Comprehensive and detailed guide to living and cultivating a lifestyle in Mexico, continually revised and updated. Free—no payment or subscription needed.

Complete and detailed guide to Living & Lifestyles in Mexico that’s continually updated

Our extensive guides and articles offer insights to anyone exploring prospects for living, working, retirement and cultivating your lifestyle in Mexico.

They provide practical insights, incisive local knowledge, and meaningful guidance that helps you to discover opportunities, consider your choices, and make informed decisions.

Discover what lifestyles Mexico offers, identify opportunities of interest to you, weight up the compromises, consider your options, and plot a course based on the things that are important to you.

Guides to lifestyles in Mexico, for all life stages

Our continually-updated guides help you to begin weaving together the key components which create a workable and realistic lifestyle plan in Mexico, whatever planning stage and life stage you are in presently:

• To those considering a move to Mexico, whether you are single, with your partner, or a family with young children, Mexperience helps you to discover the country and evaluate living and lifestyle choices available here.  Our guides also offer thoughtful guidance about setting out your intentions and reshaping your situations.
• To those planning their retirement or seeking a place to retire, Mexperience guides provide specific guidance about matters related to retirement planning and retirement lifestyles, as well as the practicalities of retiring in Mexico.
• When you’re already living in Mexico, our guides and articles provide practical insights that help you to settle-in, adapt, and cultivate your new lifestyle here day-to-day.
• Regardless of your life stage, the information we publish provides meaningful insights about the essential day-to-day practical matters of living in Mexico, adapting to the country, the climates and culture, and more—with extensive cross references and links to further information and helpful contacts who can help you to realize your Mexico plans.

Planning or redefining your lifestyle in Mexico

Obtain practical insights, get incisive local knowledge and meaningful guidance that helps you to consider opportunities, weigh up your choices, and make informed decisions about planning or redefining your lifestyle in Mexico.

Mexico as a place for your retirement

We publish comprehensive information to help you plan a retirement here, whether you’re planning ahead or already retired and considering Mexico as a potential retirement haven.

Exploring locations and finding a place to live in Mexico

Our extensive articles help you to consider key aspects as you explore your options and make choices about your lifestyle and potential location types in Mexico.

Getting your residency permit for Mexico

Mexico’s immigration laws are reasonable and allow non-Mexicans with the financial means or family roots, and/or skills, to live here legally. We publish extensive knowledge to help you, including:

Moving and settling-in to life in Mexico

When you’ve decided to move to Mexico and made key decisions about where and how you’ll live, there’s the move a period of adapting and settling-in.  We publish extensive guides and articles to help you settle.

Learn how to keep in touch when you’re in Mexico

Our guides include detailed information about how to keep in touch when you’re in Mexico: by phone, by internet, as well as using postal and courier services here.  Our local knowledge helps you to choose a mobile phone plan, explore choices for high speed internet in Mexico (even if you live in a remote area) and our cost of living guide includes a section about the cost of communications services.

Detailed insights into the practicalities of living in Mexico day-to-day

Our articles and guides also include comprehensive insights about day to day living in Mexico that help you to plan your lifestyle, settle-in, and make the most of your life and activities in Mexico.

Mexico’s living costs and managing your finances

Financial considerations are an important aspect of any move.  Mexperience helps you to calculate your cost of living in Mexico and offers practical tips for managing your money and finances here.

Mexico as a place for working-age professionals

Working-age professionals, especially those plying a trade in the knowledge economy, are also considering Mexico as a base to live and work.

And more… resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free
• Regularly-updated articles about lifestyle planning  in Mexico
• Insights about day to day living with Mexico Home Life

Medical insurance for short visits to Mexico

If you’re visiting Mexico for a short period —on a vacation or short business trip, for example— travel insurance policies which cover you for a limited time while you’re away from home should suffice.  These might be provided by your current healthcare provider—but double-check as many policies exclude or significantly limit out of country coverage.  Learn more about getting short-term emergency and medical expenses insurance coverage for your visit to Mexico.

Medical insurance for Extended Stays in Mexico

If you plan to be in Mexico for an extended stay —for longer than 90 days and less than 180 days— for example, you might take a sabbatical, a volunteer job, or plan to stay in Mexico part-time, then a short-term travel insurance policy won’t cover you as they are limited to 90-day stays in Mexico.  You can however obtain emergency & medical insurance for extended Stays in Mexico on a policy that will last for visits up to 180 calendar days, about six months.

Health insurance for foreign residents in Mexico

If you intend to apply for, or have, legal residency in Mexico, a travel insurance policy won’t be valid as these are designed for people who come to Mexico for a defined period and return to their country of residence, or travel back and forth between Mexico and another country.

Therefore, if you plan to reside in Mexico, you should consider health insurance coverages that will be valid and provide adequate care for your needs.  Here are the options:

Mexico’s IMSS medical coverage

Foreign residents (temporary or permanent) can apply for the Mexican public healthcare insurance system known an IMSS on a voluntary basis which provides access to certain doctors, clinics and hospitals in Mexico.  Some medications are also covered under this plan.

Coverage costs depend on your age; restrictions and limitations apply and, like all publicly-funded healthcare systems, patient demand is usually higher than the supply of services, so you may have to wait for care. (Note also that people who are enrolled in IMSS through an employer get priority over those who enroll voluntarily.)  This article explains the IMSS medical insurance system in Mexico.

Private medical insurance in Mexico

Most foreign residents who can afford to do so will take out a private medical insurance plan that covers their personal needs and gives them direct access to private doctors, clinics and hospitals in Mexico.

Policies are crafted to the individual situation of the person, couple, or family, and premiums depend on things like your age, term of coverage, coverages included, and the deductible you are willing to pay in the event of a claim.  Learn more about private health insurance providers in Mexico.

Medical evacuation from Mexico

If you are resident in Mexico and continue to have health coverage in your home country then you might consider a medical evacuation plan to enable you to get home for treatment and to convalesce close to your own doctors and family in the event that you experience a serious accident or health event (e.g. heart attack) while you are here.  Note that medical evacuation insurance coverages only cover evacuation costs in serious cases and so you’ll need to get routine or non-critical health matters attended to in Mexico.  Learn more about medical evacuation plans.

Two calculations are required

There are two calculations you will need to make to determine the financial means you will need to have at your disposal to retire in Mexico:

• the first calculation is related to the financial requirements to qualify for a residency permit in Mexico, and
• the second calculation is related to your real living costs in Mexico that will be determined according to your individual circumstances, personal choices, and lifestyle plans.

Income or savings/investments required to obtain a residency permit

The financial requirements to qualify for a residency permit have risen in recent years.

Monthly income —v— savings/investments to qualify

Unless you intend to lead a ‘high octane’ lifestyle, the monthly income required to qualify for residency in Mexico is considerably higher than the typical costs of living in Mexico.

A corollary of this is that some people who want to retire in Mexico don’t have sufficient monthly income to qualify but do have sufficient income to live here.

If your pension income doesn’t meet the current income requirements, you can instead qualify based your savings/investments—and many people who have been saving throughout their lives will have sufficient savings and investments to qualify, even if their monthly income does not meet the minimum threshold.

The links in the box below contain detailed information to guide you about this. The include information about the current amounts of income or savings/investments you need to demonstrate to qualify for residency under the auspice of ‘economic solvency’ as well as other routes to residency besides ‘economic solvency.’

Income required to sustain your retirement in Mexico

The second calculation you’ll need to make concerns working out your real living costs in Mexico, and these will be determined by your individual circumstances, your intentions, and your lifestyle choices.

The question: “How much does it cost to live in Mexico?” has no specific answer because the amount of money you need to live and sustain yourself here will depend on an assortment of factors, the most common of which include:

• where in Mexico you choose to live: the most popular places also tend to be the most expensive to live in—from rents and house prices to everyday living expenses;
• whether you will rent or buy a home in Mexico;
• whether you have homeowner association fees to pay in addition to other expenses;
• the state of your general health and well-being: healthcare insurance premiums are higher for those with previous ailments, and while medications are less expensive in Mexico, they are still a cost and might have to be paid out of pocket;
• whether you’ll have a car or other vehicle(s) in Mexico to run and service;
• how often you travel, including trips back to your home country;
• what lifestyle choices you make including things like how and where you shop, how often you eat out, how much alcohol you consume (alcohol prices have been rising steadily in recent years), how much you spend on non-essentials, how much you spend on healthcare matters and medications, etc.;
• how much home help and other domestic assistance services you want or need: for example, whether you hire a housekeeper (and how often), a gardener, someone to maintain your swimming pool, if you have one, and other home services, e.g., nurses, or in-home care givers;
• how often you intend to travel within Mexico as well as how often you travel back-and-forth between Mexico and your home country.

Our guide to the cost of living in Mexico is a comprehensive resource that explores real living costs in Mexico and helps you to step back, make an assessment of your situation, and formulate a budget based on your individual circumstances.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Comprehensive guide to living and lifestyles in Mexico
• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Articles about living costs in Mexico
• Learn about obtaining residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about retirement in Mexico
• Is Mexico right for your retirement?
• Benefits Mexico offers to retirees
• Discovering potential places to live in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Place is personal, subjective, and important—and as you consider places to live in Mexico, Mexperience helps you to consider your choices and shortlist locations that may suit your lifestyle needs.

Discover locations to live, work or retire in Mexico

To help you discover and explore potential places to live here, Mexperience publishes a curated list of locations to consider for living, working or retirement in Mexico—organized by popularity and notoriety and classified by the location type.

Our articles introduce you to key places where many foreign residents live now, emerging locations that are becoming increasingly popular with foreign residents, as well as those places that are less well known, or situated off-the-beaten path. We also publish a selection of detailed guides of places to live in Mexico:

Detailed living guides

For detailed guides to selected places to live and work or retire, connect to our section with Guides to Living Places in Mexico

A consultancy with Samantha will provide you with guidance and concise recommendations about what to expect from senior care support services on offer in Puerto Vallarta—whether you’re planning ahead and considering choices for yourself (or you and your partner) or want to learn more about senior care provision services for someone else close to you.

Consult with an experienced senior care professional

Samantha is fully bilingual and has over 25 years of professional experience on matters related to social care across a wide spectrum of client groups in both public and private organizations.  She has lived in Puerto Vallarta for over 10 years and specializes in attending to the needs of people seeking senior care services there.

Her consultancy offers in-depth knowledge about senior care services on offer in Puerto Vallarta, including recommendations about in-home care services vs local residential homes, through direct experience of working with elder care centers in the Vallarta area.

Working with individuals and families of those preparing for their retirement or changes in their lifestyle or health situations, her areas of expertise include:

• senior care planning and management in private residences;
• bilingual advocate services for those navigating doctors, finances, and end-of-life planning in Puerto Vallarta; and
• providing personalized consultancy to individuals, families, hospitals, and assisted living centers.

Get experienced advice, local insight, and concise recommendations

Samantha’s consultancy service offers local knowledge and clear, concise recommendations about how to plan ahead, prepare for, and explore the availability of senior care services available in Puerto Vallarta.

When you’re seeking choices for senior care provision in the Puerto Vallarta area, Samantha can help you to discover and explore the options available:

When you’re planning for retirement or changes in your lifestyle in Mexico:

• Undertaking an Initial Assessment to determine your current situation.
• Advice about key matters you need to take into careful consideration.
• Guidance about realistic choices on offer in Puerto Vallarta and available service options.

When you need to talk about plans for someone close to you

• Personal consultation to discuss your situation and how you may source the help you need.
• Practical matters you need to consider as someone ages and external assistance is required.
• How to meet needs and provide support whilst respecting autonomy.
• Potential service options and practical tips on exploring potential care homes in Puerto Vallarta.

Consultancy that flexes with your needs

Samantha offers a FREE initial 15-minute conversation to talk about your situation and to determine if the consultation service is right for your needs.

Personalized consultancy is offered at US$85 per hour, with a 1-hour minimum, and time billed precisely as used after the first hour.  Samantha keeps a detailed log of the support time provided to you.

How the consulting service supports you

The service is designed to provide you with a personalized consultation that focuses on your specific circumstances and needs and provides you with a post-consultation written brief. Typically, the consultation follows this path:

Free 15-minute conversation

Samantha offers a FREE 15-minute conversation to discuss your situation and to determine if the consultancy service is right for your needs.

Your personalized consultation

If you decide to proceed with a formal consultation, Samantha will send you a payment link for the first hour of consultancy and schedule your first formal consultation call (by telephone, Zoom, or Skype, as you prefer) at a mutually convenient date and time. If your situation is urgent, a priority consultation may be accommodated, but please only request this if the need is genuinely urgent.

Gathering key information

The personal consultation will be carefully structured to talk about your current situation and future plans, answer any specific questions you have, and identify the key matters and issues related to senior care within your individual circumstances.

Guidance to help you make informed choices

The initial assessment enables Samantha to offer concise recommendations about senior care service provision in Puerto Vallarta, including how the services work, what to expect, with insights to help you interact positively and creatively with the services available.

Post-consultation

After the call, Samantha will compose a written brief of the initial assessment and her comments and recommendations. She’ll send these to you by email so that you (and your family) can use this to plan and make some informed choices; the brief also serves as a helpful reference if you need to share key information with other professionals and caregivers.

Follow-up call

After you’ve had an opportunity to read the post-consultation brief, you can optionally schedule a follow-up call with Samantha to talk through the details and answer any further questions you may have.

Make a service request now

To proceed with a service request, please complete the request form below.

Samantha will contact you personally to organize your FREE 15 minute call, with the option to proceed with a formal consultation afterward.

However, Mexico is especially attractive to retirees because some of these features and benefits can be especially helpful to people in retirement.

This article summarizes the key benefits Mexico offers to retirees and connects you to detailed information and local knowledge published here on Mexperience for further reading and research.

Agreeable climates

Climate affects us every day, and Mexico offers agreeable climates, often temperate or warm, and cold only at higher elevations in certain regions—and then only for limited times during the year.  Connect to a wide range of articles and guides on Mexperience for more details about climate, seasons and weather in Mexico.

Plenty of choices for location types

Mexico offers retirees choices in the types of places they can live in; from coastal locations that offer winter warmth, to mountain towns at elevation that offer year-round temperate climates.

Some places are more urbanized, others offer a countryside idyll surrounded by nature.  ‘Remote’ places popular with foreign residents tend to be within an hour’s drive of a large town or city that offer services and amenities retirees often seek, including healthcare services and major stores.

Our articles about discovering places to live in Mexico offer practical insights that can help you to consider the various locations on offer and discover potential places to live in Mexico so you can narrow your short-list according to your situation and considered lifestyle needs.

Fresh, locally produced food and drinks

Mexico’s shops and markets provide you with an abundant assortment of fresh food, especially visible at the vibrant, fragrant, local open-air markets here.

The year-round availability of delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, accompanied by a parade of colorful drinks and beverages made using them, makes Mexico one of the most attractive countries to be in if you enjoy good wholesome food that is also affordable.

Mexperience helps you to discover food and drink in Mexico as part of of your retirement research and planning.

Ample range of local products and amenities

Retirees coming to Mexico, especially those from the US and Canada, are likely to feel at home when it comes to obtaining many of the products, services, and amenities they have become accustomed to in their home country.

Mexico’s retail markets are extensive and well-developed; and there’s a large and growing selection of online shopping choices too.

Many products and brands foreign retirees are accustomed to seeing back home will be available in Mexico, either at one of the many supermarkets, through specialist retailers, or through online shopping options.

There are still some exceptions, for example, black tea, and alternatives for smokers are conspicuously absent; but Mexico today offers more choice and variety than it ever has before, and the range and selection of products and amenities continues to improve each year.

Local leisure amenities, including cafés, bistros, restaurants, gymnasiums, event centers, cinemas, theme parks, national parks and reserves, campsites, etc. are plentiful and readily accessible.

Affordable living costs

Retirees have different cost structures compared to people moving to Mexico who are of working age and perhaps with children to raise; for examples:

• they have no school fees to pay or children to ferry around and take on school trips;
• most have no mortgages and may also have no other substantial debts to service; and
• they might also be able to live in Mexico without a car, which can save costs.

However, retirees have costs to consider and budget for in other areas that younger people might not have, perhaps healthcare costs being the major expense, and other assistance services, including home help and specialist care services that might have to be considered and duly funded.

Accessible transportation and communications

Most retirees travel within in Mexico to explore the country, as well as take trips to travel back to their home country to see family and friends (or they might receive visits in Mexico).

Some people retiring to Mexico might do so part time, spending only part of the year in Mexico, perhaps to overwinter here.

It’s for these reasons that good transport links, including decent roads and access to international airports, becomes important.

Mexico offers a well-developed and reliable transportation infrastructure that enable you to travel and be near other people who are close in your life, as well as excellent communications networks that enable you to keep touch at a distance, affordably.

Ample choices in accommodations

Retirees coming to Mexico who want to rent will find an ample choice of property types to choose from; our article about the practicalities of renting a home is worth reading to get local insights about that. (See link below.)

A wider selection of property types is available to retirees seeking a home to buy; and engaging the services of local real estate agent is an effective way search and buy a home here.

The links to the articles below help you to consider your accommodation choices when you’re thinking about retirement in Mexico.

World-class health and wellbeing services

Healthcare services and the availability of medicines is often near the top of retirees’ needs and concerns when they plan a move to Mexico.

All of Mexico’s popular retirement destinations are well served by doctors, dentists, opticians as well as a range of clinical and hospital services, including emergency care and specialized medical professionals and services.

Thriving retirement communities

In addition to the ample variety of types of locations on offer, the more popular locations to live in Mexico offer thriving and well-established retirement communities that help newcomers and long-time residents to get involved in local groups, societies, and events.  This is especially helpful when you are endeavoring to settle properly into Mexico, long term.

Safety, and economic stability

Although media reports about security matters have put-off some people from visiting or retiring to Mexico, foreign residents of all life stages report that they feel safe in Mexico, and that the reality they live here every day is characterized by regular routines and being part of strong local communities where people look out for each other and work together to resolve issues if problems arise.

Retirees also enjoy stable lifestyles here, too—as the macroeconomics of the country are well-managed, markets work well, and there is a wide and regular availability of goods and services available, including increasing ranges of goods available through online companies that specialize in offering less common and imported products.

Warm, welcoming culture and language

Although English is widely spoken across Mexico, especially in the most popular retiree enclaves and tourist towns, learning or improving your Spanish language skills will help you enormously as you settle into your retirement in Mexico because it will give you deeper access to the local culture and enable you to integrate in ways that those who don’t speak Spanish cannot.

Mexico’s rich culture and its canny ability to assimilate foreign things without losing its own identity, offers retirees the opportunity of experiencing unusual celebrations and traditions which are nonetheless familiar.

Retirees get a front-row seat to all this culture and the events that surround it, and while others may dream of visiting Mexico in-season to experience these events, they are part of everyday life here for retirees in Mexico.  It’s an enormous, and often overlooked, benefit of living here.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Latest articles about retirement in Mexico
• Discovering potential places to live in Mexico
• Cultivating your home life in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

The program has historically been open to Mexican nationals (and naturalized foreigners) as well as foreign residents holding temporary or permanent residency cards.

Recent patterns suggests a quiet change in policy

Readers living in Mexico have been writing in to tell us about a change in pattern they are experiencing when they attend INAPAM offices to apply for the card, describing how it’s becoming increasingly restrictive and difficult to obtain.

Reports about availability of cards for foreign residents vary by INAPAM office by state, but this is the pattern that has been emerging in recent times:

• Where previously temporary and permanent legal foreign residents were offered the INAPAM card, some offices began to restrict the card to permanent residents only.
• Some offices offered cards to temporary residents only if they could prove they owned a house in Mexico.
• In recent times, applications filed by foreign residents have not received a response or been processed, with staff at the offices citing administrative technicalities—such as special forms or cards being unavailable.
• We have recently learned that INAPAM offices in at least two states have declared that foreign residents need to show their naturalization certificates to obtain the cards—effectively closing the program altogether to legal foreign residents.

How to approach the situation

If you’re legally resident in Mexico and intend to apply for the INAPAM card, it’s worth keeping in mind that this change of pattern is taking place and you might not be able to get the discount card at this time.

• If you want to apply, we suggest that you visit your local INAPAM office and talk to the staff there about applying as a foreign resident.
• Some offices accept applications, but we know that in several places foreign residents have been waiting many months for their cards and have no indication when or if their cards will be issued to them.
• The office you attend might tell you that you need to show your naturalization certificate to apply. If this is the case, the program is closed to foreign residents at that office.
• Reports vary by state and INAPAM office. It might be that the state or municipality you apply at accepts your application and issues a card.  The only way to know is to attend your local INAPAM office and ask.

Existing INAPAM card holders

The INAPAM card never expires so for those foreign residents who already have cards, they continue to work as normal.  Absent an official announcement about any of this we do not know if in future foreign residents’ INAPAM cards will remain valid.  If you lose or damage your existing card, it might be difficult or impossible to obtain a replacement at this time.

Future updates and readers’ experience

We will keep this article updated as new information becomes available.

If you have recently applied for an INAPAM card and would like to share your experience, please use the comments form below.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Articles to help you plan your lifestyle in Mexico
• Articles and practical tips for settling-in and living well in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

How does it work?

The program is open to persons who are 60 years of age or older, and the card issued by the institution enables holders to enjoy worthwhile discounts on a wide range of goods and services including food, medicines, transport, clothing, as well as recreation and leisure activities.

Many firms and businesses actively advertise the fact that they offer discounts to INAPAM card holders, and even those who don’t advertise it might give a discount on goods and services you buy if you present your card to them.

Many organizations in Mexico are pleased to give seniors a discount, and this card is the means by which prove your legal residency and age qualification.

Using the card for discounts

Once enrolled you receive a plastic card that you can present at thousands of stores, businesses, and government service agencies across Mexico to claim discounts  typically between 10% and 50% on goods and services you buy.  Some local municipalities are also offering discounts on property taxes and water bills to senior citizens with this card.

Discounted services discounted using your INAPAM card

A wide range of stores and services offer discounts to seniors in Mexico who present their INAPAM card at the time of the purchase.  Some advertise the discounts, although its always worth asking at the sales counter or checkout what discounts might be available.

Here are some examples of the most common services seniors can get discounts with using the card:

Healthcare services and medications

Most pharmacies give discounts on medications (medicines are already much less expensive in Mexico than the US, and these discounts are in addition to the lower prices Americans enjoy here), and some dentists and doctors and other medical specialists will also give seniors a discount when they present the card.

Public transportation

Bus companies, airlines, and some local taxi firms offer discounts on fares—although in recent times they have restricted the number of seats per bus/flight they will discount to INAPAM card holders, and/or restrict discounted INAPAM fares on buses and flights that travel at “off peak” times, for example those that travel overnight or depart very early in the morning.

Food and groceries

Local food stores, convenience stores, and specialist food emporiums offer discounts on your grocery shopping, saving you money on your basic living costs.

Leisure and travel services

Many hotels and travel agencies in Mexico offer discounts to senior citizens who present the card.  If you plan a party or celebration, many of the festivity halls (salon de fiestas) offer a discount on rentals to seniors booking the facilities.

Eating out and take-away

Many cafés and diners, including the big-name national diner chains, offer discounts to INAPAM card holders whether you eat-in or take-away.

Cultural centers

Many museums, archaeology parks, art galleries, and bookstores offer discounts to card holders.

Miscellaneous goods and services

A wide range of businesses offer seniors a discount when they present their card, for example: legal firms, art & craft stores, car service and repair centers, computer sales and repair stores, clothing and apparel stores, accountants, construction firms, hardware stores, florists, printers, locksmiths, jewelry stores, beauty salons, home DIY centers, stationers, plumbers, electricians, dry cleaners, veterinary services, etc.

Discount on property taxes and water bills

Some local municipalities are offering seniors a discount on their annual property taxes (Predial) and their water bills.  Discounts, where offered, vary by municipality—check locally for details in your area.

How to apply for the INAPAM discount card

The INAPAM card is available to all seniors who are 60 years or older who are Mexican or legal foreign residents of Mexico. It’s simple and free to apply for the card.

There are four requirements which need to be met:

• you will need to present some official identification that also proves your age, like a passport or driver’s license, or your birth certificate; and
• as a foreign resident, you will also need to present  Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente residency permit (or the former FM3/FM2 if you still have this version); and
• you will also be asked for a utility bill or some other official document that shows your current address in Mexico. Most people use their telephone or electricity bill; this must be recent—dated within the last 2-3 months; and
• you’ll need to take along two photographs of yourself taken in the last month in the same size and format as those required for a passport or immigration permit: “infantil” size, front-facing, no glasses, no hats, and printed on professional photographic paper (self-printed photos are not accepted).

You take these documents (as well as 2 photocopies of each) along with your photographs to your local government office dealing with INAPAM applications (check locally where you live) and, when the application is completed, you will be presented with a card that you can use to obtain the discounts.

Spanish: The forms must completed in Spanish and the interviews at the local INAPAM offices are conducted in Spanish only.

Legal residency in Mexico: If you need information about residency permits for retirees in Mexico, read our article about the principal routes to residency.

Making retirement plans? See our extensive articles and guides to retirement in Mexico.

Assistance with your INAPAM application

Helpline: The government also staffs a toll-free helpline that is open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays to answer questions you may have. The call is free from inside Mexico, dial 800 007 3705. (Spanish only.)

Website: You can find additional information online about the program and the application process on the INAPAM web site. The web page is in Spanish, and you can use the Google page translation feature if you need to. (Or ask a friend to help.)

Cost of living in Mexico

With the INAPAM card, seniors retired in Mexico can enjoy additional discounts from defined product and service providers, and thus help to make their retirement incomes stretch further.

Calculate your living costs: To calculate how much it will cost you to live in Mexico, read our Mexico Cost of Living Guide.

Resources for Living & Lifestyle in Mexico

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Our resources include:

• Articles to help you plan your lifestyle in Mexico
• Articles and practical tips for settling-in and living well in Mexico
• An extensive library of free Mexico eBooks you can download
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

You’ll need to exercise patience during this period, and if you have a partner or family arriving with you, it’s important to be mindful of their needs and any emotional and practical support they may require as you work together to cultivate the beginning of your new lifestyle.

Mexico has a distinct feel and ambiance, and you will each need to give yourself time to adapt to the physical environment as well to the cultural changes and nuances you and your partner/family will find yourselves surrounded by.

This article offers some practical tips and resources that can help you prepare for the period of adapting and settlement in Mexico.

Exchange your residency visa for a residency card

To begin, a reminder: when you arrive in Mexico with a residency visa sticker(s) in your passport(s), you must begin the visa-to-residency-card exchange procedure within 30 calendar days of your arrival date and before the residency visa’s expiry date.

If you forget or omit to do this, or allow your visa to lapse, your visa will become void, and you’ll need to leave Mexico to restart the residency application from a Mexican consulate abroad.  If you need help with the visa exchange procedure, consider using our Mexico Immigration Assistance service.

Adapting to the local climate and elevation

If you have moved to one of the many towns or cities in Mexico situated at elevation —principally Mexico’s colonial cities and its three big cities— you may need to allow time for your body to become accustomed to the ‘thinner’ air prevalent in these places if you did not live at elevation before you came to Mexico.

You may also need to take time to adjust to the general climate where you chose to live, for example if you’re near the coast you may have to acclimatize to the heat and humidity, especially if you accustomed to the climate of a cooler or colder country.

Become acquainted with Mexican culture and local customs

If you have not yet read our guides and articles about Mexican culture and traditions, the settling-in period is good opportunity to do some research and get acquainted with Mexico’s culture.  Mexperience offers a wide selection of articles and guides to help you—connect to the resources using the link below.

Begin to develop your social and community network

A vital component of becoming integrated into your new lifestyle in Mexico is to seek out and connect with local people, community groups, and others with similar interests to you.   Learn more about exploring common routes and approaches that foreign residents use to discover and cultivate new connections and friendships as part of their lifestyle in Mexico.

Find a school for your children

If your you have school-age children to raise, the settling-in period is also a time to visit the schools on your shortlist and choose one for your children to attend. Getting your children into a school routine will help them to find and make new friends, settle into their new surroundings, and begin to engage with the local language and customs.

Learning or improving your Spanish

Language gives you access to the culture and makes your lifestyle experiences richer and more meaningful. Learning or improving your Spanish is an essential part of settling-in and making Mexico your home.  Mexperience offers articles, resources, and connections to help you.

Managing your money and using bank services

If you’re not already familiar with Mexico’s currency, take time to get acquainted with the coins and banknotes you’ll need to deal with every day; and you can open a Mexican bank account when you have your residency card.  Mexperience offers local knowledge and insights about money and finances in Mexico.

If you’re retired, apply for your INAPAM card

If you’re 60 years of age or older and hold a Mexican residency card, you can opt to apply for the INAPAM card that offers discounts to seniors living in Mexico across an ample range of products and services.

Settling-in to your home in Mexico

Whether you are renting or buying a house in Mexico, there will be a period of moving-in and settlement to your new home—and all the things that entails, including dressing the home with furniture and adornments, and might also include things like finding a gardener, a housekeeper, and someone to maintain your swimming pool if you have a private pool in your garden.

You’ll also need to learn about how to get all your domestic services in place: electricity supply, gas and water, telephone, internet access, etc.

The Mexperience guides to House Maintenance and Home Security in Mexico includes lots of practical guidance and local insights about managing and maintaining your home in Mexico.

Get connected to stay in touch

Although you might keep your home country mobile phone (at least for a while) you’re likely to benefit by getting a Mexican mobile phone number so that you can communicate locally at low cost, and others in Mexico can contact you easily.

If you plan to open a Mexican bank account, you’ll need a Mexican mobile phone number to be able to download and access the banking apps they provide.  Mexican mobile phone plans offer affordable choices with unlimited calls across North America and generous mobile data allowances in exchange for a modest monthly fee.

You’ll also need to consider how to get your home connected with internet: there are various choices of providers and if your home is situated in a rural or semi rural area, there are options including mobile data and satellite services.

Create your ‘essential local services’ list

When you move into you home in Mexico, compose a list of “essential services” providers locally. This ought to include:

• medical services like a local doctor, emergency clinic, dentist, opticians;
• local emergency service numbers—you can dial 911 in Mexico, but look for local service numbers as well;
• contact numbers for your gas suppliers, the water company, the electricity company, your drinking water supplier;
• contact details of anyone who attends your property regularly, e.g. your housekeeper, gardener, pool maintenance, etc.
• helpful service providers including fumigators, dry cleaning, local taxi services, etc.

This list is likely to grow over time and may include the names and contact numbers for helpful plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other local domestic service providers.

If you live in a gated community, that list might already exist as part of the Homeowner’s Association pack—check locally.  If your home is not part of a gated community, then asking friends, colleagues, and neighbors, or local community and association groups (including online groups related to specific locations) is a useful way to begin compiling your list of essential local contacts.

Tip: If you already know a plumber, that person might also be an electrician (the two trades often accompany each other) or one trades person might be able to refer you to another as they might work with others on larger building projects, etc.  So ask your plumber if you need a carpenter or ironmonger, for example.

Discovering food and drink in Mexico

One of the most attractive aspects of living in Mexico is the access to lots of fresh, colorful, and flavorful food and refreshing drinks.  As you settle-in, you’ll begin to explore and discover your local shops, markets, and food purveyors.  Here are some articles and guides for further discovery.

Taking time out for leisure and recreation

Amidst the demanding routines of physically moving to Mexico and taking time to settle into your new life situations, it’s worth remembering that Mexico’s enormous choice of leisure and recreation activities (supported by its agreeable year-round climates) is now on your doorstep—and as a resident, you can take full advantage of everything Mexico offers you for leisure.

Mexperience helps you to discover places, travel experiences, and opportunities for enjoying your leisure time here, and our travel associates can help you to create custom itineraries if you need assistance with your leisure trips.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Finding suitable accommodations
• Approaches to choosing or changing your Mexico lifestyle
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

You’ll be able to find community and social groups to engage with in most Mexican towns and cities where foreigners live in any significant numbers in Mexico; and even in emerging towns and locations off the beaten path, foreign residents tend to find meeting points and gathering places that can include certain local cafés or bistros, or social gatherings organized homes of people already well-established locally.

This article explores common routes and approaches that foreign residents use to discover and cultivate new connections and friendships as part of their lifestyle in Mexico.

Ways to make friends and cultivate your social circles in Mexico

You’ll need to make a conscious effort to find and cultivate new social connections in Mexico. Creating a strong social network requires your investment of time and energy to find new acquaintances, some of whom might become friends, and then work regularly to cultivate those friendships.

There are lots of avenues you might explore do this—here are some examples:

Work placement

If you’ve come to Mexico as part of a work placement, the company you work for might provide a list of existing local social and community groups; larger companies tend to organize ‘away days’ or ‘team building events’ where the employees and their families can meet in a social setting and get to know each other—these connections can lead to other activities, new acquaintances, and potential new friends.

Sports and hobbies

If you play sports and/or have specific hobbies or interests that you pursue, you can search for and find sports teams that you can ask to play on, as well as clubs and societies you can apply to join. Joining a local golf club or the local gym also offers an opportunity to get involved locally and meet others; if you play an instrument, you may find a local band or orchestra to play in.

Walking your dog

If you have a dog, taking it on frequent walks in the local neighborhood or park is a good way of meeting your neighbors and meeting other dog owners.  Parks in large towns and cities have ‘dog play areas’ these days which also create a meeting point for humans watching over them.  As younger generations use these parks to walk their dogs, they provide an opportunity for older generations to invest in cultivating friendships with younger people.

Help and be kind with your neighbors

Get to know know your neighbors and be helpful.  If the people living in your vicinity are older, be mindful of any needs they might have, for example, you could offer to go shopping or take them shopping with you.  If they are younger and have a family, consider how you might help them.  Small acts of kindness and common courtesy can make a big impact.  For example, you might wheel trash cans back to the house after the garbage delivery has passed; you might gift them a plant for their garden. Even if neighbors don’t become close friends with you, it’s good practice to cultivate good relationships with the people you live among.

Hosting parties and events

Hosting a party at your home for your new friends and immediate neighbors helps you get to know them if you’ve recently moved in—as well as to develop friendship and sharing in the longer term.  These types of events also carry the potential to present serendipitous opportunities and make new connections locally, especially if your guests are encouraged to bring other people they know that you don’t yet know.

Churches and spiritual centers

If you attend a local church or spiritual center, you will be able to meet new people of faith and through those meetings have an opportunity to make and cultivate new friendships.

Join or create a common-interest group

Birds of a feather enjoy flocking together so a good way to find new people to connect with is to join interest groups doing  things you enjoy or have an interest in. Book clubs, writing groups, hobby groups (crafts, collecting, sewing, painting), walking and hiking, history and culture, etc.  If a group doesn’t exist locally, consider taking the initiative and starting one.  You can meet at local coffee houses, community centers, or yours or someone’s else’s home as may be appropriate.

Attend and support local events

Make an effort to find out about and attend local events. Art exhibitions, wine or food tasting days, music concerts, local theater groups, dance, and craft exhibitions and workshops are among the most common events that offer good opportunities to meet others and make new acquaintances.  To make this work, you often have to attend events regularly; every occasion might not offer-up an opportunity to meet other people you would ideally like to cultivate a friendship with, but some events will. Regular attendance and consistent effort is essential.

Become a regular patron at local establishments

Get out of the house and go for coffee or beverage, or a meal, at local establishments in your area—and make that habit a regular one.  Over time, you’ll get known and you’ll start to notice and meet other people who also regularly attend these places, and you might strike up conversation with them.  If you like watching major sporting events, don’t stay in to watch it—attend a local sports bar and join others with that common interest.

Reconnect with people you’ve lost touch with

Sometimes a fledgling friendship can get sidelined by the events and responsibilities of everyday life situations. Consider people you’ve met before who you subsequently lost contact with and make an effort to contact and reconnect with them.  You could offer to buy them a coffee or invite them out to a light meal as an opportunity to rekindle the acquaintance or friendship.

Meeting other parents

If you have school-age children, your local school is natural focal point for you to meet other parents, and through school meetings and other events (for example, school camping trips are popular here) there’s an opportunity to find and cultivate new acquaintances and friendships this way.

If you don’t have children, or are retired, there are other ways of finding and joining local groups, and a search online using social media channels, as well as notices on boards posted at popular local stores, cafés, and restaurants may connect you with new people and groups who, in turn, will connect you with others. In time, you’ll become part of the connections chain that introduces future new residents to your community.

Volunteering and community work

Volunteering is a way to give back to your local community and an ideal opportunity for making new friends. Search locally for existing initiatives that might be operating; or consider starting a new initiative of your own.

Entrepreneurship

Some people who are retired and who discover that they have spare time and patient capital in their lives decide to embark on a project to create a small enterprise.

Some might work for a local company to share their life’s knowledge and expertise, others might start a small business of their own—for example, they might open a local shop, or start a local business.  They might partner with a Mexican associate to achieve this.

Engaging with these types of self-employment can connect you to new people and opportunities you might not otherwise meet through social groups alone, and the investment you make can create new value for your local community.

Local anchors as connectors

Things come from things.  And new connections can emerge from existing connections.  An excellent way to begin to develop a circle of new friends is to encourage your existing contacts to introduce you to new people they know locally.

Another anchor you might consider is the realty agent (if you used one) to buy your home in Mexico. That person might be an excellent anchor for helping you to make your first connections when you first move to Mexico, including practical connections like local service suppliers you need as you settle-in.

The good agents will know about the local community groups, may introduce you to some local people they know, and could also help you find domestic helpers like housekeepers and gardeners. These personal introductions can serve as key anchors that enable you to develop your new social networks when you move to Mexico.

Some foreign residents go further and make and concerted effort to integrate with groups and communities beyond those organized by other foreign residents. Local churches, local community groups and associations, and local neighborhood associations are good places to do this.  Getting involved locally is also a positive way to develop your Spanish language skills.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Approaches to choosing or changing your Mexico lifestyle
• Adapting and settling-in to your lifestyle in Mexico
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

After the eventful period during which you’ll deal with the immediate needs and logistics associated with your physical move and settling-in period, you’ll enter a more ordinary pace and rhythm of everyday life situations as your life in Mexico begins to unfold in earnest.

This ‘second-stage’ settlement period will present opportunities and challenges. Ensuring that your situations are underpinned by healthy routines, a sense of purpose, and connections to other people will speed your adaption period and help you to create a balanced and fruitful lifestyle in Mexico.

This article outlines the important need to find purpose and routines as part of everyday situations, and also highlights some common risks to help you spot any potential difficulties.

Forming regular routines

How your daily routines begin to unfold will depend upon your life stage, the intentions you set out, and your lifestyle priorities. Routines during the first few months of your settling-in period will likely revolve around practical logistics that support your move; however, when those matters are discharged, more ‘mundane’ matters will take precedence.

Your daily routines are likely to vary depending upon your life stage and circumstances, for example:

If you are retired

You might have a significant amount of spare time to fill; or you might have specific interests and activities you intend to engage with that fill that time. Some retirees arrive and explore for ways to get involved locally, and some might also start a business or begin working for local companies or non-profit organizations to share their expertise, life experiences, and knowledge.

If you’re arriving as a couple without children

You might engage with specific interests you each have separately, or together, or a mixture of both.

Although the issue of finding strong routines might seem inconsequential at first, one of the key dangers a couple faces is that if one or the other is unable to settle into a regular routine —and find activities of interest to them— the move to Mexico can quickly become barren.

This is especially true if the other partner in the relation does have a regular routine and interests and is enjoying Mexico and can happen, for example, if one partner has a job, work project, or finds integration natural, and the other doesn’t; the situation can be exacerbated by language barriers.  See the section below about spotting risks and pitfalls for additional insights about this.

If you’re arriving as a family or a parent with minor children

Your routines are likely to be primarily formed around the children’s daily needs: schooling, and other social and scholastic matters are likely to take up a great deal of time and energy.

If your children are growing older, it’s sensible to think about how your routines will evolve when they finish school/college, and how your priorities and routines will respond to those changes.

If you arrive in Mexico as a single person without children

Your routines will likely be based entirely on the lifestyle intentions you set out with as part of your move to Mexico, that may include a retirement lifestyle, a work/project lifestyle, or combination of both.

Finding purpose in everyday situations

Regardless of your situation and life stage, you’ll need to make a conscientious effort to build new routines —daily, weekly, and monthly— as an integral part of your settling-in period when you move to Mexico.

Routines help to provide focus and are also the anchors that help to give life situations a purpose, and thus motivate you to engage more meaningfully in your everyday activities and pursuits.

Having purpose also mitigates potential risks associated with an absence of routines and purpose; unchecked, these can spiral downward and become detrimental to yours, your partner’s, or family’s well-being.

Social connections are key anchors

Making new friends, forming new associations, and getting involved in local community groups and activities comes naturally to some people; and for those with jobs, children, or work projects to do here, those activities can provide solid daily routine structures and contacts —professional and social— which in turn support their everyday life situations here in Mexico.

However, not everyone is naturally adept in the art of forming new social connections or may not have the formal structures that workplaces, schools, and other working groups provide as a primer and platform for making new friends.  The task becomes even more difficult if your Spanish language skills are not well-developed.

When you move to Mexico, it’s worthwhile taking some time to consider how you will respond to the matter of developing your human connections here, and consider what efforts you personally need to make to discover new social circles and cultivate acquaintances and friends within those—perhaps from ‘square one.’

Human connections, that include acquaintances, family, friends, colleagues, and associates, are a key support mechanism because they help to provide practical, social, and emotional support to us every day; and while these are important wherever you live, they take on additional importance when you have recently moved to a foreign country and you may find yourself needing to recreate networks of connections, people, and groups—possibly from square one.

As you plan your move and set-out your intentions, consider how you will cultivate the new connections that will play an important role in your everyday situations in Mexico—and might well become a determining factor of how well you settle into and enjoy Mexico as a place to live.

Pitfalls in the absence of purpose and routines

It’s worth touching on the matter of common pitfalls that can appear when you don’t have regular routines to engage in, you or someone close to you lacks purpose, and/or develops too few human connections when you or they come to Mexico to live.

Being mindful of these pitfalls may help you to spot warning signs that can point to the emergence of situations which can undermine your original plans and intentions.

Here are some key situations to be mindful of, based on experiences of some people who moved to Mexico.

Lack of social connections

Neglecting to cultivate social and community connections can quickly lead to isolation, and depression.  Depression can lead to abuse of addictive substances including alcohol and drugs—and this, in turn, limits your ability to socialize properly and develop wholesome routines and new human connections, creating a downward spiral that can be hard to break out of if goes unnoticed.

Vices and addictions

Limited social circles and/or closed-group communities can sometimes be a good breeding ground for a gradual but certain progression to alcoholism, and other substance abuse.

This seems especially prevalent among people with lots of spare —often barren— time on their hands.  Regular rounds of social events and dinner parties that are heavily drenched with alcohol can unwittingly facilitate alcoholism by stealth.

Alcoholism is perhaps one of the biggest hidden threats to foreign residents in Mexico who lack strong daily routines and/or clear purpose as they cultivate their life situations here.

Partners adapting to Mexico

When couples move to Mexico together, the move might be advocated, and thus propelled, more strongly by one of the two partners in the relationship—and when this happens the dominant influencer will often make a greater effort to integrate, establish routines, and find purpose than the other.

If this disequilibrium continues, living in Mexico can quickly evolve into an inhospitable experience for the partner who is not integrating well, and that can put tremendous strains on the relationship. One partner may summarily decide that they want to return to their home country, leaving the other to contend with the substantial issues that that type of unilateral decision would entail.

It’s especially problematic if one of the partners is in Mexico on a defined work contract; but can be equally devastating to a retired couple, one of whom adores Mexico and doesn’t want to leave, and another who believes that they are unable to adapt and integrate.

It’s worth reading our article about considering your motivations and intentions for moving to Mexico in the first place, and talking candidly with your partner about your shared desires, interests, and aspirations vis-à-vis moving to Mexico.

Being open and receptive to the other’s concerns or incertitude can minimize the possibility of critical situations —of type that can break plans and relationships— from developing in the first place.

If issues emerge after you arrive in Mexico, being cognizant of the potential difficulties can help a couple to respond constructively, and exercise flexibility and understanding of each other’s needs.

Children adapting to Mexico

Being mindful of family members who might move to Mexico with you, particularly children, and especially in the early months after your move to Mexico, is important.

Individuals respond to material changes in their lives in distinctive ways, and a move to a foreign country is perhaps one of the most materially significant changes that we can experience.

Children, especially younger children, tend to be the most adaptable, but some children might find the change hard to contend with, and adolescents and young adults may find it hard to grapple with the social, cultural, and language changes that a move to Mexico will bring to their lives.

The better private schools in Mexico will be mindful of families’ needs when they have moved here from abroad and will have support mechanisms in place to help parents and children cope, as well as to help and encourage them to adapt and integrate.

Mitigating the risks as you settle-in to Mexico

The situations described above are the most typical encountered by foreign residents in Mexico; there are others, and while you can never eliminate all risks, they can be mitigated through some forethought, planning, and self-awareness.

Here are some guiding tips:

Clarity of purpose

Be clear about your intentions for moving to Mexico. Define those intentions, know your priorities, and compose a plan—if you have a partner or family, be sure they are involved and engaged in every aspect of that plan.

Make an effort to integrate

After dealing with the logistics of moving and settling-in, make a determined effort to build and develop strong daily routines and find purpose in your Mexico lifestyles, regardless of your life stage.

Make friends

Invest earnestly in the effort it requires to develop local connections and associations with others when you arrive in Mexico; avoid becoming isolated or only having limited circles of friends.

Speak Spanish

Learn or improve your Spanish language skills; the importance of being able to converse in Spanish everyday cannot be underemphasized and ought not to be underestimated.

Be mindful of yourself and others

Spot the signs —in yourself, and your loved ones if they move with you— of isolation and depression and the vices that often accompany people if one or both those afflictions takes hold; provide support to those near you and seek professional support if you need it.

Bring people along

As you move to Mexico and begin to settle-in, be mindful of your partner’s and family’s needs and any troubles or doubts they might be experiencing as they learn to adapt to a new country and an unfamiliar environment; be prepared to flex and respond constructively to support them.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Approaches to choosing or changing your Mexico lifestyle
• Making friends and cultivating social networks
• Adapting and settling-in to your lifestyle in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free

Factors that may influence accommodation choices

Everyone’s situation has unique attributes when they’re moving, although there are several common factors that tend to influence the choices regarding accommodations, including:

• how long you intend to stay in Mexico—shorter stays will usually preclude a home purchase, but not all people who intend to stay long term will buy a house;
• your familiarity of Mexico—if you know Mexico and have friends or family here, this will likely influence your approach to finding accommodations; and
• any existing arrangements—some people already have property in Mexico they can move into, although sometimes the property is in a different location to where they want to live now; also
• specific circumstances and financial means—you might have specific reasons for wanting to rent or buy, and your decisions might be facilitated or restricted based on your financial means.

Renting before buying

If you do decide to buy property in Mexico, you might consider renting first to get a feel for the area(s) you’re thinking about moving into, before committing to a place or neighborhood—even if your preference is to buy and you have the financial means to do so.

If you already know the area you want to live in from previous experiences, you might only rent for a brief time in temporary accommodations while you scout for and buy a property in Mexico.  Some people buy soon after they arrive, perhaps on impulse, although most people rent (or stay with friends or family) at least for a short while beforehand.

Mexico’s house rental market

Most people who come to Mexico to live for the first time start out by renting a house here, and we recommend that people unfamiliar with the country begins by renting in the first instance—if only on a temporary basis.

Renting property gives you flexibility that can be helpful, although you’ll have to purchase a house in Mexico to benefit from the widest choice of property types available and obtain a dwelling space that suits your needs in detailed ways which rented properties are unlikely to be able to.  Renting property might also place other restrictions upon you; for example, many rentals don’t allow pets.

Rental properties are plentiful in Mexico, but the practicalities of finding a decent rental that is adequate for your needs takes time and effort, patience, and a degree of luck in respect of the listed properties during the timeframe that you are scouting the market.

Some real estate agents will help you scout for properties, although many agents prefer to only deal with property purchases and sales because the income available to them from rentals is materially lower than income generated from property sales.  If you intend to rent before you buy, let the agent know this, because some agents who don’t normally deal with rentals are sometimes prepared help potential future buyers to rent something locally in the near-term.

Buying a house in Mexico

People with intentions to stay longer in Mexico trend toward buying a property as soon as practical, as it can represent a better investment over the long term—provided that you choose wisely, that includes settling in a location that properly suits your lifestyle intentions, and that you don’t overpay for the property.  It’s better to buy less house in an optimum location than more house in a sub-optimal location.

Buying also gives you a much wider range of options than renting and enables you to shape the living spaces as you’d like them. It might also be sensible to buy sooner in a place where the market is buoyant, and prices are rising.

Choosing to buy a property in Mexico enables you to find a place that is more precisely suited to your lifestyle needs and can also encourage you to ‘put down roots’ in the location you have chosen—this is related to the level of commitment you have in relation to your move to Mexico.

Mexperience offers extensive articles and guides about real estate in Mexico that help you to discover the property market here, whether you are a buyer, an owner, or a seller.

Financing a property purchase

Many people moving to Mexico have capital available to them to purchase a home here —especially retirees— through investments and savings, or with equity that has accumulated in their existing home.

However, some people moving here might need or want to finance a home in Mexico.  Most foreign residents who buy property in Mexico do not need or seek credit, although real estate financing in Mexico is available through various specialized finance houses.  Our guide to real estate in Mexico includes a complete chapter about real estate finance.

Owning a house in Mexico

Home ownership is a responsibility whichever country your property is located in. Once you have moved to Mexico and taken possession of your home, whether you own your property in Mexico or are just renting it, there will be certain matters to organize and deal with on a regular basis to keep your house properly maintained and secured when you are home and away. With some local insights and forward planning, the maintenance and security of your home in Mexico should pose no major headaches or inconveniences.

Mexperience publishes a comprehensive guide to home maintenance and security in Mexico with tips and practical knowledge to help you manage your home in Mexico, keep it secure and prevent your Mexican home from falling into disrepair.

Insurance for your home in Mexico

Whether you’re buying or renting a home, it’s prudent to consider insurance for your home and personal possessions.

Mexico is subject to hurricanes (if your property is near the ocean) and earthquakes (whether you’re by the sea or inland) and it makes sense to protect your investment with an adequate home insurance coverage plan to protect your asset as well to cover you against third party liabilities, e.g., a tree falling onto your neighbor’s property and causing damage or injury.

If you’re only renting, you can buy an insurance plan to protect your personal items from loss due to flooding, burglary, etc.

Selling a house in Mexico

When you purchase property and eventually come to sell your home, there are different routes to market, agents to consider, processes to follow, and paperwork to organize.  Our guide to real estate in Mexico includes a full chapter dedicated to helping home sellers.

Working with a local realty agent

Finding and working with a local realty professional can be a worthwhile investment.

A well-established agent will be able to provide you with insights into the local area and community, brief you about locales and neighborhoods that could be appropriate (or otherwise) for your needs; and when you buy a house with the help of an agent, they might also assist you by connecting you to local groups, associations and perhaps even new acquittances that could become friends.

Renting out your Mexican home

If you purchase a home in Mexico, you might plan to rent out your Mexican home, in part or in its entirety.  Mexperience offers helpful articles that share insights about this, and our guide to real estate includes a chapter about renting.

Further research and resources

Mexperience offers you a comprehensive online resource of information and local knowledge to help you discover Mexico, explore choices, find opportunities and plan a new life in Mexico.  Resources include:

• Articles about lifestyle planning in Mexico
• Discover places to live in Mexico
• Principal routes to legal residency in Mexico
• Latest articles about lifestyles in Mexico
• A regular Mexico Newsletter you can subscribe to for free