Investing in a good hammock

There is some debate about where and how hammocks came into being, although it seems likely that hammocks arrived in Mexico from the Caribbean, long before the Spanish landed on the shores of present-day Veracruz.

Mexican hammocks are woven in a variety of colors and patterns, although not all hammocks are created equal: there are certain features which need to be considered closely if you are going to procure a hammock that will last you and be comfortable to lie in.

The wide-weave nylon hammocks will be the least expensive, possibly around $300-$500 pesos; cotton and other natural fibers (where available) with a tight weave will be more expensive, starting from $800-$1,000 pesos or more.

Tips to help you buy your Mexican hammock

When you invest in a decent hammock, you’ll take home a hanging bed that will be a real pleasure to use, and provide years of restful service. Generally speaking, the higher the price, the better the quality—although as with all trades in Mexico, price is subject to negotiation.

Here are some tips to help as you choose a hammock to invest in:

Choosing your material

Hammocks are woven in a variety of materials, but only nylon and cotton are widely available. Other traditional materials that may be used for hammock-making include hemp and sansevieria.

Nylon hammocks are the least comfortable, especially in the heat, but if you live in a damp climate they will be the longest-wearing; the key then is to ensure you buy a closely-woven nylon hammock (see weave, below).

Cotton is the most comfortable material that is widely available, and if you really want a hammock made from a natural fiber like sanseveria, you’ll likely have to order it locally: check online for traders and options—some shops might ship their products to you if you can’t attend the store locally.

Check the weave and the thickness of the material

Most hammocks are twisted and folded when they are hung on display for sale.  It’s essential when considering a purchase to take the hammock down, untwist it, and stretch the material out to check the weave.

Cheaper hammocks have a wide weave and are made from thinner threads.  Whichever material you choose, if you choose a wide weave, the hammock will not be comfortable for anything other than brief periods of rest.

When you compare hammocks, choose the one with the tightest weave for the most comfort: the “gaps” between the fibers should be narrow.  A tightly-woven hammock will provide excellent body support and enable you to rest for hours on your hanging bed.

Check the workmanship

Check the ends of the weaves; ensure that the fibers are woven well, and that the ends are elegantly finished without any loose ends or strands hanging out.  Ensure that the materials are in good condition and not worn, damaged, or frayed.

Choose your merchant

Good quality hammocks are available for purchase across Mexico, although if you’re determined to get something quite special, you’ll need to visit a specialist hammock merchant in Mérida or purchase online.

Some online purchase options

• General search for hammocks on Google
• Hammocks advertised on Amazon Mexico
• Hammocks advertised on Mercado Libre

Ambulant vendors

You might come across ambulant vendors offering hammocks for sale, but be sure to check the material used as well as the weave and thickness of the threads especially as ambulant vendors tend to carry the cheaper versions instead of the more expensive varieties, although some vendors do offer the higher quality and more expensive ones too.

It’s possible to lose a great deal money (and even a life’s savings) if you are not insured or discover following an unforeseen event or natural disaster that your policy was not adequate or that the insurer underwriting the policy was not financially sound.

This article highlights practical aspects related to property insurance in Mexico to help you understand home insurance policies and choose coverages which are suitable to your needs and that will be adequate in the event you need to make a claim.

Home insurance if you own or rent in Mexico

You can arrange property insurance whether you own or rent a home in Mexico.

If you own a home in Mexico, you can insure the physical structure of the property as well as arrange coverages for loss of personal property at the home, and third party liabilities.

If you are renting a home in Mexico, you cannot insure the physical structure but you can arrange coverages for loss of personal property situated at the home and third party liability in relation to people visiting or working in your rented home.

Uninsurable residential structures in Mexico

Note that certain physical structures, especially risky ones like wood-framed buildings and palapa (palm or straw) roofing structures are usually explicitly excluded from all policies; if you must insure these, be prepared to pay a high premium to have them included in your coverages (it’s usually uneconomic to do so).

“All Risks” —vs— “Named Perils” insurance coverages

Some policies will offer “All Risks” cover, a form of comprehensive coverage that will pay out in the event of most incidents involving your home.

The better policies offer the option to cover catastrophic incidents such as hurricanes, floods, wind, fire, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes; surprisingly, some Mexican insurers are unable to underwrite some of these events, although specialist US insurers will.

To lower the insurance premium, you can elect to limit certain “Named Perils” assigned to your policy instead of taking All Risks coverage.  When you do this, certain events will be covered while others will not.

Less expensive policies are often the “named perils” type—even though on the surface they might appear to be comprehensive. A good broker will make a clear distinction between these two during its sales offer and demonstrate the cover and price differences between options.

Property insurance —vs— property title insurance

Note that property insurance and property title insurance are different.

Property insurance coverages are paid annually and can underwrite the physical property on the land, your personal possessions at the property, and may also cover third party liabilities related to the property.

Property title insurance is a one-time insurance payment you can buy when you purchase a property that mitigates risks related to unforeseen issues or liens associated with the property’s title.  It must be purchased before you close the property transaction.

Obtaining coverage for all your dwelling spaces

Your policy should cover the main structures of your home space and provide sufficient compensation to rebuild those structures if necessary.

Optionally, you may also cover carports, guesthouses, and other outbuildings including garages, games rooms, cabañas, equipment rooms, bungalows, stand-alone studios, etc.

Some homes in Mexico are composed of several structures (for example, several buildings situated around a central courtyard) and in these circumstances, the insurance rule is usually: everything that is directly connected is treated as one building. Anything that stands alone is considered an additional building.

Insuring your personal possessions situated at the property

A good insurance policy will cover personal goods owned by you, your guests, or domestic employees when they are working at your residence. Coverage for theft of personal property varies, depending on whether it is “scheduled” (specifically listed) or not.

Some policies include coverage for certain valuable property, such as cash, securities, jewelry, fine arts, sporting equipment and property used for business purposes—up to certain limits.

If you need higher limits for specific items of property that you own, this option is available by listing them on a special section of the application and making them a type of ‘named risk.’

Third party liability protection in relation to your home in Mexico

Good home insurance policies provide coverage for personal liabilities to third parties to protect you and your family against any lawsuits or demands presented against you.

For example, if a wall collapses and injures someone who was near it at the time; or the neighbor’s property is damaged due to a falling tree from your garden, a good insurance policy will cover your liabilities in these circumstances.

Policies can also cover injuries to people visiting or working in your home, for example if your housekeeper or gardener injure themselves on the job.

Loss of home use, or rental income

If you rely on your property for work, or to bring in a rental income, you may also choose to include a “loss of use” risk coverage in your policy.

This cover provides for additional living expenses if your house is damaged and cannot be lived in for a time while it’s repaired or rebuilt.

If you rent out your home and rely on this for income, you could take the additional option to cover rental income loss, whereby you are compensated for lost income if your home becomes damaged and unavailable for rental to others (you will need to provide evidence that a rental contract exists).

Rent liability coverage

Some home insurance policies exclude coverage when your home is rented (even occasionally or part time) or add a hefty supplement to the policy’s premium to include renter’s liability as part of the coverage.

If you rent out your home in Mexico (or intend to at some point) and want your coverages to be valid when others are renting the property, check with the provider you get a quote from to see if renter’s liability coverage is included in the premium, or how much more you need to pay in premium to include it.

Insuring your condominium unit in Mexico

Condominium associations in Mexico are supposed to keep a blanket commercial policy in place to cover the entire property.

Typically, this provides insurance coverage for the building as well as communal elements of the property such as pools, garages, the interior walls, fixtures, fittings, and outbuildings associated with the development, or fraccionamiento.

The wording of these commercial insurance policies tends to be very limiting in what they will cover within the terms of a blanket condominium insurance policy and it’s prudent for individual condo owners to arrange separate insurance to mitigate expenses of paying for certain types of damage.

Exclusion of third party liability

Many Mexican-issued insurance policies exclude third party liability and renter’s liability from the standard policy and charge a substantial premium to include these as optional extras. This places an obligation on condominium owners to cover elements not included by the commercial policy on a unit-by-unit basis.

Liability to adjacent properties in the building

Don’t be lured into a false sense of security by condominium blanket coverages: in a situation where an event that happens in your condominium affects an adjacent condominium —for example, a water leak in your shower room that damages your neighbor’s room below— you will be made liable for repairs to yours and your neighbors’ damages.  Having a unit-based insurance policy in place will protect you from the expenses of these sorts of events.

Check the documentation

The key documents to check on your Condo contracts are the ‘Byelaws’ and ‘Covenants’ associated with your condominium property: these are the documents that contain the small print regarding what is and what is not covered by the condominium building’s ‘blanket’ insurance program.

Insurance for beachfront and waterside property in Mexico

It’s possible to insure property near oceans, rivers, and lakes—although premiums may be higher to reflect the additional risks which may arise from storms and flooding that can be more common in these areas.

The online insurance application form will ask you for the Mexican postal code (zip code) of the property, and this is mapped to detailed topographical and statistical data which enables insurers to assess the hydro and meteorological risks that are related to the property and quote accordingly.

Some companies may refuse to insure properties very close to the sea or other bodies of water if historical statistical data show that it’s unviable, although policies may be available from different brokers that will quote for coverage in certain acute circumstances—with higher premiums to reflect the increased risk.

Insurance for homes situated on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula

If you own —or intend to own— a home situated on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, you’ll discover that getting your property insured is more difficult than if it’s situated in other regions of Mexico.

The Yucatán region’s geology, coupled with unique hurricane risks, has made it either difficult or prohibitively expensive to insure homes in this area. However, our insurance associate MexPro offers home insurance coverages in the Yucatán region.

Watercraft insurance in Mexico

A few people live on their boat moored in Mexico, while some people who own homes here near a body of water might also own a boat, a jet ski, or a yacht—and these ought to be properly insured while they are situated in Mexican waters.

The premium you pay for insurance of your watercraft is based on two factors:

• the number of days the craft will be in Mexico, and
• the value of the watercraft.

Personal injury and third-party liability cover should also be taken out in case you become involved in an accident on the water. The better policies also offer legal assistance and ‘bond’ cover in addition to the injury and liability cover.

In legal terms, accidents involving watercraft where people are injured or killed are treated in similar fashion to serious car accidents in Mexico.

If you own watercraft and and spend extended periods of time here, or live here, an annual policy may be a better investment than a short term policy covering specific dates.

Check with the broker providing your quote to find out what options they have for year-round coverage of your watercraft in Mexico.

Learn more about property insurance in Mexico

Mexperience offers detailed insights about property in Mexico for buyers, owners, renters, and sellers.

• Choosing a home insurance policy
• Insuring domestic help and workers in your home
• Third party damage cover
• Latest articles about property insurance in Mexico
• Get a no-obligation online quote for home insurance in Mexico

Our continually-updated guide to Living & Lifestyles in Mexico helps you to define your lifestyle intentions, determine whether Mexico is a good fit for you, consider key choices that will underpin your intentions, and organize your residency permit.  And then when you begin the process of physically moving to Mexico, you’ll need to begin managing the logistics of your move.

Once you have taken that decision to move to Mexico, this comprehensive guide gives you a practical and detailed checklist of actions and activities that need to be considered and taken care of over a three-month timescale leading up to your moving day—as well as local knowledge to help you plan for those first days and weeks after your initial arrival in Mexico.

Actions Checklist: 3 Months to Move Day

Here is a checklist of items to be organized three months before your planned moving date:

Travel documentation and residency permits

Ensure that you and all members of your family have valid passports and that you applied for your residency permit to live (and if relevant, to work) in Mexico. Some employers will take care of the work permit for you, but if you are moving independently, or to retire in Mexico, then you will need to take care of this yourself. Be sure that you can fulfill the requirements needed to qualify for a residency permit—our articles about obtaining legal residency in Mexico and applying for residency describe the routes and requirements.  If you need additional assistance, consider the Mexico immigration assistance service.

Passport validation

We recommend that your passport(s) be valid for at least six months from the date when your residency visa is issued; this is because the visa itself is valid for six months and the consulate may refuse your application if your passport expires in the interim period.  Check the expiration date on all relevant passports and if they are due to expire soon, you may need to renew them before you apply for residency / travel to Mexico.

Driving license

You can take your home country’s driving license with you, although if it’s not issued in English, you might consider taking an International Driver’s Permit (Wiki) as well. Once you are settled in Mexico, you may apply for a Mexican driving license if you want to. The procedures to apply for a Mexican driver’s license vary from state to state. Check with the state where you plan to live for local procedures and fees.

Check electrical appliances

Make a list of the electrical appliances you plan to take with you to Mexico. Items working on low voltage, for example: laptops, iPads, and smart phones, etc. will usually adapt automatically when used in Mexico. If you live in the Americas, then your voltage will be identical to Mexico’s (120v), and big-ticket items (e.g., TVs and refrigerators) may be moved with you. If you live in Europe or somewhere else where the voltage is 240v, you will need to leave most electrical items behind. A European TV will not work in Mexico either, as Europe uses the PAL (Wiki) system and the Americas use NTSC (Wiki).

Consider your pets

Cats and dogs can be easily imported into Mexico, provided the veterinary paperwork is in order. Importing pets other than cats and dogs might be more complex; some (not all) species require an import license and some specifies are banned from import. Read the guide about bringing your pets to Mexico for full details and links to relevant authorities. The Mexperience section about pets in Mexico contains articles and guides for further insight about keeping your pets in Mexico.

Consider items to take and items to leave behind

Make a checklist of the items you would like to take with you and those you are definitely going to leave behind. Consider selling your items online or via garage sale. Go around your home and physically look at all the items you need to consider; you probably have a lot of things you don’t realize you have, and it won’t be until you begin putting things to one side that you’ll get a grasp on the extent of things which have built-up over the years. Don’t forget to check the nooks & crannies including the garage, sheds, attics, and cellars if you have them. If you won’t be taking your pets, now is also the time to start arranging an alternative loving home for them.

Consider your real estate

If you own (or are buying) your home you will probably have decided by now whether to rent it out, sell it, or leave it empty. If you plan to sell it, then it ought to be on the market by now, unless you plan to delay the sale for some special reason. If you plan to rent it, then you need to decide whether it will be rented with furniture or unfurnished, and have arranged a local realtor to manage the rental while you are in Mexico. If your home is mortgaged, check with the lender about terms to rent it out.  If you are living in rented accommodation, check your lease to see when it expires and how much notice you must give before you leave. We recommend that you don’t give notice on your rented home, or agree to rent your home out, or close the sale of your house before your residency permits are confirmed.

Consider your vehicles

If you have cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, etc., then you need to consider what you will do with these. If you live in the USA or Canada, then it’s feasible to move some or all of these to Mexico if you feel it’s worthwhile; however: if you apply for and are granted permanent residency, you will not be able to import your foreign plated vehicles to Mexico using a temporary import permit (TIP); only residents on temporary resident permits may do this. Learn more about importing foreign-plated vehicles to Mexico and applying for a TIP. If you plan to sell your vehicle(s), then prepare to get them advertised after your residency permits are confirmed.

Temporary accommodation in Mexico

If you will be staying in a hotel when you first arrive in Mexico, and you are moving during the high seasons (Christmas/New Year, Easter, and high summer months of July and August) we recommend you book your temporary accommodations well in advance as demand rises substantially during these periods.

• Find information about temporary accommodations in Mexico using AirBnB etc.
• Find practical advice about finding a home for rent in Mexico.
• If you are planning to move straight in to a rented house or apartment in Mexico, you should be making arrangements for that to happen as soon as your residency permit is confirmed.
• If you are buying a house in Mexico and you expect the sale to close in the next weeks or months, you should be in continual touch with your vendor and/or agent in Mexico.

Actions Checklist: 2 Months to Move Day

Here is a checklist of actions and activities to be organized two months before your planned departure date.

Get quotes from moving companies

Once you have decided what personal goods you will be taking and leaving behind and have created a list of the things to move, you’ll be able to assess whether you need a removals company to help you.  If you plan only to take things in a few suitcases/small boxes then you might be able to move those personal items yourself.

If you plan to move with a significant number of household goods to Mexico, we recommend you hire the services of a removals company, as they’ll take the weight off your shoulders and they’ll also deal with the paperwork for the import of your personal goods. We’ve heard of cases of people hiring vans to do it themselves only to be stopped at the border by customs and turned back because they don’t have the import paperwork for their personal goods. Contact at least two, and ideally three, moving companies and ask for a quote to have your personal items moved to Mexico. Choose well-established companies with a strong presence in the market and check reviews online.

If you live in Canada or the USA, the goods will be shipped by road, or by road and then by sea to a port in Mexico where they will be subject to customs inspection and clearance and afterward loaded onto a truck and delivered to your home. If you live in Europe, then you will need to choose whether your goods will travel by sea freight or air freight: the latter is considerably more expensive. Our guide to moving your goods to, within, and from Mexico shares detailed insights.

Traveling heavy or traveling light?

Depending on your circumstances, you may want to leave all your “big ticket” items behind (either by selling them or by placing them in storage) and travel light. You can rent furnished accommodation in Mexico or buy things you need when you arrive: see the Mexperience Mexico cost of living guide for details living costs, including the purchase of homewares. An alternative is to store the things you want to keep, travel to Mexico light, arrange your accommodation and get settled-in, and then have your personal items moved to Mexico later.

Accommodation and storage in Mexico

You should have worked out your accommodation strategy for arrival in Mexico by now. If you are shipping your personal goods to Mexico when you move, they will probably arrive after you. You’ll need to have a plan for the arrival of your items, otherwise you’ll pay storage fees in Mexico—and note that customs’ storage fees are expensive.  If you use a removals company, they ought to coordinate your arrival and delivery dates to avoid excess storage charges.

Preparing to take your vehicles to Mexico

If after considering what to do with your vehicles you have decided to take your car or other vehicles with you, learn more about importing foreign-plated vehicles and applying for Temporary Import Permits for vehicles (TIP).  You don’t need a TIP if your vehicle(s) remain exclusively in the one of Free Zones near the northern and southern borders—read the guides in the links above for details.

Getting ready for your road trip to Mexico

Our comprehensive guide to driving and taking road trips in Mexico is packed with practical advice for driving on Mexico’s roads; and our latest articles about driving in Mexico share helpful insights and advice.  Be sure that your foreign-plated vehicles are property insured for driving in Mexico. See our road trip checklist for more details.

Schooling for your children

If you have school-age children, you should be researching potential schools in Mexico for their schooling needs and making a short-list of potential schools to visit when you arrive in Mexico. If you are employed by a company, your relocation package may include this; if you are moving independently, you will need to research potential schools in Mexico yourself. You might draw up a shortlist and visit two or three upon your arrival in Mexico. Your country’s foreign consulate in Mexico might be able to provide you with a list of private schools you may contact.

Make airline reservations

If you are flying to Mexico, now is the time to start looking at your flight options and making reservations. If you are taking pets with you, the airlines will have certain rules and regulations you need to follow as well.

Change of address

Make a list of all the organizations you need to contact to tell them about your change of address. Arrange a holding and/or forwarding address in your home country if you still don’t yet have a permanent address in Mexico.

Start to organize your personal belongings

Begin to segregate the things you will be keeping (for storage or transportation) from the things you will be disposing of. Begin to advertise items that you no longer use, and which may take longer to sell.

Gather together important documents

Gather all the important documents that you will need to take with you such as birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates, professional qualification certificates, etc.  Note that your foreign-issued official documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates will need to be Apostilled and Translated into Spanish if you present them for an official procedure in Mexico.

Consolidate your financial arrangements

You may want to consolidate any financial arrangements you have in place; for example, you may want to pay-off or cancel certain credit cards, close bank accounts—although most people tend to keep at least one bank account open in their home country. Any paperwork you dispose of containing personal or financial details should be shredded to avoid someone potentially stealing your identity. Bank cards and check books you no longer need should be securely disposed of, too.  Read our comprehensive free guide to Money, Finances and Banking Services in Mexico and for the latest insights, read our articles about money and finances in Mexico.

Financial documents and tax affairs

Be sure to have all your financial, banking, pension and investment papers organized and safely filed. Share certificates, bonds, and other financial instruments should be carefully stored or carried with you in your hand luggage if you’re flying to Mexico.

Note that you must declare the import/export of cash and other negotiable monetary instruments if the sum exceeds US$10,000; there is no limit on the amount of money that may be brought in or taken out from Mexico but if the amount is over US$10,000 you must declare it. If you are traveling via the USA into Mexico, you will also need to make a separate declaration of amounts over US$10,000 to US Customs. Your home country, if not the US, might have a similar requirement when you leave.

You will need to consider your tax situation, as well. A qualified accountant will be able to advise you in detail about the best framework for your personal circumstances. You (or your accountant on your behalf) will need to contact your country’s tax authorities to advise them of your intentions as part of your personal tax-planning program.  For matters related to tax in Mexico, we recommend you contact and hire a local accountant near when you intend to live in Mexico.

Arrange overseas voting rights

Many countries allow their citizens to vote in elections, even when they are living abroad. If you wish to continue voting for your home-country’s elected officials while you are living in Mexico, check with your local authorities or your country’s consulate in Mexico about how to register to do this.

Actions Checklist: 1 Month to Move Day

This is going to be a busy month. All the preparation work you have been doing over the last sixty days will begin to come together very quickly over the next few weeks. Your last week (see next section) might be one of the busiest in your life.

Your passports and visas

All your travel and visa documentation should be in order by now.  Your residency permit for Mexico should be confirmed, with visa stickers in your passport(s) ready to make the exchange from the visa to a residency card when you arrive in Mexico.

Your home residence

If you are renting a house in your home country, you should have given notice to the landlord or renting agent by now. If you are selling, then you are about to close or will leave the selling/closing to the realtor or other person to do on your behalf. If you are leaving your home vacant, you ought to have planned for house-sitting or someone to check-in regularly.  If you are renting your home out, then you will need to make final preparations for your tenants to move-in after you leave. If you do not have the time to clean the house, hire the services of a professional cleaner and arrange for them to come in a day or two before you plan to vacate the property.

Your personal goods and belongings

You should be selling or donating all your unwanted goods by now. The items that you are keeping should be kept separate (perhaps in a spare room, garage, or rented storage unit) and you should have the removal and, if appropriate, storage of the items arranged and booked with the removals company.

If you are moving yourself and driving to Mexico, you should ensure that your vehicle will safely transport all the items you are planning to take with you. Return any borrowed goods to friends, neighbors, and other family members.  If you are moving a lot of things, you should have made preparations for your personal goods to be moved and imported to Mexico.

Inform key people and organizations of your move

Now is the time to contact all the people and organizations on the list you’ve made to let them know you are moving. The list should include:

• Local authorities (e.g. municipality or council)
• Property management association (where relevant)
• All utilities; telephone, cell phone and TV companies
• Banks and financial institutions (including insurance and investment companies)
• Cancelation or redirection of any physical delivery of newspapers, magazines you may have active
• Cancel regular food deliveries, the local library (and return any books), local clubs, gym membership, and other associations
• Contact your children’s school (arrange for their last day at school, pick up any work and school certificates, report cards, etc.) and any clubs they attend
• Inform the car registration agency, the tax office, your vehicle breakdown service company, the family attorney and accountant and doctors (see medical below) about your move.

Medical records, prescriptions, and health coverages

Get copies of yours and your family’s medical records from your doctor/health center; also get copies of any prescription medicine you are taking if you will need to buy more in Mexico. You may want to have a last eye-test and dental check-up before your departure to Mexico, and thus not have to concern with those for a while. (Note that dental work is considerably less expensive in Mexico than in the US.) You can learn about options for health insurance in Mexico and get detailed information about health and well-being on the latest articles here at Mexperience.

Run-down your food supplies

Begin to run-down your fridge and freezer in readiness for defrost; empty kitchen cupboards of dry goods; use up food and/or donate it to friends, neighbors, or shelters.

Get your personal goods ready to move or dispose of

Prepare furniture and appliances being sold or donated for removal from the house or apartment; encourage people to take delivery of items you no longer use now and try to negotiate late-pick up of items you need until your last day in the house, e.g., beds.

Begin to clear and empty out all cupboards and storerooms including the attic, basement, or cellar if your home has these. Your items checklist should make this process straightforward as you will know what you are keeping and disposing of.

Dismantle any furniture that will not easily transport when built. This is your final chance to sell goods and personal items you don’t need—do some more advertising if you need to and reduce prices of things that have not sold to date; you might host a final garage sale. You cannot take house plants with you to Mexico, so find new homes for them.

Confirm final-week arrangements

Confirm your moving date with your removals company, cleaner, and any other essential service providers (e.g., your rental agency). If you are not taking your pets, begin preparations for their move to their new loving home; if you are taking your pets to Mexico, be sure you have all of the paperwork in place and that you have the correct type of carry box or kennel to transport the pet(s) if you’re flying.

Actions Checklist: One Week to Move Day

Everything must come together this week; and you need to organize matters so that your move out of your property goes smoothly.

Prepare to vacate your current residence

Anything you have not been able to sell needs to be donated or recycled. Your freezer should be emptied, defrosted, and dried out if it has not been done already. All items you are not putting into storage or taking with you need to be removed; those items you are storing or taking will need to be segregated (where possible) or labeled for removal and ready for the removals people to collect.

Find new owners to adopt your house plants: you cannot take them to Mexico with you. Do last minute laundry and dry-cleaning; don’t forget to collect any items you may have pending at the dry cleaners. If you no longer have a bed to sleep on, you may arrange to stay the last few nights with family members, close friends, or a local hotel or Airbnb. Arrange letter-post forwarding if this service is available in your country.

Gather your personal belongings together

Separate all of the personal items that you will be taking with you in your baggage (i.e. not being removed by the removals company if you’re using one); ensure that you have sufficient clothes to get by while you wait for your shipment if you are transporting any clothes via the shipping company; also check that what you want to take fits into the bags you have available and that you are within the airline’s weight limits if you are flying. All high value items such as jewelry and items of high sentimental value should be taken with you as carry-on if you’re flying to Mexico.

Get ready for the moving day(s)

If you have very young children, arrange for someone to look after them on moving day. Older children can help with the move. Your removals company should arrive early and empty out the house of all items you are not carrying with you to Mexico. If you have hired a professional cleaning firm, they should be scheduled to arrive after your movers have taken everything out of the house and begin a thorough clean of the property. You should give yourself plenty of time to vacate the property if you have sold it or if you’re renting it out to someone. Try to build in some time in the late afternoon or evening, the day you move out, to simply relax; you may want to go to a comfortable hotel/spa.

Actions Checklist: Moving Day(s)

It might take more than one day to move out, depending on your circumstances; however, if you can, try to move out in one day, and arrange for any hand-over of the property (rental or sale) to happen no earlier than the day after you expect to have vacated the property.

Home removals company

If you have hired a removals company to move your personal goods to Mexico, they should arrive early and leave you with an empty property to clean. If you are moving yourself, then this is your final day to empty the property of all your personal goods and items.

Thorough clean

If you are vacating the property, it ought to be left thoroughly clean, whether you are selling, renting to someone, or handing back possession of a rental property. Hire professional cleaners if you don’t have the time or inclination to do this yourself.

Final utility meter readings

Take final meter readings from the gas, water, and electricity meters and telephone the suppliers to let them know the details and a forwarding address for your final bills. Cancel your land-line phone service and cable TV if you have not organized this already.

Final check of your property

Once the property is cleared, and the cleaning is done, make a thorough check of the property one last time to ensure everything is in order.

Important paperwork and documentation

Ensure that all your important paperwork and travel documents are together and readily accessible. Don’t leave them where they may be lost, accidentally disposed of, or packed away with the items in the shipment (this happens!).  Make sure you have auto insurance if you’re driving to Mexico and read our Mexico road-trip checklist.

Property handover or care

If you are handing the property over to someone else, arrange for this to happen the day after you move or later. There is nothing worse than having people waiting outside to move in while you are busy moving out. If your property will remain vacant for a long period, have someone —a friend or a professional property management company— visit the property regularly to check on any issues that may arise (e.g., leaks, breakages etc.) and to deal with post and other matters related to owning a property.

Actions Checklist: On Arrival in Mexico

Arriving in Mexico is the start of your new lifestyle situation! There are some formalities to follow when you arrive, but they are straightforward, and you can quickly begin the process of settling-in. Here is a run-down of the main things to do upon arrival:

Arrival at the port of entry in Mexico

Depending on whether you arrive by road or air, there is a straightforward arrival process at your port of entry.

• If you arrive at an airport, ensure you show your residency visa(s) to the immigration official, and do not enter Mexico as a visitor or tourist.
• If you arrive by road or at a seaport, ensure you stop to visit the immigration kiosk to have your residency visa(s) stamped on entry.
• You will need to have the visa stamped to successfully complete your visa exchange process. If it’s not stamped, this will cause problems and delays when you go to get your residency card(s).

Exchanging your residency visa in time

Arriving to live and settle-in to Mexico will be a busy period, but you must make time to get your residency visa(s) exchanged for residency card(s) before the visa expires.

• Upon your first entry to Mexico using your Mexican resident visa(s), the officer at the port of entry will stamp a page marking your entry date to the country. You now have 30 days from this date to exchange your visa(s) for a residency card(s).
• If you fail to commence this exchange process within 30 calendar days of your arrival date, your visa(s) will become void, and you will need to restart the residency application process from a Mexican consulate abroad.  There are no exceptions to this rule.
• See our guide to exchanging your residency visa sticker for a residency card for more details.

Transport to your hotel or local accommodation

If you need ground transportation from the airport are official taxis operating from all airports that will take you to your hotel or other accommodation that you have arranged.  Other ground transportation options include:

• Using an App Cab service like Uber or Didi.
• Having friends or family pick you up at the airport.
• Renting a car from the airport.
• Taking a bus from the airport to your destination.

Obtain some local currency

Now is a good time to buy some local currency. You can buy Mexican pesos at currency exchange kiosks at the airport and near border crossings; you can also withdraw Mexican pesos from local ATMs with the sums debited to your bank account abroad.

Helpful resources and contacts

Here is a list of helpful contacts and resources related to importing your personal goods to Mexico.

Mexican consulates: Applications for a Menaje de Casa, if you need one, must be made through any Mexican Consulate abroad.  Contact your nearest Mexican consulate to ask for details of their Menaje de Casa procedures.

Removal companies: We recommend you use a professional removals company to help you ship your personal goods to Mexico. Read our guide to finding and choosing a relocation company for your move to Mexico.

Bringing your pets: Read additional information about procedures and paperwork needed to bring your pets to Mexico

Temporary vehicle imports: Useful information if you plan to use your foreign-plated vehicle to move your things to Mexico.

Mexican Customs: If you want further advice, visit the Mexican Customs website

Customs brokers: If you decide to self-ship, you might consider contacting a Customs Broker for advice and help to get your consignment through Customs.  Removals companies work with Customs Brokers too, so if you hired a removals company, they usually liaise between you and the Customs officials. You can begin your search for Customs Brokers here (Google).

Settling-in after your arrival

Mexperience continues to support you after your move to Mexico with extensive and regularly updated guides and articles to help you experience more of Mexico.  Here are some of the resources you’ll find on Mexperience… and don’t forget to sign-up to our free monthly Mexico newsletter.

Settling-in to your new life and routines

Our guide to Living & Lifestyles includes chapters with helpful local knowledge about adapting & settling-in, finding purpose & balance, cultivating friendships and community networks, and developing key skills to help you adapt to your new environment.

Homestead care and management

Whether you’re renting a home or have purchased a property here, our regularly updated guides help you manage your home and dwelling spaces in Mexico, with tips and local knowledge to keep them well maintained and secure for you and your family.

Cultivate your home life

When you’ve made the move and you’re living here, our regularly updated articles about cultivating a fruitful home life in Mexico will give you insights, inspiration, and ideas to make the most of your everyday lifestyle.

Learning and improving your Spanish

We encourage you to learn Spanish to help you make the most of your experiences in Mexico.  We connect you to language courses, and our in-depth PinPoint Spanish series helps you to learn about the nuances of language usage in Mexico.

Manage your money & finances in Mexico

We publish detailed, updated, information about managing your finances in Mexico, including bank accounts, money exchange, and money transfers.

Insurance to cover the costs of burglary in Mexico

Property insurance policies cover theft of most items from your home —and sometimes for certain items stolen from your car or hotel room when you’re traveling— but the specific provisions in most policies typically stipulate an uncovered deductible amount.

Coverage for vandalism

A good insurance policy will also cover you if an act of vandalism is visited upon your property.  While vandalism can be a relatively minor irritation —graffiti spray-painted on an exterior wall, for example— it can be far more expensive to make good if the vandalism is severe and happens inside the property as part-and-parcel of a burglary.  Most burglars are looking for easily portable, high-value items like jewelry, technology, and cash, and it’s not unheard of for some burglars to cause extensive internal damage as they move through the house.

While a comprehensive insurance policy will cover vandalism, when the deductible is considered, in practice an event like a graffiti painted on an external wall will be less expensive to make good locally than filing an insurance claim.  The same is true with petty thefts: small losses aren’t covered unless the value of the loss is greater than the policy’s deductible.

Unattended properties are a prime target for burglars in Mexico

In Mexico, unattended homes are at the highest risk of burglary.  It’s unwise to leave your home vacant and unattended in Mexico for lengthy periods, and most foreign residents who plan to be away for a week or more will take some precautions.

Here are some key tips to consider when you plan to be away and leave your house unoccupied for an extended period:

Check the insurance policy

Be sure to check the detail of your home insurance policy as most coverages underwriting domestic dwellings will not pay-out if your property has been left vacant for 30 days or more.

Communal homes

If you’ve purchased your Mexican home in a condominium complex or in a gated community (known in Spanish as privadas or fraccionamientos), some of these have 24-hour security at the gate.

Let your gate staff (or other staff like the property manager or the cleaner) know that you’ll be away and ask one of the neighbors to pick-up your mail and call-in to the property to check on things; this is especially important during the rainy season after a major storm (or hurricane if you live along the coast) to check for any damage that may need attending to right away.

If you don’t have a neighbor or local friend who can help with this, a local realty agent might provide the service for a fee.

Detached homes

If your home is situated along a public street, and especially if it’s in a semi-rural or rural location off-the-beaten-track, we recommend you adopt a range of measures to mitigate the possibility of burglary. These include having interior and/or exterior lighting set-up on timers, and/or motion detectors outside that switch-on lights in key areas when people approach the property.  Some owners have alarm systems installed which are connected to a security company.

Your car and other vehicles

If your car is kept in public view and you’re going to leave it while you’re away, have a neighbor move it occasionally; doing this will also help to keep the car’s battery in good working order, especially if the vehicle is older and your absence is extended.

Home checkers/sitters

Ask a neighbor, family member, or friend —or pay a local agent— to pick-up mail and check the property while you’re away.  An excellent way to protect your property while you’re away for a lengthy period is to have someone you know house-sit for you.

For a trusted friend or family member, this arrangement might provide an opportunity for them to enjoy a rent-free leisure break here in Mexico, and it’s also useful if you have pets that need looking after: having them cared for at home is a better arrangement (and less expensive) than using kennels.

What’s covered by home insurance in Mexico?

The precise coverages on offer to protect your home are determined by where in Mexico the property is situated: not every insurance company will offer full coverage in every part of the country.

To find out what you can cover for your home, our associates, MexPro, provide a property insurance service online: use this to enter your property details and address and their system will give you a quote on property insurance, as available for your review.

Learn more about caring for and insuring your home in Mexico

Mexperience publishes extensive information to help you plan and care for your home spaces in Mexico.

• Guide to securing your home and dwelling spaces in Mexico
• Guide to home maintenance
• Latest articles about property insurance
• Articles about real estate in Mexico

Planning and maintenance is key

The convenience and intimacy of a private pool are often sought after by home-buyers and extolled by vendors, but unless you have a plan to regularly service your pool, you’ll struggle to keep it in good working order.

Fortunately, property maintenance costs in Mexico are lower than the U.S., and with some foresight and planning, you can ensure your investment gives you and your family years of refreshing enjoyment.

This article shares a summary of the main things you need to consider when you have (or buy) a house with a pool to maintain:

Monthly pool maintenance

Your pool will need cleaning regularly, perhaps daily during some seasons, especially if it’s surrounded by trees with leaves. Checking the levels of vital chemicals to ensure your pool remains free of unwanted bacteria is essential, and purchasing the various chemistry sets to balance the alkaline levels are all part of the ongoing expense of pool ownership.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to do this yourself, you’ll have to pay someone else to do it for you; budget for around $1,000-$1,500 pesos per month for someone to maintain your pool regularly, including chemicals. (Rates vary by region, check locally.)

Pool safety

If your house has a pool without a safety fence surround and you have young children (or young children visiting who will be regularly exposed to the pool area) you might consider installing a fence with a locked gate for access to the pool area.  The cost of doing this will vary depending on what type of fence and materials you choose. Inquire locally and get some quotes.

The pool’s pump and its filter system

Electricity rates per kilowatt hour in Mexico escalate when you go over a certain monthly usage.  Your pool’s pump and filter system operated several hours daily will probably push you through the usage barrier that will bump your electricity bill into the more expensive charging band; although you might operate the pump and filter on a timer for limited periods and mitigate this cost. You also need to maintain the filters, which usually means replacing the sand in the filter unit every few years, or sooner depending on local conditions and the pool’s usage.

Heating your swimming pool water

Some places in Mexico, especially towns and cities situated at elevation, get cool or even cold in the autumn and winter months (read also: Land of Three Lands).  Gas-fueled heating systems are available for pools, but if you use these, be prepared to pay considerably for the fuel they’ll consume heating large volumes of pool water.

If you want to regulate the temperature of your pool year-round, a good (and popular) solution is to install a solar-panel heating system; the initial costs are high, but they will save you money in fuel charges over the long term and make your property more attractive to renters and buyers interested in houses with swimming pools, as most people prefer temperate water in a pool instead of cold water.

Water supply for your pool

Pools, especially older pools that tend be larger and deeper, require a huge amount of water, and in areas where water is scarce (especially in the dry season between October and April) this can cause some challenges.

If you buy a house with a large and deep pool, you can save a lot of water (and money) by reducing the pool’s depth.  This can be done relatively inexpensively, by having a portion of the existing pool filled-in. Turning an old deep pool into a plunge pool, perhaps with only one lane or a selected area deeper, can reduce your water requirement by 50% or more; this will cost you less to fill and less to maintain as you’ll use less chemicals, and your pump and filters will do less work, costing proportionally less, too. With less water, the pool’s temperature will regulate faster, heating up more quickly via solar panels.  You can learn more about water in Mexico here on Mexperience.

Retiling and repainting your pool

Every so often, you will have to repaint and/or retile your pool. If you have bought an older house, where the pool has been there many years, this might be a job that needs doing sooner rather than later. Repainting is the least expensive option; tiling a pool can be expensive, but tiles will last far longer than coats of standard pool paint.  A ‘modern’ option is to use a special paint-like coating that offers the economies of paint with the duress of tiles. Check with your local pool merchant for options and prices.

The attractions of having a swimming pool

Swimming pools are picturesque and romantic, and in very hot climates can also be very practical and even essential during the summer months when a refreshing swim can serve as a substitute to expensive air-conditioning during the day.  The cost and efforts involved with pool ownership can be managed with some forethought and planning that will repay you with years of enjoyment.

Older homes and their pools

If you’re buying an older house in Mexico, the pool is likely to be old too, and may require some serious maintenance or even reconstruction, so check this as part of your due diligence and perhaps negotiate a discount on the price to cover any probable costs needed to get the pool in working order.

Pools in gated communities

When you purchase a condo with a communal pool, your home owner’s association will have to deal with the same issues private pool owners do.  Even if the building is new, and the pool is modern, there will come a day when wear-and-tear will call-in its dues, and the owner’s association will be faced with paying the bills. The advantage in these situations is that the costs (both on-going and maintenance or repair) are shared between all the residents who have access to the pool.

Deciding to remove and fill-in your pool

A final note about swimming pools: on some occasions, you might consider throwing-in the towel —and the soil— and turning your pool into a patio, garden or wildlife pond. You may consider this if you don’t have the cash to make repairs on a badly dilapidated pool, or if you want more garden/patio space in an otherwise small garden area.

Another option in some areas is to convert the hole into an underground water cistern, which is useful for gathering rain water that can be used in the dry season for watering the garden during or perhaps even to drink if the right filtering system is installed.

Learn more about water supplies in Mexico

Mexperience publishes articles and guides to help you understand water supplies and the efficient use of water at your home in Mexico, including:

• Water supplies for residential homes in Mexico
• Understanding water pressure systems
• Clarity about drinking the water
• Latest articles related to use of water in Mexico
• Home Maintenance and Security in Mexico

How mosquitoes feed and breed

Mosquitoes feed primarily on nectar, although females also need the nutrients from animal or human blood to produce eggs and, unlike male mosquitoes, their mouth parts can penetrate skin and draw blood from hosts.

Female mosquitoes find hosts by using their antennae which detect carbon dioxide and other organic compounds expelled when humans and animals breathe out and sweat.  Studies have revealed that mosquitoes prefer some hosts over others: blood type, the bacteria on your skin, and even genetics can influence your attractiveness to female mosquitoes.

While the quantity of blood mosquitoes extract is inconsequential to the host, the saliva in mosquitoes’ mouths can carry diseases which may be passed-on, including Malaria, Yellow Fever, Chikungunya, Dengue fever, and the Zika virus.  According to the US Center for Disease Control, the chances of contracting Malaria from mosquitoes in Mexico is very low, although it advises pregnant women and their partners to take special precautions due to the risk of Zika virus.

Mosquitoes by season and region in Mexico

Mosquitoes are most prevalent in Mexico between April and November, and their numbers swell during the rainy season (June to October).  Sub-tropical regions in the south including the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Yucatán experience a higher proliferation of mosquitoes than areas further north.  Mexico’s fertile coastal plains provide the ideal environment for mosquitoes to thrive, but you’ll find plenty of them in places situated at elevation too, albeit fewer the further north you are in the central highlands. Mosquito numbers decline significantly —but don’t vanish entirely— from late autumn and through the winter months and will begin to return around the middle to late half of the dry season.

Practical matters concerning mosquitoes in Mexico

Most mosquito bites in Mexico are an annoyance more than a threat: your risk of contracting a disease is very low.  However, mosquito bites are not pleasant so it’s good practice to defend against them—whether you’re just here on a visit and especially if you live in Mexico or spend an extended period of time here.

Active hours

Although mosquitoes tend to be more active after dusk, female mosquitoes will bite anytime of day, especially in warmer and more humid climates.

Mosquito nets on windows and doors

An excellent way to guard your home in Mexico against mosquitoes is to install mosquito net-screens on your windows and install swinging mosquito net-screens in front of outside doors.  These allow you to enjoy an air flow, keeping your indoor spaces cool and naturally refreshed, while preventing mosquitoes from entering; this is especially helpful overnight during the hotter months when a cool night breeze can help you to rest. If your windows and doors don’t have mosquito nets, close them just before sundown to prevent lots of mosquitoes from entering your home and disturbing you at night.

Bed nets

Even using window and door net-screens, some female mosquitoes will always sneak-in, hide and become active overnight in their search for blood hosts—especially during the peak summer breeding season.  Whether you have mosquito nets on your windows or not, a bed net is one of the best and most effective ways to prevent your night’s sleep from being interrupted.  They are especially useful over children’s beds and cots.  They’re inexpensive, easy to install (simply hang from a hook in the ceiling), and the net can be folded back during the day.  Bed nets are a superior solution to burning incense or using some other artificial repellents in the room while you sleep.

Prevent mosquitoes breeding around your home

Mosquitoes need water to breed and checking your home spaces for possible mosquito breeding habitats will prevent you from having to deal with a swarm in your immediate vicinity.

The most common mosquito-breeding habitats in homes are laundry and utility areas, garden ponds, unused fountains and swimming pools, and any other places on the property where water can accumulate in stagnant pools.

Make it a regular habit to overturn water buckets and bins after use (even small pools of water in the base of a bucket create a breeding opportunity); if you have an unused fountain or swimming pool, keep it clear of stagnant water; if you have a garden pond you can use certain natural plants, fish, and/or essential oils to dissuade or prevent mosquitoes from breeding there; check near drainage areas, and on any flat roofs as well as other nooks and crannies which may accumulate pools of water after it rains: mosquitoes can breed quickly, and preventing them from using your home to multiply is a good first line of defense.

Body lotion mosquito repellents

Wearing insect repellent on your skin is the most common way to prevent mosquitoes from biting you while you’re enjoying the outdoors.  There are two types: the traditional synthetic repellents (usually based on DEET as the active ingredient) and repellents made using natural oils.

Repelente de insectos is readily available from local pharmacies and supermarkets across Mexico: the most common synthetic big-brand repellent on sale here is called “Off” and the alternative natural formulas made using citrus and other oils are sold under various brand names but most often include the word “Citronella” on the label.  You can buy them in liquid form with a spray top, or as a lotion or cream.

Dressing against mosquitoes

It’s worth wearing long sleeve shirts, trousers and socks after dusk if you plan to spend time outside during an evening.  Biting mosquitoes tend to go for places on your body with the least amount of hair, e.g. feet, ankles, legs/knees, ears, and neck.

If you are visiting or traveling through densely-foraged areas in humid regions (which includes many archaeology sites) it’s worth dressing using long sleeves and trousers as well as using a generous helping of insect repellent on exposed skin, regardless of the time of day.  If you’re traversing through rural areas which are densely-wooded, or through jungle, a hat with a sewn-in mosquito net is also recommended.

Candles, incense and coils, and bug sprays

‘Citronela’ candles are available for purchase locally although their efficacy seems doubtful.  Incense and coils which you light to emit smoke are also available; some claim they are suitable for indoor use, although these are probably best kept outside and used for evening garden parties, and other outdoor gatherings.

Big-brand mosquito insecticide sprays are readily available in stores and supermarkets across Mexico—they are effective, but the active ingredients are toxic to humans and other plant and wild life as well, so use them sparingly—or better, choose alternatives.

Electronic devices to deal with mosquitoes

There are three electric devices commonly used for deterring and eliminating mosquitoes.

Chemical diffuser and sound waves

Some people purchase devices which plug into an electricity socket on the wall: one type requires the continual purchase of an accompanying oil which is diffused into the room by the device; the other type emits a high-pitched frequency sound, inaudible to humans and supposedly unfriendly to mosquitoes and other insects. If you have pets, they might not appreciate these devices.

Ultra-violet light lamps

The other popular electric device is a ‘bug zapping’ lamp, that attracts flying insects using a UV lamp and electrocutes them.  The debris fall onto a tray that must be cleaned out.  A key issue with these is that they attract all flying insects, not just mosquitoes—and some flying insects are helpful to have around.

Simple alternative to electric devices

A hanging bed net —see above— is more effective and does not fill the room with artificial chemicals, high-frequency sound pitches which might affect sleep or hearing, and does not require you to continually clean out a tray of dead bugs (including ones that can be helpful and not just biting/stinging ones).

Marquees with mosquito screen-nets

Mexico’s agreeable climates provide ample opportunity for outdoor activities and events and if you often spend time in the garden or entertaining guests outside during the evening hours, you might consider buying a marquee and adding a mosquito netting to the sides; some marquees are sold with the mosquito netting already sewn-in; it can be rolled-up when it’s not needed.

Natural repellents and remedies

If you want to defend against mosquitoes without using a lot of synthetic/toxic chemicals, there is plenty of advice online about natural ways to deal with mosquitoes.

After-bite treatments

Most people will experience a mosquito bite and how your body reacts depends on a range of factors.  Most mosquito bites create a swollen area and cause an itch; in some people the reaction can be more severe, for example, large blisters may form.  If you are bitten, you can purchase Andotol gel from local pharmacies in Mexico which is an effective after-bite treatment; ask the pharmacist about other after-bite products they have in stock; some use bicarbonate of soda as the active ingredient.

Symptoms of possible disease

The odds of a disease being passed to you from a mosquito bite in Mexico are very low; notwithstanding this, if after being bitten by a mosquito you feel fever, unusually sweaty, experience back and body aches, a stiff neck, or begin vomiting seek medical advice.

Protect your personal items and defend against litigation

Although home insurance is not obligatory by law in Mexico (if your property is mortgaged, the lender may insist the property is covered), it’s prudent to factor-in a property insurance policy to your annual budget to protect your assets and, importantly, to defend against third party liabilities.

Third party liability in relation to home ownership doesn’t seem as obvious a risk as it is with driving a car, but in the event of an accident or mishap involving your property, your liabilities as home owner to third parties will become apparent.

Storm damage can leave you liable

Consider the trees in your garden. Trees falling in a wind storm can come down with tremendous force, and will easily cause material damage to your own property—and possibly to your neighbor’s. In acute cases they can cause bodily harm or fatalities.  Mexico experiences stormy days, even in the highlands away from the coasts, and some of those storms will cause trees to fall down.  Garden walls can also be subject to sudden and unexpected collapse, especially during an earthquake, or if they are old or have weakened foundations.

Condo unit ‘bloc’ coverages are limited

A common situation where homeowners unwittingly become exposed to liabilities is when they own a condominium, or live inside a gated community. They think the insurance policy —paid for through their Home Owner Association fees— that covers the building or the estate also covers them personally.  It usually doesn’t.  For example, when a water leak from the kitchen or shower room in your condo causes damage to units below yours, the repair bill becomes your responsibility.

Domestic workers and accidents

Another situation where homeowners can become liable is in relation to the domestic help they employ.  A lot of foreign residents in Mexico hire maids and gardeners.  If your maid falls down the stairs when she’s cleaning, or your gardener hurts himself while working in your garden, you become responsible to them in those situations.  Read this article to learn more about insuring domestic workers in your home in Mexico and how an adequate insurance policy can cover you.

Home insurance as an integral part of  your budget

Home insurance policies are often overlooked and sometimes ignored as an unnecessary expense by foreign homeowners here in Mexico, especially those with homes situated away from hurricane-prone areas. While hurricanes are among the most apparent risks in relation to property, powerful wind storms inland can also cause serious property damage, and give rise to third party liability in relation to events and people related to your home: if for no other reason, you should consider your insurance arrangements to mitigate those liabilities.

Learn more about caring for and insuring your home in Mexico

Mexperience publishes extensive information to help you plan and care for your home life in Mexico through guides, articles and free eBooks:

• Free eBook: House maintenance and home security
• Latest articles about property insurance
• Articles about real estate in Mexico

How you dispose of your household waste and separate materials for recycling will depend on where you live in Mexico. This article describes the various ways to manage your waste, materials recycling, food composting, and they ways in which waste collection is typically paid for.

General waste collection in Mexico

In most locations, your general waste will be collected in one of two ways, and some municipalities also run a separate recycling collection scheme.  All towns and cities across Mexico have a formal waste collection scheme in operation, with waste disposal trucks making their rounds at least once a week.

Waste collection by truck

General waste is collected by trucks, usually (but not always) the type with a compactor that crushes all the waste placed into the back of the truck by the operators accompanying the vehicle.  These trucks will:

• collect general household waste from garbage bins or bags left outside your home, or
• in some neighborhoods waste bags or bins are set out on the nearest street corner from where they are collected by the waste collection truck team during the course of the day; and
• some gated communities and condo developments have a dedicated waste and recycling collection area, and the waste collection truck will empty this on its round.

Collection frequency: Larger cities may have daily waste collection rounds, but in most places waste collection rounds tend to operate two or three days a week.  In small towns and villages waste collection rounds happen once a week.

Collection in your area: Schedules and frequency of collection rounds vary by location and neighborhood.  If you are new to the area, ask a neighbor about waste collection arrangements, or check to see what days others put out their waste bins or bags for collection.

Community waste bins and dumpsters

In some cities and neighborhoods, instead of putting out your waste in bags or bins outside your home (or on a street corner) you will see, dotted around, a series of community waste bins or dumpsters which are emptied regularly by the local waste collection trucks.

• These fixed bins/dumpsters are usually situated on street corners every couple of blocks in residential neighborhoods.
• Some gated communities and condos might operate a similar arrangement, with a dumpster near the entrance or just outside the complex.
• The type varies: they might be metal bins, barrels or larger ‘dumpster-like’ metal crates that have a hook which the waste collection truck uses to lift and empty them.
• If this type of waste collection is operating in your area, you can take your general household waste there at anytime, where it remains for a while until the waste delivery truck calls by—which might be daily, several times a week, and at least once a week.

Recyclable materials in your waste

Some municipalities in Mexico operate a dual-waste collection regime, with trucks that collect general household waste, and other trucks that collect materials that are recyclable.  In some areas, collection days alternative between the two types of waste collection.

Separating recyclable waste

You ought to separate cardboard and magazines and any items which are not general household waste, for example: metalwork, old pipes, old brickwork, electrical items, old computers, monitors, glass. etc. even if the municipality where you live doesn’t operate a recycling regime that’s separate to general waste collection.

Formal waste recycling schemes are becoming more widespread across towns and cities in Mexico. An increasing number of municipalities across the country now operate materials recycling collection trucks, in addition to the general waste collection truck rounds.

If the municipality where your home is situated runs a materials recycling collection scheme (check locally to find out what day, or days, it collects) you ought to always keep the items listed below separate from your general waste to be collected by the recycling truck:

• Glass bottles and jars, metal lids off, placed with the metals, and vessels cleaned.
• Plastic bottles and other plastic containers, rinsed out.
• Metal tins, cans, rinsed out; aluminum foil (cleaned); as well as any other metal materials for disposal (old pipes, etc.)
• Paper, magazines and cardboard, as well as clean packaging (boxes, etc.) broken down flat.
• Some (but not many) municipalities also take food scrap waste for composting, separate to recyclable waste—see the next section for more details about this.

Private streets and gated communities: These usually have a separate recycling collection area, that’s an integral part of their waste collection scheme, where residents can place their recyclables into separate bins.  If the local municipality runs a dedicated recycling truck round, that truck will collect from this area; if it doesn’t the Home Owners Association may arrange with a local materials recycling firm to collect recyclable materials periodically.

No recycling truck? In some areas where there is no separate recycling truck, you still ought to separate the recyclable items listed above from your general waste, as these materials might be kept separate by the waste collection team who will recycle them.  Otherwise inquire locally about waste recycling firms that might collect recyclable waste from your home, or from several homes if you organize this with your neighbors.

Composting biodegradable waste

In addition to separating your home’s general waste from recyclable materials, you may consider separating food scraps and waste to convert them into compost.

• If you have a home with a garden in Mexico, recycling your home’s food waste is an excellent way to create a rich compost for your soil and plant pots.
• It’s simple to do—simply keep a separate small bin (with or without a compostable bag inside) and place your food scraps into there instead of into your general waste.
• You can purchase food composters to keep in your garden, patio or yard that can help you create home compost using food scraps.

Food scraps collection: Some municipalities operate a food scraps collection service. If yours does, you can put out food scraps in compostable bags for collection on the designated day(s).  This is helpful if you live in a smaller home or apartment in an urban area and don’t have a garden or sufficient space to operate a home composter bin.

Collection of old appliances and homewares

If you have old appliances (e.g., a washing machine) or homewares (e.g., an old mattress) you want to dispose of, some waste collection trucks might take these for recycling by prior arrangement. (It’s appropriate to pay them a tip if they do this.)

More commonly, you will discover that your neighborhood is probably served by a mobile “iron monger” or as they were termed many years ago, a “rag and bone collector.”

These service providers drive around in small trucks and advertise their presence on your street using a loudspeaker declaring that they will buy metal, ironwork, appliances, and other homewares you don’t need—including mattresses. Some of these collectors also take old car batteries.

The sum of the money they offer is usually a token and you might simply gift the item(s) to them; the valuable service they offer is to take old items away from your home to strip them down and recycle every usable part without you having to make any other arrangements, or even pay for this to be undertaken for you.

Paying for waste collection in Mexico

Payment for household waste collection varies by municipality and locale.  You need check locally for details, although typically one of the following will apply:

• The scheme is paid for by the local municipality using public funds and there might or might not be a modest fee per collection or per bag/bin. (MXN$5 to MXN$10 pesos per bag/bin is common; or a fixed fee, for example $20 pesos per collection, with an extra payment for ‘excess’ waste on any particular round.)
• In the case of closed-off (private) streets and gated communities, a local arrangement might be in place whereby the waste collectors are paid a sum for each collection, using Home Owner Association funds.
• In the cases where an official fee per item/collection doesn’t exist and the waste collection truck travels down your street collecting bags and its team emptying bins, it’s appropriate to pay a tip.  The tip might be per collection, or you might pay them once a month, as you prefer.
• Regardless of what payment scheme may be in place at your locale, it’s appropriate to pay a Christmas bonus tip to the people who collect your waste throughout the year.

Taking care of your home in Mexico

Mexperience publishes guides and articles to help you maintain and secure your house, home, and dwelling spaces in Mexico.

• Latest insights about taking care of your home in Mexico
• Water supply for your Mexican home
• Electricity supply for your home
• Gas supply for your home
• Insurance for your home in Mexico

Domestic workers can include housekeepers, nurses or other home assistance;  gardeners, pool cleaning and maintenance workers; and may occasionally include other specialized workers like plumbers and electricians.

You can mitigate the cost of liability

This article describes certain risks that can emerge from having people working in your home and how a suitable insurance policy can mitigate the financial costs and related treatment expenses if someone working there suffers an injury, as well as defend you against civil liability costs in the event of a major adverse incident.

You can obtain home insurance coverage, including third party liability, whether you own or rent your home in Mexico.

Accidents can and do happen in the home

When you have a regular helper or helpers working in your home, you ought to consider what would happen if one of those workers or helpers has an accident and needs treatment, or becomes disabled, or dies.

Examples include:

• if your housekeeper slips and falls badly, and sustains a substantial injury;
• if your gardener injures himself using a power tool, or falls off a ladder;
• if the pool maintenance guy trips and falls into the pool, knocking his head during the fall.

Accidents happen and if someone working in your home (whether the property is owned or rented) suffers an injury or worse, you can become liable for:

• expenses related to their treatment;
• loss of income if they’re unable to work due to an injury in your home; and,
• in the event of their death, you might face a civil lawsuit.

Civil liability can cause financial hardship

Additional risks arise where someone working in your home inadvertently causes an accident and hurts someone else or damages someone else’s property; or where an injury suffered by someone working in your home prevents them from working for a time and they pursue you for loss of income.

Examples of this include:

• the gardener cuts down a tree branch that falls on an adjacent property and injures your neighbor;
• a plumber who comes to replace old pipework on your property causes the condo below yours to be flooded;
• the housekeeper watering plant pots that are placed on a wall accidentally causes the plant pot to fall out onto the street and it injures a passer-by;
• your housekeeper or other worker suffers a severe injury while working at your home that prevents them from working for an extended period—and pursues you for loss of earnings.

An adequate home insurance policy can defend you against these types of unforeseen accidents and mishaps and provides civil liability cover in the event of a serious incident.

Third-party liability insurance for your home

A satisfactory home insurance policy will cover the home’s structure (if you own the home), and your personal goods (whether you own or rent).  The best policies also offer third-party liability coverages or offer third-party insurance as a stand-alone coverage option.

Typical situations that third-party home liability covers

Third-party liability coverage protects you when someone working in your home suffers an accident or inadvertently causes an accident that creates an injury or loss to themselves, or someone else.

For example, if:

• A worker comes to your home, regularly or ad-hoc, to undertake some work for you and, while doing that work, they injure themselves, the insurance coverage will reimburse you for medical and other related expenses you incur for the treatment of that person’s injuries.
• Someone working in your home causes an accident that has an impact on a third party, the insurance will cover medical and other losses suffered by that third party. For example, if a worker is painting an outside wall and the paint pot falls off the ladder onto someone’s parked car, the insurance would cover you for the car owner’s expense in getting that damage repaired.
• A worker at your home suffers a serious accident or injury that prevents them from working for a time, and they pursue you for lost earnings, the insurance would provide coverage up to the insured amount.
• A person working in your home suffers a serious accident and becomes permanently disabled, or dies, the insurance would cover any civil lawsuits that may be brought against you.
• When someone you know is visiting your home and suffers an accident or loss unintentionally caused by you (the policy holder) —or by your immediate family member— or caused by someone working at your home, the insurance would cover expenses for treatment and damages to the visitor.

In the case of civil liability suits, the insurance will also cover your legal expenses in relation to those, usually up to 50% of the insured amount—check the policy for details about this.

Typical limitations and exclusions

Domestic third-party liability insurance policies carry limitations and exclusions that you ought to be aware of; check the policy wording for details.  Significant situations that are almost always excluded include:

• The policies exclude injury to the named policy holder and their immediate family; so, if you or your partner or children suffer an accident on the property or are injured by a person working at the home, medical expenses and liability for those events are not covered.
• Any loss or damages to goods and persons where the home is in process of construction, assembly, or dismantling are explicitly excluded—so these policies will not cover you when you are building or extending a home, or having major remodeling done. The insurance does cover workers when they are attending your home to make repairs and/or undertake maintenance
• When you are host to guests like friends or extended family members, any injuries, or damages they might sustain while on or near your property will not be covered under the policy unless the accident or damage was caused the named policy holder or their immediate family member, or by someone working at the home.
• The insurance will never cover any damages, injuries, or losses arising from any events or situations where criminal or unlawful activity is involved; or if willful negligence is apparent; or for suicides.

How a third-party insurance policy protects you

You can arrange a policy online and the insurance will provide immediate home coverage for you in Mexico on acceptance of your application.

In the event of a claim, the insurance will reimburse you for medical and other related expenses you incur to provide immediate necessary treatments to the person or persons who were injured while working in your home, and it will provide legal help and civil liability coverage as per the policy if the person who was working in your home subsequently pursues you for civil damages.

Arrange a policy online and get immediate coverage

Our home insurance associate, MexPro, offers comprehensive home insurance coverages including third-party liability that can be purchased by itself or as an integral part of a complete home insurance coverage plan.  MexPro is a long-established US-licensed insurance broker that only works with A-rated underwriters.

• You can purchase home insurance whether you own the home, or are renting the home
• If you are renting, you can only insure your personal goods and/or third-party liability
• You can purchase third-party liability by itself as stand-alone coverage
• Choose how much coverage you would like: US$300,000 is a recommended minimum, and you can insure for up to US$2 million
• There is no deductible for third party liability claims, unless the claim is to cover an injury for a person working in your home, in which case a deductible of MXN$600 pesos (about US$30) per claim applies.
• The policy premium is quoted for and paid in US dollars, and any payouts are made in US dollars, or the US dollar equivalent amount in Mexican pesos when you ask for the payment to be wired to a bank account in Mexico.

Learn more about caring for your home in Mexico

Mexperience publishes extensive information to help you plan and care for your home life in Mexico through guides, articles and free eBooks:

• Free eBook: House maintenance and home security
• Articles about property insurance
• Articles about real estate in Mexico

How water is delivered in Mexico

Water in Mexico is usually delivered to homes in one of four ways:

• via mains-feed system; or
• via a communal feed sourced from official local water springs and wells; or
• via a private well situated on the property or in the local neighborhood (although this is rare); or
• via a combination of rain collection (in season) and local water delivery by truck.

None of these methods provide provide the constant pressure needed to move the water effectively around your property’s pipework.  Good pressure is needed especially for use in showers and taps situated on the second or third story of a property, and to water your garden with a hose or pressure-driven sprinkler.

The importance of your home’s cistern

Almost all properties in Mexico have a cistern to collect and store water—regardless of whether you get water from a mains-fed system, a communal feed, rain water collection, or a combination of these.

The low pressure water feed from the mains-fed and communal water distribution systems is sufficient to fill these underground water storage areas, usually via a pipe that runs just below the surface of the street level. (Mains-fed systems in some places might have sufficient pressure to fill a tank on a low roof, but you ought not to count on this.)

If you have water deliveries made by truck and/or collect rainwater during the rainy season, that water will be channeled into your property’s cistern.

Cisterns sizes are expressed in liters and cubic meters: one cubic meter of cistern will store 1,000 liters (264 US gallons) of water.  They’re usually made of concrete and vary in size. Some homeowners dig a big hole, line it with concrete, and place a plastic tank in that space —a large tank for domestic use will store around 11,000 liters of water— leaving a service lid for access and maintenance to the tank inside; however, most cisterns are built using concrete that stores the water directly.

Cisterns (and tanks) need cleaning occasionally to clear sediment that inevitably builds-up on the cistern’s base, and algae that may begin to propagate around the top edges of the high waterline.

Smaller homes will usually store around 3000-4000 liters of water inside a small concrete cistern; mid sized homes may have cisterns of about 10,000 liters, larger homes, condos and apartment buildings, and properties with extensive gardens may have two or more cisterns with a capacity to store 50,000 or more liters of water on the property.

Water storage is especially prevalent during the dry season, when there’s no rainwater to collect, and mains-feed systems, which are usually intermittent and deliver water once every few days, often reduce delivery schedules during acute dry spells between November and May to conserve water in the area they serve.

Cisterns filled from mains-fed water or communal water networks have a float valve installed that shuts-off the incoming water when the cistern is filled.  Cisterns that are filled using rain water have overflow systems that prevent additional rainwater from accumulating when they’re full.

Creating water pressure for your property in Mexico

There are two principal ways of creating pressure within your home, building, or property.  The first, which is a gravity-led pressure system is almost universal even if you use the second method, which is to install a hydro-pump within your home’s water system—and there are two principal types of those.

El Tinaco—The water reservoir on your roof

If you’re familiar with Mexico you will have seen water tanks everywhere, situated atop roofs on homes and buildings across the country.  The very old ones are made of cement; modern versions are made using a special type of plastic. Some of these tanks are mounted on a tower or base to give them additional height above the property’s rooftop.  The additional height creates additional pressure below, that is especially useful in shower rooms on upper floors.

An electric pump moves water from the cistern to the tinaco. The pump is usually automated: it switches on when a floating switch in the tinaco falls below a certain level, and stops when it’s full, preventing the tinaco (water reservoir) on the roof from overflowing.

Rooftop reservoirs in private homes usually store between 1,000 and 2,000 liters of water. In condos and other buildings that serve multiple units, these tanks may be larger, although the water is usually stored (and thus the weight distributed) across multiple smaller tanks.

When the water from the cistern has been pumped-up to your roof, gravity takes over.  The higher the tank is situated above the property, the more pressure you’ll have below.  A tank on on a small tower above the roof of a two-story home provides plenty of pressure for upstairs and downstairs showers, and to power 100-foot long hosepipes connected to downstairs taps. Note that showers on two-story homes will require the reservoir tank to rest on a tower above the roofline to create sufficient pressure and water volume for a good head of water to flow upstairs.

Installing a hydro-pump for water pressure

Some people choose to install a hydro-pump on their property that keeps the water pipes pressurized throughout the home.

A pump-driven pressurized system is helpful if the design of the property doesn’t lend itself to having a roof-top tank (practically and/or aesthetically), or in cases where a water tank cannot be placed sufficiently high enough above the property to create a decent amount of water pressure throughout the home.

There are two main types of water pressure system for homes:

• A hydro-pneumatic pressure tank/pump combination; and
• A water pressurizing pump.

A hydro-pneumatic pressure tank/pump —Bomba Hidronuemática— pressurizes water in a tank that is then channeled into the property’s water pipe system.  When you switch on a tap, the pressurized water in this tank is released to give pressure at the tap-head. The pump ignites when the tank’s water pressure falls below a preset level—thus, pressure with this type of pump can fluctuate as the pressure in the tank drops gradually until the pump reignites to restore the pressure level. Tanks come in various sizes, and larger properties require bigger tanks to operate effectively and prevent significant fluctuations in water pressure.
See also: Types of hydro-pneumatic pressure tanks/pumps (Amazon Mexico).

A water pressure pump —Presurizador de Agua— is a pump that is plumbed directly into the property’s water pipe system without the need for a pressurized tank. When you switch on a tap, the pump ignites and is controlled to provide a constant pressure level while the water is running.  These types of pumps are ideal when you want a consistent water pressure and/or don’t have much space to store a pressurized tank.
See also: Types of water pressure pumps (Amazon Mexico).

Choosing a water pressure pump for your home in Mexico

Each type of pressure pump has its advantages and disadvantages.

They depend on an electric pump to operate, so power cuts may affect your water pressure—whereas a gravity-fed system will not be affected by power cuts while there is sufficient water in the rooftop reservoir tank.

Some homes have a tank on the roof in addition to a pressure pump to keep a modicum of pressure in the system even if the power fails or the pump breaks down.

The pumps come in different sizes. Capacity is usually expressed in ‘flow’ of cubic meters of water per hour, (1m³ = 1,000 liters), and/or ‘horsepower’—that describes the raw power of the pump.

More expensive pumps tend to have copper-wound motors; the more common and less expensive models have aluminum-wound motors.  Whether copper or aluminum is better is a matter for debate.

If you have large property and will be pumping a lot of water with need of a heavy duty pump, you might consider a more expensive copper-wound motor; for most homes a less expensive aluminum-wound motor is likely to be adequate.

Talk to a plumber about how to choose and buy the right type and size of water pressure pump for your home’s needs.

Learn more about water supplies in Mexico

Mexperience publishes articles and guides to help you understand water supplies and the efficient use of water at your home in Mexico, including:

• Water supplies for residential homes in Mexico
• Clarity about drinking the water
• Sewerage and septic tank systems for your home in Mexico
• Latest articles related to use of water in Mexico
• Latest articles about Mexico’s rainy season and dry season
• Home Maintenance and Security in Mexico

This article describes how to find house keepers in Mexico, how they work, and the responsibilities that come with having a housekeeper or other domestic helper working at your home.

Common types of domestic helpers in Mexico

Housekeepers are the most commonly-hired home help.  They typically attend a home for one to six days a week, depending on the household’s needs, and some housekeepers live-in at the home.

Gardeners, part-time or full-time, are common at larger homes with extensive gardens to maintain, and at gated communities and condominium developments that have green areas requiring constant attendance.

Pool maintenance helpers are also common in gated communities and may also be hired to maintain a pool at a larger private home.

Some domestic helpers provide practical living assistance to help people with their daily home routines.  These workers are especially helpful to people who are elderly, have low mobility or need extra care at certain times, perhaps during a period of convalescence.

Wealthy households might have live-in housekeepers who work full-time six days a week, although most people hire a housekeeper only part-time—typically for up to one or two days a week.

Finding a reliable housekeeper in Mexico

Finding a reliable housekeeper in Mexico most often requires you to use your social skills and people networks.  Most reliable housekeepers are found and hired on a referral basis. Here are some tips for scouting for a housekeeper to help at your home in Mexico.

Finding housekeepers through previous owners and occupiers

Housekeepers working at a certain property might have been attending that home for many years. If you are moving into a rented house or buying an existing home, you might be asked if you wish to employ the housekeeper that already works there, or you may ask the property owner or house seller about any housekeepers they know who are looking for work.

If you are buying a house, it’s not uncommon for the previous owners to offer to introduce you to any existing home helpers they might hire, most commonly a housekeeper and/or gardener.

Helpers referred by property owners or previous occupiers is an ideal way of getting introduced to potential new housekeepers (and other helpers), because workers who have been ‘with the property’ for some time tend to be the most reliable; they live locally, they know the property and have a history with the previous owners or occupiers. Loyalty that has been built-up, perhaps over many years, can reflect in reliability for you.

You will, however, need to negotiate terms and cultivate your own relationship with the people who you hire to help at your house and be able to express to them (in Spanish) what you require.

Finding a housekeeper through other referral channels

If you want to hire domestic help but don’t have the convenience of a previous owner or occupier’s reference, common ways to find a housekeeper include:

• Asking your neighbors, friends, and work colleagues for connections to people they know.
• Sometimes a neighbor who hires a housekeeper one or two days a week may be able to refer you to their housekeeper who might be looking for an additional day(s) to fill in their work week.
• If you live in a gated community or condominium development, ask the Home Owner Association about any housekeepers they might know, or post an ad on the community notice board.  Gated communities usually operate WhatsApp groups, which are another way to ask for referrals.
• Visit any local community centers you may attend to look for ads on notice boards, and ask community members for references or referrals.
• Search and ask on online community groups related to the location in Mexico where you live. Sometimes community members will post a notice if their housekeeper (or someone they know) is looking for additional work
• If someone you know (or is part of a local community group) is moving away, they might want to help the housekeeper find new employment.
• Sometimes a neighbor, friend or work colleague may have a housekeeper who has a friend or family member looking for work.
• Some people put a notice on their front door asking for a housekeeper—although that’s less common now than it used to be.  This ought to be a last resort effort, as it’s always preferable to hire by referral.
• If the referral is not a direct contact from someone you know and trust, carefully interview the candidates to get a feel for them and their previous experience, ask about others homes they help (or have helped) and ask for references.

How day-visit housekeepers and some other domestic employees work in your home

Most housekeepers and other domestic employees (e.g. gardeners, pool maintenance people) only visit for some hours during the day.

Housekeepers’ schedules

House helpers, whether day-workers or live-in housekeepers, work a maximum of six days a week. Under Mexican Law, all laborers are entitled to one day a week off work, and most people take Sundays off to be with their family.

Some housekeepers might work all day, others may work a half day or only 2-3 hours if the home is small.  In cases where they work less than a full day, housekeepers will usually want a nearby neighbor to hire them on the same day, to make their commute worthwhile.

Gardeners’ schedules

Depending on the size of your garden, gardeners might attend for a a few hours, or work at your property one or more days a week. Properties with large or well-developed and manicured gardens may have a full-time gardener.

Pool maintenance

If you have a swimming pool at your property (your private residence or gated community) the pool maintenance people will usually come at least one or two days a week; some will attend daily—their visits tend to be short as they will be managing pools for several properties in the area where you live.

Arrival and departure times

Schedules will vary, and are by negotiation.

Housekeepers

If you live in Mexico City, or some other large city in Mexico, housekeepers might have a long way to travel to your house and therefore may not be able to arrive very early in the morning; however, they might stay later into the evening or night before finishing their day.

Ask your housekeeper about their commute and essential family routines so that you can be sensitive to their needs in regard to and arrival and departure times; for example, some housekeepers may have children to drop-off at a local school before they travel to your home.

Gardeners and pool maintenance

If your gardener only comes periodically, e.g. every two weeks, or once a month, they will likely arrive on the agreed date, but arrival times may vary.  If your gardener has a regular schedule one or more days a week, they will likely arrive in the morning at or around an agreed time.

Pool maintenance teams will either attend the property daily, or periodically as agreed with the owner.  Most pool maintenance teams work in defined areas and go to several properties for an hour or less each day; they may stay longer if the pool has a specific issue, e.g., the rains cause the water to turn green.

Providing refreshment for day-helpers

Housekeepers who attend your home during the day ought be given an hour’s break if they work the entire day, or short breaks if they are working part day. It’s appropriate to have water/juice available for them.  Gardeners ought be provided with a reliable supply of fresh drinking water, as a minimum.

Meals for housekeepers

Not all people provide a meal to their housekeeper, but it’s appreciated, good practice, and we recommend you do. A common practice if the housekeeper will do some cooking as part of their routine is for them to eat part of the food they prepare for you and your family.  Otherwise, ask what they enjoy eating and have some of those fresh ingredients stocked so that they may prepare a meal for themselves.

Errands and shopping

Some housekeepers will be prepared to go out and do simple shopping for you.  If you ask them to do this, be sure to give them enough cash for the purchases you ask for, as well as their public transportation to the market/store, and back.

If what you ask them to buy is going to be heavy or bulky, e.g., a large order of fresh fruit and vegetables, you ought to pay for a return cab.

Live-in housekeepers

Live-in housekeepers are not as common as they were in bygone eras, but there are plenty of housekeepers who continue to live-in at homes to provide day-long support without having to commute back-and-fro to their home each day.

Some housekeepers prefer a live-in arrangement as it provides regular full time employment, one day (usually Sunday) plus public holidays to rest, and no need to spend time and money commuting each work day.

If you hire a live-in housekeeper in Mexico, you will be expected to provide suitable and comfortable accommodations (most larger houses and condos in Mexico have housekeeper’s quarters) as well as all meals and usually a uniform or other suitable work clothing.

Live-in housekeepers can expect one day per week off work as well as all Mexican public holidays off and may require extra time off for family emergencies and exceptional occasions (e.g., weddings, funerals).  The family unit is an important concept in Mexico and it’s therefore appropriate to ask your live-in housekeeper about their family routines and and be sensitive to their personal and family needs as these arise.

Rates of pay for housekeepers and other domestic helpers in Mexico

Check with your neighbors and/or friends and colleagues about the current daily pay rates for housekeepers in your area.

Housekeepers and domestic helpers working in larger cities (especially Mexico City) are paid more in good part because they often have a long commute involved in getting to and from your home.

The Aguinaldo

A Christmas bonus (Aguinaldo) is expected and required by law, equal to at least two-weeks of their pro-rata pay, and it’s appropriate to pay four weeks.

For example, if they work for you two days a week, and you want to pay two weeks bonus, the bonus is four day’s pay (2 days x 2 weeks); if they work for six days a week, the bonus is 12 day’s pay (6 days x 2 weeks).

Many households will pay four weeks’ equivalent pro-rata pay as a Christmas bonus, especially to long-serving housekeepers and other helpers. In the examples above, this equates to a payment equal to eight days’ pay (2 days x 4 weeks) and 24 days’ pay (6 days x 4 weeks), respectively.

Making payment

Most payments to housekeepers and other domestic helpers are paid in cash, although some housekeepers might accept payment via local bank transfer.

Day-helpers: Housekeepers (and others) who work one day a week in your home are paid daily on the day they attend; if they attend two your home two or more days a week, you may pay them on the last day of that week’s work.

Live-in housekeepers: Most live-in housekeepers are paid every 15 days and some are paid weekly.  Some may ask to be paid in cash, although others might accept payment via local bank transfer, especially when you’re paying every two weeks.

Employment law, healthcare, and well-being

Changes in Mexico’s laws now stipulate that people who hire domestic employees (housekeepers, gardeners, etc.) register at the Mexican Health Service website.

By doing this, the housekeeper/other helper receives health and medical coverages from Mexico’s social security institute, the IMSS.  The employer (homeowner) is also required to pay a tax to cover this cost, based on minimum salaries.

In practice, many housekeepers in Mexico, particularly those who only work a day or less per week at the house, continue to be informally employed by private homeowners (as well as those renting homes) as neither they nor the people employing them register.

Full-time and live-in housekeepers are most likely to be registered under the scheme as they are effectively a full-time employee of the household they work for.

If your housekeeper is informally employed by you, there is a tacit understanding (culturally) that you are responsible for medical costs (including medicines and medical equipment, where required) caused by any injuries which might be sustained while working in your home.

Furthermore, many householders who hire housekeepers, informally or as full-time housekeepers, and live-in housekeepers, contribute to their housekeeper’s well-being in a variety of ways, including, for example, giving some support to them or their families in times of exceptional need (medical, emergencies) as well as remembering their children’s birthdays and other special occasions, e.g., wedding of their children.

Taking care of your home in Mexico

Mexperience publishes guides and articles to help you maintain and secure your house, home, and dwelling spaces in Mexico.

• Registering your housekeeper/home-helpers with IMSS (Spanish)
• About Mexico’s IMSS health service
• Learn about Quincenas: Pay-days in Mexico
• Learn about the Aguinaldo: the Christmas bonus
• Home insurance: covering third party liabilities
• Latest insights about Home Maintenance in Mexico

If your home in Mexico is situated in an area of the country than can get cool or cold, there are various ways to keep your home and yourself warm and the main ones are described in this article.

Ways to keep your home spaces warm during the cool or cold months of the year

For most places in Mexico, some extra layers of clothing and perhaps one or two heating sources are usually enough to take the edge off any chill or cold before bedtime, and in the early morning hours.

Open air fireplaces

Homes situated in areas that are known for being cool or cold during the fall and winter, even older homes, have built-in fireplaces with a chimney for burning wood.

Open fires, properly managed, can create a good amount of heat and create a warm and inviting atmosphere in your home on cooler and cold evenings.  There are however, two considerations to take into account when you use open air fireplaces:

• Buying the wood: choose a local supplier that sells properly cured wood for burning (green wood will cause havoc with your chimney) and who sources wood from naturally felled trees and/or sustainable wood farms to avoid encouraging indiscriminate (and illegal) deforestation.
• Keep your chimney clean, well maintained, and in good working order to minimize the amount of wood smoke that will get into the living areas and settle on indoor surfaces over time.

Wood burning stoves

If you have a chimney space, or a stone floor clearing in a main room, a wood-burning stove can be an ideal way to heat your home.  Like open fireplaces, they are wood-fueled, but the wood is placed inside a sealed stove to burn.

Key features:

• Using manual shutters, you can control the amount of air that flows through the stove and thus control the burn-rate of the wood—and to some extent, the amount of heat it generates.
• Wood burning stoves can create an enormous amount of heat and the top ledge can optionally be used to heat water in a kettle or slow cook a casserole inside a Dutch oven.
• Unlike open fireplaces, the wood smoke is contained inside the stove unit and funneled out from there through a sealed duct that (typically) leads up the chimney and outdoors, so hardly any wood smoke escapes into the home’s living areas.
• These stoves might create too much heat for your Mexican home, but you can manage this by reducing the amount of wood fuel you burn, or by lighting it in the late afternoon so when nightfall arrives, the house is warm but the stove is no longer giving off a lot of heat.

Electric-powered indoor space heaters

If your home doesn’t have chimney space, or is smaller, or you live in a condo or apartment that doesn’t lend itself to having a fireplace or a wood burning stove, you might choose an electric-powered space heater.

Electricity can get expensive in Mexico if you use an excess each billing-bimester. Heaters use a lot of electricity, so heating an entire home with electric heaters is cost-prohibitive for most people. However, a space heater or two to take off the edge of an evening chill can be affordable and is a commonly-used form of heating here.

Some notes about electric space heaters

• Electric-powered space heaters are sold in various forms and sizes, as this page on Amazon Mexico illustrates.
• Some models feature a fan that draws cold air in to pass it through heated elements inside the unit, and blows the heated air back out into the room. This can be efficient, but also noisy.
• The heaters that don’t use a fan have elements which heat a liquid inside the sealed unit that disperses heat into the space around it. Less efficient, but quiet.
• For the well-heeled, Dyson sells an electric air heater and cooler at a premium price that combines HEPA filter air purification with heating and cooling and without as much noise as a traditional fan-assisted space heater.
• As with gas-fired heaters, your home will need to be properly ventilated when you use electric space heaters to avoid condensation building-up, especially on windows.

Gas-fired indoor and outdoor space heaters

Gas-fired space heaters, that work using LPG tanks, are available for indoor use, but they create a lot condensation, especially on and around windows.  Gas-fired space heaters for outdoor use can be helpful if your home has a sizeable terrace and you enjoy spending winter evenings outdoors there.

Some notes about gas-fired heaters

• Amazon Mexico showcases the typical range of gas-fired space heaters available for your home.
• They can be helpful for large indoor spaces with high ceilings that would require a lot of energy (and time) to warm up using an electric space heater.
• Regardless of the room size, when you use these gas heaters indoors, ventilation is essential for health reasons and to minimize condensation.
• Outdoor gas-fired space heaters can be very helpful on terraces and in other outdoor areas where you may gather during an evening, and/or to keep an area warm while you enjoy a meal outdoors during the colder months.
• Fireplace-like heaters are also available for outdoor use; some are gas-fired and some are wood-burners.

Electric blankets

Electric blankets are popular and can provide an economic and efficient way to warm your couch or bed during cold evenings.  They don’t require too much electricity if you use them sparingly, and help you to ward off chilly evenings as you watch a film or pre-warm your mattress and blankets before you go to sleep.

• Electric blankets are sold in many different styles
• You can choose sizes to match your bed type, e.g. single, double, Queen, King, etc.
• Some models have a timer so that you can set the blanket to heat up and shut down at certain intervals and all of them allow you to adjust the temperature.
• More expensive models feature digital controllers with a clock and thermometer so you can set precise timings and temperatures.

Centrally controlled heating and cooling

Most houses situated in the mountainous regions of Mexico are not fitted with integrated “central” heating systems, although some modern apartment buildings may feature duct-fed heating and air conditioning systems.

If you want your Mexican home to emulate those in Europe which use wall-mounted radiators heated by water flowing through them and fired by a gas or electricity, you can obtain them in Mexico, but they are relatively expensive to install, and running costs will be higher than the alternatives listed earlier in this article.  Whether they are worth the investment is a moot point, and ultimately it’s personal choice. A local plumber may be able to advise you.

Modern buildings, especially contemporary condos and apartment blocks situated in big cities and fashionable housing developments, might have heating and cooling systems pre-installed, with hot and cold air delivered to each home through ducting. The cost of these is paid for as part of the communal HOA fees.

Taking care of your home in Mexico

Mexperience publishes guides and articles to help you maintain and secure your house, home, and dwelling spaces in Mexico.

• Latest insights about taking care of your home in Mexico
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• Insurance for your home in Mexico