Mexico and Renting a House Part III

I wanted to continue with the next column in the series Living in Mexico. However, I am still in such a snit over the fiasco with our previous landlord, I thought I should write part three in the series on renting a house in Mexico.

If you decide you indeed want to spend the rest of your days in Mexico, you will want to rent a place before deciding if you want to buy or not.

In our books, we recommend rent first, buy later. This is the smart way to go for so many reasons. The main reason is if you don’t have even a smattering of Spanish, how will you know who you can trust? You will be forced to depend on someone you don’t know well (or at all) to tell you the truth. If you think renting in Mexico is a Gringo-rip-off-racket, wait until I tell you about buying.

Anyway, before renting any place in Mexico—anywhere - here is what you need to ask, do, and insist upon to keep yourself from being ripped off by Mexican landlords. The following is what I wished someone had told us BEFORE we moved to Mexico:

1. Go to Spanish language schools and ask the person who coordinates the housing for their students about the housing situation. They will be in the know on who is trustworthy and who is not. They will not deal with the known shysters because this would be bad for their Language School business. If an American student gets screwed by one of the home stays or apartment rental arrangements, then that American will sing like a canary when he or she gets home. He or she may even create a website mean-mouthing the school. So, the schools are a good source for housing information.