Is it Safe?

Are LA, NYC, Miami, Dallas or Chicago safe? The answer, as you can imagine, is Yes and No. Clearly, If you go to the right areas, YES and If you go to the wrong areas, NO.

In Mexico, if you travel to boarder towns known for drug violence or the seedy-side of large metropolitan areas the answer is absolutely NO (just like in South Central LA or Chicago’s Westside) but if you visit the hundreds of beautiful beachfront areas and smaller cities dotting the country, the answer is positively YES. Despite dramatic headlines, towns like Playa del Carmen and Tulum located on Mexico’s only Caribbean coast are much safer than many cities in the U.S.

Is the Economy Stable?

It was just recently announced that Mexico’s economy is surging out of the global crisis, recording a 4.3% growth rate in the first quarter of 2010 alone (much faster than the U.S.) which represents a trough-to-peak increase of 10% in just one year. The only other country expected to grow that quickly is Turkey. Mexico can expect similar growth for the entire year according to Moody’s Latin America as the government expects $20 billion in foreign direct investment this year. Mexico is doing quite well. In fact, a Mexican, Carlos Slim, just surpassed Bill Gates as the reigning “Richest Man in the World.”

Many economic communities in Mexico are far outpacing the growth of other countries. For example, Playa del Carmen was named the fastest growing area in the world just a few years ago and Tulum, just to the south, is poised to grow even faster in the next 5 years.


Is my Investment Protected?

Some have heard horror stories about the government coming in and randomly taking over a particular foreigner’s property or investment. There is little denying these stories probably came from actual occurrences in the past but this is simply not the case in Modern Mexico. There is now strictly enforced, federal legislation protecting against such abuses to foreign investors and protecting their investments. 

The new progressive government clearly realizes that foreign investment is critically linked to its very survival and ultimate prosperity. They are doing everything in their power to protect this precious economic lifeblood. The U.S. and Mexico have never been linked more closely and found themselves so dependent on each other’s success. Mexico is the third largest U.S. trading partner after Canada and China and is poised to be first country in the world where investment exceeds $10 billion in financing to support U.S. exports and 70% of Mexico’s foreign investment comes from U.S. companies. 

There are now over 18,000 major American companies currently investing and operating in Mexico including General Motors, Ford Motors, GE, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Xerox, Coca-Cola, Hershey's, Kimberly-Clark(Kleenex), Raytheon, Evenflo and John Deere Tractor just to name a few. Currently over 1 million Americans are investing, buying, building and or retiring in Mexico with many more on the way. 

In places like Playa del Carmen and Tulum, the cost of living is much lower, medical costs cheaper and investment appreciation, exponentially higher. In fact, a growing number of world class business icons and celebrities are quietly investing in Mexico real estate in this privileged part of the Mexican Riviera Maya.