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04/06/05 - Puerto Vallarta, MX (Photos)

Some details on our new condominium purchase in Puerto Vallarta

We didn't really intend to do anything like this so soon, but we're once again property owners.  An attractive opportunity come up in the condominium building where we're currently staying, so we decided to see if there was anything better out there before pouncing on what seemed to be a good deal.  After looking at places between the downtown PV area, some awful places in the 'hotel zone', and a great place up in the Marina area, we decided that we wanted to be downtown.  We did indeed come across what we think is a better place than the one in our current building.  It's a hotel building that we've been told USED to be quite nice.  No one would mistake it for nice anymore.  The owner had (has?) some drinking problems, and he let the place fall into a state of disrepair.  A Canadian and a Mexican investor got together to purchase the property from him, and are funding their investment by selling off about half of the units as condos.  Most of the units with great ocean view terraces had already been taken by the time we showed up, but there was still a unit that we thought would make a good investment for us.  It's a very small, one bedroom, one bath condo, but it's just one block from the beach, and has a great common pool area with incredible ocean views.  And best of all, it's one of the last cheap units you can find in the neighborhood!  It's an investment for us, we're not planning on living there.  Fix it up, make it a vacation rental for a few years, then sell it.

The condo needs quite a bit of aesthetic help, but the structure and plumbing are sound.  New floors, paint, a kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, furnishing, new doors and windows for starters.  We know that may sound like a lot to some people, but things can be done quite cheaply down here.  For example, we don't expect to spend more than $1,000 for our kitchen remodel - including labor, materials, counters, and new appliances.  Guess we'll see...  The biggest project, and the one we need to do first, is to build a 25'x6' balcony off of the kitchen and bedroom.  We've got two contractors working up quotes right now, hopefully nothing too scary - they can do amazing things with a couple of guys (and their kids) and a few bags of concrete down here!

As I sit here at a coffee shop near the beach, I see the Canadian investor (Mark) across the street at the mini-super (convenience store).  It's a small town.

Anyway, if/when you look at the photos, remember that there will be a lot of work done to the place!  And the investors are giving the entire building a facelift, and will be fixing up the common areas.  For orientation, the place is built on a rather steep hillside.  The office and four story hotel building are at the very top of the hill, and the condominium units are terraced down the cliff-side.  There are a couple of unrelated condo buildings in front of ours, which are beachfront buildings.