The Puerto Vallarta real estate market really stands out from the crowd. Popular retirement destinations like Florida and Arizona, luxury real estate markets in California and suburbia in just about every market are declining across the board. The slump doesn’t stop there, however. Key markets in Europe are also experiencing sharp real estate declines.

The Spanish market is at a virtual standstill. UK’s real estate market could take years to recover and Turkey recently suspended new property sales to non-citizens in order to revamp its real estate purchase regulations.

Not all markets are having a tough time. Emerging real estate markets, like those found in Mexico and some parts of Asia, are doing a booming business. Those areas that offer a high quality of life, low cost of living and a high potential for an excellent return on investment.

Puerto Vallarta also offers a tropical climate, close proximity to the US, and an environment that is easy for non-Spanish speakers to navigate. For the past seventeen years running, Puerto Vallarta has provided clean, drinkable municipal water that meets or exceeds US drinking water standards. The pleasant atmosphere only adds to the many other benefits that potential investors will find in Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta is one of the best real estate markets in which to invest these days. Investors from all over the world are looking for opportunities to shelter their assets and they’re looking hard at Puerto Vallarta real estate as a vehicle to do that. Regardless of what drives your investment, Puerto Vallarta has something exciting to offer.

Prominent real estate investors have stopped looking inside the United States for investment-quality real estate deals. Instead, market gurus like Sam Zell are looking in the Mexico real estate market for properties with real money-making potential. The Mexico real estate market is on fire these days because there are so many exciting things happening in the Mexico economy, especially in the “tourist cities.”

The Federal government is making massive investments in infrastructure in an effort to diversify the Mexican economy and establish it as an economic power in Latin America. Mexico is trying to become a worldwide trading power. To do that, Mexico must build new infrastructure, replace existing infrastructure and tap into new worldwide markets.

As part of its plan to finance this effort, Mexico is trying to increase the number of tourist dollars it takes in and is also trying to attract retirees from the US, Canada, Europe and Asia with its low cost of living and high quality of life.

These infrastructure investments – new interstate highways, bridges and tunnels; airports and marine terminals; universities; water treatment facilities that will deliver clean drinking water to 95% of the country’s population; and telecommunications and data infrastructure combined with federal policies that encourage foreign investment in Mexico are pushing interest in Mexico real estate and driving its price up. “Fly-in” areas that are easily accessible by airport – like Puerto Vallarta – are in especially high demand.

If you plan to take advantage of the double-digit growth in residential real estate in Puerto Vallarta, you’ll want to be sure to choose the best possible investment property because the old real estate maxim still applies: location, location, location! Few places in Mexico can offer you everything that Puerto Vallarta does and investors in Puerto Vallarta real estate will be well positioned to take advantage of the coming changes here.

Photo Credit: Josh Klute

The number of condominium and resort properties in Puerto Vallarta available for sale right now is staggering. Right now, there are more than 30 hotel, resort and condominium projects underway, and there are likely to be more on the way. Puerto Vallarta is a very hot market because it’s so attractive to retirees and soon-to-be retirees.

If you’re buying to live down here, you can find some wonderful deals on property in Puerto Vallarta, but before you sign on to purchase an existing property, or a brand new condominium, ask yourself about your goals. You can buy unimproved property, build a luxury home on it within the space of a few months and begin to enjoy retirement to the fullest. As you enjoy retirement, the value of your luxury home (for which you spent a fraction of what the same property would be worth in the US) will begin to escalate. You’ll get an initial bump from having built a home with an ocean view, and then your property values will also rise annually by about ten percent or perhaps more.

You could also buy an improved property in Puerto Vallarta in the form of an existing home or condominium. If your condo is under construction, you’ll need to wait until the whole building is finished (or near-finished) to move in. The view from the 20th floor will undoubtedly be spectacular, but for safety reasons, the windows may be permanently sealed. The building will depend on artificial ventilation and cooling, which will substantially increase the cost of living there. The sounds of the city will be omnipresent. In addition, as a co-owner of the building, you’ll be paying for all of the maintenance and upkeep. For the first ten years, things will probably be ok, but when major repairs hit as the result of “deferred maintenance”, will your budget be able to afford that?

A luxury condominium could run USD $300,000 or more. You could also take that same money, buy an unimproved plot of land, build a spectacular home that is energy-efficient, pleasant to live in, that suits your needs and provides invaluable peace and quiet. No noise from the city. No added heat, either. Just pure natural enjoyment.

And the best part? You’ll be able to take advantage of the full value of the property appreciation. You won’t be turning the majority of that over to the developer. You made the investment; you keep the return.

Many people are looking for safe retirement investments that will shelter their savings. There are few shelters you’ll find that do as good a job as a Puerto Vallarta second home. A Puerto Vallarta second home offers multiple benefits, whether you are looking for an investment property or a place to call home during retirement.

For the investor, a Puerto Vallarta second home offers a stable investment with a solid rate of return. For the past decade, Puerto Vallarta property has appreciated at the rate of ten percent per year. Due in large part to the expected demand for retirement and luxury properties in Puerto Vallarta, the property appreciation rate in the next five years is expected to go beyond 10 percent.

For the retiree, a Puerto Vallarta second home offers a low cost of living and a high quality of life. You can find excellent health and dental care, low prescription drug costs and excellent personal assistance. The municipal water here meets the same water quality standards applied in major US cities and has for the past seventeen years running. The number of activities here geared toward people of all ages, the unbeatable climate and the availability of all modern conveniences make Puerto Vallarta a natural choice for retirement living.

Regardless of what you’re looking for from a Puerto Vallarta second home, you’ll certainly find it when you invest here. The key to a solid investment is finding the right place to build a home. Select Mexico Properties has some of the most beautiful residential building sites available for sale right now. You won’t find better properties than these anywhere along the Pacific coast.

The opportunity to take advantage of all that a Puerto Vallarta second home has to offer won’t last long. So many retirees – and soon-to-be retirees – are looking for a Puerto Vallarta second home as an investment or as a residence, you’ll soon find that the best properties have been bought and developed. If you plan to get in on this opportunity, the time to do that is right now! Don’t wait!

Mexico has a bad rap when it comes to foreign ownership. People are afraid that there is no security of property ownership in Mexico. That notion is outdated, and if it’s keeping you from investing in property here, you should take a look at how things have changed.

First, about 1.5 million Americans own residential real estate in Mexico right now. There is plenty of security of property ownership in Mexico. In many places, including Puerto Vallarta, you can establish a claim on your property by following a few simple steps.

It’s important to look for properties whose ownership history is well known or able to be researched carefully. You should also engage the service of a Mexican lawyer or a lawyer who is well versed in Mexico property laws.

Second, don’t buy a property unless you can get title insurance. This is a standard feature of luxury properties and it is the hallmark of the security of ownership of property in Puerto Vallarta. Title insurance is all-important. If it’s not available on the property you’re considering, think twice about buying it.

Third, make sure you understand how to establish your ownership claims. Coastal properties must be held in a trust relationship called a fideicomiso. Mexican law requires this trust and it is the only way that you can establish a legitimate ownership claim on coastal property.

Fourth, you must have your purchase registered by the notario publico and you must take possession of your land. Mexico honors squatters’ rights, so it’s not sufficient to buy land and do nothing with it. A notario publico functions more like a judge than a notary public in the US, and this is an absolutely critical step in the establishment of ownership interest.

Select Mexico Properties has a staff of professionals who are familiar with Mexican property laws and can help you establish your land claims here. You can certainly find security of property ownership in Mexico, but you’ll need expert advice to help you through the process.

Retirement is on many peoples’ minds these days. Baby boomers are planning for their imminent retirements. Younger people are wondering whether or not they’ll have enough money to retire with. People who have already retired are wondering how they’re going to make ends meet. Puerto Vallarta offers a wonderful opportunity for people who are looking for fresh retirement strategies.

Puerto Vallarta is really a two-way strategy. First, the appreciation of property down here is phenomenal – ten percent returns for the past ten years. You won’t find that in any market in the US! Second, the cost of living down here is absolutely manageable for people who have already retired, or are about to retire and are concerned that their savings won’t carry them far enough.

Conventional retirement strategies say that you don’t retire in a recession. Guess what? There’s no recession in Mexico. Mexico is so close to the US, and the quality of living is so high – especially in a place like Puerto Vallarta – that you’d be foolish to overlook such an opportunity.

The name of the game in successful retirement strategies is to save enough to provide 80% of your working income, or to reduce your cost of living significantly enough to get by on lower overall savings. Living in Puerto Vallarta can help you do just that without reducing your quality of living.

In Puerto Vallarta, you’ll be able to afford to hire household help with meals and the laundry. You can also afford to hire groundskeeping and maintenance assistance. There’s no reason to give up your dream of retiring in luxury, as long as a Puerto Vallarta home is one of your retirement strategies!

There are several stellar opportunities to acquire gorgeous property and build a luxury home here in Puerto Vallarta. Do your research, and while you’re looking, be sure to check out Select Mexico Properties.

Downturns happen, and when they do, they can be scary, especially when they affect your retirement savings. Many people want to know how they can protect their retirement when things aren’t so rosy. The simple answer is that a diversified portfolio contains investments that contain both bull market investments and bear market investments. This sound simplistic, but it’s a time-honored strategy.

So where do you find good bear market investments? Gold is always high on the list of bear market investments. Real estate is another good choice, as long as you pick the right market. Right now, US real estate holdings are suffering, but markets outside the US are doing much better.

The best opportunity to find high-performance bear market investments right now in the Western hemisphere lies in Mexico. The Mexico real estate market has been outperforming the US real estate market for several years, as the first baby boomers have begun to prepare for retirement.

Certain areas of Mexico are turning in a stellar investment performance when it comes to the value of real estate holdings. The Puerto Vallarta area is a prime example of this. Property values here have been on a double-digit appreciation path for the past ten years.

The news for property owners in Puerto Vallarta gets even better. While there are a significant number of condo projects being built right now, which could foster some concern about overbuilding, the population of Puerto Vallarta is expected to increase by nearly 75% in the next seven years. People who are looking for high-performing properties that provide solid returns aren’t looking at the condos. They’re looking north of the city, for prime waterfront building sites where they can build a custom home.

Select Mexico Properties has about 100 premium building sites in San Pancho that are being sold right now. These lots feature some of the most beautiful building sites in the Puerto Vallarta region. Visit the site and take a look at what’s being offered. You’ll see why these investment properties will make much better bear market investments that high-rise apartment-style condos will.

Photo Credit: Lonnie Bradley

A new survey from Bell Investment Advisors and Opinion Research Corp., says that nearly one-third of 60-year-olds with investable assets of $1 million or more doubt that $1 million in retirement investments is sufficient. Another forty percent of people in the same age range are reducing their expenses by cutting their charitable contributions, shifting vacation plans, cutting their retirement savings or delaying retirement. More than half – 54 percent – said that finding higher performing investments will be their primary investing goal for the next five years.

In that case, it’s not surprising that investors are looking at high-performance real estate as a good way to meet their primary investing goals. While real estate values in the US have been stagnant or declining, Puerto Vallarta real estate has been soaring. For investors looking for a high rate of return, purchasing the right Puerto Vallarta property can produce outstanding results.

So what is the best advice for investors who are worried about the value of their assets? Applying a balanced investment strategy to a portfolio can help it weather downturns in one or more sectors. If your portfolio isn’t well balanced, adding some high performing Puerto Vallarta real estate can help you reach your investment goals regardless of the state of the US markets.

Photo Credit: Steve Woods

This isn’t going to surprise you if you’ve been paying attention to the Puerto Vallarta real estate markets lately: Puerto Vallarta is one of the top Mexico real estate markets. Puerto Vallarta property has been appreciating at a rate of about 10 percent per year. Not too many markets are doing that right now, but Puerto Vallarta is one of the most attractive.

Puerto Vallarta is physically close to the US and people who own investment properties in Puerto Vallarta can get here very easily. Puerto Vallarta International Airport handles nearly 500 international flights per week, and many major carriers land here. From most major cities in the US, Puerto Vallarta is just a few hours’ flight away.

Buying property in Puerto Vallarta is safe. The Mexican Federal government is bending over backwards to help erase the very negative experiences of some early foreign investors in Mexico real estate. Right now, land purchases by foreigners are easy to execute. Several protections are built into the sale to help guarantee the safety of investment properties. These safeguards include title insurance, property registration and the establishment of a required trust in which the title to the property is held.

Puerto Vallarta has been the beneficiary of an enormous investment in infrastructure by the Mexican Federal government and by the government in the State of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta will enjoy new tunnels and a new interstate highway that runs past every beach in the city. The city also opens a brand new convention center in October.

Private investment is also hot in Puerto Vallarta. More than two dozen hotel, resort and condominium projects are underway right now. Remodeling of the city’s marinas, the construction of new ultra-modern hospitals and many US retailers have or will open outlets here in Puerto Vallarta to cater to the growing ex-pat population here.

Private waterfront properties in Puerto Vallarta are all but gone. Fortunately, what may turn out to be a better investment opportunity is opening up north of Puerto Vallarta, in San Pancho. Luxury real estate building sites are being sold to individual investors right now through Select Mexico Properties. If you haven’t done so already, please visit the Select Mexico Properties Web site and take a look at the properties that are still available. You’ll see why the Puerto Vallarta real estate market is in such high demand!

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) aren’t having an easy time these days finding good values inside the US. Instead, many of these professional real estate investors are turning to investment properties outside the US to find solid returns.

Economically, Mexico is growing very fast right now, and that means that the opportunity for gain is high. In Puerto Vallarta, property has appreciated at the rate of about ten percent per year for ten years. The growth rate is expected to continue for at least another five. Investors who are looking for rapid growth in investment properties are turning to places like Mexico.

Most waterfront property in Puerto Vallarta is occupied or will be occupied by resort real estate or tourist property, closing out the development of investment properties for most individual investors. Excellent opportunities to take advantage of the conditions in Puerto Vallarta can be found in areas north of the city, where prime tourist development is limited.

These areas are better suited to meet the needs of the individual investor, who may have complementary goals of good ROI and the use and enjoyment of the property. High-quality investment properties are being sold right now in San Pancho, just north of Puerto Vallarta. Select Mexico Properties has a limited number of premium residential building sites available that will appeal to discriminating buyers seeking high quality investment properties.