Best Places In The World To Retire

About 10 years ago we went through the building process in Puerto Vallarta and we’re exploring it again right now.  At a minimum, the cost to build in Puerto Vallarta is about $75 per square foot up to about $150 to $200 or more depending upon that level of luxury and finishes.

 

This is the cost without the land, but please keep in mind that we have a lot of hills and cliffs in Mexico in general, and in Puerto Vallarta in particular. So if...

About 10 years ago we went through the building process in Puerto Vallarta and we’re exploring it again right now.  At a minimum, the cost to build in Puerto Vallarta is about $75 per square foot up to about $150 to $200 or more depending upon that level of luxury and finishes.

 

This is the cost without the land, but please keep in mind that we have a lot of hills and cliffs in Mexico in general, and in Puerto Vallarta in particular. So if you’re building a home on a flat piece of land with a simple concrete slab, your construction cost are going to be a lot lower than if you’re excavating and putting in foundations and pylons into the side of a cliff. 

 

$75 a square foot would get you a lot of concrete, a bit of wrought iron and glass, simple porcelain tile floors, Mexican tile kitchen countertops and bathrooms, simple white Home Depot- or Lowes-style toilets and sinks. $100 to $150 per square foot is going to get you maybe a bit of marble or granite in your kitchen, maybe some wooden doors and cabinets and stainless steel appliances as opposed to white. When you spend in the $170 to $200 per square foot range, you’re talking about pools with slate tiles, custom-honed finishes, marble floors, cantilevered spaces, high architectural designs, etc.

 

It’s difficult to give an accurate cost of construction comparison between Puerto Vallarta and the US because the US is very diverse.  Building a home in San Antonio, Texas is going to cost a lot less money than building a home in New York City. But I would say that overall, building a home in Mexico costs about half of what it cost in most places of the US.

 

(Architectural upgrades in great room, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pictured.)

It is important to note that the Portuguese are extremely helpful and respectful towards foreigners. Obviously, if an American or English person or other foreigner spoke to them badly or rudely a Portuguese person would reply in kind. But in many cases the Portuguese are far nicer to foreigners and more helpful to them than they are to many of their own people.

 

Here’s a story to illustrate the point.  We have a bridge here that goes over the...

It is important to note that the Portuguese are extremely helpful and respectful towards foreigners. Obviously, if an American or English person or other foreigner spoke to them badly or rudely a Portuguese person would reply in kind. But in many cases the Portuguese are far nicer to foreigners and more helpful to them than they are to many of their own people.

 

Here’s a story to illustrate the point.  We have a bridge here that goes over the river that is like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco except that it’s about 2 meters longer.  An American company contracted to build it.   At the time our president was Antonio de Olveira Salazar, who said, “I would like you to do this so that one day they’ll be able to put a railway line underneath it.” That day came about 15 years ago when they put the railway underneath.  Many of the same people that did the original construction came here and I was going around with a lot of them looking for accommodations. Many of the Americans were a little bit surprised because they kept saying (about the country in general), “This isn’t like America.” And I said, “Well, it’s not America but if I could offer some advice it would be to find something to like.” I’ve lived in quite a few countries and I think it’s so important from the minute you arrive to find something to like—bottle of wine, a person, a place.

 

(Antonio de Olveira Salazar in 1940, Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968, pictured.)

 

A couple of months later, one of the people I offered this advice to called me and said, “Caroline, I was riding my bicycle and had an accident.  This Portuguese couple stopped and took me to a hospital.  The man took my bicycle to have it fixed and the woman called me every day to ask me how I was recovering. And the only thing I could think of was to phone Caroline to say thank you I found something to like.” 

 

There’s a lot more English spoken here now than there was several years ago. If a Portuguese person doesn’t speak English well, they will still try. And most of the people now speak English so they are very, very nice to all foreigners.