Keepin' It Real - Q&A Living in Mexico | Episode One

Full body shot. Anyways, welcome. So I'm super excited. It's coffee time. Best time of the day. So great time to have a chat. So I am really excited to start to share this whole crazy, wild journey that I've been on. Moving to Mexico. And a lot of you guys have asked a lot of great questions. Tammy maiek, moma, happiness. Pete. What up, Petey? So glad that you're all here. So what I've decided to do, and now I'm gonna have to switch devices for this is try to start to kind of nail down the questions you guys have asked. These, you know, about moving to Mexico, all these little things. So let's see if we can actually get to some of these. Sorry, again, had to switch devices at the last moment. So I've been tracking all of your questions, and I'd like to go through them, so. Awesome. Okay. And then if there's other questions I'm gonna be tracking. So if something I say triggers another question, if I can't read it on the screen, I'll, you know. But I just want to keep shit real. Things are pretty raw here. Yeah, that's how we do it. All right, so first question. Can foreigners legally own land in Mexico? Yes. Yes, they can. I did it. And by the way, I had my real estate agent come over last night. We had a barbecue, and I was able to sit down and interview him, which was awesome. I was able to ask him all the questions that were here that I didn't know answers to. Because I just have to be honest with you. Like, when I started this process, I really had no clue what I was doing. I. I didn't have any idea what I was getting myself into. I just knew that the moment I stepped on this property, the moment I stepped on this property, I was like, this is my land. I felt a pull, a calling, like a yes in my body, like I'd never felt before. Well, one other time I felt that was when the groove came to me, my dance concept came to me. I had that same yes, like, wow, this is it. This is where I'm supposed to be. And I knew from the moment I stepped on this land, before I built anything, before I did anything, I was safe here, that there was nothing there that wanted to hurt me. And it was a deep inner peace I can't explain. And it's absolute bliss living here and alone, like, with no fear. It's fucking awesome. Fear holds us back, you guys. And fear is so conditioned. Well, you know what we're supposed to fear like too many of you guys watch too much American television and movies and you have an idea of what Mexico is. And it's not that there's parts of that, but there's parts of that kind of stuff everywhere. But that's not Mexico, the whole of Mexico and the magnificence of this country. And not just Mexico, but lots of different places. So you might be asking these questions, but Mexico may not be a place that you might move. There are so many places that you can move and go and explore and see where your heart lights up and what makes you the most happy. Because that's all that matters. Like, my best friend lives in Costa Rica and I was looking for land in Costa Rica because I was like, well, my best friend lives there, so I'll go do it there. And you know, she was an inspiration for me. But when I went there, I never felt like I felt like when I felt here. So I'm like, I love you, but we're not going to be neighbors. I have to live in Mexico. That's just what I have to do. And that's about living your life on your terms and really trusting and honoring your body. What your body's telling you where it's guiding you and, and trust it, because when you trust it, it'll support you. It's so awesome. The form formula, how it all works. So yes, foreigners can unload. Do you need a trust or a Fidel Comiso to buy land? So there's two ways to buy land in Mexico. One is a trust with a bank. And two is you open a corporation and the corporation purchases the land. Okay, there's two different ways to do it. Okay, I did it. I opened a corporation because I have a business. Because I actually employ people here full time employees that I care for. I pay their insurance. I, you know, I do it totally legally. I don't want to, like, I follow the rules here. I don't like, I don't want any reason for anyone to come mess with my business. So I follow the rules. I've got lawyers. There we go, it's back. That's weird. Normally I don't freeze. Like the wi fi here is freaking fantastic. I have my own starlink dish that I put up on the top of my tower. So I get excellent. Sometimes it recalibrates and so that's probably what it just did was recalibrate. I'm trying to set my camera up a little bit higher. Okay, so where were we? Where were we? I'm trying. That's not gonna Work. Sorry, guys. All right, so next question. Let's keep moving. See if I can keep this going. All right, here we go. Better. My head's not at the top of the screen. All right, so. So I did it through a corporation because I have employees and I needed a business to run all that through. And it also allows me to be able to buy more property under the same corporation, so I don't have to open up another one to buy another piece of land. So. Because I plan on. On expanding. Damn skippy. All right. Is a lifetime lease the only option? So this is another thing that a lot of people are saying, you can't actually own land in Mexico. She's lying. People don't know what they don't know. Okay. Yes. There are two types of land in Mexico. There's a jito land, which is the. It's. After the Mexican revolution, the government gave big, huge chunks of land to communities for farming, for production, you know, and so these communities, not an individual, a community owns these lands and they're called ajido, like farmlands. And so if they sell any part of it, they can't. You can never buy it. It's a 99 year lease. You lease the land from the ejido, which is the community, and they all have to agree. Okay. Now, a hido land is very risky. Right? Like, I've got friends that no problems. They've, you know, I've. I've met them, they've lived here for 20 years and they have a hivo and never an issue. But there is. You're. You're subjected to a little bit more. Yeah, it's a little more dangerous because if the hido wants to take that land back, they can. So, yes, my land is not a hido. There is public land. I actually own the title to my land. Okay. So it's not a he, though. I own the actual title. Okay. Which is awesome. And I don't. What's funny is I had these requirements, and if you want to move to a foreign country, you need to figure out what your requirements are. Like what, what you need, what you want. It's better when you go in kind of how you want, like how you want things to go. So I knew when I heard about a heel land, I was like, if I buy land here, I will not buy a hido. Like that's part of the deal. So don't even bother showing me anything that's a helo. Okay. But like I said, some people have done it. No problems. All great. Are there disqualifying factors to buying land here, Like a criminal record or something like that? Nope. You got the money, honey, you can buy the land. It's pretty simple. It's kind of awesome. But now, like, let's say there's an extradited, like you've been extradited, or there's some type of like cross border thing and whatever. You've got countries looking for you. Yeah, probably they wouldn't do that. Do you fully own your property as a U.S. citizen? Yes. And you do not have to be a citizen or a resident to buy land here. There are so many people. You have no idea how many Canadian and Americans or United States snowbirds here. You know, like they go to Florida and set up their little winter home. Right. That they do the same thing here. There's tons of people that have condos in the cities and they come and stay here for the winter and then they go home and rent it for the summer. Okay, Lots of that. Lots and lots of that. And it's a great little investment because the area around in the Yucatan in the last 30 years has completely exploded because of tourism. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The beaches are insane. Yeah. Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen. It's just like it's the Caribbean, it's Mayan Riviera. It's. So yeah, it's a great investment. It's a. Yeah. And a lot of Mexicans come here to work in the tourism industry. So it provides a lot of economy and livelihood for a lot of people. Do you need permission to buy the land? Where do you start the process? The only, you have to just go and do your due diligence. And whoever's going to sell the land, you communicate with them, make a security deposit, just like you would in the United States to hold the land and you know, and then you have a couple weeks to, to come up with the rest. Where do you start? You just start. You just start. Which means you start connecting. Like I. If you want to connect with my real estate agent, we're not been. We're not in business together. But he's a great guy to go to. I trusted him. He walked me through the process. He took my hand and like just baby stepped me through the whole thing and helped me with every step of the way. So I've got his contact. I'll leave it in this. You can contact him directly if you have more questions. Like I said, we're not in business. I just, I just want to help you guys And I know people that can. So where do you start? You start. You start having the conversation, you start thinking about it. You start dreaming it up. You start asking questions like this, if it's something you really want to do or you might just be curious. Also, you have to pay for your house in full, like in cash. You don't pay it in cash. You can do a wire transfer, but that's considered cash. So there's no like you can finance. But Mexican financing is very, very difficult. There is some available for people from the United States, but the interest rates are like between 8 and 12%. Their money here is expensive. And even For Mexicans, it's 10 to 12% for a Mexican to actually borrow money from a bank, which is super fascinating. Why they didn't have the housing crisis like they did in the United States. Because it's very difficult to buy a home. They don't qualify. A lot of people, the people that qualify pay that like they pay it like it's, it's. And what's also cool is the government has set something up that part of their paycheck goes towards when they're ready to buy their first home. The government assists them and makes it easier for them to buy their first home. It's kind of cool. All right. Hey, thanks guys. All right, so what else is planning permissions required to. To buy? Yes. You need permissions just like it. Like, you know, but like my land, which was cool, is that you can build up to 15% of your land with no permits and permisos, which is awesome. Anything above and beyond that you have to get permitted. So it's really, really cool. And you can only build on a certain percentage of your land because you have to maintain the ecological flow of the like the area. And where I live, I have to build ecologically. Like I have solar, I have my own waste and reprod. Like I have to recycle my own waste, which ends up. I have a whole filtration system. I'll end up walking you through the whole thing if you're interested in. But it goes down into a big humidal and then the water, that is where it goes down to is clean water that waters plants. So it's really cool. So I do that. Like I said solar, like you have to. Yeah, I don't like electricity isn't even an option here. Like there's nowhere for me to tap into. There's just none. Do I pay property taxes? Abso freaking lutely. It's not as expensive in the United States. But the more you build your land up, the more your taxes go up because the value of your land goes up. So they. But they also cut you a break if you start to develop your land, they lower the rate. Okay. Which is cool because they want you to develop the land. So they give you a tax break if you develop the land. Can foreigners open a bank account in Mexico? Absolutely. Yes, you can. You don't need to be a resident or citizen. I'm still not a citizen. I'm just a resident. So, yeah. So those are. Let me see what else was on this one. Thanks for joining me. Hope this is interesting for you. This really isn't what I made this channel for. I wanted to create this channel so we could just get on and shoot the shit and talk about real shit. But I thought I'd get through all these questions first because a lot of you guys have been asking me some really good stuff. Where do you apply? You contact someone? How much does it cost? It depends on what you want and where you want to live. It could, like, you could buy land for five to 10. Like, their land here goes in hectares, not acres. So one hectare is a little like two point something acres. So they sell land by acre, I mean by hectare. And so my land is one and a half hectare. Okay, so it's like three something acres. Okay. And you could get a hectare of land, let's say more inland, not near the water. It's always more expensive near the coastlines and you can buy oceanfront, but you could get a hectare for five to $10,000. Now, closer to the beaches you're looking at, when you start to get inland, it's, you know, a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand. Oceanfront's going to be a million. Like it depends on where you're at. How do I get dual citizenship? I don't know about dual citizenship yet. I haven't, I haven't gone in that. Okay, so I'll stop there because let's just talk about some real now about moving to Mexico. It is. It can be scary and overwhelming. And I don't think that's Mexico. I think that's. If you were to pick up your life, leave the United States again, one of the best things you can do is leave where you live, change your life, change where you live. I'm not just. I'm not promoting Mexico. I'm just saying this is what I do. But God, I've heard about Portugal and Panama and some of the best places to live, and they want people to come and live There and open businesses and be a part of their community. So I know there's a lot of haters out there that are like, get out of Mexico. It's just. It's funny because Mexicans go to America for a better life, and Americans come to Mexico for a better life. Isn't that interesting? I am not the only one. There's thousands and thousands and thousands of expats that live down here. Like, we have a joke now. We're like, I had to move to Mexico to start hanging out with Canadians. Like, that's how many Canadians are here. Okay? And, like, last night, my party, there was five people. Five people from five different countries. There's just people from all over the world here. It's super cool. The reality is, when it came to constructing my home, that was a whole other ball game and a shit show. But I just kept pushing forward. I kept. Like, I got ripped off. Like, you cannot believe. I've had to build almost everything in my house three times. Because everyone said that. Like, I didn't know who to trust. I didn't know. I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know anything about construction. I didn't know anything. Like. Like, I'm just this girl from the. A dancer from the United States trying to figure out how to build a home in the jungle. Like. But you know what's amazing is that when you trust yourself, you actually figure it out, and you. And everything works itself out in time. This was another wisdom that came to me, is that everything eventually works itself out. So any of the hardships of, you know, losing the money, I almost lost it all a couple times during the process. I was down to no money, but I was like, I don't care. I have to keep going. Like, this is. I'm. This. I was so driven. I'm making this happen. I don't care. And it's crazy because the more I trusted it, more money came and it just kept coming and supporting me in building my dream. So it was really awesome. Like, but it wasn't cheap, and it wasn't easy, and I did get. And every Mexican will tell you that, like, you have to be careful. And that's why it's great. Like, someone like me. I wish there was someone like me when I moved here that I could be like, yo, give me the low down. Like, tell me what to watch out for. Tell me what I need to know. Do you have references? You have some people? Like, I wish I had me, but now I'm. I'M that for a lot of people that are coming here. My friend, who's 63 from Los Angeles, she just did it a year ago. She's living in my old apartment in Playa del Carmen. She did it, and I've been able to handhold her and, like, give her all the advice and the things that I learned, and it's just. It's awesome. And it's fun to support other brave, courageous, awesome people out there wanting to do different things in their lives and have a. Have a different experience. So. Hello, Petra, my darling friend. Another trailblazer out there. One of my. One of my homies from back in the fitness days in Los Angeles. Another fitness pro, but now is an amazing dj. There's Petra Kohler, another badass right there, kicking ass and taking names and. Yeah, Michelle. So it's. This is you guys. It's so cool. It's just. It's so cool. One of the biggest things that changed my life and changed the way that I thought was traveling was when I started dancing and not dancing, like, the way everyone else was. It's when I finally, like, started really just doing shit my own way and making up my own rules. Oh, boy. Sorry, baby. Sorry. It's okay. Luca, come here, buddy. Nobody got hurt. You're all right, buddy. Sorry. There we go. I have to set back up, dog, huh? Luca, say I'm sorry. Luca, I'm sorry. Okay. I started doing things my own way, and I created this groove thing, and people took notice of it, and I started traveling the world. I've circled the globe like, 15 times, presenting and teaching this method that I created that now sustains my life. But, yeah, gotta do shit your own way, whatever it is, so I don't wanna keep you. I love that you guys are here. Thanks for being on. I'm gonna do some coffee talks on Sundays. We might talk about real estate stuff, moving to Mexico, you know, just keeping real. So thanks for being here. I know the pup interruption's best, and I'll walk you through my place and show you all the different things and stuff. But there's a little tidbit of a little bit of information about buying land in Mexico. Keep putting your questions and I'll keep answering them and help you along the way. Massive love to you all. Have a beautiful, beautiful Sunday. Enjoy your life. Enjoy yourself. Do something that feels good today because you deserve it. Go make yourself feel good. Ciao for now.