my bank when I go back to Canada in the spring. I asked them to send pesos they sent Canadian dollars. I started at 17.04 Mex went down to 16.05 Mex today we are sitting at 15.91 Mex. So many good things happened and I learned so much. Number one meeting my lawyer Miriam N Olivera. I’m going to call her my new Mexican friend, I strongly recommend using her service in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico She really did help with my residency, I only had to go in and get my photo taken and it was done for as little as $5000.00 pesos. I also kept her on for the buying of my condo, helping me with everything and finding me the right handyman team (Jesus and his partner) at a really good price, of course! I paid them a lot more than what they requested $350 pesos per fan/light, much to low! I also got them got them to change every light as well as putting in the three air conditioners, that was a lot of work. Also, my friend, lawyer Miriam N Olivera set me up with my electricity, gas, water and so much more…Thank you so much Miriam my friend!!! A couple of other friends I would like to thank for their help with translation, Josh long time friend in Cancun and Marcella from Aguascalientes, Mexico also long time friend I first met in Canada quite a few years ago, we had a mutual friend Carolynn, a neighbor I grew up with in Toronto (rip) we miss you and when I did my road trip Calgary, Canada to Panama City, Panama she and her mother let me the stranger in their place 6 years ago. I took possession of my new gated paradise condo in the community of Punta Estrella in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico on January 28th/22. I’m getting so excited about my new life in Mexico! So much to see, do, and learn still, like buying a 7-passenger van or car, a scooter and get a golf membership, I heard of a great deal for a Mexican resident like me! Pete now Pedro Montgomery WorldTripPete.com It was so easy to apply for my permanent residency to Mexico, as long as you qualify and have all your documents required! The last document I was waiting for arrived Wednesday October 20. Next day I went Mexican Consulate office in downtown Calgary. I could not believe how fast it went? Less that an hour and ½ and only $57.00 Canadian.
The interviewer told me that I was a very lucky guy! I was not scheduled to be there that day and they were very busy this time of year. I answered by saying that everything was meant to be! The dots connected quickly when my final document arrived! My Canadian friends living in Mexico suggested that it is better to get my Permanent not Temporary Residency. Many great benefits to me! I also discovered that I cannot drive my campervan to Mexico. The Mexican government requires that a permanent resident must purchase cars in their country! All trucks, rv’s, suv’s and scooters are not permitted entrance to Mexico from another countries. I will get great savings on healthcare, dental, golf, travel and so much more…. They also have nine Mexican Consulates offices across Canada. So my new life begins… Pete from WorldTripPete.com Now that I’m fully retired, I have been looking at residency in Panama or Mexico, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. I am deciding on Mexico because it has direct flights to most places around the world. Panama uses the US dollar and could hurt me when the dollar increases in value. The Mexican peso is always less than my Canadian dollar, giving me greater value there. The Mexican Consulate has an office in Calgary and I have a meeting with them next month to discuss residency status. The US border then opens November 8th 2020 allowing me to drive my campervan “Old faithful” to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. (I drove the same van to Panama City, Panama 6 years ago from Calgary, Canada.)
Another reason I picked Mexico over Panama. I can buy a nice condo in a gated community with pool and gym for about $90,000.00 USD. A comparable condo in Panama would cost me more than $200,000.00 USD. I am now focused on my road trip to Mexico. I started the first part of the leg (one third) from Toronto where I picked up the campervan from my friend Tim. His hapyhipi instagram place is one of my favorite hangouts on earth. I drove 31 hours Toronto to Calgary and plan to drive another 62 hours to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. Cost of the trip is going up! Six years ago my road trip to Panama cost me $20/hr and today cost will be $22/hr. (Most people go by miles per gallon but I go by gas/hr!) Looking forward to Change, life is good!.... Pete from WorldTripPete.com  Time to travel the world again 2X Pfizer. Heading home to Toronto (Rexdale) for a holiday found a great deal on Air Canada Calgary to Toronto $262.82 return, Airbnb $392.85 for 7 nights in Rexdale, and a rental car $162.56 for 7 days. My first trip in over 14 months also I’m fully X2 Pfizer vaccinated. Favorite places to visit is Wasaga Beach and Tim's & Christine's place. Just love this place north of Toronto thanks Christine, Tim and Hipster the dog for having me over the past couple days. Riding around in the white Rolls-Royce yesterday and the yellow Volkswagen thing today, Love it when people put thumbs up with the two tie dye hippies driving around, OK Tim is the real hippie with the long hair and beard I still always wear my tie-dye though. Tim's amazing place instagram hapyhipi |
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