Puerto Vallarta Rentals Blog

Daily access to authentic Mexican cooking
is one of the special perks of spending a week or two in a Condo in Puerto Vallarta. Genuine Mexican cuisine produces a mouth-watering scent and savory taste that can only be achieved using traditional recipes and spices
. If you want to learn the art of Mexican cooking, you’re going to need a few special ingredients that may be a bit new to you.

* Chiles: Many recipes include chiles, and not just your garden-variety chiles. You may be surprised to learn the number of different types of chiles, and each brings its own special properties to the table, so to speak. Anchos are mild and aromatic; the aromatic pasilla is essential for mole; chile de arbol is incredibly hot.

* Cumin: this spice was originally found in hot and dry regions of the Middle East. Today, it features prominently in several international cuisines, including Mexican dishes. Some recipes call for cumin seeds and others ground cumin. This is a strong spice that should be used with a delicate touch so it doesn’t overpower the other flavors in your dish.

* Cilantro and coriander: there’s a reason to list these two spices in one place – they both come from the same plant. Cilantro is the leaf. It has a strong scent which helps bring out other flavors in your favorite dishes; use only fresh cilantro to get the best results. Coriander is the seed; it adds a warm, sweet flavor to dishes.

* Mexican oregano: this one may not be what you’re thinking – it comes from an entirely different plant family than Mediterranean oregano (the common variety). The plant is native to Mexico; the herb is stronger and sweeter than common oregano, and it’s a “must have” in many traditional Mexican dishes.

Fine Mexican cuisine also uses a number of other, more common spices that you’re likely to find in any good spice collection, including the one in your Condo in Puerto Vallarta.

* Bay leaf: this leaf was favored in ancient Greece and featured in mythology, when it was known by its other name, laurel. This spice has a distinctive strong scent and a slightly bitter taste.

* Cinnamon sticks: this delightful, aromatic spice is actually the inner bark of a tree. That’s right, and it is so popular that once upon a time, folks used it as currency.

Frontier will increase service to Canc?n from seven to 10 flights per week, with new flights on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos each will go from seven to eight weekly flights with the additional flights on Saturday.

As we enter the last quarter of 2009, there are growing reports that suggest the world economic crisis is over. Even here in Mexico, where 2009 will likely go down as the worst year since the Great Depression, there are signs of improvement.

Following years of strong growth, the recent downturn in the real estate market in Puerto Vallarta is leading some developers to delay future projects.
One example is a recent turn around in the housing real estate sector. While activity remains sluggish, Jalisco?s three largest markets ? Chapala, Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara ? are all experiencing an increase in sales. Jaime Calderon Esparza, a broker at Re/Max Ajijic, is upbeat about the housing outlook in the Chapala area. Although business is still slow, he says the latest results from his office indicate the worst is over: ?Sales have begun to pick up. There?s a lot more activity.? Many of the calls his office has been fielding are from Americans and Canadians, who make up 80 percent of the Chapala market.

Calderon points to the rental market as yet another positive indicator. At Re/Max Ajijic, rental properties are already 80 percent booked for the upcoming high season, which Calderon believes bodes well for the sales market: ?This high season is going to be very good.? While sales are on the rise, Calderon says prices, which were ?punished by the economic crisis,? remain depressed.

Chris Gruenwald, a real estate agent with Casa Mexico Real Estate in Ajijic, has also seen more activity recently: ?We hit bottom in April, May, and June, but since July, we?ve seen an increase in sales.? He, too, thinks the turnaround in the rental market is a good sign; 80 to 90 percent of his company?s properties are already rented for the high season. Gruenwald cautions that even though sales are on the upswing, it?s going to take another year or two to see any kind of ?boom.?

Unlike Calderon, Gruenwald doesn?t think the crisis has hurt prices in Chapala that much. He attributes this to two reasons: First, Mexicans and Canadians, not just Americans (who experienced the worst housing crisis), make up a sizeable part of the total sector. Secondly, most residents in Chapala are retired and can wait things out. But, Gruenwald admits that people who do have to sell immediately, for whatever reason, are probably going to take a hit.

Puerto Vallarta, a major ?second-home? market, is also on the mend. Rodrigo Saracho, Office Director at Frava Real Estate Puerto Vallarta reports that his office is closing more sales now than this time last year. Saracho blames the depressed real estate market mostly on the global economic recession, but believes the flu scare last spring had an impact. Not only has he seen a decline in sales, but he says there?s been a drop in new construction in the area because developers have decided to wait things out.

One interesting trend Saracho has witnessed lately is a shift in buyers. Last year, sales were split about 50-50 between Mexicans and foreign buyers. But now he says that ratio is more like 80 percent Mexican, and 20 percent foreign. He expects to see a slight improvement this high season in terms of foreign buyers, but cautions that it will come ?little by little.?

Guadalajara, which is predominantly a national market (Mexican buyers), seems to have been better positioned to ride out the storm. While it did not escape the downturn in real estate, it hasn?t been as hard hit as other areas in Mexico that rely heavily on foreign buyers. A drive through the upscale neighborhood of Providencia paints a good picture: no fewer than five high-rise developments are currently under construction. Several are already more than 80 percent sold.

Francisco Cueto, sales consultant at Sierra Plus in Guadalajara, states that the national market is definitely stronger compared to last year, citing more confidence in the sector and the ease of securing mortgages. He says sales of new construction are brisk partly because developers are offering attractive ?pre-sale? deals. So, like with any crisis, there are opportunities to be found, if you know where to look.

Well, we all do. There are plenty of reasons for liking to do this. One reason is that you might need to do it. In case you need to do it, you will either be traveling to Spain on business or academic interest.

There are also people who travel to Spain on leisure but we cannot classify them as people who have to learn the language as it is not mandatory foe them to do so. In case of a student going to Spain, it is mandatory for him as he has to learn Spanish to get good grades there in his examinations. No worry Spanish for kids can help you out.

In case of a salaried person, he has to get to learn Spanish for getting ahead in his job there. There are many different kinds of people who learn Spanish because they what to, and do not have any real reason to do so.

In case you want to get to learn Spanish, we recommend Learn Spanish for travelers. This is one course that has caught the world’s attention in a very short span of time. You would do well to check the course out before it gets sold out.

This is because good courses like Learn Spanish for travelers are generally for a very short period of time and you should get one while there are still available there are different sites on the internet that offer you Learn Spanish for travelers. You can search for these sites and log on to any one of them and get the course for yourself. You have to have a great deal of enthusiasm for the course and this will make Learn Spanish for travelers really effective.

The Consumer Price Indexes
(CPI) program of the US Department of Labor produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services in the United States. Tracking the CPI data began in 1913 and by 1983, inflation had reached 100%. Therefore, today most all data is calculated using
a 1983 base of 100. For example, a CPI of 215.3 in 2009 indicates 115.3% inflation since 1983. Below is the inflation calculator based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics showing inflation during the past decade:

CPI Inflation Calculator
If in 1998 (enter year) I purchased an item for $ 100 then in 2008 (enter year) that same item would cost: $132.09 Rate of inflation change: 32.1%

The above calculator shows that if you put $100 under your mattress ten years ago it, through the inflation of goods and services during the past decade, it would be worth $76 ($100/1.32) today, i.e., worth 76% of its original value or a loss of 24% in terms of 1998 purchasing power.

In order to hedge against inflation, many advisors suggest that you buy various commodities, oil and gas, foreign dollars, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS), Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), gold, and silver, etc. All of these investment vehicles are now available through Exchange Traded Funds (ETF?s) where you don?t have to take physical possession of the commodities; for relatively small investments, gold and silver in the form of bullion or coins is readily available and simple to purchase and hold. All of these forms of hedges against inflation can be excellent, however for the purpose of this article, we?ll concentrate on silver.

Silver has always been one of Mexico?s major export materials; in fact, until just a few years ago, Mexico was the largest producer and exporter of silver in the world. Let?s assume ten years ago, instead of putting your $100 under the mattress, you bought $100 worth of silver selling at approximately $5.50/ounce. Today, at $16.65/ounce, you can sell your silver and enjoy a gain of more than 200%, i.e., your $100 investment is now worth $303 resulting in a 1999 purchasing power of $230 (76% of $303); not bad! If you?re concerned that the recent increase in silver prices is only a temporary spike, it should be known that silver was selling at $20/ounce in 1981 and when the Hunt brothers were speculating in 1980, it was driven up to over $50/ounce; now that was a spike! The last time silver was selling for $16.65/ounce was in 1981. Taking the CPI inflation index of 2.37 (1981 to 2009) into consideration, $16.65/ounce in 1981 was equivalent to almost $40/ounce (2.37 X $16.65) in today?s money and therefore it?s not too difficult to imagine a much further increase in silver prices! This logic is further reinforced when you take into consideration the weakening dollar forecasted for the near future. (see the ten year silver price graph below)

The world?s leading miner and producer of silver is the Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS), headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. This publically traded company has silver mines throughout Latin America with a couple of its largest mines in Mexico. In fact, one of these two mines is their only open pit mine and the other huge Mexican mine, located north east of Puerto Vallarta, has been producing the purest silver of all their mines since 1929. The graph below reveals the PAAS stock performance during the past ten years.

Next, let?s analyze the performance of the US stock market during the same ten year time frame. If your $100 had been invested in SPY, the S&P 500 ETF, it would be worth 80 dollars today per the graph below. Let?s take it a step further and adjust for inflation; that $80 would have only $61 (76% of $80) of 1999 purchasing power. Yes, that?s correct; if you were invested in the US stock market and your return was better than average, you?ve lost almost 40% of the purchasing power that you had ten years ago!

Now, let?s compare the ten year performance of the Mexican stock market (Bolsa) to the US stock market. If you had purchased EWW, the ETF basket of Mexican stocks, in 1999, you would have realized a 150% gain and your initial investment would now be valued at $250, with a 1999 purchasing power of $190 (76% of $250); pretty decent, especially when you compare it to the $61 left from investing in the SPY?s!
Review the graph below and you?ll immediately see how much the ETF basket of Mexican stocks (EWW) and the Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS) stock had appreciated in value through 2007 and then fell precipitously in the second half of 2008. More importantly, you can see how both are recovering beautifully as the world recovers from the global recession. Comparing both of these Mexico related stocks to the SPY?s; you may never again want to invest your $100 in a US related stock! Assuming that the global economy continues its gradual recovery, it seems quite apparent from extrapolating the curves below that Mexican stocks and silver are very attractive areas for investing a portion of your portfolio at this time. It?s amazing to see how closely the EWW and the PAAS stock prices have correlated over the past decade!

Finally, let?s look at Mexican real estate. Along the prime region of the Mexican Riviera, property values have tripled from 1999 to 2008 (we don?t have any empirical data but after being invested in the real estate market in Puerto Vallarta for more than a quarter of a century, we can state it as a fact; some properties have quadrupled in value!), after which they have remained flat to perhaps dropping by as much as 20%. Therefore, a real estate investment of $100 in 1999 was worth about $300 in 2008. Assuming a depreciation of $60 (20% of $300) over the past 18 months, it?s now worth $240. In terms of 1999 purchasing power, it?s worth $182 (76% of $240); about the same as EWW and PAAS, not as much as silver, but a whole lot more fun than owning either! When comparing these facts and figures to the $61 of 1999 purchasing power remaining from the $100 invested in the SPY?s, it?s truly disheartening to think of those of you that were fully invested through IRA?s or 401k?s during the past decade. Fortunately, it?s not too late to recoup your losses; in fact, the time could never be better!

The recent drop in Mexican real estate values was caused mainly by the global recession; however, the recent border town drug cartel war news (1,200 miles between Puerto Vallarta and Juarez!) and the swine flu scare (three confirmed cases in Puerto Vallarta!) contributed significantly to the local real estate recession. The border town drug cartel war and the swine flu scare effects will vanish over time and in all probability, the property values will soon recover to their 2008 highs. Unlike the 20% property value drop in the US, there are virtually no foreclosures dragging down the housing values in Mexico. The housing crisis in the US will probably continue for a couple more years resulting in further erosion of home values by an additional 10-20%. Currently, millions of Real Estate Owned (REO-lender owned) properties exist in the US but you won?t find any in Mexico!

In summarizing, $100 placed under the mattress ten years ago has a 1999 value of $76 today, $61 if in the S&P 500 SPY?s, $230 if in silver, $190 if in the Mexican EWW fund, $185 if in the silver company PAAS, and $182 if in Mexican real estate. So, here we are in 2009; the question is where best to invest your remaining money after the fiasco of the past decade? With real estate prices 20% off recent highs, long term mortgages of 50% (or more) available in Mexico, and many developers willing to short term finance up to 50%, there has never been a better time to invest in Mexican real estate.

Why hesitate; isn?t it about time that you at least consider making an investment decision totally contrary to those recommendations that you?ve been receiving from your personal financial ?guru? that have cost you 40% of your life?s savings? Come on down and retire in Mexico; maybe you?ll even want to buy a bag full of Mexican Libertads or dabble in the Mexican Bolsa through a vehicle such as the EWW fund while enjoying retirement to its fullest! Who knows; as you?re relaxing in your beach front condo on the Mexican Riviera, perhaps your investments in Mexico will gain enough over the next couple of years to recover what you?ve lost during the past decade!
By: Jim Scherrer http://www.PVREBA.com

If you are looking to invest in realestate I have 2 condos available
Plaza Marina condo http://www.puerto-vallarta-rentals.com/plazamarina53a/
and Plaza Marina Condo http://www.puerto-vallarta-rentals.com/plazamarina35/

If you’re tired of the hustle and bustle of crowded cities and ready to give up your demanding job for a life of lounging on the beach and working from your beachfront home, buying a Puerto Vallarta condo for sale can be the key to living a more peaceful life. While Puerto Vallarta is a bustling place because of the
high level of tourism, it is a different kind of bustling. Instead of rushing to a meeting or fighting traffic to get to work, the bustling in Puerto Vallarta is a more peaceful kind. You can spend your days working from home and spend your free time using the miles of sandy beaches and other beautiful land to relax and enjoy life. Buying a Puerto Vallarta condo for sale means that you can choose your location and get the property that will meet your needs. If you plan on working from home to avoid the stress of working for someone else, you’ll need to choose a condo with plenty of room for your files and equipment. You’ll also need to make sure the wiring will support all of the technology that you’ll be using to communicate from your home office. Once you iron out all of these details, you’ll be able to choose a condo based on the conveniences and surroundings available.

If you want a condo near the beach, you can easily choose to view properties near some of the best beaches in Mexico. If you’d prefer a more secluded location with less tourist attractions, you can ask your Mexico realtor to show you properties that are in quieter locations so you can concentrate on your work. The next thing to consider before buying a piece of Puerto Vallarta Real Estate is what kind of amenities you want to have available to you. Your home should be your sanctuary, so you should be able to buy a condo that has everything you need to live comfortably. Many condos come with appliances included and you may also be able to choose a property that has a swimming area, hot tub, Jacuzzi, large outdoor area, or a great deal of living space. All of these things will help you to make sure that your home matches your needs and personality so that you will be happy with your Puerto Vallarta Real Estate buying experience and have a condo that you can enjoy for years to come.

One of the most famous and also the longest running event in Puerto Vallarta
is the Annual Sailfish and Marlin Tournament. This event takes place on
the Banderas Bay and it will be celebrating its 50th year next
November. Nuevo Vallarta as well as Puerto Vallarta
proffers several fine resorts and marinas in Mexico, which in turn
makes it a popular destination for all cruisers and sport fishers from
all over Canada and United States.

Another Sporting Event that Puerto Vallarta is a host to is the Canto Del Sol Tennis Tournament which utilizes a play on both hard and clay court surfaces. In addition to this, many tourists also come to Puerto Vallarta
because of its abundant and magnificent golf courses. There is also no
shortage of golf tournaments here and the largest tournament is played
at the Paradise Villages El Tigre golf course. In the past year, up to
18 countries have competed in this event. The top three teams are then
transported to the World Cup.

North Shore residents and tourists visiting Puerto Vallarta can be assured of a good grocery shop that is rather suitable for residents living close by. Established in 1993, a successful mega chain of ?Mega Cormercial Nuevo Vallarta,? offers a spacious store, where you can stroll around with your cart at ease and examine the range of commodities for sale. Get custom made shoes from Huaracheria Fabiola on I. L, Vallarta. They can make any type of flat-soled sandals, which are popularly known to be the most comfortable shoes costing only $20. The soles are made of rubber tire which makes the sandals flexible and can be designed in any way you want. These designed casual shoes of Puerto Vallarta are a possession you would want to flaunt everywhere. Visit the flea market that lies near Rio Cuale. There are numerous stalls and a variety of things in Puerto Vallarta to choose from. At the same time you will also come across designer shops, so that you may easily purchase causal wear as well. These shops lie close to the Malecon strip.

If you have not had the opportunity to travel to gay Puerto Vallarta, or have not been for a while, give it a try. Of all the Mexico vacation destinations I have visited, gay Puerto Vallarta is by far the most appealing. The weather is almost always dry and sunny, so whatever time of year you plan to travel, you are sure to find a good time.

The Romantic Zone, which is just to the south of the main downtown entertainment area, is where all the gay scene is. Here you will find an array of shops, spas, boutiques, restaurants and cafes that will make your trip much more enjoyable. Mexico is not always known to be very gay-friendly in areas, but it seems that Puerto Vallarta has learned to appreciate the benefit of being a gay-popular destination.
Best choice for an all-gay hotel stay in gay Puerto Vallarta!

Best choice for an all-gay hotel stay in gay Puerto Vallarta!

There are also a few small gay owned and operated hotels within the Romantic Zone that you may want to check out. The Abbey is my favorite. It is clean, comfortable, and operated by guys that know the hotel industry. The most famous property is Blue Chairs, but the last time I visited that property, it was getting very run down and was not a place I would want to sleep at night. They may have the best location, but location is definitely not everything.

You can find great hotels in the Romantic Zone in addition to the small gay properties on the gay-popular travel sites GayTraveocity, Orbitz/GayTravel and Expedia. The small gay hotels are labeled as such in their booking engines making it easy to find what you are looking for. You can also Google gay hotels in Puerto Vallarta and contact them directly from their web sites.

Right now, with the negative impact of Swine Flu, the economy and drug violence in Mexico, you are sure to find some great prices for your trip. Try planning for September or October, great times to travel anywhere. The Swine Flu issues have subsided in Mexico, although it is still a threat worldwide now, so wherever you go, be wary. The drub violence in Mexico is mostly in non-tourist areas near the border with the US. So, Puerto Vallarta should be violence free, but always be careful, since Mexico is generally more conservative. Don?t travel or walk around alone, and be careful who you party with.

Take advantage of the situation right now if you have the means, and need a vacation as badly as I do. Gay Puerto Vallarta could be the best vacation you could take for the price!

By Jim Scherrer
The term ?Golden Years? seems to have all kinds of connotations; to some it may mean the beginning of the end, to others more fortunate it means the years of freedom with gold! Yes, to many of the latest generation of baby boomers about to retire or recently retired, the ?Golden Years? have become the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, i.e., the free time and the financial ability to enjoy their favorite activities and perhaps even serve a purpose to their community. Retirement often coincides with important life changes; over time, a retiree will virtually eliminate the frequent social contacts with previous work-related associates, will have a completely different spending pattern, will have the time for new or inactive hobbies, sports, or other activities, might sell a long term residence, and yes, may even move to a new location. Upon retiring 13 years ago, we moved to a secluded gated community in Clearwater, Florida. It was very nice, however it seemed that all the neighbors were still working and seldom around during the days and therefore nobody knew anybody in the neighborhood. We met some nice folks at the local country club; however most of them could only play one day per week or on Saturday because they too had jobs that occupied their time. When you did run into a group of retirees, like over at the local shuffleboard courts, they seemed to be geezers on their way out! We were still young, at least at heart, and wanted to play every day and every night. We finally had the financial ability and free time to do whatever we wanted to do, only needing friends and good weather to do it.

We had been vacationing at our condo in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, known as PV or Vallarta, since 1984 and we knew that the climate in PV was absolutely perfect from November through May, its seven month ?high season?. We had no idea what there was to do in Vallarta other than lay on the beach and drink cervezas or sip on margaritas nor did we know whether or not there were any other Americans or Canadians retiring in Puerto Vallarta. In 1997, we sold the condo and purchased a luxurious new Puerto Vallarta home on the mountainside overlooking Banderas Bay and El Centro, the downtown area of PV. Our plan was to spend six months in Clearwater and six months in Vallarta per year. The first six months of November through April were spent in PV and the second six months of May through October in Clearwater. Perhaps that wasn?t fair because the extreme heat in Florida made that summer miserable, especially after having so much fun during the previous six months in Vallarta. The average daily temperature in PV had been 73?F with virtually no rain the entire period. While in PV that first year, we must have met over fifty nice couples and absolutely none of them had to go to work tomorrow!
Puerto Vallarta real estateOther than a couple of golf courses, one that was playable, the other a cow pasture, a couple of tennis courts, great deep sea fishing, and a couple of small charity related clubs, there really wasn?t a whole lot to do in Vallarta during the gorgeous daytime. The nightlife was somewhat better with parties at someone?s house, condo, or restaurant almost every night. The North American community was relatively small and very open to newcomers. After the first year of splitting time between Florida and Vallarta, we decided to sell the house in Clearwater and travel or cruise during the summer months of June through October and spend the ?high season? in Vallarta.

During the ten years that we?ve lived in PV, things have changed dramatically. Today, the size of the American/Canadian community and the Puerto Vallarta real estate market is difficult to estimate with thousands of new houses and tens of thousands of new condos having been built. The population of our sleepy little Mexican fishing village is now roughly 350,000 inhabitants and we can only guess that there are 50,000 Americans and Canadians here at any given time during the ?high season?. You can be assured that none of them have to go to work tomorrow and that they?re all in search for the same things; they are here to enjoy life and reap the benefits of years of hard work. With perfect weather, the remaining challenge is to find the things to do that are most enjoyable. With good people, time, and money, those things came to Vallarta!

There are now seven magnificent golf courses in Puerto Vallarta with three more either in the planning or construction phase. There are too many tennis courts to begin to count them and of course, deep sea fishing will always be here. There are art classes, dancing classes, computer classes, language classes, and classes for just about anything you ever wanted to learn but never had the time. There are card clubs, fitness clubs, acting clubs, car clubs, writing clubs, and clubs for anything of interest to retirees. Another huge group of organizations in Vallarta has to do with charitable activities; this includes the InternationalFriendship Club, Becas Foundation, Toys for Tots, Feed the Children, Make a Wish Foundation, etc., which most of us are involved with to some extent. There are so many daytime activities now in PV that one can be as busy or as relaxed as he wants to be. The nightlife borders on being ridiculous during the ?high season? with the Malecon, or walkway along the beach, being more active at midnight than it is at noon! There are hundreds of fine restaurants and numerous parties every night. With so much fun available, we?ve learned that in order to survive, sometimes you just have to say no! To pass away the time at home, we all have satellite TV with 350 channels and high speed internet service.

Today in PV we have clean water, clean food, safe living conditions, and modern health care. Most importantly, we have many good friends that are all here to enjoy life doing whatever pleases them under absolutely ideal weather conditions. All of our friends are successful retirees, have good health, and appreciate the perfect climate with an average temperature of 73?F and clear skies. One of the main differences between Clearwater and Vallarta is that in Vallarta, every single American or Canadian that you see is here to enjoy the good life, is open to new friendships, and has the day off tomorrow! Anyone retired or about to retire is really missing the boat if they don?t at least consider Puerto Vallarta as their retirement destination.