Yucatan Gringos

I mentioned briefly in a previous post that we have purchased a lot. . .It is beach-front in the town of Chelem. . having decided that we will build rather than try to find a home that suits our needs, or renovate an existing one. . . We are also in the process of buying another lot in the same area with a very small one bedroom home on it. . . the idea being to live in the smaller home while we build on the larger lot. .

Foreigners cannot legally own ‘outright’ property within 31 miles of the water, but there are two ways to ‘obtain’ them. . . One is a federal bank trust, a Fideicomiso, wherein the property is held in trust by a bank under your name. . .the other is by forming a Mexican Corporation. . . both methods are explained fully at caribpro.com - along with much more useful information. . . Another item worth mentioning is a beach concession, worth getting if you wish to protect the property between your ‘beach-front’ lot and the ocean. . .

The lot we purchased just happened to be next to one of the homes that we had looked at on our trip down there. . .therefore we had a pretty good idea of the location of the lot and proceeded with the purchase through an agent there via emails and FedEx. .We plan a trip down there to finalize the purchase of the other lot with the small home on it. .

Our lot is long and narrow. . .typical of beach front lots . . . and the next step is the design of a home that will take this into consideration along with all the wishes we have for a home. . . “an ocean view from all rooms”. . “openness of design for airflow and traffic”. . . “privacy both inside the home and out”. . .”outside living area complete with pool”. . and all this at a minimum of square footage to remain within our budget. . . My idea is to stretch the home back, L - shaped, incorporating a patio area for outdoor use within the open area of the “L”. . all rooms opening to this patio area. . .and a smaller second story along the same design. . . We intend to build back from the ‘permit’ line, allowing room for a sandy play area in front of our home, but within our ‘fenced-in’ lot, with a low fence (or open) towards the water and steps leading down to the beach in front of our home. .

Construction is concrete, or concrete block/brick. . . The home we built here (in Texas) is wood. . so, although we are familiar with building, we will have to alter our thinking to accommodate this sturdier form of architecture. . . I will have to think in terms of 8″ concrete block, versus 3 1/4″ of wood stud (2×4 sizing - would you believe that they used to actually be 2″ by 4″?). . plus exterior and interior sheathing. . and learn many other areas of building techniques used by the Mexican artisans. .

Time to go now. .gotta get busy on those plans and see what I can come up with. . .