Yucatan Gringos

Day two of our stay in Merida sent us to the coast. . . . We were anxious to view one particular home which from all aspects that we could see in the description and pictures of it posted on the realty site on the internet - was the one that we ‘thought’ we wanted. . beachfront, roomy, recently renovated, and a price that we could afford. . . and since it had been listed under another realty company than the one our agent worked for, he had gone out of his way to ‘borrow’ the keys to this one. . the keys did not work. . . but an exterior inspection of the home assured us that this one was ‘not’ quite what we wanted. . . it appeared just a ‘bit’ too close to the water. . . .

We toured many homes. . on the beach and off. . . despite the fact that about half of the homes that we had wanted to see - we could not. . the realtors that had listed them would not respond to our agent, or simply ignored his requests. . Still, there were plenty to see, and we even happened up a few simply by driving around and spotting them. . . one such ‘three-some’ were highly impressive. . . three beautifully renovated (one still in process of renovation) homes side by side, with grand gated entries. . . and, as the workers were friendly and eager to show off their handiwork, we crawled all over these three. . oohing and awing at the splendid structures . . . two and three story, elegant tile, curving staircases, awesome balconies. . IF the dome home had been three bedroom, I do think it would have been bought by us on the spot. . . The renovation work appeared of such good quality that if we hadn’t asked, we would have thought that these were ‘new’ homes. .

Later, upon returning home, we found these three homes (and many more) listed under Casa Blanca Real Estate. . one that we had failed to try to contact before our trip. . Our emails since to them have been met with prompt and friendly replies. . as our search continued for various reasons. . .

There is so much more to tell. . . . how the structure of the homes is different from what we are used to here in the states. . . (concrete versus wood frame). . open air and patio type living. . kitchen and bathroom ‘amenities’ . . (most of the homes that are on the coast were simply ’summer getaways’ for the people of Merida). . that I should tell a little about that in more posts. . .

And. . . as we weighed the options and prices of buying a home on the beach, versus a vacant lot on the beach and building to suit our tastes, we were still ‘debating’ on which route to go. . .