So, wadya know? The lake is up, real estate is booming, the old time pessimists are going back to the states to collect on Medicare and a new crop of travelers are coming down on weekends to purchase homes. Will wonders never cease?
It isn't really too surprising that the lake is up because it has had ups and downs for a good deal of the time that lake history has been recorded. It turns out that the Mexican government had very little to do with the “recovery”. Mother Nature just turned on the spigot and let ‘er rip. Could have been a piece of legislation that I missed, though I doubt it. To tell the truth it really does look like a weather cycle just like the old time Mexican folks said. Damn if these people don't know something after all.
I suppose that the lake being up has something to do with the real estate boom although there have been reports that another reason could be attributed to a fear of terrorism. The reports failed to mention if that terror fear was from bin Laden or W. I hope that this doesn’t mean that if Kerry wins we’ll have a bunch of Republican economists trickling down here. But I’d have to allow that could be good for another round of real estate sales.
I do have a question about real estate, though. How far is “way out there”? A fellow I met in WalMart last week mentioned that he didn’t buy a home in Jocotepec because it was “way out there”. He did buy a home in Ajijic and he was a considerable distance from Ajijic when he told me that. I guess “way out there” is kind of like Einstein’s theory of Relativity. It all depends on where you stand to look at it. For instance, if you stand in Ajijic and look around and you don’t see any real estate you can afford, then the definition of “way out there” could become relative.
One reason that real estate sales are booming is that a lot of the old time gringos are putting their homes up for sale so they can go home to cash in on their Medicare. It is somewhat surprising that many of those who are leaving are the same ones who were ever-so-sure that the lake would never recover because the Mexican government would never do anything to bring it back. Maybe they are embarrassed. Maybe they are simply taking the money and running. Maybe we’ll never know.
One thing we do know is that there are a lot of people who are doing their very best to replace those who are leaving. According to people in real estate, sales have never been better. I keep hearing stories of people who came to visit for a week or even less and bought a house while they were here. I don’t quite understand why anyone would do such a thing. I guess there could be a bit of a profit motive but I have to assume that these weekend buyers are going to live in the houses they buy for a while at least.
If that were true I wonder if they did any research about where that house is situated. Is it in a gated community? Is it near shopping? Do they know how to shop in Mexico? Can they find a good mechanic? Do they have a doctor? I’m guessing “no” to all of the above. I sure hope they don’t end up with the same set of negative attitudes that the folks they are replacing had. I’m sure these travelers aren’t like that. I’m sure this group is charmed by the warmth of the Mexican people and can’t wait to try out their Spanish so they can learn the culture.
You can do that from within a gringo enclave, you know. You talk with the maid and the gardener, go out to eat four nights a week and get to know a half dozen waiters and pretty quick you have a working knowledge of Mexican culture. I figure this ought to take about six months to achieve for the smart ones and maybe up to a year for the slow witted or those who didn’t get a chance for much social interaction due to heavy work loads back in the world.
On second thought maybe it’s a good thing that these newbies are congregating up there in Ajijic. I guess anything outside of Ajijic is “way out there” after all.
