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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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 Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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All true about abusive home purchasing fees. I think I'll need dollars for the day that I buy a home.
But why do people not furnish their homes once they have it and invest in making them look nice, but go out and buy a BMW? Buying a home is costly here, no doubt, but people buy all the same.
I can't remember seeing more BMWs than in Queretaro. Sure, there's money here. But then I've seen where some people live and how they live, and I only see the money in the big screen TV and the fancy car. Sometimes there's nowhere to sit. |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm, I've always seen it differently. My impression has been that you'll see a lot of homes that on the outside don't look like much...no adorned walkway, not much of a garden, peeling paint job. Yet inside you'll find the complete opposite. I'd always chalked it up not people not wanting to show off any kind wealth.
Lots of different kinds of people though...my ex brother-in-law (still in touch with him) is 36, and a highly skilled computer tech and photojournalist. He makes great money but neither owns his home nor a car. He saves his money and travels a lot. |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| But why do people not furnish their homes once they have it and invest in making them look nice, but go out and buy a BMW? Buying a home is costly here, no doubt, but people buy all the same |
Point 1 - Actually, it is significantly easier to own your own home here than in my native England, based on an earnings - price ratio.
Point 2 - I agree. I always think that our home looks like a showroom compared with many I've visited.
To go back to an earlier point about gardens, the gardening culture doesn't seem to exist in Mexico, but not just Mexico. I've noticed the same in France. I was once hanging over the balcony of a house in La Herradura (very posh area of D.F., although strictly in in Edomex), and commented to the owner that the neighbor's garden looked very English in style. " The owner is English", he replied.
Another thing I've noticed is that practicality is more important than aesthetics. Witness, tanks exposed on rooves, electrics connection attached to high post instead of underground, meters on outside walls, only front of house rendered and painted, etc |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| My impression has been that you'll see a lot of homes that on the outside don't look like much...no adorned walkway, not much of a garden, peeling paint job. Yet inside you'll find the complete opposite. I'd always chalked it up not people not wanting to show off any kind wealth. |
You�ve got a point there. People so often have huge walls and gates in front. I once got a peek inside, and there was a large yard with GREEN grass. I hadn�t imagined that.
I guess I�m speaking more of lower-middle class / middle middle-class. They have the money either for investments in their house or a nice car. They opt for the car. Rich people don�t need to choose. I doubt anywhere in any class you�ll find people with a nice house and a cheap car. |
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Isla Guapa
Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1520
Location: Mexico City o sea La Gran Manzana Mexicana
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
Lots of different kinds of people though...my ex brother-in-law (still in touch with him) is 36, and a highly skilled computer tech and photojournalist. He makes great money but neither owns his home nor a car. He saves his money and travels a lot. |
I wonder if your ex-brother-in-law is single.... |
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TheLongWayHome
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 1016
Location: San Luis Piojosi
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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| mejms wrote: |
| I guess I�m speaking more of lower-middle class / middle middle-class. They have the money either for investments in their house or a nice car. They opt for the car. Rich people don�t need to choose. I doubt anywhere in any class you�ll find people with a nice house and a cheap car. |
This is Mexico's new middle class though, it's very notable in SLP - they all work in factories and pay $500 pesos a month on rent - of course they'll buy a flash car. You can easily afford to pay $5000+ a month on the beamer of your choice, even if you make $10,000 a month. I've been to many 'poor' looking areas only to find plasma TVs, laptops and phatt stereos (in the cars too) everywhere.
The most significant part of their income doesn't go on rent/utilities, plus there are those microcredits which means you can pay $50 pesos a week for a plasma TV over 300 weeks. |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| the gardening culture doesn't seem to exist in Mexico |
Or the take care of the park areas or not to litter or to plant trees and have some shade or...
But gardens or not, who doesn't-- from any culture or country in the world-- like to have a comfortable, pleasant place to live? I thought that "a man's home is his palace" was universal. When we had a plastic table for a dining room table, we were always looking forward to saving up the money to buy a real dining room table.
What am I missing? I just don't get it. |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| When we had a plastic table for a dining room table, we were always looking forward to saving up the money to buy a real dining room table |
What luxury! We started out with a microwave box and two upturned paint buckets!  |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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| What luxury! We started out with a microwave box and two upturned paint buckets! |
Man, I can't tell you how much better that makes me feel! No joke. |
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TeresaLopez
Joined: 18 Apr 2010
Posts: 601
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:50 am Post subject: |
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| What's wrong with a plastic table???? |
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wildchild
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 519
Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 12:53 am Post subject: |
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got a TEFLer friend here who has two wood crates resting on boxes of indio. has it painted up real nice though.
my place, came furnished... [brushing the hair off my shoulder, nose slightly upturned to the sky...] |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:01 am Post subject: |
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| resting on boxes of indio |
Empty boxes I hope cause those Indios belong in the fridge.
If the friend has a fridge that is. |
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wildchild
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 519
Location: Puebla 2009 - 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:05 am Post subject: |
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close, Guy. empty bottles in the boxes, they contribute to the structural integrity of the... er... structure. 
and yes, they have a fridge (the advantages of having a local as a roomate). |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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| Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:15 am Post subject: |
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| mejms wrote: |
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| Have to agree with the OP. A few years ago we bought an apartment for the mother-in-law in Col. Guerrero , around $380K tops, if I remember. A quick glance around the parking and there are many cars costing more than that. My car cost less new than the down-payment on our apartment! |
Can you think of any reason why?
I've got some ideas.
1) One thing I've noticed in my time here is that people really don't invest in their properties. I've seen little areas outside that could be a beautiful garden and the owners of the home just use the area as a junk heap.
2) The idea of working and being "a self-made man" isn't a big part of the culture here as it is in the US. People who have money often have it because their parents had some and the parents of their parents had some and so on. It's largely old money down here. Some people make their fortunes grow, some don't, but very, very few come to have something from nothing.
3) People who live in not-so-great areas and have expensive cars want to a) impress and b) enjoy a nice car because they don't imagine they'll have the money to invest in a nice house.
Guy, I haven't seen much saving. I see people, some with no money and some with some, who one week will take a vacation to Acapulco and the next week not have money to pay the cable bill. As is so many facets of life, Mexicans are not organized. That can be frustrating for me, but then again organization isn't the be all and end all of life. |
Who cares about your house? Nobody sees where you live behind 15 foot walls here anyways.
But your car, now that's really important. Like on Friday and Saturday on the way to the party and getting drunk, having a nice car to crash while driving drunk is very important here. It also helps the kidnappers know who to hit and who to skip... "Let's see... 2001 Chevy? Skip! 2011 BMW, Bingo!"
Reminds me of a 16 y/o female student I once had. I asked her if she was afraid of being kidnapped, and she said: "Yes, all the time". She also had a brand new BMW to drive to school, no wonder she's a possible target for kidnapping! |
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Dragonlady
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 720
Location: Chillinfernow, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:27 am Post subject: |
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deleted
not directly related to TESOL
Last edited by Dragonlady on Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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