Buying a second home isn’t for the faint of heart. Some might say buying one in a foreign country where you don’t fluently speak the language is even more unhinged, but that somehow didn’t give me pause. Since I first visited five years ago, Mexico City has felt like a home away from home to me, and I couldn’t ignore the gut feeling telling me to someday make that dream a reality.
For years I’ve complained about New York winters, dreaming of an escape hatch — somewhere to flock to when snow flurries start tumbling out of the dull, pantsuit-gray New York sky. I’d been fantasizing specifically about spending winters in Mexico for a long time — how dreamy would it be to abscond to my favorite place the moment the Northeastern daylight hours started waning, to easily explore new Pueblos Mágicos and secret beaches only known by locals on long weekends? Mexico has always been a special place for me. It’s a country where I feel like the most idealized version of myself — relaxed, creative, and energized by the beautiful culture and fantastic people. New York can be exhilarating, but it’s draining. As a creative person, Mexico City recharges me. I feel like the Energizer Bunny — I get my best writing done there, my brain feels like it operates on a different frequency, and I feel more in tune with my own body, mind, and soul.
Although this chapter was heavily inspired by my love of Mexican travel, it was also because I wanted to know what it would feel like to luxuriate, to stay a little longer, to stop feeling like a guest on holiday and instead adapt to a slower, more satisfying routine of being in the present moment. I wanted to be able to explore my favorite country in the world and go deeper into a place that has been so incredibly rewarding to spend time in.
It’s also because my husband and I aren’t comfortable keeping all our eggs in the basket of living in America full-time. We gravitated toward Mexico City over a logistically easier place to buy, like Miami, because we wanted to put down roots somewhere that felt safer and more politically aligned with what we believe in. We wanted somewhere we could raise our son part-time in a beautiful new-to-us culture. We also wanted a challenge, because growth comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. We craved growth and learning.
Everyone I’ve encountered through this process has been so warm, so generous with their city. It’s not lost on me that the reverse isn’t true — that the warm welcome we’ve received here isn’t the welcome extended to people trying to move to America right now. I’m fully aware of that tension — Mexicans are warm, full of love and light, and unbelievably empathetic and understanding — the rest of the world (and especially America) could learn a thing or two. I’m filled to the brim with gratitude that this situation is my reality and that we are able to do this as a family.
I braced myself for the buying process to be the hard part, but in many ways, it wasn’t hard at all — it just looked different than what I was used to. It wasn’t the financial aspect that rattled me the most, it was learning an entirely new language of homeownership. As foreigners, we needed a permit just to be allowed to buy at all and we had to submit an application to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We were required to put down a 10% good-faith deposit the moment our offer was accepted, long before we ever got near closing. In a lot of ways, the process was easier and more streamlined, and in other ways it felt more chaotic. One of the most pleasantly surprising aspects was learning that when you buy a home in Mexico City, it comes with a one-year warranty, compared to the “buyer beware” model we are all used to in the United States — this ended up saving us when our house flooded five times this summer during the rainy season.
From deciding to look at properties to closing, our overall timeline was three months. We got incredibly lucky with our timing. I looked at 15 places and fell in love with the last one I saw. I was the only one to tour the house, we were the only people that submitted an offer, and we ended up getting the house for under asking price because I wrote a letter to the owner explaining how much Mexico City and the house meant to us.
We never came close to walking away, and we never really felt doubt along the way — if anything, every step reaffirmed our decision to make Mexico City a bigger part of our lives. What made it feel the most real and special have been the genuine relationships we built during the search. We bought our home from an extremely talented architect, and over the past six months, we’ve grown very close to him and his wife — partly thanks to my love letter to Mexico City. When we’re in Mexico City, we meet up at Hugo to chat about architecture, design, and life over wine, and when they’re in New York, they visit us in Brooklyn and we catch up over dinner. When our house flooded during the rainy season, he helped us track down where the leak was coming from, covered it under warranty, and even helped us pay the city to clear the street drains when the backup started flowing into our home.
We’ve also become close to our landscaper and just found out he’s also an extremely talented artist, and we can’t wait to support him by hanging his beautiful paintings all over our home. I have built a robust community in Mexico City within five months — it took me years to do the same in New York.
What I’d tell any future buyer:
Plan to budget past the sticker price. Closing costs can run 4 to 8%, and you’re almost entirely responsible as the buyer.
Pay in cash if you can. Financing as a foreigner is possible, but tough.
Find a good realtor that knows the market. If you’re stuck on where to start, I recommend working with an international real estate company—we used Sotheby’s.
Expect a scavenger hunt of paperwork that has nothing to do with the house itself. You’ll have to apostille original birth certificates, facilitate notarized powers of attorney mailed off to get certified, and deal with tax documents translated by a certified translator. None of it is hard, it’s just unfamiliar and inconvenient.
Relationships are everything. This is a process that moves through people: a real estate broker who makes an introduction, a lawyer who picks up the phone, a notary who actually reads every document. Every step of this deal happened for us because someone we trusted recommended and vouched for the next person in line. Don’t be afraid to ask your real estate team for recommendations!
By Bella Darden
Bella’s photos below. To read more of her writing, subscribe to Mindholiday.
And that concludes today’s issue of Mexzine. Want to send us a story idea, suggestion, or introduce yourself? Email us at Brandon@Mexzine.com or Cristina@Mexzine.com.
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