(Post 83 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

In Mexico, contracts are a lot more about your relationship with the other party than they are about written clauses. I’ve been blessed with an incredible relationship with the previous owners of this house. This was their family home for decades and they preferred to let it sit empty for years than to pass it over to the wrong person. When we signed a rental agreement, there was no checking of my financials or referrals. Everything was agreed to based on how I presented myself in our initial meetings. Over the years, I have proven myself to be exactly who they thought I was, someone dependable, serious, motivated, and really in love with the house that they are having such a hard time letting go of.

In November, they rather blindsided me by saying that they wanted to sell the house.  They wanted me to give me a chance to buy it if I wanted it. I expected to have until October of this year to worry about such things, as per our verbal rental agreement renewal. But they assured me that there was time and that they would work with me if I wanted the house. Their initial offer was that I pay them 1 million pesos cash (about 50,000USD) and then take over a mortgage of about 1.6 million pesos, at monthly payments of just under 18,000 pesos. I did not have anywhere near 1 million pesos in cash available to me because all my investments are locked in until I am 55 years old.

I took several months to crunch numbers and ponder scenarios and at the start of January, I finally felt ready to get some legal advice. Literally five minutes after I made an appointment with lawyers the phone rang, and it was the owner wanting and update! Talk about being on the same timeline!

The lawyers told me anything is possible here if both parties agreed to it and told me my best bet involved working out something with the owners that would not require me to get any credit here, essentially a rent-to-own agreement with a balloon payment at the end. We discussed protections on both sides (powers of attorneys, wills, insurance contracts), and all of that left me comfortable to make an offer.

My offer was that for two years, I would pay them the 18,000 peso a month mortgage plus an additional 12,000 pesos towards the million while assuming all costs associated with the house. At the end of two years, I would pay them the balance as a balloon payment, we would do the official deed transfer (escritura), and then I would continue to pay the mortgage for the five-ish years remaining on it.

They came back about a day later with a counter offer that blindsided me. I was not expecting anything like what they ended up proposing. I can’t remember the last time I cried as hard as I did after reading their letter (happy tears, though!).

Rather than two years for the rent-to-own portion, they proposed three years. Rather than 30,000 pesos a month total, they proposed 38,000 pesos ($20,000 to them, 18,000 to the mortgage). At the end of the three years, they would consider themselves paid and then I would continue to pay the mortgage for the four-ish years left. If you do the math on that, that comes out to only about 770,000 pesos to them, not 1 million. So while I will have much higher monthly payments, I will be paying less overall! The house also comes with all furnishings currently in it!

So how am I managing to buy my (nearly) dream house? It’s a gift, plain and simple, from people who left their house to a son who did not want cherish it the way they did and who wanted someone who will appreciate and enjoy it to have it. Of course, I’m paying A LOT for it, but they are making it manageable. I could not imagine buying a nearly 3 million peso house any other way. I’m at a point in my life where I make a really good income, but accessible savings are low. My only other chance for homeownership in the medium-term would be house of no more than a million-ish paid for in cash since my odds of getting credit here, at least for any significant amount, are so low.

I’ve been looking at properties off and on for the last year, just to see what is out there. The price for this house is extremely fair (the lawyers were astounded at what I’m getting for my money in the heart of a desirable location). Every other house I look at is lacking something. I’m used to living in a detached compound-style home. I’m used to the space. I’m rooted in my neighbourhood and appreciate the central location within the city. Everything this house lacks, I can add to it over time. Do I wish I was on a less busy/quieter street and not next to a mechanic shop? Sure. Does the 10% of the time that the noise and traffic bother me trump the 90% of the time it’s quiet? Nope. (And by the way, my mechanic neighbour is the BEST.)

Another thing to factor in is that this house comes with absolutely no surprises. I know exactly what maintenance it absolutely needs right now. How often do you buy a house with that kind of peace of mind? What I’m looking at is needing to paint the exterior before the rainy season starts. The previous owners are going to put me in contact with the gentleman who has painted this house for the last 20 years. I’m super grateful that I have savings to get started on projects like that and projected income that will let me continue to move ahead with projects in the months ahead, even with my immigration matters, even with the high monthly housing payment.

It’s crazy how all of this is possibly only because the pandemic changed my priorities and got me to learn scoping so that I could significantly increase my monthly income. I would never have been able to take on this project with the income I was earning through September of last year. It would have been foolish. Now, I can afford it comfortably and still do some work on the house. Any significant projects beyond exterior painting, like changing the floors and remodeling the bathrooms, will have to wait, but they’re not pressing projects like creating a lovely home office or giving the kitchen a tiny bit of a facelift.

The former owners came by today to do the verbal hand off of the house and give me my blessing to start treating it as my own. They want to meet with my lawyers on Tuesday to work out the details of the contract and then sign said contract within the next three weeks. I’m paying them the 38,000 pesos for February. But, truly, the verbal hand over, with my former landlady choking up and saying that she feels blessed that the house is going to someone who cherishes it, makes this feel more real than any piece of paper could.

Soon as they left, I dragged a ladder upstairs and took down the first set of vertical blinds. The others will come down soon as I can replace them with something better. 🙂

I had covered the window in the back part of the bedroom with a prettier curtain but really wanted nothing over that window since I don’t need the privacy and the view is so lovely. I also can’t open it without the stupid blinds flapping and making a ruckus. Such a small change, but woot, woot, woot!

(Post 82 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

The running together of days continues, but at least now I know what I am working for. I AM BUYING A HOUSE!!!

In 2008, I set off on a journey across North America (and eventually Europe) in search of myself and what I really want out of life. Things I held to be true changed as I learned more about myself and the truths of the world revealed themselves to me. The most important thing that I came to understand is that my nomad soul needs a home port, and this was point was firmly made at the start of the pandemic. I was so grateful to be relatively settled in Mérida, a city within a state able to manage the challenges of the crisis and provide me a safe place to thrive during a period of upheaval. As I begin my adventure into middle age, there needs to be some permanence in my placement so that I can build on a foundation instead of continually spending money on starting anew. It is here, in Mérida, that I have chosen to build that permanent foundation and lay bare all my hopes and dreams for my future.

So with that decided, it was time to find a real home here, one that I would own. After nearly five years of bouncing around other people’s homes, I long to be in my own space again, to have that certainty that I alone will make the decision to move. Little did I know that the opportunity to do so sooner rather than later would present itself. Just a few years ago, I thought that the best I could do was a partially off-grid tiny house lost in the Canadian prairies. Today, I am about to enter a contract to buy a large, beautiful home on a significant plot of land in the heart of a large city. I would never have had the temerity to dream of ever owning anything like that. It is as though in this one deal, the universe decided to make up for all the times I’ve been screwed over in my life, to put me in the right place with the right people and to hand me an opportunity to make up for all the woes and mistakes of my past and make it clear that they were lessons learned so that in this moment, I could understand and appreciate fully the gift I was being rewarded with.

The house I found where I will make my stand is perfectly situated in Mérida. It has generous and well-proportioned rooms that are light and airy. There is lots of yard for Bonita (and future dogs?!) with room for a pool and fruit trees. It is a lot but not too much, more than I need, but has the potential to be everything I want. I am overwhelmed by the fact that this opportunity has presented itself. I would never have had the audacity to ask the universe for anything like this. And yet, here it is, and I am so very grateful. I will have more details about everything once contracts are signed.

Peace and rest at length have come, All the day’s long toil is past; And each heart is whispering “Home, Home at last!”

(Post 81 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

I can’t remember when I bought my treadmill, but it feels like it’s always been here. I use it a lot. I’m probably on it an hour a day on average (while watching TV). Last night, it turned on, but the belt would not move and I got an error message indicating that the problem was related to a voltage spike. Dang, there was a Mexico-wide problem on Monday that could maybe explain that, but I’d used the treadmill without any problems Monday night. Very curious.

I opened the casing where all the guts of the treadmill are located. It was very much temple from the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark in there, lots of cobwebs and dust.

The light on the circuit board indicated that it was getting power. With the cover off, I tried to start the treadmill and was able to determine there was no evidence that the motor for the belt was getting a signal. I did some digging and found a YouTube video explaining what the various blinking patterns of a treadmill circuit board mean. I was getting a steady blink, which the video said meant a problem powering the belt motor, so that confirmed my diagnosis (and that the video was relevant even to my off-brand cheapie treadmill!). poked around and found corrosion and a loose connection to the belt motor. I cleaned that up and tightened the connection, then tried to start the treadmill again. This time, I heard a “click” that told me that the motor was getting the instruction to move the belt, but the belt still wasn’t working. I went further in the video and there was a blinking code for “the motor is seized up.” I wasn’t getting that blinking pattern, but it did give me a nudge towards the next thing to try. So I decided to try to move the belt manually. Sure enough, it was stuck. Once I got it moving manually, I tried again to start it and, well:

But what a noise! Turns out that I should have been lubricating my treadmill. Oh, dear. Am I glad I learned this lesson on a cheap treadmill that was forgiving and not on a fancy expensive one! I found out that there is treadmill-specific silicone-based lubricant out there. I didn’t want to wait for days to get some online, so I called a gym and asked them if they knew where I could find such a product. I was told to try Decathlon, a full-service sports and recreation department store just north of me. I’ve been wanting to check it out for eons, but never had a reason to. Well, I finally did!

I head up there this morning and the store was wonderful to go through, kind of like MEC “light.” There were tons of deals, so I picked up a new workout wardrobe of several pairs of moisture-wicking leggings and tee shirts as well as some bits for making yoga more pleasant. Once I’d explored to my heart’s content (the store was nearly empty), I found an attendant who showed me where the lubricant is and even made sure I knew how to use it.

So that’s my project for tonight, cleaning up the treadmill guts and then lubricating it. Hopefully that little bit of attention will keep it serving me well. I’m virtually walking the Appalachian Trail, am 10% of the way there, and highly motivated to stay on schedule, so an equipment failure would be devastating!

My years tinkering with the RV really served me well. If I hadn’t changed out the converter in Miranda and made all those other electrical upgrades, I would never have had the confidence (or skill) to tackle the treadmill repair!

(Post 80 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

I’m getting very close to the date when I’ll be able to become a permanent resident of Mexico. I’m also in serious saving-for-a-house mode and growing my business like mad… and over 40. Something that never used to bother me too much started to eat at me — lack of catastrophic healthcare coverage. It would be stupid to lose all that I’m working for for because of a medical problem.

I handle the little things just fine paying out of pocket. Because of how the healthcare system didn’t work in Quebec, I just never got in the habit of going to see a doctor for much. The thought of going for a sniffle is beyond me. Heck, I even learned how to do my own first aid care. I would have ideally needed more regular follow-up with my anemia problem, but the process for getting a simple blood test and then having those results followed up on was so onerous and flawed that I never even bothered with that.

So all that to say, I knew that getting myself a private healthcare policy in Mexico here for annual checkups and such would be a huge waste of money. I’m just fine paying the $200-ish pesos every six months to have my iron levels checked by popping out to the clinic right around the corner from me first thing on a Monday morning and then going back out around 4:00 P.M. to pick up the results. Ear wax build up? Most pharmacies have a medical clinic attached ,and it’s just about 50 pesos or so for the treatment. UTI? Message a doctor friend and he messages back a prescription. Easy peasy.

But what if my appendix goes rogue or I find out I have cancer or I trip on Bonita going down the stairs and break my femur? Big things that would affect not just my bank account at the moment but long-term. What if I found myself unable to work on top of accumulating hundreds of thousands of pesos’ worth of medical bills?

A friend of mine is an insurance broker, so I spoke to her about my concerns and the possibility of getting catastrophic healthcare coverage. The request, it turned out, was not unusual and such a product exists! She pointed out that the going cost for an appendectomy right now is around 150,000 pesos (7,500USD/10,000CAD). That would be devastating to my current savings plan.

The policy she recommended is from AXA, a company that has provided me vehicle insurance in Canada and decent service, so seeing a familiar name was helpful. I got the most basic policy for just under 13,000 pesos for a year, covering me, in theory, for up to 2 million pesos in bills. There are a ton of conditions that I’m not insured for for the first couple of years, so I’m glad I started young and can build up a history. The deductible is 40,000 pesos and I also have to pay 10% of the bill after the deductible, up to another 40,000 pesos. So I have to be prepared to shell out up to 80,000 pesos should anything really major happen. But the deductible is waived in the case of an accident.

On top of this policy, I am able to access the government healthcare here now, the new programme that replaced the former Seguro Popular. I just have to present my residente temporal card and a copy of my CURP (Mexican SIN/SSN). So if I find myself in a situation where my policy hasn’t kicked in yet or I’m not covered, I do have a safety net. I can’t imagine that the government healthcare here is any worse than what I experienced in Quebec, so my plan was to go through there if I had something catastrophic happen. But you know what? I’m not poor anymore, I’m constantly upgrading my standard of living, and so I’d much rather be in a lovely new hospital with a dedicated team of professionals than hanging out on a gurney in an overcrowded hallway…

The $13,000 for the policy was a huge chunk out of my savings account, but the peace of mind is priceless. I’m so grateful that I’m starting to have a network here. I think that if I had had to look for a broker first, I would have kept on procrastinating. But being able to go to a friend who knows me really helped cut down on the work I had to do!

(Post 79 of 233. Thanks again to those who participated in the Fundrazr!)

Some months ago, my cleaning lady and I were talking about food. She asked if I had ever eaten mondongo/menudo, one of the iconic soups of Mexican cuisine. It is made with cow’s stomach and/or tripe. It is considered a hangover remedy and is traditionally sold on weekends in Mérida. Such a thing really does not appeal to me, so I hadn’t.

Well… with last Monday having been a holiday, her schedule was a bit off this week and she ended up coming today, Saturday, instead of Wednesday. She remembered our conversation and brought a portion of mondongo/menudo for us to share! I popped out to get some warm, fresh tortillas while she portioned out the soup and “condiments” (chiles, cilantro, lime). The cost of living is going up — tortillas are now 20 pesos a kilo when they had been 18 since I moved here. I buy a quarter kilo at a time, which was 4.5 pesos, but now it’s 5 pesos (0.03USD difference). Insignificant for me, not so much for the average Mexican.

The broth was tasty enough, with a strong tomato flavour, but otherwise very bland and greasy, as is typical in Yucatecan cuisine. You really need the acid from the limes and the heat from the chiles to cut through that heaviness.

The cow stomach had no flavour at all, to my immense surprise, just like the pork stomach had no flavour either, but the texture was awful to my palate. The outside was rather gelatinous and the inside was fatty. This is definitely not a dish that I would voluntarily eat again, but I’m glad the proverbial ice was broken in case it is offered to me.

Yup, that’s just fatty tissue. Not my idea of a good time.