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Building a better Baja is not always that easy. While it may seem cheaper in
some ways down here for construction (labor) there are many costs that add
up and if not careful you can end up with crap for a lot of money. I did!
The amazing thing was that after living here for more than 10 years I knew
about the problems and the rights and responsibilities of construction.
 I
hired what I thought was a friend who is a converted (nationalized Mexican)
"Gringo". I thought he was going to supervise the work of his Mexican
partner only to find in the end
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 specifications
if need be and the finish on the work. The latter I put in because in my
latest job I found there is great latitude in what someone might call a
finished concrete floor.
You need to specify everything for the finish, plastering, tiling, painting, electrical and plumbing.
After this there are two specific things that don't seem to get done properly down here very often. That is YES you NEED a Building Permit and YOU are responsible for the payment of Seguros (workers compensation insurance). Look to future articles here in the BajaInsider.com
for more information on how to obtain these documents BEFORE building and avoid hassles and multas (fines).
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that he washes his hands of it all and says that he was only responsible for
referring him to me. Well that is not what I thought I had done. I thought I
had contracted him. I even have my first receipt filled out and signed by
him on the construction company that he now says is not his.
Although I can prove much of what happened and have all of the receipts (facturas)
and dates I will have to pay for it all, because I believed him when he said
we wouldn't need a contract. You NEED a Contract! There is not much a lawyer
can do with out one, even if you can prove your case with witnesses. Verbal
contracts do not exist or at the very best they are very hard to enforce. If
you listen to the advice I just (l)earned (big lesson) you want a contract
with penalties for being late, over budget, or lack of quality.
This
works for you in two ways, the contractor will be less likely to screw up
knowing that you have a contract and if you need to, it can be enforced much
quicker and easier than without. The other document he recommends is a
Presupuesto )(bid or estimate). You want to be sure the bid contains the
materials and labor for all construction as well as the quality of the
materials, the structural
Continue to
"To Build or Not to Build II"
"To Build or Not to Build III"
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 All of this doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't risk building in Baja. It just means that you do your homework and fill in all the blanks, cross the "T's" and dot the "I's" as you really should do in any country. I will be providing BajaInsider.com
in the future some example contracts and bids that can be used. As in the States, for example, they do have some regular "boilerplate" clauses that can be can be cut and pasted to create a fairly strong contract.
Just remember the more you specify the less left to guess if there is a problem in the future. You may also make use of an Abogado (lawyer) to create these. In the future we will try and recommend reputable lawyers. Of course many of us know that list may not be that long. It is hard to find good lawyers but I have a trick in La Paz that I use. I have found a lawyer who works for the government prosecuting lawyers and she seems to know who the truly good (not always expensive) ones are.
I will continue this series as I learn more through my own saga and report it here in the BajaInsider.com
so you can be the first to learn from my mistakes.
Happy building and please
contacts us
with any BajaInsider.com information you may have concerning the life and
lifestyles of those living in the Baja.
Click here to Visit their website
Or Call:
Baja
California Real Estate & Consulting
Cabo San Lucas • Las
Vegas, NV
(702)-953-8756 or
Cabo San Lucas
624-143-4327
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 If you travel to Mexico by boat and plan to stay longer than four months it is advisable to start the process of Temporary Importation of your
vessel right away. There are several reasons to do this promptly. First, because unlike almost anything else in your travels, it's FREE. It's almost painless and will be required to leave a port if the boat has been in Mexico more than 6 months. There have even been stories of vessels being seized (after some time) for not having been imported.
Temporary Importation allows the vessel to stay in Mexican waters for 10 years. It allows you to bring items to REPAIR the vessel into Mexico without duty. (This can require an advance letter from a boat yard or marina saying a repair is necessary.) The form is available from most marinas or directly from the Aduana office. In La Paz this is located in the Federal Building just south of the Municipal Pier.
Fill out the form carefully, make three copies and take three copy of your
documentation. If you are in a marina most offices will help you process your
forms. After your application is complete it takes about one week to get an
officer from Aduana to come to your boat and check the serial numbers on the
motor and vessel.
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