Buying or Renting

[jjayala]

This may seem like a real general question and I know I may get 10 different responses from 10 different people, but I really want to hear everyones prespective on this:

How's the current Real Estate market in PV? Is it trending lower, higher or stagnant?

Last time I was in PV, I saw allot more development than my previous visits. Are there too many properties on that market right now for the current demand? Is it the best time to buy or sit tight, rent and wait for the real bargains to come on the market. Generally, in the States, the general consensus is to sit tight and wait.

Reading the previous posts, there seems to be a handful of Realtors and I would love to hear your prospectives on this.

Thank you all again,

Juan J Ayala
Chicago, IL

[pvtc1]

You may go to one of the many sites that offer MLS. The market sames strong at this time,, now long long it will stay like that I don´t know.. Here is a free site that offers you access to the MLS


http://www.pvtravelclub.com/MLS%20Page%20Vallarta.htm

[kcowan]

Here is a free site that offers you access to the MLS

http://www.pvtravelclub.com/MLS%20Page%20Vallarta.htm

When we bought in November, the MLS free site did give access to all the listings. Our realtor would tell us to go and look at a property and it was not there.

MLS sales are down 30-40% in 2008 from 2007. And 2007 was 10% from 2006.

Try craigslist to get some idea of what is for sale. Realtors use it.

[jjayala]

I agree, the MLS in PV is pretty primitive to what I use back in Chicago. The best one I've been able to find is the one from Prudential:

http://www.prurealtypv.com/puerto-valla ... search.cfm

They have a pretty interactive search and nice map feature for selecting certain areas. From what I can find, there's only about 300 or so properties listed on there, which tells me the large majority of developers and sellers are not fully utilizing this.

I'm a season investor in the States and use county records and MLS data to access a market. How do you guys guage a market over there without being over there in the "trenches", working and seeing the sales?

I'm starting to think that my best option is to just rent and learn the market while I'm there.

[kcowan]

I'm starting to think that my best option is to just rent and learn the market while I'm there.

We rented for five years before buying. It helped us decided which colonia. We also owned a timeshare in Los Tules since 1984 (3 weeks, ground floor oceanfront).

[marcos]

JJ ...

The reason there are no "new construction" properties on the PV MLS is that developers sell only in-house. Buyers can not bring "their agent" into the transaction to represent them.

[kcowan]

JJ ...
The reason there are no "new construction" properties on the PV MLS is that developers sell only in-house. Buyers can not bring "their agent" into the transaction to represent them.

This is also true NOTB. Buyer's agents often have to negotiate any commission on new construction sales and usually take a haircut from their usual %.

AMPI is trying to change that in PV but it will always be at the builders pleasure.