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For more information on Calafia Condos visit http://www.calafiacondos.com. Click here for even more real estate in Mexico

NAOS Living is an elite beachfront residential resort located at the Northern end of Rosarito Beach in what is known as the ‘Riviera Baja’. Host to a diversity of amenities, NAOS Living focuses on health and wellness both as a theme and as a lifestyle, providing comfort, luxury and a privileged location featuring a 4 mile stretch of sandy beach, near by commodities and unsurpassed views of the Coronado Islands. For a complete list of NAOS amenities visit http://www.naosliving.com.

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Two Baja Real Estate Firms Merge To Become Powerful Force In Northern Baja

According to Max Katz, owner of Baja Real Estate Group, the new company will be called Baja Real Estate Group but will operate two divisions, Beachside Realty in Rosarito and Baja Premiere Properties in Bajamar and Ensenada. A new office is already planned in the Guadalupe Valley, just north of Ensenada.

“Mimi Mills and associates have an outstanding reputation in the area,” said Max Katz, “and her long history throughout northern Baja will contribute greatly to the strength of our new organization.”

Bajamar Premier Properties began within the gated oceanfront golf community of Bajamar, since 2005 guiding American and Canadian expatriates through safe and successful transactions.

“Max and his wife Kathy Katz represent some of the most respected real estate developers in the region and, as we combine our forces, we will be able to serve more new developments and spread our expertise to those who need our services,” said Marianne “Mimi” Mills.

New residential developments currently represented by the Baja Real Estate Group include Calafia Resort and Villas in the area known as Calafia, 10 Miles south of Rosarito; Palacio del Mar in El Descanso, 20 miles south of Rosarito, and Naos, where sales recently began in the northern beach corridor of Rosarito

Kathy Katz, Max Katz & Marianne 'Mimi' Mills

“This is a perfect way to expand our business without spending a great deal of money,” Kathy Katz added. “We can serve more clients by combining all of our sales agents into one company.

“Agent support will be the key to our success, making sure their sellers and buyers have all the tools needed in today’s market,” she continued. “Our team will be unmatched.”

Eduardo Rosales, president of the real estate trade association AMPI in Rosarito, echoed the remarks of the new business partners.

“The combination of these highly regarded real estate professionals, now united together, is a perfect balance for the continually changing real estate market here in northern Baja,” Rosales said.

A 16-year veteran of real estate sales in the United States, Mills retired to the golf course Bajamar community in 2002 but couldn’t stay away from assisting other Americans in either buying or building their dream home.

“Our brokerage prides itself on trust, integrity and hard work to bring our buyers and sellers together in the most beneficial and profitable manner for all parties, she said. “I am delighted to team up with Max and Kathy Katz, who share my same dedication to ethics.”

Max and Kathy Katz founded Baja Real Estate Group in 2009, after successfully running a Prudential Northern Baja office in Rosarito for three years. Both have over 20 years of experience doing business in Mexico.

To contact either Baja Premier Properties or Beachside Realty, visit the Baja Real Estate Group’s website at www.bajaREgroup.com.

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Brad Billingsley and his wife Linda

Brad Billingsley could have been waiting for his tee time at an Arizona golf course.

Instead, the former Lafayette resident and his wife Linda were in a lagoon off Cabo San Lucas, snapping photos of gray whales bobbing next to their small charter boat.

“Every day, it’s an adventure here,” Brad Billingsley said. “It’s added 20 years to my life.”

Brad, 62, and Linda Billingsley, 61, are among the “silver surge” of baby boomers seeking alternative retirement nests in Mexico, according to a recent report by the International Community Foundation.

It’s not certain how many U.S. retirees are living in Mexico — a 2004 study puts it between 500,000 and 600,000 — but the foundation and other researchers say the number is bound to increase as more boomers settle into their golden years and find Mexico an affordable alternative. Almost half the retirees living in coastal areas are getting by comfortably on less than $1,000 per month, said the report, which cites the growth of real estate projects targeted at retirees as proof that expatriates are flocking south of the border.

The Billingsleys had seriously considered a retirement community with a golf course in central Arizona. But they lacked the enthusiasm for fairway living that seemed to consume retirees there. “Their entire lives were involved with golf,” Brad Billingsley said.

In 2007, the couple became expatriates and settled into a $300,000, two-bedroom beachfront condominium in Rosarito Beach, in Baja California.

They’ve made the most out of their retirement dollars, Brad Billingsley said. The cost of living — from groceries to health care — is low in their beachfront town and there’s plenty to do, such as driving down the coast to Cabo, walking on the beach and shopping at the local mercado.

The couple lived in the Bay Area for 60 years, much of it in Walnut Creek and Lafayette.

Sometimes they miss their old haunts, especially bookstores, Brad Billingsley said. But like most expatriates surveyed in the foundation report, they return often to the states. The Billingsleys make a trip across the border to San Diego every few weeks.

Affordability, quality of life, weather and proximity to the U.S. were top reasons retirees chose Mexico, according to the survey of 842 expatriates conducted by the foundation.

“After the market crash of 2008, we wanted to better understand what was going on with retirees in Mexico,” said Richard Kiy, president and chief executive officer of the foundation, a Southern California-based nonprofit that works to increase charitable giving and volunteerism across U.S. borders. In an 88-question survey of retirees 50 and older, the foundation found that expatriates had weathered the economic storm well.

A survey snapshot: Retirees’ biggest complaint is litter, while their favorite pastime is walking on the beach. More than three-quarters own a home. Almost 44 percent get by comfortably on less than $1,000 per month, and 61 percent are married — slightly less than the U.S. average of 65 percent for the same age group.

The foundation’s 17-page report, released in March, deals with demographics and day-to-day basics such as public safety concerns and household expenses of retirees in coastal areas such as Cancun, Rosarito Beach, Rocky Point and Puerto. Four follow-up studies over the next few months will tackle topics that include the impact on Mexico’s environment, health care accessibility, real estate and civic involvement by U.S. retirees.

Crime concerns affect mostly tourists

A weakening American economy, U.S. State Department travel alerts and worries about the H1N1 virus have hurt tourist travel numbers to Mexico over the past year, but the country still remains an attractive haven for retirees, said Anne McEnany, co-author of the report and the foundation’s senior adviser for environment and conservation.

Reports of narcotics-related violence, especially in border cities like Tijuana and Nogales, gave many retirees jitters initially, McEnany said. After they’ve settled into their new homes, anxiety fades away.

“They said they felt completely safe and that the media was over-hyping the narco-violence,” McEnany said. The impact was on friends and family, who changed their minds about visiting, she said.

“I’m really saddened to see coverage of (Mexican) crime in the media,” said Doug Gray, 60, a retired public safety officer from Livermore.

He and his wife Cyndi recently purchased a condominium in Manzanillo, a port city between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco. They say they feel as safe — if not safer — walking around the mercados and boulevards as they did in Livermore.

Cyndi Gray said her best moment in Manzanillo was sitting on little plastic chairs at a cafe, watching waves roll in from the Pacific, sipping margaritas and eating coconut shrimp.

“We really love the pace,” she said. “It’s a slower pace and you can sit down there and get into the groove. I can unplug.”

The Grays have yet to live there full-time; Cyndi, 48, is still working.

Ellen Fields, another expat from California, lives in Merida, on the Yucatán Peninsula.

Her adopted city is about 22 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico — close, but not part of the coastal regions surveyed by the foundation. It has a reputation for being safe and hasn’t been affected by crime associated with border cities. “The Yucatán is not touched by that,” Fields said, adding, “I’ve never felt unsafe here.”

A self-described “dot-bomb refugee,” Fields and her husband James run yucatanliving.com, a Web site for expatriates. They moved to Merida from San Luis Obispo in 2002 and never looked back.

Ellen Fields says she’s enchanted by the Old World feel of the markets and people. “People in Yucatán are very welcoming. It’s a very gracious culture,” she said. “You walk down the street here and people say hello to you.”

One of the things she misses about California: “Mountains. It’s flat as a pancake here.”

Fields recommends living and working in Mexico, but warns that it takes a lot of planning. “You can’t come down here expecting someone to hire you,” Fields said. And learn the language, she advises.

Although Fields isn’t quite fluent, she says she can now hold a conversation without thinking about it.

About 48 percent of those surveyed in the foundation’s report were fluent or spoke intermediate-level Spanish, McEnany said. Even though many service businesses in Mexico have English speaking staffers, there’s no substitute for learning the language, she said.

Retirees may settle in only to find they can’t interact.

“They do the hobby thing and then after about a year they get bored,” McEnany said. “They are interested in getting involved in the community but they don’t have the language skills.”

One pitfall of expatriate living comes when communities “tend to circle around themselves” and don’t reach out to their adopted country, McEnany said. In addition, English-oriented businesses and the proliferation of big-box outlets like Walmart, Sam’s Club and Costco around near retirement hubs have made it even easier for Americans to isolate themselves from Mexican culture.

In the survey, about 88 percent of respondents said they feel somewhat or fully integrated into their new country. Nevertheless, most retirees continue to “see themselves as visitors in someone else’s country,” McEnany said.

The foundation is keenly interested in what U.S. retirees are doing with their time. Its chief goal is to assist American donors in charitably supporting communities abroad. The largest group of foundation donors consists of American expatriates in northwest Mexico.

Bob Hansen, 52, of Alameda said he’s aiming to retire in Manzanillo because of the community there. Like most retirees in the foundation survey, he visited several times before deciding to buy. Three years ago, he purchased a fixer-upper on the beach for $64,000.

Hansen has made many friends there and loves the lifestyle. “I have a huge pool of friends there,” he said.

He met one close Mexican friend after anchoring his sailboat close to a small village called Colimilla, near Manzanillo. A fisherman helped guide him to shore and afterward they cooled off with a cola.

“I could hardly speak Spanish and he didn’t speak English well either, but we had a connection of the souls,” Hansen said. “After the drinks, we got in his old truck and he drove all over the area showing me all the beautiful places in the area.”

Hansen purchased his home the next year and he stayed with his new friend in a nearby village while the sale cleared.

“I ended up being introduced to some of the kindest and warmest people on earth in that wonderful time I stayed in this village,” Hansen said.

Quality of life a top draw

Kathie Parker, formerly of Oakland, can attest to that. A third-generation Californian who moved in 2008 to Merida, Parker said she doesn’t miss the stress of living in the Bay Area.

“I never plan to move back to California,” she said.

Parker, 60, is a retired masseuse and moved with her partner Holly Smith in June 2008. They sold their home in Oakland and purchased a three-bedroom, three-bath home with a pool for less than $200,000.

But she insists that quality of life was her top concern. “I didn’t just choose this place because it was cheap,” Parker said. “I wanted to live here.”

She visits and talks daily with Yucatecan friends in Merida and is taking Spanish classes. Along with a group of other expats, she participated last year in a U.S. National Day of Service. They raised enough money to buy chairs and tables for a local school library.

“There are a lot of (Americans) who live here who want to make it as American as they possibly can,” Parker said. “We moved to Mexico to be with Mexicans. The people here are wonderful. You just have to try.”

If you have any questions you would like to ask Brad Billingsley you can send him an email at bradbillingsleyy@yahoo.com.

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Browse for Rosarito Real Estate.

By Sandra Dibble, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Monday, March 15, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.

Jamie Reynolds, a 63-year-old retiree who lives in the El Pescador area, watched the sun set. Reynolds, like four out of five of the retiree-study respondents, owns his home in Mexico.

ROSARITO BEACH — Favorite activity: strolls on the beach. Biggest gripe: litter. Primary reasons for retiring in Mexico: the lower cost of living and proximity to the United States.

A newly released study on U.S. retirement trends in Mexico’s coastal communities takes an updated snapshot of Rosarito Beach, Rocky Point, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and other areas where many Americans go to retire. The study’s authors say their survey marks an important first step in meeting the needs of a group that is likely to grow in size as U.S. baby boomers reach retirement age.

“We felt it was important to understand the dynamics of what is going on,” said Richard Kiy, president and CEO of the International Community Foundation, which conducted the 88-question survey. While research has been done in San Miguel Allende and Ajijic, both well-established expatriate communities in central Mexico, coastal communities “are some of the areas that have been least studied among U.S. retirees,” Kiy said.

The International Community Foundation, based in National City, supports nonprofits and projects in Baja California and other parts of Mexico. Close to half of its donors live in Mexico full time or part time, and that was the initial impetus for conducting the study, Kiy said.

Karen and Allen Kenrick enjoyed one of their frequent social gatherings with other American retirees in Baja California. The couple has been in Mexico for a decade.

The 17-page report, released last week, is the first in a series of five by the foundation focusing on issues that affect U.S retirees in Mexico. Upcoming reports will discuss health care, real estate, the environment and community involvement. The studies are based on responses from 842 U.S. participants and from focus groups in individual communities.

The survey showed that many retirees are relatively young, with more than half under 65. They are somewhat more likely to be divorced than their contemporaries living in the United States, and about 30 percent are single — widowed, divorced or never married. Almost 70 percent have an annual income higher than $25,000 a year. Of those surveyed, more than four out of five are homeowners, and most paid cash for their homes.

The survey was conducted in five areas where Americans typically retire, including the coastal corridor between Playas de Tijuana and Punta Banda, south of Ensenada. On Thursday night, a group of U.S. retirees gathered south of downtown Rosarito Beach for a ladies’ night happy hour at Ruben’s Palm Grill in Cantamar echoed many of the survey’s findings.

Retiree Jamie Reynolds, 63, sat on his front porch with his English springer spaniel, Molly, in the El Pescador area. Reynolds said that he feels safe in Mexico, and that he could not afford to live like he does if he were in the United States.

“I think for all of us, the money is a factor,” said Karen Kenrick, 59, who has been living in Mexico for a decade with her husband, Allen, 62, a retired U.S. Border Patrol officer. Kenrick, who grew up in Imperial Beach and crossed frequently to Mexico, feels comfortable: “For us, this is home.”

As the band played a popular Brazilian samba, the Kenricks joined about two dozen American retirees who see each other regularly. Nursing a margarita was Pat Winters, 67, who moved from Oregon to La Mision six years ago with her husband, Al, a retired engineer. Like most in the survey, they bought before the region’s 2005-2006 building boom and subsequent bust, and they paid cash for their home. Pat Winters grew animated as she spoke of her favorite activity — an art class — and described her participation in a scholarship fund to pay the education costs of local students.

The survey reports that more than half of respondents said litter was the most “unattractive part of their coastal lifestyle” and listed walking the beach as their favorite activity; only 14 percent play golf. Most live in one or two-story homes, and most agree that building up the coastline with high-rises “restricts view corridors,” the report said.

Close to half — 46 percent — of the survey’s respondents said safety issues were a concern when they decided to retire to Mexico. Sixty-six percent said drug violence was “an important public policy issue to retirees in Mexico.” Yet only 7 percent of the respondents “reported that narco-violence and security concerns have reduced the frequency or duration of their trips to Mexico.” “Furthermore, 60 percent have not changed their attitude in any way about their personal safety since they have been living in Mexico,” the report said.

North of Cantamar, in the community of El Pescador, Jamie Reynolds, 63, is an avid surfer who moved from San Diego six years ago after retiring as an information technology specialist at Scripps Health in La Jolla. Reynolds’ brick house on a cobblestone street includes two casitas that Reynolds has been struggling to rent out, as many tourists have been scared away by reports of violence in Mexico in the U.S. media.

Reynolds said he feels safe in Mexico, enjoys the area’s slower pace and “Mexican people are so kind.” The setting reminds him of the Southern California of his boyhood.

“I couldn’t buy a house like this in San Diego or anywhere else,” said Reynolds, taking in a majestic ocean view from his outdoor terrace. He could have retired in the United States, “but it would have been a little tighter,” he said.

Sandra Dibble: (619) 293-1716; sandra.dibble@uniontrib.com.

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Don't write off Baja just yet

Remember when we treated Baja like a suburb of Southern California, when you only had to point your compass south to quickly bask in sunny climes, otherworldly scenery and a tinge of the exotic? Then came the great drug wars, with the first gruesome headlines coming out of Tijuana. Suddenly, anyone contemplating a trip across the border was placed on suicide watch.

Leave aside for the moment that the drug cartels aren’t targeting tourists, that their internecine battles rarely break out anywhere near tourist districts, or that crime has actually declined around Tijuana recently as the field of combat shifts to northeastern Mexico. For some travelers, those early headlines will remain indelible.

That doesn’t mean Baja is off the itinerary. Baja California is just one of the peninsula’s two states; to get your Baja fix, keep going south. Baja California Sur is as distant from the drug wars as San Francisco is from Denver, and it’s just as safe as Anaheim. Southern Baja’s tourism numbers have suffered by association, but the region hasn’t been idle. And if you’re not into time-share pitches, raucous clubs and gridlocked traffic, there’s plenty beyond Los Cabos. Here’s what’s been going on in some of our favorite places.

La Paz

Tucked into a sheltered nook in the Bahía de La Paz on the Sea of Cortés (a.k.a. Golfo de California), the capital of Baja California Sur has labored, workmanlike and unheralded, to keep goods coming in and out of the peninsula since the 16th century. Serendipitously, development of Los Cabos siphoned off the glitz-seeking hedonists and left this utterly charming and thoroughly authentic city to the rest of us. Everyday life focuses on day-to-day work rather than tourism, yet it has all a modern traveler needs — a beguiling malecón, pleasant and affordable lodgings, seaside restaurants, movie theaters, a surfeit of festivals, and white-sand beaches with splendid sunsets that outdo Los Cabos by a mile.

La Paz perches on the edge of a great natural aquarium teeming with everything from marlin to sailfish, and sport fishing was the city’s main source of tourism for decades. Recently, it’s also become a staging ground for ecotourism, exemplified by Isla Espiritu Santo, home to 31 species of marine mammals (including one-third of the world’s whale and dolphin species). You can snorkel alongside sea lions and turtles — you don’t even need a snorkel to spot multitudes of colorful fish — or, if you like, reel in some prize catches.

The latest additions to La Paz’s tourist offerings are new residential communities tailored to the increasing number of expatriates flocking south in search of sun, watersports and golf. One of these, CostaBaja Resort, has built the city’s largest public marina 5 minutes north of town, just south of Isla Espiritu Santo. The Fiesta Inn is open now and another is scheduled to open later this year. Another residential development, Paraiso del Mar, occupies the Peninsula El Mogote, facing La Paz’s malecón across a short stretch of water. All units are privately owned, but guests can rent the condos and homes much as they would a hotel room.

Todos Santos

OK, so the Hotel California in Todos Santos, less than 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on the west side of the cape, wasn’t the inspiration for the Eagles’ hit song. That was (and remains) a myth that’s fun to play with, but the soul of the 18th century mission town has been the fertile valley’s seemingly effortless agriculture — in the 19th century the town boasted eight sugar mills, and today it is rich with farm crops, palm groves, mango and avocado orchards, as well as farmlands that supply Los Cabos as well as local markets. The agricultural bounty shows up in Todos Santos’ restaurants, the popularity of the Pescadero farmer’s market and the region’s strong “farm to table” movement.

In recent decades, Todos Santos’ colonial buildings and ethereal light have exerted a magnetic pull on painters, sculptors, artisans and intellectuals; it is said to have more galleries per capita than any other town in Mexico. The town is 2 miles inland, but a string of seductive beaches, including surfing favorites Palm Beach and Pedrito, is minutes away. All invite strolling, sunbathing, surf fishing and whale watching, but most are subject to treacherous currents and waves. Save your swimming for Playa Los Cerritos and (with caution) Playa Punta Lobos.

In its brief four months, the still-expanding Rancho Pescadero hotel — a dude ranch for very sophisticated “dudes” — has garnered raves from everyone from Travel+Leisure to Chowhound. Nearby, the Palm Orchard is another new development taking shape within, oddly enough, a working palm orchard. It will add no more than 50 homes and have a small rental pool that will operate as a hotel.

The East Cape

I’d barely heard of the East Cape when I first visited there five years ago, and the rutted dirt roads nearly voided my rental-car contract. Air-conditioning was a rare luxury; solar and generator power ruled. This rugged area, beginning just north of San José del Cabo and stretching nearly 10 miles along the Sea of Cortés past Los Barilles on the way to La Paz, remained for decades a secret fishing and diving playground. Snorkeling, kayaking, surfing and windsurfing have entered the mix, while hiking, zip-lines and hot springs have earned it ecotourism credentials. Active types and fans of primitive, wide open spaces will still find plenty to love, but be aware that Baja Sur has big plans to turn this region into the Cabo Riviera one day. The paved highway, making its way south from La Ribera, will eventually run all the way to the Los Cabos airport.

In the meantime, it’s a little easier to get to this idyllic region of calm waters, white sand beaches and stellar deep-sea fishing that lured John Wayne, Bing Crosby and Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s. The sandy, laid-back town of Los Barilles, surrounded by hot springs and waterfalls, has become an ecotourism hub; Santiago, at the foot of the mountains, has a little zoo and a great hike to a waterfall and lagoon. The still-remote Cabo Pulmo’s marine park draws divers to the Northern Pacific’s only living coral reef.

While Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, and a spate of resort developments are still on the drawing boards, you can still find humble bungalows and modest hotels on the East Cape. For a taste of what Cabo might have been like in the 1950s, try Rancho Buena Vista, which likes to call itself the last of the “golden age” Baja fishing lodges. First opened in 1952, it was recently restored to send you right back to old Hollywood, but its location — and its customizable packages — will launch you into all the area’s latest activities if you aren’t in the market for a fish tale to recite at your next cocktail party.

Christine Delsol is a former Chronicle travel editor and author of “Pauline Frommer’s Cancún & the Yucatán.”

To the eternal questions, “Why are we here? What is the meaning of life?” and, “Do these pants make my butt look fat?” we can add the perennial, “Do blondes really have more fun?”

The Baja Blondes - A Lifestyle Reality Show

The answer is clear to all those privileged to be invited to last week’s screening of the pilot of The Baja Blondes, a Lifestyle Reality Show, and it is an unqualified “YES!”

Blondes was created by Susanne Stehr and Debbie Shine, permanent residents of Baja, Mexico, and directed and produced by Robin Mackenzie, a part time resident of Baja, through her company, Tatblue Productions, LLC . These are women of a certain age who have designed a life here they could never have back in the USA. Lives of freedom, beauty, creativity and friendship. Lives open to the positive and unexpected adventures of Mexico, a country they adopted and deeply love. Their goal is to promote Baja to an American audience in a positive light, by showing American women living and working in their communities up and down the gorgeous coast.

The pilot introduces our three protagonists in their lives and careers in the Rosarito to Ensenada area, while making clear that in Mexico, life is NEVER all about work. In fact, they show us the Mexican dream: affordable luxury, easy living, accessible health care, an ancient culture, fabulous food, award-winning wine and the excitement of living in a foreign country.

The screening took place at Northern Baja’s premier community, Palacio del Mar. Guests marveled at the elegant reception areas, lounges and gorgeous landscaping that draws the eye straight to the only indoor pool on the coast, with the infinity pool and ocean beyond. All the outdoor surfaces are clad in simple and dramatic gray granite. The look is both Mexican and modern. Indoors, ceilings disappear in the distance above and the sense of space conveys the height of luxury. The private theater with its comfortable seating and huge screen was the perfect venue for this beautiful event. Surely residents will equally enjoy hosting their own Super Bowl party there!

Many prominent members of Tijuana and Rosarito’s business and social communities attended, including Raul Aragon, Director of Tourism for Playas de Rosarito, Laura Wong, editor of the Baja Times, Dr. Alejandro Quiroz, one of the area’s top plastic surgeons, Melinda Bates, speaker and author of White House Story, a Democratic Memoir, and Michael and Nancy Rosenberg, who together owned and operated “MARCO Entertainment” for 25 Years, managing the careers of over 100 Olympic and world champion athletes and international stars including Dorothy Hamill, Peggy Lee, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Tai & Randy, David Brenner, Quincy Jones, and Oksana Baiul.

Sponsors for the evening’s cocktail party and screening included one of the area’s largest real estate brokerages:The Baja Real Estate Group, Click-On, an internet café and mail service for American residents of Baja, The William Hitt Center of Tijuana, offering specialized diagnosis and treatment medical services, Serena Senior Care, providing a wide variety of services, from nursing care to plumbing, for the American community along the coast, and the Rosarito Inn, generous hosts of the production crew for the Baja Blondes. Their amazing hospitality convinced everyone to return to Baja every chance they get!

The Baja Blondes reality show will travel to Cabo San Lucas, Tijuana, the Valle de Guadalupe Wine Country, Loreto, San Felipe, and all over the Baja peninsula, all the while highlighting American women who live and work in this part of heaven, where their creativity can flourish in a safe and welcoming place.

In addition to producing further episodes, The Baja Blondes plan to establish a retail store and advisory travel arm to assist women traveling in Baja.

*The Baja Blondes is a non-profit Mexican corporation solely owned by Susanne Stehr, Debbie Shine and Robin Mackenzie.

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Browse for Real Estate for Sale in Baja California and Real Estate in Mexico.

By MSN Money staff

US retirees looking for lives of comfort at bargain-basement prices might do well to look at a sunny, sophisticated city near the equator.

The best place in the world to retire, according to expatriate lifestyle magazine International Living, is sunny, cheap, cosmopolitan and 8,000 feet high in the Andes.

Cuenca, Ecuador’s third-largest city, is a well-preserved colonial city of cobblestone streets and dramatic period architecture, with modern suburbs, shopping and all the comforts American retirees might expect. Yet they can live there — and well — for about $17,000 a year, the magazine says.

Cuenca and Ecuador in particular have so much to offer, says International Living Managing Editor Laura Sheridan, that the country bumped Mexico from the top spot in the publication’s Annual Retirement Index, released last month.

The index analyzes and ranks 29 countries in categories including real-estate costs, special benefits offered to retirees, culture, safety and stability, health care, climate, infrastructure and cost of living. The rankings are below.

“We look closely at the best opportunities worldwide for retirement living,” Sheridan says. “Where will the retiree’s dollars go farthest? Which country is the safest? Where is the health care best? We give top priority to those things that matter most to anyone planning for retirement, including programs with special benefits for retirees . . . things like tax breaks and discounts, for example, that various governments offer in an effort to attract investment and retirement dollars.”

The best of the best
After the rankings were finished, International Living asked its writers and contacts in the top-ranked countries to choose their ultimate retirement spots. Cuenca topped that list. The editors wrote:

“In the place that wins this year’s Top Retirement Haven, you can’t ignore the doorways. In fact, if you have a camera with you, you’ll find yourself taking pictures of them. This one is arched. That one square. The wood is always ancient — like the cobbled streets you walk along. But it’s carefully tended — sanded and stained, or painted red or blue or teal.

“Look up, and you see waves of terracotta tile roofs. And rising from them, renaissance cathedral domes — each a soft blue and white, carving a crisp arch in the cobalt sky. ”

The editors cited Cuenca’s intense greenery, year-round fruits and vegetables, inexpensive health care and some appealing benefits for retirees, including half-price airfares and big discounts on other expenses such as taxes, utilities and entertainment.

But it was the glorious weather and affordable real estate that sold Ron and Donna Carlson of Camas, Wash., who expect to move full time to Cuenca by the end of 2010.

“We bought a 4,000-square-foot penthouse apartment in Cuenca with fantastic views and all the amenities we could want,” Ron Carlson says. “We paid far less for it than we would have elsewhere. And we have the world’s best weather.”

Cuenca is almost on the equator but at 8,000 feet elevation. “The weather is perfect year round,” said Kent Zimmerman, a U.S. expat who lives in Cuenca. “There are flowers everywhere, green grass and rushing rivers. The elevation sounds high (it’s about the same as Aspen, Colo.), but studies continually show how healthy it is for you. It’s so energizing, you feel 10 years younger.”

Here is International Living’s monthly budget for a couple in Cuenca:

The Carlsons knew their retirement dollars would stretch further outside the U.S., so they began to explore the idea of retiring in Latin America. They made trips to Panama, Brazil, Mexico and Europe before settling on Cuenca.

Ecuador may be the best-kept retirement secret in the Americas, Sheridan says, especially when it comes to real-estate prices.

“For a decade now, Ecuador has been one of our favorite locations for overseas retirement,” she says. “In fact, it won the top honor in 1999 and has been among our preferred locales ever since. This year, it’s back at No. 1, followed by Mexico, Panama, Uruguay and Italy.

“Keep in mind that every place has its pros and cons. And every country has pockets where living is easier . . . or cheaper . . . than another,” Sheridan says. “In Ecuador, for instance, some expats live in small towns, like Cotacachi, in cooler mountain climates. Others live in fishing villages on the coast. And still more choose cosmopolitan cities like Quito and Cuenca.”

The same is true of Mexico, Sheridan says, which last year earned the top spot on the retirement index. “Living in a resort city like Puerto Vallarta is more expensive — and arguably more stressful — than living in a smaller and lesser-known town like Tepic, just a few hours north.”

The United States ranks No. 22 in the index and receives particularly bad marks in the area of special benefits for retirees. It scores well in both safety and infrastructure. At the bottom of the list are the United Kingdom and South Africa, primarily because of high real-estate prices and, in the U.K., the overall high cost of living. In the case of South Africa, the country didn’t score particularly well in any category.

“No place scores a perfect 100,” Sheridan stresses. “Even Ecuador, our No. 1 retirement destination, earns a score of only 79. The best, but not perfect. If you’re trying to pick a place to retire, keep that in mind. There will be good points and bad, no matter where you go. Realizing that ahead of time will help eliminate disappointments later.”

International Living’s retirement index:

Here’s how the countries were scored:

• Real estate. Countries where real-estate prices are low and the purchase of real estate is relatively easy receive the highest scores. Weight: 15%
• Entertainment, recreation and culture. This category considers the number of newspapers per 1,000 citizens, the number of museums and cinemas per capita, the number of university students, the literacy rate and the variety of cultural and recreational offerings. Weight: 10%.
• Cost of living. This score is based on statistics from the Indexes of Living Costs Abroad, Quarters Allowances, and Hardship Differentials, published by the U.S. Department of State, and on data published by Business International. The lower the score, the higher the cost of living. Weight: 20%.
• Safety and stability. This measure of unrest in each country is based primarily on Interpol data and State Department statistics. It also takes into account the civil liberties and political rights granted by each government. Weight: 5%.
• Health care. Considered in this category are the cost of a typical visit to a general practitioner and the cost and coverage particulars of health insurance. Weight: 20%.
• Climate. Countries with temperate weather throughout the year, moderate rainfall and little risk of natural disaster come out on top in this category. Data represent each country as a whole. Weight: 5%.
• Special benefits. This category considers government provisions that make moving to and living in each country easier and more affordable for foreigners. Taken into account are property rights for foreign residents, property tax rates, duty-free imports on personal belongings, currency controls, employment restrictions, voting rights and transportation discounts for seniors. Weight: 20%.
• Infrastructure. This section considers the number of cars and telephones per 1,000 residents, the length of railroad track in usable condition, the number of airports, the quality of the country’s road and highway network, and the availability of telecommunications. Weight: 5%.

By Scott Burns

A move to another country may make economic sense

Several years ago a Dallas couple approaching retirement disappeared. Well-known on the charitable-event circuit, the couple were in Dallas one day and gone the next. Phone disconnected. No forwarding address. No working cell-phone number.

Eventually, word spread that they were somewhere in Mexico. They had sold whatever they owned, packed their car and headed for the border. They were, conflicting reports said, living in small towns, the kind of places seldom featured in travel magazines.

We can only speculate on what happened. I think they were broke, had little or nothing in savings and knew they had to make a major change to survive on their Social Security income and minimal savings. Like millions of other Americans, their ship never came in. They got older. Work became harder to find. Suddenly, they realized their life was entirely unsustainable. They were heading toward a cliff.

They had to do something radical. Like live in an RV. Or leave the country.

The question is: Can a move to another country offer a cost of living so much lower than the cost of living here that moving is a positive solution?

I believe the answer is yes. I also believe that thousands of older Americans will be crossing the border in the years to come.

The question is: Can a move to another country offer a cost of living so much lower than the cost of living here that moving is a positive solution?

I believe the answer is yes. I also believe that thousands of older Americans will be crossing the border in the years to come.

Day after day, you have a dreadful feeling you are running toward a cliff. In fact, you are — an income cliff.

Today, you are spending your entire $60,000 a year of after-tax income. You aren’t saving. But if you are forced to retire at 62, your income will plummet. It won’t be much more than your Social Security benefits — about $18,000 for you and about $8,400 for your wife, a total of $26,400. (All figures are in dollars of constant purchasing power.)

That’s a 56% reduction in your standard of living — more than you can bear or imagine.

A better standard of living
Can you reduce the shock if you spend less today and save as much as possible, shooting for a level standard of living?

ESPlanner tells us yes. But with only five years to go, it won’t help much. By saving about $30,000 a year and creating a bigger nest egg, you can increase your lifetime consumption from $26,400 a year to about $33,700 a year.

That’s a hefty increase, but it would still feel like a crash. So, it’s time to think about Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica or Panama.

Suppose you can find a place where the cost of living is about 75% of the cost in the United States — some beach town north of Puerto Vallarta or south of Manzanillo. What happens to your standard of living when you move to Mexico? It rises to the equivalent of about $42,400 in the U.S.

That’s not bad. But then you notice a problem: You’ll be living in Mexico, where you can’t get Medicare services, but you’ll still be paying for Medicare. If your premiums rise at the historical rate — 4.6% a year faster than inflation — the $3,200 a year you’ll pay out at 65 will rise to a stunning $9,400 a year by the time you are 90. It would be a big hit on your standard of living.

Maybe it’s time to blow off Medicare. What happens to your standard of living if you don’t sign up for Medicare at 65? It goes up to the equivalent of $47,200 a year. Of course, you’ll still have medical expenses, but perhaps you can make a better, less-expensive arrangement.

Could you do still better? Yes. Just continue searching for a low-cost area. If you can find a place where the cost of living is 60% of the U.S. cost, your lifetime standard of living, without Medicare expenses, will be the equivalent of $55,500 — very close to the $60,000 you got to spend while working in America.

Questions about personal finance and investments may be e-mailed to scott@scottburns.com. Questions of general interest may be answered in future columns. More columns by Scott Burns can be found here and here.

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Browse for Baja Real Estate and Mexico Real Estate.

By Les Christie, CNN/Money staff writer

San Jose Del Cabo, Baja California Sur

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Most Americans know about the flood of Mexican immigrants into the United States, but many may not realize that there’s a growing movement in the opposite direction.

The Dallas Morning News recently reported that as many as a million U.S. citizens now live in Mexico, up fivefold from just 10 years ago.

As recently as 1999, the American population of San Carlos in Sonora was perhaps 35, according to Phyllis Lilischkies, a real estate broker there. Now, the expatriate population is between 3,000 and 5,000 — and soaring.

The bulk of this migration consists of retirees, drawn to Mexico by its culture, its climate, and, perhaps above all, its costs.

Many of the popular American expatriate enclaves are in regions boasting great weather. Lisa Larkin, a retired attorney and real estate expert who spends part of the year in Mexico, says the climate helps make life there “just a little bit sweeter.”

Phyllis Lilischkies, who moved to San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez from Colorado, says, “The weather here is beautiful every day. I have the mountains behind me, I live in the desert, and I can walk out to the ocean.”

Marsha Manoff and her husband Howard vacationed in Oaxaca 12 years ago where they fell in love with the area. Marsha, a private chef in Santa Fe found the complex cuisine of Oaxaca very appealing. Plus, “There’s a large arts community here, and the indigenous arts and crafts are spectacular.” The couple bought a home four years ago.

Bruce Greenberg, a real estate appraiser with an office in Cabo San Lucas, says Mexican cities provide a “taste of Europe.” The architecture of Guadalajara, for example, evokes Spain. And Mexico has a strong tradition of ballet and music, opera, and native archeology.

Yet much of the scene is familiar for homesick Americans; there’s Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, American style supermarkets and shopping malls, and, of course, excellent baseball.
Savings sources

Bruce Greenberg has appraised property all over Mexico for the past 10 years. He says that in San Carlos — an easy four-hour drive from Phoenix and Tucson and one of the more expensive Mexican communities — the average house sells for between $300,000 and $500,000.

“For that you get a three-bedroom, three-bath, 2,000 square foot house with a sea view and a swimming pool,” says Greenberg. That’s perhaps a third the price of comparable, sea-side real estate in Southern California.

Lisa Larkin points out that, however, that “American enclaves will be more expensive than living in a Mexican neighborhood.” Some areas are quite comparable to her home base in Tucson in price.

But even when the initial cost is no saving, annual costs are low. “Insurance is much lower and taxes are minimal,” says Greenberg. Real estate taxes run as little as .015 percent of market value. That means the tax on a $200,000 house may come to only about $30 a year.

Remodeling, routine maintenance, and putting on home additions are cheaper in Mexico, where labor costs are low. Retirees are often able to hire service people to do cleaning, gardening, and other work. In some parts of the country, a maid can be hired for as little as $10 a day or less.
Some caveats before you buy

Relocating south is not always problem free.

“Owning a home here has its usual share of difficulties,” says Marsha Manoff. “Workers don’t show up, the roof starts leaking, the electric company tells you that you have 15 days to move the meter to the road (at your own expense) or they will cut off service.”

Americans may worry that health service facilities won’t be up to snuff, but Greenberg says there are a half dozen or so excellent hospital centers in the country, many located near expatraite communities.

While many Americans still retreat to their home country for treatment of serious illnesses, others appreciate the slower pace and personal service that Mexican health-care professionals offer.

Medicare and most private insurance plans end at the border, but Mexican health insurance is available at a modest price, about $300 annually.

The process of buying property requires due diligence and common sense. There are areas — of Chiapas, for example — where civil unrest has had an impact on American landowners. And there are a few differences in the buying process.

Foreigners, for example, may not own land near the seashore or the borders. They have to obtain renewable 50-year rights through a trust called a fideicomiso. Banks charge annual fees of $200 to $1,000 to administer these trusts.

Larkin maintains an advisory on her Web site for those considering Mexican property. Among her advice:

• Be sure to have a title search done. “A notary public handles closings, and is supposed to do a title search,” she says. “But if he’s wrong, there’s no recourse.”
• Watch out for financing provided by the seller or developer. This arrangement often does not involve an exchange of title — until the property is completely paid off.
• Don’t give a deposit directly to a seller or agent. Instead, establish an escrow account.

Anyone ready to buy should find a good real estate attorney to avoid expensive mistakes.

You should also immerse yourself in the Mexican experience before you make the move. Rent a house for a few months to see if you like it well enough to spend your retirement there.

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