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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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 Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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| geaaronson wrote: |
| Okay, So I am looking at Daves TEFL, TESOL, etc. list of schools and I am thinking, I don`t want to hole up in Costa Rica for the month of November to take an $800 course. Actually I would but it means about another $1,500-2,000 loss in savings and I am looking at these online course that are substantially less expensive and I don`t have to disappoint any present employers by suddenly leaving in the middle of a semester. Is a 20 hour TEFL course for $295 from International a decent program. Will it disadvantage me in gaining employmetn if I don`t take a 140 hour intensive TEFL program at some glorious out of the way resort where I am torn between snorkeling and studying for next mornings ESL test. |
Obviously a man interested in his professional development.
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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| MELEE wrote: |
| Obviously a man interested in his professional development. |
To me, he sounds like a guy who's broke: Actually I would but it means about another $1,500-2,000 loss in savings
Hey, I can relate. |
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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:16 pm Post subject: break or not break |
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| Not broke. But it`s just that the game plan of owning a house in Mexico has become increasingly difficult with proposed additional expenses after the loss of income over the past 6 months. |
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snorklequeen
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:44 am Post subject: Owning a house in Mexico as ESL teacher |
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do you have to be married to a Mexican citizen in order to qualify to buy a home, like you two have, Melee and Samantha?
cheers,
Queenie |
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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| No, you don`t. Most of the gringoes who live here are not married to anybody other than other gringoes and almost all own their homes here in Mexico. |
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snorklequeen
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:13 am Post subject: Buying a house in Mexico |
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thanks, gea! all the best to you in your work search 
Queenie |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 5:56 am Post subject: |
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In the coastal areas, within so many kms of the ocean, a foreigner cannot own property outright without the process of obtaining a Fideicomiso, a bank trust, which requires a fee to start and then yearly fees to stay current. (Great money-maker for the Government) There are some other restricted areas as well, but my mind is on Hurricane John tonight so is wandering a bit.
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| do you have to be married to a Mexican citizen in order to qualify to buy a home, like you two have, Melee and Samantha? |
Normally foreigners who buy houses are retirees and they pay cash. The way the working Mexican gets a house is through a program called Infonovit, offered by the Mexican Gov. (Gracias!) It is a cool program enabling working people to buy houses. The payments are deducted from pay checks and the payments get even lower when you get your pension, because of course your income is lower. |
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hlamb
Joined: 09 Dec 2003
Posts: 431
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Samantha wrote: |
but my mind is on Hurricane John tonight so is wandering a bit.
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I hope everyone affected by the hurricane is ok. Let us know how things are. |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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Sam already answered, but no, you don't have to be married to a Mexican. Infact, I got my house before we were married and It's MINE MINE MINE! not jointly owned  . It's pleanty far from the coast so I just had to summit a proposal to Relaciones Exteriores, asking for permission to buy X piece of land and then sign something saying I would be treated as a Mexican in all issues concerning this property and never envoke the help of my government in property issue, oh, and fork over some cash too!
I did get an INFONAVIT loan, but actually in my area the majority of the people are not eligible for the program because the majority of the people work in the informal business sector and have no IMSS or ISSTE coverage or other government benefits. But land is cheap and most young unmarried men are able to buy a lot, then gradualy build a build-as-you-go type house to themselves in time to move in after their wedding. |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: employment in December? |
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| geaaronson wrote: |
| I am currently living in Merida and am finding it slim pickings. I am currently teaching ESL at three different schools and still don`t have enough to make what would consider a living. (ie. my best week was 1430 pesos). and may have to bail out and cut my losses come December. |
Back in the direction of the original topic . . . a question especially for (but not limited to) those of you who have been teaching in Mexico for a while.
I know there are a lot of factors involved, but in general, how long would you stay in one location/city before moving on if you hadn't been able to make enough to cover your expenses, and there were no solid job offers for the near future? |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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You're right...too many factors there to answer properly.
I guess it depends on if you'd set down some roots or not. After getting engaged, Mexico City became home for me. Everything else flows from that.
Had I stayed single, and not made a decent go of it economically, the 6-month wall (many of you know what the 6-month wall is) would've chased me off to greener pastures. Argentina and Peru were on my list at the time. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:41 pm Post subject: Re: employment in December? |
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| Ben Round de Bloc wrote: |
| how long would you stay in one location/city before moving on if you hadn't been able to make enough to cover your expenses |
I came to Mexico with a solid job offer in hand, and enough money in the bank to last me perhaps 4 or 5 months. If I had decided to leave I would probably have gone back to my home country to find work there. |
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cwc
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 372
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 12:59 am Post subject: dough |
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| ls650 wrote: |
| and enough money in the bank to last me perhaps 4 or 5 months. |
Is650, for the newbies, how much does one need to have in the bank as a cushion?
Another common question has to do with accessing your moolah in a US bank. What was your solution?
cwc |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 1:19 am Post subject: Re: dough |
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| cwc wrote: |
| Is650, for the newbies, how much does one need to have in the bank as a cushion? Another common question has to do with accessing your moolah in a US bank. What was your solution? |
Good questions:
- I asked a couple of the school's teachers what my monthly expenses would be: rent, food, transport, etc. In this area, those tend to add up to several hundred dollars per month - and of course there are various startup costs for visa, furniture, etc. I assumed about $1000 US per month.
- I knew from previous visits to Mexico that I'd be able to access my Canuck bank accounts from ATMs. |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: employment in December? |
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[quote="Ben Round de Bloc"]
| geaaronson wrote: |
| I know there are a lot of factors involved, but in general, how long would you stay in one location/city before moving on if you hadn't been able to make enough to cover your expenses, and there were no solid job offers for the near future? |
MMMM, it would depend on my life stage. I went to Ecuador for six months when I was 22. I was teaching, marginally, and over the six months I came out $US 1500 in the hole, not bad for a six month experience of a life-time. But I'm not 22 anymore. I don't think I'd go anywhere now without a solid job offer, if I had to move somewhere, like say if I had to move back to the US to be near my parents or something like that, I think I could only stick it out six months without rewarding work. If I wanted to be in Lugar X and there weren't job opportunities and the place was more important than my work, I'd enroll in a training course in another field, to fit myself in to the local job market. |
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