Real Estate South of the Border

Welcome Readers …today we recommend an excerpt of an article written by Catherine A. Simpson who collaborates with the Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine which is the flagship publication of the CCIM Institute, an international association that confers the elite Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation.  The article is about Real Estate South of the Border.We have removed the article due to CIRE Magazine’s copyright policy.For More Information Visit : http://www.ciremagazine.com/article.php?article_id=529

3 Myths About the World’s Top Retirement Haven

There are a lot of stereotypes that exist about Mexico- says Susan Haskins, a american expat who has become a Living in Mexico guru- mostly among people who get the bulk of their “headline news” from the U.S. media…or from a friend of a friend of a friend who claims to know something about Mexico.
In her 9/11 article on International Living, Susan clarifies 3 of the main misconceptions that americans have when it comes to Mexico: Corruption, Personal Safety and Land Ownership. The answers, simple and direct, are noteworthy. Here they are:

MexMed for Americans

Why are more Americans going south of the border for their medical needs.  Some say it’s because of the lower price, which stands true, but there is far more to it, as the following article on San Diego Metropolitan by Flavio Olivieri states.
Olivieri, in the two page article, names, the proximity of Baja California to California, the growing list of renowned physicians ranging from ophthalmology to dentistry, to cosmetic surgery practices; the partnerships between American and Mexican health provider groups and all inclusive facilities on the Mexican side.
According to the Joint Commission International (JCI), the U.S.-based accreditor of health care organizations, medical tourism, as this phenomenon is called, accounts for 40 billion dollars a year.  As for Baja, the State’s Board of Tourism estimates that 45 percent of the clientele being served in its territory comes from out of state, but in certain places, like plastic surgery facilities in Rosarito Beach, get as much as 80 percent of their business from the United States.
Numbers add for the industry, numbers substract for the patients.  The article, published in the September 2007 issue is worth a reading.

The article follows…

Oral Stories

This article was taken from Metaverse Friday – Oral Histories , the story is endearing, and the fact that our aging population needs to connect, is apalling.  This is part of a Quality Life Community, as we prefer to call it.

This is pretty neat: Granny, 107, takes web by storm

AT 107 she is probably the world’s older blogger and cyber granny Olive Riley may also lay claim to being the oldest YouTube user.
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She is stunned by the number of people who read her blog but is thrilled by the “thousands of new friends from all over the world” that she has made.

“I thought I might have a few (readers) but I didn’t think I’d have so many – but they all seem to be so happy about it,” she said.
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“I’m sure they do enjoy them because of the replies I get. I get some real good replies. I’ve made a lot of friends by doing the blogs – thousands.”

I can’t express the glee I feel from this story. Although more senior citizens are learning to use computers and Web 2.0 tools, they’re still an underrepresented demographic in cyberspace. There has also been at least one study suggesting that senior citizens have taken residence within virtual worlds like Second Life, and I’ve heard some testimonial evidence which supports this. Considering that the technology is available now, I wonder if a virtual world could be used to gather oral histories from groups of people who share a common event. Say, World War 2 veterans who can’t attend physical gatherings or people who attended the original Woodstock.

Booming numbers already living in México

We found this article on the colombian news site Economía y Negocios Online.  An important international banking and financial institution (BBVA Bancomer) executive stated that one million american retirees already live in Mexico.  The information was generated in Mexico, that’s why its center on the impact that Baby Boomers make in the mexican economy.

In a nutshell, american retirees spending a good chunk of their annual 75 grand income in residences, luxury items and investment, including expensive second homes in Baja California (both North and South) and Sonora.

An estimated 3 out every 4 of these expats prefer the countryside and easy living, and the total one million accounts for 25% of the americans living out of their homeland, but the number is expected to grow -or explode- in the coming years, as the 76 million people from Baby Boomer generation will retire, giving the world a young, healthy and active crowd that will have the opportunity to spoil itself and their descendants.

The article presents several pieces of statistical information worthy of awe, and provoke a lot of questions.

Mine is: What is the mexican economy going to do to serve a population that is not ready to go without a boom.

The Boom is Back

Monday, a second boom started.  Kathleen Casey-Kirschling applied for social security benefits.Now, the really big news for us lies in the tiny detail that she is the first baby-boomer to ever do that. We are in for the big game now. At age 61, healthy, furnished with a long career as a teacher, savings and, now, social security benefits, Casey-Kirschling will have a whole lot of years to travel, do, go, spend and pamper grandchildren.The impact that baby-boomers will have on the american and global economy is expected to play in the multi-billion dollar ballpark.  Great news for the leisure, sports, health and adventure tourism industries, as well as real estate in the U.S. and exotic places like the Sea of Cortes, Riviera Maya and colonial cities in Mexico.Because of this, the 2BAlive conference and expo by AMAR (the Mexican Association for Retirement Assistance) coming up in May ‘08 can be a business opportunity for those with their eyes open.The complete story by the New York Times is here: