Cabo San Lucas Blog

The Los Cabos Humane Society’s Dressed to the K-9s Gala Christmas Party

San José Del Cabo Art Walk

SABOR A CABO Celebrate 10th Anniversary International Food & Wine Festival

After ten years in the making, the International Festival of Food and Wine, Sabor a Cabo, has become one of the best events of its kind.

Sponsored by the Los Cabos Tourism Board, the festival will take place December 2 through December 5. Similar to previous years, the 2015 event will bring together top chefs from Los Cabos, and will feature highly innovative selections of wines from the region.

The destination's restaurant association (CANIRAC) notes that in its tenth year, Sabor a Cabo has established itself as an international event; helping to promote Los Cabos' culinary attributes, similar to its fishing, golf, and other tourism attractions.  Alfonso Vazquez Olivas, President of Sabor a Cabo, also emphasizes that this year's festival will have the theme of "Simmering...a tribute to Mexican roots," in which the traditional cuisine and wines of Baja California Sur will be highlighted.

"With so many great culinary offerings in Los Cabos we are pleased to support the 10th edition of this wonderful event", said Los Cabos Tourism Board Managing Director Ruben Reachi. "Sabor a Cabo is one of many annual events that tourists and locals alike look forward to year after year." 

Can I Buy Ejido Property? What is an Ejido?

The ejido is a Mexican concept not well understood by foreigners. What is an ejido, exactly? The word, pronounced ay-hee-do, is thought to be derived from the Latin exitus, meaning "the way out." Presumably ejidos got their name from being located at the outskirts of towns and cities, and they were, and some still are, small Mexican villages. The ejido is defined as a community that has joint ownership of a piece of land, lives on the land, and practices joint agriculture on it. While this was the original intention, and was once an accurate description of ejido activity, more and more ejidos today exist as land where no one lives and no agriculture takes place.

The ejido was a concept practiced by the Aztecs. It has had a long and rocky history. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico, it was abandoned; it came back in again when the church was given the authority to hold lands in trust for the peasants. It went out again when the church lost favor, and church lands. When the present Mexican constitution was adopted in 1917 resulting from the 10-year long Mexican Revolution, the ejido was revived. Large tracts of land were taken from wealthy landowners and divided up into ejidos for the peasants. Members of an ejido, called ejidatarios, could farm the land, live on it, enjoy it, pass it to their children, rent parts of it to third parties, but they could never own it or sell it. The mindset of the authorities, from the Aztecs on, seemed to be that peasants were like children, not intelligent enough to manage their own affairs, and so they must be protected by a kind of benevolent (or not-so-benevolent) despotism on the part of the emperor, the church, or the government.

And so, yes, the ejido is a way of owning property in Mexico, but this statement must be read with a realization that "ownership" may not mean the same thing to an ejidatario as it does to your average gringo. To an American, ownership means having what is known in real estate circles as "the bundle of rights": possession, enjoyment, control, exclusion, and disposition. When we own a property, we can possess it, enjoy it, control it, exclude anyone we don't want from it, and dispose of it by selling it, giving it, exchanging it, or willing it to our heirs. To a Mexican, ownership appears to be largely a matter of possession.

This difference in cultural background and assumptions often causes misunderstanding when a foreign investor finds a choice piece of property that is ejido land and wants to buy it. The ejidatarios may tell the investor that they have ownership of the property, and of course they do, but not the same kind of ownership the investor is assuming.

 
Trying to buy ejidal property can be a risky investment if the investor is uninformed as to the legal pitfalls or unwilling to follow the prescribed procedure.

There is a way to get legal title to ejido property. In 1992 the Mexican government established a policy for regularizing ejido land called PROCEDE. PROgrama para CEsion de Derechos Ejidales (Program for cession of ejidal rights). Through this program, ejidatarios can convert their property to private property, which can then be sold.

There are three types of ejidal property: lands for community development, lands for common use, and individual parcels. The lands for community development cannot be sold or privatized. Lands for common use can be converted into what are called solares, individually owned parcels, which can be privatized and then sold. The individual parcels can also be privatized and sold. This procedure requires a vote of the entire ejido.. There must be a vote of 2/3 of those present to pass the resolution to privatize the land. 
Investors should be aware of the complexities and avoid common pitfalls by using due diligence.

Recommendations:
Don't pay out large sums of money without receiving a receipt, contract, or agreement that states exactly what the money is to be used for and what is expected from each party.

Try to get as much documentation as possible for the property you are considering. Maps with dimensions and areas are very helpful.
If you are considering buying ejido land, work with a real estate agent who is knowledgeable about the process. Don't try to negotiate a deal yourself.

Need Help Finding Info on Cabo? Look no further! Here it is...

When traveling here, the first thing to think about is the pace of things. Everything is sloooower outside of the US mainland. If you are in a hurry, don’t leave the US mainland.  Enjoy the slower pace!  Have a Corona!

Getting around in a foreign country and exploring should be fun, but it helps to get on the right track.

There are a number of great websites to use in order to make your stay here more enjoyable.  One of my favorites is www.cabogringopages.com. 

Wines of Mexico's Burgeoning Baja Region

The Valle de Guadalupe is located northeast of the Mexican port city of Ensenada (famous for surfing and fishing), and just two hours from San Diego by car. There are currently about 50 wineries in the region, ranging from slick commercial operations to makeshift structures more like garages. The wine route is marked by contrasts, too—the main ruta del vino, Highway 3, is paved, but many wineries are located far down deeply rutted dirt roads.

Although Mexico's bottlings are rarely seen in the U.S.—the country's fine-wine industry is quite young—its winemaking dates back to the arrival of the conquistadors, in the 16th century. At one point, production was banned except for liturgical purposes. The modern era of winemaking in the Valle de Guadalupe started some 20 years ago, with the arrival of Hugo D'Acosta, a Bordeaux-educated native of Mexico City who founded his flagship winery, Casa de Piedra, in 1997.

Kristin Shute, whose parents, Ray and Patty Magnussen, founded Lechuza Winery in the Valle de Guadalupe in 2005, said Mr. D'Acosta was an inspiration to them. While living in California, the couple vacationed in Mexico's Baja region for many years before deciding to build a winery. Like most producers in this part of the country, the Magnussens focus chiefly on red wines: Cabernet, Tempranillo, Merlot and Nebbiolo, although they make a little Chardonnay as well, in both oaked and unoaked versions.

The unoaked Lechuza Chardonnay was attractive and well-balanced, while the oaked version was dominated by the oak—but I preferred both to the Nebbiolo, which was quite tannic and a bit salty. The saltiness of the wines of the region has been much discussed and is even for many locals a source of pride.

The Nebbiolo grape of the Piedmont region of Italy, whose climate is temperate, is planted throughout the valley, though it seems an unlikely choice in a wine region where the temperature can easily exceed 110 degrees. Tempranillo, the dominant red grape of Spain, is also widely planted and seems a more plausible grape, given the arid conditions here, which more closely resemble the climate of the grape-growing parts of Spain than that of Northern Italy.

Real Estate Trends

A real estate trend is any consistent pattern or change in the general direction of the real estate industry which, over the course of time, causes a statistically noticeable change. This phenomenon can be a result of the economy, a change in mortgage rates, consumer speculations, or other fundamental and non-fundamental reasons.

The Internet has become major lead generation method real estate marketing, eclipsing local newspapers and all other sources as the consumers most preferred method to learn about homes for sale. An overwhelming majority (87%) of recent home buyers say they used the internet as an information resource during their home-buying process, and nearly one-third say they first learned about their newly purchased home from an online channel, according to a study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Majority of real estate companies use popular internet marketing methods like SEO, advertising and social media. Websites like Craigslist, Google Plus and Facebook have become in 21st century main sources for both buyers and sellers. Rapid changes in market environment forced some countries to introduce new laws regulating real property market in the web. Even with introduction of internet, traditional media and methods of generating leads were still an important part of Real Estate trade:

Though the internet was the most popular source, buyers also cited information from real-estate agents (85%), yard signs (62%), open houses (48%) and print or newspaper ads (47%). Fewer buyers relied on home books or magazines, home builders, television, billboards and relocation companies

History of the Birote.

Camille Pirotte, of Belgian origin, was the Baker of one of the French battalions that arrived in Guadalajara (the 6 of January 1864), in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. He joined as a volunteer the occupation of the French army, when imperial troops occupied the city of Guadalajara.

You can say that citizens received the French with joy, but with peace of mind, because in the months before the city had changed command several times and when the Liberals occupied it they killed many conservative tapatios and subsequently, when conservatives were occupying it, they did the same with liberals.

The French general Camille took advantage of the calm of the population to gain their confidence, following instructions from the Emperor that asked him to teach to Guadalajara the trades that they knew, in accordance with the knowledge of the troop, like furniture manufacturing, music and bread making classes.

Sergeant Cook, surname Pirotte, was commissioned to teach them the way of making bread. However, as classes were held in the barracks of the invader, were not attended many students with the fear that his acquaintances consider them traitors.

To attract more students, they rented a local in the Avenida Vallarta, near the Park Revolution which at that time was on the periphery of the city.

Here students increased, but the drawback was that they did not find the "yeast" to make bread; then Pirotte made several tests with the same mass that made the bread, let it rot, not knowing that the spoil is fermented, thus found the formula of yeast which is used for leavening bread.

Apart from classes, they had to sell bread. Pirotte became very popular, since - for orders of Commander - bread which was not sold in 48 hours was given to the population. At that time there was so much poverty that upon hearing that they gave away the bread queues were enormous.

No one knows the exact date of when the bread was called "birote"; however, it is mentioned that among them (the people) they wondered: "Where are you going to?” They responded: "A bread with Pirote" (pronounced Pirot); not be able to pronounce it ended in "Birote".

At the end of the war, after the execution of Maximiliano, for the work they had done, Sergeant Pirotte - just like other prisoners that they free-, he was offered to stay in Mexico or go to Veracruz to return to their homeland, a kind of pardon.

Pirotte opted for another possibility, go to the port of San Geronimo in the Pacific, and that it had information that a Belgian ship made Antwerp San Francisco travel and would go through the port (what today is Lázaro Cárdenas), so address the former imperial soldiers.

However, the boat never arrived, and discouraged Pirotte returned to Guadalajara to marry his former girlfriend, a Guadalajara surname García.

The Pirotte disappeared for fear that would it stop and chose the surname of his wife. Engineer Néstor Pirotte mentions that he found a descendant of 95 years Pirotte which has a business near the Minerva; however, he had no idea that Pirotte was his relative by the change of surname.

Already installed, Pirotte continued with the bakery business near a jail by the Avenida Vallarta. Néstor Pirotte investigated in Brussels, in the Museum of arms, which effectively Pirotte had been in Guadalajara. Both the engineer Nestor and Pirotte Baker are in the same city, Verviers in Belgium, without being relatives.

Finally, he mentions that Pirotte Cook did not belong to the Court of Maximiliano, as reported in the story of "birote".)

What is Quivira?

What is Quivira?

Quivira, pronounced Key-vee-ra, is Mexico’s premier luxury residential resort community set on 1,850-acres of Rolling foothills with three miles of pristine beaches in Los Cabos, Mexico. Named after one of the seven legendary lost cities of gold sought by explores in the 16th and 17th Century, Quivira once inspired endless expeditions in search of legendary hidden treasures. Today, the name Quivira is synonymous with luxury, privacy, world-class amenities and exclusivity. Ernesto Coppel, renowned resort developer known for his role in turning Los Cabos into a world-class resort destination, founded Quivira on the premise of luxury, privacy and exclusivity, and first-class amenities and service. He envisioned Quivira as a place where family and friends could reconnect and make magical memories while enjoying all the comforts and the beautiful surroundings. Quivira will bring the gold standard of luxury to Cabo and will be the area’s first luxury branded address. The two Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf courses were designed to offer the most exciting play in Baja, and will feature more ocean front holes than any other development in Cabo.

“My dream has always been to create the premier residential resort community in Los Cabos “, said Coppel, who also developed the award-winning Pueblo Bonito Ocean front Resort & Spas. “It has been my life’s work to provide the very finest experiences, services and amenities. Quivira is quite simply the pinnacle of my efforts”

Ownership opportunities will include estates, villas, patio homes, vertical condominiums and homesites. Ecah of these will encompass interior gardens, tile fountains in quiet courtyards, and spacious terraces adorned with fragant flowers- all hallmarks of Mexican-style hacienda living. 

Advantages of Owning a Vacation Rental Home

Are you interested in owning a second home? How about a vacation home? When you invest in a vacation home you can. Investing in vacation home rental not only allow you to stay at the property as often as you would like but it is also a great real estate investment. Many investors found that invest in vacation homes can be much more profitable than other investing methods such as foreclosure investing. In order to be successful when investing in a vacation home rental, you need to know some of the vacation home buying tips.

Vacation Home Buying Tips

Determine the vacation home budget
When you buy a vacation home, make sure that you do not overextend your budget. You never want to make a purchase that you cannot afford. By determining your budget, you will be able to set a limit on how much money you can spend. In turn, this will allow you to find the properties that best your financial needs.

Find a quality vacation home
Keep in mind that vacation home rentals are very competitive. In order to make money to put towards your mortgage, you will have to ensure you can rent out your vacation home property easily. You will face with stiff competition if your property is in a popular part of the country. So buying a quality vacation home rental is extremely important. In addition, upkeep on the property will go a long way as far as finding somebody to rent the property on a consistent basis is concerned. 

Decide on the features of vacation home
A vacation home is not one that you will live in year round. Therefore, you should never be looking for features that you would like in a home. Whereas, you should focus on features that people who rent vacation homes would like. This usually includes things such as an eat in kitchen; pull out couches, and proximity to main attractions such as the beach or nature park

Siesta Time

Siesta Time

Cabo San Lucas has a lot to offer the visitor.  The stunning climate makes golfing on the world class courses available most days of the year.  The waters surrounding Cabo San Lucas are filled with game fish.  Swimming, tennis, hiking, shopping and exploring the beauty of Cabo attracts many visitors every year. Visiting with Los Cabos Real Estate to gather information about how to make the lovely lifestyle of Cabo your own is something everyone will want to do. 

 But sometimes, in the midst of a busy day, the visitor will encounter stores or offices closed during the middle of the afternoon.  Cabo San Lucas, not wrapped in the hustle and bustle of larger Mexican cities, still enjoys the very civilized custom know as the Siesta.

A siesta is a short nap taken in the early afternoon usually following the midday meal which is the main meal for the peoples of Mexico.  The siesta is the traditional daytime sleep of Mexico and many other countries around the world. Foreigners often refer to the long midday break as the “siesta”.  However, that is what Mexicans refer to as mediodia (midday) which is when they enjoy “la comida” which is the heaviest meal of the day.

Sleep timing in humans depends on a balance between homeostatic sleep propensity, the need for sleep as a function of the amount of time elapsed since the last adequate sleep episode, and the circadian rhythms which determine the ideal timing of a correctly structured and restorative sleep episode.  The homeostic pressure to sleep starts growing upon awakening.  The circadian signal for wakefulness starts building in the (late) afternoon.

Therefore, in many people, there is a dip when the drive for sleep has been building for hours and the drive for wakefulness has not yet started.  This is a great time for a nap.

Cabo Property Management

 Most homeowners here in Cabo do not live here all year round. It is because of this reason that many of the tedious items like paying your bills, cleaning the pool, gardening, etc need to be taken care of by someone. The role of the property manager is to take care of these things and many more like paying your real estate taxes and fideicomiso (real estate trust) fees every year. Rocio Montano is our property manager that will customize her services to your housing needs. Rocio (pronounced "row see o") has over 11 years in the hotel hospitality business working as the Operations Manager for the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar here in Cabo San Lucas. She was in charge of over 200 rooms, 200 employees, and thousands of guests a week. After leaving her position at Sheraton Hacienda del Mar, Rocio concentrated on developing her restaurant in Cabo - Eat at El Faro Plaza (San Jose del Cabo). She saw a need in providing the property management services for her husband's, Nick Fong, clients once they purchased homes here in Cabo. The difficulties of handling the different culture and language are just a start in the challenges Rocio and Nick saw with their clients. Rocio has been able to provide a high level of service and attention to her clients that has not gone unnoticed.

To contact Rocio directly you can email her at (Email) rocioincabo@gmail.com or call her at the following (Phone) 624-157-1445 (Cabo Cell) or 773-353-5069 (US number). She will be happy to hear from you and provide you with customized quotation the services you require.

How Do You Get to Cabo?

Travel to Cabo is considered international travel and there are a few things you should be aware of.

o   Major Canadian and U.S. airlines, plus tour charter flights serve Los Cabos. Carriers include Alaska Airlines, American, Continental, Delta, Frontier, United and U.S. Airways. Mexican airlines, flying from north of the border cities, include Interjet and Aeromexico. Non-stop flights are available from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and Atlanta. Flights from the east coast of the U.S. and Canada are four to five hours in duration. Flights from the Midwest take about three hours and it is a two hour air journey from Texas, Arizona and California.

o   While Mexican authorities require only a valid government ID and birth certificate to enter the country, visitors to Mexico traveling by air must have a valid passport to re-enter the United States. Before landing in Mexico, airlines provide in flight two forms required by the Mexican government, an application for a tourist card and a customs declaration.

o   There are several options available to carry visitors from the airport to their hotel including rental cars, taxis, shuttle buses and limousines. Los Cabos airport authorities warn visitors to shun unlicensed shuttle operators at the airport who attempt solicit business. Ground transportation reservations can be made online on the airport's website before departing.

o   Airlines recommend arriving three hours before your scheduled departure time, but check with your airline or the airport website for any news about delays or flight changes. While the weather in Baja is generally balmy, there can be threats from occasional Pacific storms or winter weather north of the border can create delays with arriving flights that are scheduled to turn around and carry visitors home.

o   If you have fallen in love with Cabo and want to make your stay more permanent, contact Los Cabos Agent.  Condo, villa, build your own, he can help you with any option.

BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE IN LOS CABOS

Economic and political ties alone will not attract retirees and others to live in a foreign land; beyond the underlying strengths of the Baja region, Los Cabos offers its residents a superb quality of life, with services and amenities to support a comfortable way of living.

The great outdoors -- on the water and on land -- is really spectacular here. The climate lends itself perfectly to outdoor pursuits, which is why Los Cabos is host to no less than six world championship golf courses and major international sports fishing events.

In addition to sports fishing, SCUBA diving, boating and yachting, swimming, canoeing and kayaking, wind surfing and water skiing are just a few of the other water sports on offer here.

Back on the land: the diversity of the desert terrain offers opportunities to hike, climb, take part in eco-tours and adventure travel activities (off road racing, climbing, etc). Mountains over a mile high provide breath-taking views and an opportunity to get fit and, quite literally, lift yourself up from the heat of the coasts to the cool mountain micro climates at 5,000 feet.

Foreign expatriate communities -- now well established in this region -- provide advice, support and networks of friends and associates to participate in sports and hobbies, do business, or simply relax and unwind.

Potential expatriates may look at various locations across Mexico and see similarities in what each one has to offer. Los Cabos -- and the Baja Peninsula -- is unique: no other region in Mexico offers what this peninsula does, and no other coastal resort town offers what Los Cabos does.

Navy Day in Mexico

Known as Dia de la Marina, Navy Day is celebrated on June 1 each year in Mexico. It is a national holiday so it is celebrated in ports throughout the entire country. The day is meant to recognize the country's naval forces. The day is celebrated with festivals, parades, and fireworks. There may even be fishing tournaments and sailing competitions.

Mexico's history has shown the importance of being able to patrol and defend her coastlines in order to prevent invasions. Many such conflicts have occurred in Mexico's past. Along with defense, there is a need to develop and take advantage of the oceans in a rational and organized manner. For Mexico, its seas are a great source of bounty and employment. Because of these reasons, the history of the Mexican National Navy runs parallel to the birth of Mexico as a nation.

The Military Naval school of Mexico was created in 1897, during the regime of Porfirio Diaz. But because of its maritime inexperience, Mexico's navy had many foreign officials, much to the irritation of nationalists. The country took its first step toward maritime solidarity on June 1, 1917, by nationalizing the navy. On that date the merchant ship Tabascosailed from the port of Veracruz under the command of Captain Rafael Izaguirre Castañares, with a totally Mexican crew. This was the birth of Dia de la Marina (Navy Day) .

The voyage of the Tobasco was a symbolic ratification of the recent Article 32 of the Magna Carta of 1917, which insured national loyalty by declaring that no matter how invaluable an individual's contribution to the navy might be, if he was not born in Mexico, he could not serve in the navy.

On December 30, 1939 President Lazaro Cardenas reorganized his cabinet and formed the Department of the Navy. However just one year later, on December 31, 1940, it was converted to its present status as Secretary of the Navy.

Official recognition of Dia de la Marina was by a presidential agreement published in the official gazette of Mexico, April 30, 1942.