Buenavista fracc.

We're new to the area and are considering buying a home in Buenavista.  While it is a gated community we're wondering if it is a safe area to live in.

Rent it and see. Don't buy it.

First, define "safe". Bad things sometimes happen even is gated communities. It's up to you to take common sense precautions.

The only Buena Vista I am familiar with is a village just past Ixtlahuacán on the way to Guadalajara. If your are talking about the village, rent first to see if you are comfortable living that far from gringo stuff. Buenavista the FRACC is probably fairly new. Lots of houses under construction with lots of workers coming and going is not the most desirable situation but again, common sense precautions.

Do you hear the chorus singing "RENT DON'T BUY"?

Even in a good market, it takes a while to sell a house here. One reason: Most transactions are in cash. Loans do not have the kind of terms people from NOB are used to.
Renting in a neighborhood is the most risk free way to find out how well you like it.
Best of luck and welcome!

Muskydriver wrote:We're new to the area and are considering buying a home in Buenavista.  While it is a gated community we're wondering if it is a safe area to live in.

How new to the area are you? I agree you should rent before you buy. If possible do a bunch of short term rents (3 - 6 months) and really mix it up. We rented houses everywhere from El Limon to Chapala, mountain views and lakefront, gated and non gated before we decided to buy. We ended up liking it right in the middle of Ajijic village where we can enjoy all the cultural events, excellent diverse restaurants, etc without needing to drive.

I think the initial examination of this Fracc will show that its an older development that unfortunately did not take off.
I suspect that it hardly takes in enough monies to pay for its basic expenses. Is the water readily available
Check how many late , non paying property owners there are
My observation , not a good investment for buying but maybe it will satisfy you to rent there

There are two communities named Buena Vista, locally. One between GDL and Chapala on highway 23 and one between GDL and Jocotepec on highway 54.

Thanks for all the input. I liked the Buenavista location and the house we considered buying but the fracc is just a bit too far away from Chapala. We went to the big Mexican restaurant one night on highway 23 just north of Buenavista in the dark and I found the glare of the on coming headlights too much to deal with, going and coming back to Chapala. Since we like to dine out quite a bit I couldn't see myself having to drive home to Buenavista after a nice evening out at a restaurant in Ajijic or Chapala.

Regarding crime - I have heard of many break ins lately both residential and commercial. My doctor's office was recently broken into and all his computers stolen. I know of several households in gated communities (Chula Vista included) that have been broken into. My next door neighbor (non gated neighborhood) was recently broken into. In my vast experience of 4 months living here, plan for the worse. I have a Canary (cheap security system) watching my house. I lock up my laptop, passports, etc. whenever I leave the house. I have copies of all my important documents - passport, etc. If someone wants to break in - unless you have armed guards 24/7 - they will get in. Good news - violent crime is low. It is just our stuff that is at risk.

Chula Vista is not a "gated" community.....did you mean Chula Vista Norte?

Your right my mistake on Chula. But the other I heard was gated.

Neal, could you tell us what town your doctor is in? You don't have to name them. Everyone's medical records . . .

Doctor is in west Ajijic - just off the carretera - near Villa Nova.

The homes of my neighbors that are neither walled-in nor with window/door security bars are more often targeted.  You can do this without the appearance of living in a prison.  The Spanish style ironwork here is beautiful and a true deterrent to burglaries.

My second home in Ajijic with the same security measures, the same results..no theft.  

In all honesty, we have been victims of crime in Mexico on three occasions in 12 years.  Once in Dolores de Hildalgo in a Walmart parking lot our car was broken into (Texas plates, go figure).  Two crimes at Lakeside, and both perps were Americans.  Go figure.  American criminals in Mexico are easy.  Just do a criminal background check on the web, print out the rap sheet, and take it to Immigration.  You may have to visit the MP first.

Seems after a burglary, some expats feel a need to install an expensive camera system.  Waste of money unless you can identify the perp from the video playback and you are willing to hunt the perps down to extract justice.  You can take a million videos to the police but no action will be taken.  They have to catch the perp in the act.  

In Mexico, due diligence and personal responsibility are your best friends.  Sort of like the Wild West.  I like that.  It is empowering.

Agree. Excellent post Kiko.

Thanks Neal.

Totally agree Kiko. Every man for himself down here. I like it this way too. Make your house harder to break into than the next one.......

Speaking of breaking IN TO a house. My house is so secure right now, that I can't even break OUT of it. At 11 pm last night, I wanted to let my girls out for their last pee. The door wouldn't open and it wasn't even locked. I worked on it for until 12:30 this morning. At 7 a.m. I passed my keys to my neighbor by climbing a ladder to the roof. He tried for an hour and I finally called JP HomeServices to send a welder out to cut out a section so I can get my damn door open. They are here now but arrived without the cutting machine.
In the meantime, I'm charging admission to see the crazy lady locked in her house.
Story... to be continued.

ferret wrote:Speaking of breaking IN TO a house. My house is so secure right now, that I can't even break OUT of it. At 11 pm last night, I wanted to let my girls out for their last pee. The door wouldn't open and it wasn't even locked. I worked on it for until 12:30 this morning. At 7 a.m. I passed my keys to my neighbor by climbing a ladder to the roof. He tried for an hour and I finally called JP HomeServices to send a welder out to cut out a section so I can get my damn door open. They are here now but arrived without the cutting machine.
In the meantime, I'm charging admission to see the crazy lady locked in her house.
Story... to be continued.

Sorry, but I have to chuckle.
By all means, be sure to post "the rest of the story".

But seriously, I've wondered at the thought process of people who move to another country and don't want to "live behind bars and walls" ... like most everybody else is already doing.

Speaking about odd "security": when we moved into our old Spanish style casa, the front door and the kitchen door both opened onto the same terrazza. The "front" door had a really good double lock on it. The kitchen door opened with a skeleton key. Go figure.

The favorite mode of entry right now is to force the garage or carport door open wide enough to slip through, then if the person door is not double locked, use it to haul stuff out, or slip things through the garage door. Make sure that garage door is secure.

I'm SPRUNG. And my girls finally got to pee. They wouldn't go in the interior patio... even though I peed first to show them that it was OK.
My doors and windows are solid iron and grilled in small squares so it took him quite a while to cut a small section out the safety strip running along the outside edge of the door. Broken piece inside the box so I'll need to buy a whole new locking mechanism. In the meantime, I'll just lock the door with the other deadbolt.
Thieves...come on! I double dog dare ya! Aint' no way, no how that you can break into this house.

ferret wrote:Speaking of breaking IN TO a house. My house is so secure right now, that I can't even break OUT of it. At 11 pm last night, I wanted to let my girls out for their last pee. The door wouldn't open and it wasn't even locked. I worked on it for until 12:30 this morning. At 7 a.m. I passed my keys to my neighbor by climbing a ladder to the roof. He tried for an hour and I finally called JP HomeServices to send a welder out to cut out a section so I can get my damn door open. They are here now but arrived without the cutting machine.
In the meantime, I'm charging admission to see the crazy lady locked in her house.
Story... to be continued.

Sorry, but I have to chuckle.

But seriously, I've wondered at the thought process of people who move to another country and don't want to "live behind bars and walls" ... like most everybody else is already doing.

Speaking about odd "security": when we moved into our old Spanish style casa, the front door and the kitchen door both opened onto the same terrazza. The "front" door had a really good double lock on it. The kitchen door opened with a skeleton key. Go figure.

windrider17 - quite correct. Not to go into great details to assist thieves, but make sure garage door is secure from lateral (side to side) movements - and lock down the panels from moving up and down - and popping out of their hinges.

NealH wrote:windrider17 - quite correct.  Not to go into great details to assist thieves, but make sure garage door is secure from lateral (side to side) movements - and lock down the panels from moving up and down - and popping out of their hinges.

Good on the garage door lock; just be sure to remove padlock before attempting to open door with remote Gets messy.
Not clear on what you mean about locking down the panels from moving up and down....explain, por favor?

I don't have hinges on my garage door. It slides, on a track, across the front of the house.
I think what Neal means is kind of like a deadbolt into a small tube in the ground. That system can be used for regular doors too.
And of course, my two Belgian Malinois are a huge deterrent.

Jaja.......my Chihuahua and Pitbull team work well too. The Chihuahua has ears bigger than his head and can hear a pin drop 2 blocks away. He alerts his buddy who waits at the door in stealth mode.