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Please email me at Mod edit: personal info removed use DM instead
Quote:
Originally Posted by PAUL250268
Hi
I'm from the U.K. and I left Playa about 6 weeks ago. I was there for 2 1/2 years.
It can be expensive to live there. If you want a 2 bedroom apartment in the center of town, mine was on 10th and 10th, it'll cost you around $800/month for the rent. If you are prepared to have a studio 5 blocks from 5th around $300.
The best paid work for a non-Mexican is selling timeshare. Don't knock it until you've tried it. It was great fun, start work at 8.00 and finish at 1.00.
Any questions, fire away.
One last thing, living there is very different from being on vacation.
Paul
Last edited by Travelling fella; 04-23-2009 at 11:57 AM..
Looking for a club or restaurant to lease in Playa del Carmen. Any help would be much appreciated. My email address is Mod edit: personal info removed use DM instead. thank you,Jacob
Last edited by Travelling fella; 04-23-2009 at 11:56 AM..
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,304,764 times
Reputation: 6471
Well I think it's one thing to teach English to Americans and much different to teach English to Mexicans. The OP didn't mention how fluent she was in Spanish.
I agree with the poster about selling timeshares, I think when I eventually move to Cabo, that's what I'm going to do. Pero Mi español tiene un largo camino por recorrer. I had to look that up
Paul - Thanks for your post. I am 32 and am wanting to move there. I have a Masters Degree and am hoping to teach English. I know its not good money, but I dont care. I am at a point in my life where I want to get out and do something cool, and when I come back to CA I will continue my career in counseling. Why do you say it is different living there than visiting? Could you say a little bit more on what the biggest differences are? Ive never actually been there, so going site unseen. Have spent much time on the Pacific coast of Mex though. What is the social scene like? I am looking for 30-somethings. Hoping to find people like me...young, single, actuve - was going to go to the Caribbean but heard it is all way older people or honeymooners. Thoughts on this? Thanks!
Paul is the only one telling the truth. There is NO work there. I left 4 years ago and I cannot be persuaded to believe the place has gotten 'better' in the midst of America's economic crisis. We, afterall, account for 60% of their GNP from our tourism dollars. Like Paul, I was there for 2 1/2 years and did the timeshare gig, which does not always produce the results you'd like. You are competing against alot of Mexicans and English-speaking foreigners who want that buck too, and they can be a mean and nasty lot. And getting that work visa can be a *****.Starting a biz? Yeaah. You and thousands of other foreigners who sank their last dime into Playa and went home, tail between their legs. You must have a Mexican partner and/or marry a Mexican; both have a big price tag attached. I knew a guy who ran an internet cafe on 5th; he'd been there for years, is an American expatriate with a Mexican partner. He lived just above the poverty level because the partner by Mexican law takes the lion's share of profit from the business.
$500 a month to live? Hahaahhahaha! If your turn on your AC for a few hours a night, that'll be your UTILITY BILL! Additionally, you may not find anything close to the main drag, and that is the safest place to live. I payed $450 a month to live on Calle 4, Avenida 15, just a three block walk to the main drag, La Quinta Avenida. The place was a miraculous find in that it was above a dental office and the owners were the dentist and her physician husband. It was tiny, sparsely furnished and NOISY. It had an A/C unit and I found out rather quickly that the kilowatt hour down there is very high. So I stopped using the A/C and had to keep the windows open and smell all the restuarants and hear all the noises. The building also had an epic mouse problem. And this was a NICE building for Playa, owned by professionals. If you move closer to the highway, things get cheaper but less safe. Forget nice furnishings; you'll find saggy or rock hard beds in every furnished place. My recommendation is that unless you have alot of money to supplement any earnings you may make, don't do it. They favor hiring Europeans very strongly over Americans even in the restaurant jobs. I never saw one American waitress. The economy is fragile and shifts like the sand on the beach. The locals really do not like you except when you are spending money there; if you try to make money there you become the enemy. Unless you are 'connected'......and most dreamers moving there are not.....just wishing to escape their present life.
Why don't you just move to Florida keys. Almost the same atmosphere, and you can still find a job to teach english. Plus its as beautiful as Playa Del Carmen.
I was down in Mazatlan for a week in October and talked to several expats living down there successfully. In fact, most of them were living well. Every single one of them was in the timeshare business. They were either a sales men at the actual resort or they were out and about booking people for the timeshare presentations.
My wife and I have considered moving down there along with another couple friend of ours. We are going back to Mazatlan in June to learn more and try to make a decision on if that is what we really want to do.
We looked at the keys but the cost of living down there is outrageous.
Time share? Had my share of their spiel when on my honeymoon in Acapulco ages ago.
Only can be used for two weeks a yr or exchange with someone in Spain or in Europe etc.
Yes...25 other people buying the same unit (space) for only two weeks a yr.
If the time share is so wonderful...why so many RESALES on the mkt? Has to be a catch somewhere.
Steve
If all you got offered was two weeks you were offered a pretty weak package.
A timeshare can be a wonderful thing if you know all the in and outs of it. I think knowledge is key if you dont want to be ripped off.
There are a lot of resales because people dont use them or lack the time to go on vacation, not because they are a rip-off. I am sure there are some packages that are rip-offs but I attended several presentations in Mazatlan and by my calculations, they all would save you several hundred dollars a year if used properly.
My good friends have a timeshare and they can go all over the world several weeks a year. Some places are free to stay and some places they might have to pay a couple hundred bucks for a weeks. Regardless, they save thousands upon thousands by having it.
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