Best Real Estate Agency in Yucatan 2008
If you are living here in Yucatan, chances are one of the first things you did was to buy or rent a home.
While some of us were savvy enough or spoke Spanish well enough to trato directo (deal direct) with the sellers or landlords, many of us spent our initial days here with a helpful real estate agent. So we're pretty sure that almost every reader of Yucatan Living has something to contribute to this poll.
In order for a real estate agency to qualify for this poll, it must list and sell properties in and around the state of Yucatan. And it must also have at least one bilingual employee who can deal competently with English-speaking extranjeros.
Please consider a few other things when voting for the best real estate agency. Naturally, the best agency should hire and employ knowledgeable agents. They should know the territory, the process of buying and selling a house here in the Yucatan and how to get things done in this environment. They should treat customers well, with both patience and respect. They should have integrity (loosely defined as doing what they say they are going to do). They should be pleasant to work with, and after the deal is done, you should feel comfortable recommending them to family and friends.
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Some things we feel are not in the real estate agent's control, especially here in the Yucatan. We believe you can’t judge a real estate agent on how long it takes to buy or sell a house, for instance. Or on whether or not the seller or buyer had integrity. Or on how happy or unhappy you are with the house once you move in. Sometimes, forces of nature (or forces of Mexico) create havoc for the best of professionals.
We open this poll with five real estate agencies that work regularly with extranjeros, but this is certainly not an exhaustive list. New agencies appear on the scene all the time, and we are not the best judges... that's why the Poll is here for our readers to make their favorites known. So please vote (one person - one vote, please) and may the best agency win!
The Nominees Are...
Here in alphabetical order are the initial 2008 nominees for Yucatan Living's Readers Choice Award for Best Real Estate Agency in Yucatan:
Buena Vida Realtors – Run by Rupert Millautz, Buena Vida Realtors is a small agency that prides itself on providing good service.
Casa Blanca Real Estate – Probably the oldest agency that works with English-speaking extranjeros, the agency is run by Jorge Caceres with offices on the corner of Calle 55 and Calle 66.
Mexico International – Founded by Mitch Keenan, the first extranjero to set up a real estate agency in Merida. His team of agents is based out of their offices in the Fiesta Americana building next to the Sanborn’s restaurant.
Real Estate Yucatan – The husband and wife team of Gabriela Isaac and Alec Stephens, and Gabriela's brother Isaac Salim, run this agency. Gabriela and Isaac are Yucatecos and Alec hails from Mexico City, but spent many years working and living in the USA.
Tierra Yucatan – This agency is represented by Jennifer Lytle, her socio, David Palomo and a team of agents. Jen has traveled and lived in Mexico for over 30 years after moving here from San Antonio, Texas. Jennifer’s team works out of their renovated colonial office on Calle 66 in Merida’s centro historico.
Nominate Your Favorite
If you know the name of an agency that deserves to be nominated for the 2008 award, please leave a comment with the name of the company, the agent and the website address. We'll add them to the Poll. Nominations will be accepted until September 1st, giving everyone plenty of time to add their favorite agency. Voting will continue under the very end of 2008, and not a minute sooner!
Reader's Nominations:
Mayan Living - Jim Mann has run this very successful real estate firm for as long as we've been in Merida.
Mayan Realty - A local real estate firm owned by Jorge Mazún.
Bookmark Yucatan Living and come back often to see how your favorite agency is doing. Then, come back again in early 2009 to read about the winners of the 2008 Yucatan Living Readers Choice Awards for Best Real Estate Agency in Yucatan.
Comments
CasiYucateco 16 years ago
1) The dollar is still quite weak compared to the peso. Any "strength in the dollar" talk has to be taken with a grain of salt. The Euro is still strong and there are many European buyers.
2) Yucatan has more police than about any place you could imagine - and more types of police as well. Taxi drivers are fond of saying that every other car has undercover agents in it. Yucatecans never fail to budget for strong security. They love them some tranquilo.
3) "Normal people's heads" are not being chopped off. Drug rivals' are. Regular everyday people don't have much to worry about, regardless of external accounts. There's an easy way to avoid any "violence" - just avoid working for drug traffickers.
4) Violence is such a relative term. Take a city of 1 million people in the USA (I've got one in mind) and the murder rate will be 5 to 10 times that of Merida. The aggravated assault and robbery (mugging) rate will be 10 to 20 times that of Merida. The differences are so enormous that it is laughable.
Anyway, Mexico International and Mitch Keenan are still the best Merida real estate company around. More years in service, more satisfied customers, smoother well-organized closings, consistent results over a long period of time. Can't ask for more than that.
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Suzan A. Griffin 16 years ago
I would like to add my endorsement of Jim Mann of Mayan Living as an outstanding agent. Jim has an uncanny ability to listen and understand the needs /wants of his clients. He quickly demonstrates an understanding of them and is outstanding in meeting their needs. He is willing to show multiple properties and at the same time make the necessary adjustments to maximize the time that clients have available. His attention to details and the comments of his clients make any contact with Jim productive and enjoyable. In addition to his keen sense of understanding, Jim shows his love for Merida as he shows the city and properties to his clients. It is obvious in all our dealings with Jim that he loves the town and people and hopes that you, the prospective buyer, will feel the same, whether you fullfill your dream of making a purchase or not. His enthusiasm shines through in all his dealings with buyers, sellers and other community members. No matter the outcome of your visit, the time spent with Jim Mann will be a highlight of your visit. This experience will leave you with a desire to spend time in Merida as a visitor, a prospective owner or a property owner and member of the community. You can do NO better than working with Jim Mann of Mayan Living.
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Ron & John 16 years ago
We give an enthusiastic vote for Mayan Living. Jim Mann and his team worked diligently to find us our dream vacation home in Merida - showing us over 40 houses in a marathon 1 week time period. Jim, Keo, David and the rest of the Mayan Living team were the best. We never felt as if we were being a bother and, in the end, we ended up with a great house in the best part of Historic Centro at a reasonable price. I would recommend Mayan Living to anyone!
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remthealamo 16 years ago
with regards to Pemex: dont assume that higher oil means they are booking monster profits. Many of these companies hedge their production to lock in profits, but if they hedged too aggressively then higher prices can be a hindrance to the bottom line. Ive no clue as to their hedging strategies, but im just noting this as many think all oil companies are benefiting from higher prices. Yes, most are, but those with poorly managed hedging strategies have paid dearly on the recent parabolic rise in crude and subsequent collapse or retracement.
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remthealamo 16 years ago
I'd love to hear the realty agents weigh in on the gruesome findings in the Yucatan thanks to narcotraficantes. I'm just off the phone with my girlfriend who is a Mexican national and she, along with others, is aghast at the terror going on thru the country. Most are shocked by these events, but I feel it was a matter of time as the chain of violence was creeping closer up from Chetumal and Belize. While many may think the Mexican economy is strong, do not dismiss the ability of these actions to destabilize the state.
I've traded HXM (Homex) quite nicely over the past few years on my pro-mexican thesis as well as Cemex (CX), so i've been a bull on the Mexican economy til now. Granted, Mexico has not fallen prey, directly, to the credit crisis engulfing the U.S. and Europe, but the super cycle in commodities prices has served Mexico well with its plethora of resources. Now that commodities have gotten hammered, however, and demand destruction setting in to some degree, how will Mexico continue to prosper if Pemex struggles with lower price of oil per barrel (yes, i realize we are still historically high at 114 or so) and with Pemex struggling severely with infrastructure? Remember almost 60% of tax revenue for the gov't is from Pemex (Bloomberg source of data).
My friends in Mexico who trade oil for Barclay's Capital say that 60% is a lowball figure. My thesis for areas like Merida which have probably prospered from a strong Euro (are there great numbers of European buyer?) is that a resurgent U.S. economy will buoy heavy expat areas. (yes, i feel the US is in recovery barring some strange externality or 'shoe' that financials may be hiding...the U.S. homebuilders are showing very strong charts with double bottoms while stocks like HXM and GFA (brazilian homebuilder) look like Niagara Falls.) With the US in recovery ahead of the rest of the world (Western Europe showing signs of slippage now and falling euro due to possible rate cuts) and now a strengthening dollar (thanks to lower oil and euro) I felt that an economic slowdown in Mexico via commodities would be lifted by the nascent US recovery (see surprise durable goods number and tick higher in GDP numbers) where buyers would deploy into real estate to take advantage of low rates and depressed prices. But the wild card of beheadings in the Yucatan is a true black swan event or outlier. There was also a shootout on the highway from Merida to Cancun as a result with 3 men captured. With Merida now not free from the national violence I can see buyers getting squeamish. Security, Security, Security trumps location, location, location.
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Jim Griffin 16 years ago
My wife Suzan and I are delighted to nominate Jim Mann of Mayan Living and to recommend him to any and all who are considering the purchase of a home in Merida. As a couple in our 60s, and long-time teachers of Spanish, we have had many experiences over the years with landlords and realtors in Virginia and in Latin America. None has impressed us as has Jim Mann of Mayan Living. He was always gracious as well as business-like, and eager to share with us his love for the city of Merida and its people and culture. During our week-long stay in Merida he arranged for us to see ten homes that met our criteria (and modest budget parameters). Thanks to Jim and his talented assistant Kiyoshi Ortiz we found our dream home-away-from-home in the San Sebastian neighborhood of Merida. We look ever so forward to spending time in our home in Merida and...equally important...to strengthening our friendwhip with Jim Mann who helped us to find it.
Jim Griffin
jegrif@wm.edu
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Tom Bagby 16 years ago
My vote goes to Jim Mann and Mayan Living. Jim spent most of a week showing us houses in Merida. His patience and insight was invaluable in helping us find a house in Centro. After we found our house, he spent another afternoon helping us pick out furniture for the house. I highly recommend Jim and the others at Mayan living.
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Tom Knowles 16 years ago
Our vote goes to Gabriela Isaac, her knowledge on real estate and mexican laws made our deal possible, our vote again for Real Estate Yucatan
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Marla 16 years ago
We worked with several agents looking for a home and there are two we would definitely recommend. Ramona Robsinson of Flamingo Coast Real Estate worked very, very hard to find what we were looking for....not an easy task as hubby and I have very different tastes and wants. Although Ramona was not successful in finding us what we wanted, we would not hesitate to recommend her as a very hard worker and very honest. We plan to use her services in the future when we buy our second home.
The agent that we purchased through was Mauricio Medina of Real Estate Yucatan. We found him to be extremely competent and has looked after us very well, even after the sale. Would definitely recommend him also.
The company we would NOT recommend is Tierra Yucatan. They demanded a fee to view homes, and then did not show up for our pre-arranged appointment even when we knew we had only limited time available to view properties. We reported this to the boss and were totally dissatisfied with her response.
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Bill Carroll 16 years ago
Jim Mann and Kiyoshi at Mayan Living get my vote. They spent several days chauffeuring my family around Merida and beyond on a high speed house shopping trip. We never felt that we were pressured, or that Jim even had any interest of his own in the transaction. Everything was about us getting the house that best fit our requirements. Jim and Kiyo handled last minute negotiations, and Mayan Living is handling the paperwork for us now. I feel that we've made some new friends and expect to work with Jim in the future. No problems, no complaints. This has been handled the way a business deal should be handled. Thanks Jim and Kiyo.
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maria luisa and bill 16 years ago
our votes (can we have two?) go to eric partney at mexico international and alec stevens of realestateyucatan...wonderfully helpful and knowledgeable!
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