Here Are The Keys
Four little words that add up to one great, huge game changer. A lifetime of high efficiency heating systems, central air, insulation values, twenty-five year shingles, energy efficient windows, wall to wall carpeting…gone!
Replaced by “Home Ownership in Mexico for Dummies”.
Two by fours and drywall are replaced with concrete and rebar. Where to start?
We had purchased a home inspection as part of our real estate transaction.
Let’s look at that.
Apparently we have a cistern, a reservoir in our garage, somewhere under where we park our car. Apparently it has a submersible pump that fills a pressure tank that circulates water to the rest of our house. Armed with a limited knowledge of the water system, what about power? There is the electrical panel. Nice and neat, tidy, full of circuit breakers, labelled in…you guessed it…Spanish.
Obviously some translation will be required, but it’s manageable.
The second part of the power equation is gas. Not natural gas, that comes in a pipe hooked to a meter at the side of our house, but rather, we have a propane tank on the uppermost level of our home. I know it is up there somewhere, because the property inspection mentions it, and the propane providers climb it. Once we realized that an extension ladder was required to reach it, piece of cake. The previous owner had taken the ladder with him, of course. Thank you very much.
This is serious progress. We have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that we have water, electricity, and gas. Things are starting to evolve. Water is a monthly bill, electricity every two months, and propane gas is a matter of finding a delivery truck in town sometime before we run out.
Remember that house maintenance file you used to have? Contact info for the plumber, electrician, painter, appliance repair? All right at your fingertips, just pick up the phone. Here we are, no file, no phone, and no spanish either, for that matter. Slowly, things started to sort themselves out. We received a phone number, wifi, and the single most important thing in Mexico, a CFE (hydro) bill in your name. Want to open a bank account? Show your CFE bill as proof of residency. Want to get a Mexican driver’s license? Show your CFE bill.
It’s the next best thing to a get out of jail free card!
Once you have mastered “Home Ownership in Mexico for Dummies”, you are now ready to start the sequel which deals with all those pesky little maintenance issues.
How often should you have your home sprayed for insects? The water pressure tank needs recharging. The home we purchased was painted exclusively in what I refer to as builder beige. What type of paint, and where should I purchase it? It seems that four out of ten stores are paint stores. Cheer up. Paint is paint and there is no wrong colour. Take a wander through Bucerias and check out the various colour schemes.
An important addition to this story is; the best trades people you will find, speak the least amount of English. Not their problem, but mine!
Another chapter in this saga will be “SO YOU WANT A SWIMMING POOL?!”
