How to Find Housing in Central Mexico

In the Colonias or Barrios of Guanajuato, gringos can be found in almost any of them. I am constantly asked how many gringos live in Guanajuato and the answer is, ¿Quién Sabe? No one knows. I saw in the paper the other day a figure of how many of those gringos who are legally registered and the figure for the state of Guanajuato was something like 20,000 total. This figure was obtained from those gringos who have "rentista" visas or "FM3" visas. Whether that figure is correct of not, who knows. Mexico does not keep figures like Americans do and accuracy of those figures that do exist should always be questioned.

There is a kind of urban legend that puts the number of gringos in Guanajuato at 250, give or take 50 persons. Of these few gringos, it seems that some are beginning to congregate in an area known as Marfil. This is NOT a gringo sector or enclave. However, I am getting e-mails from people who "have heard the American Sector in Marfil is..." This is just more urban legend.

Actually what it is, is that a few gringos ended up either buying or renting houses in close to one another and before you know it, someone on the Internet is calling it an American Sector.

Recommended Barrios or Cities

Guanajuato Barrios

San Javier

This is one of the newest and modern barrios in the city. This is obvious from the upper-class homes that you can rent and buy in this colonial. This is also a quiet area where I suspect the residents of "tipping" the police to take extra care in this barrio. The police have a visible foot patrol in this barrio and thus it is low crime.

We have several friends who live in this barrio and have stayed here ourselves. It is quiet, comfortable, clean, and a bit northwest from the main part of the city. You can walk downtown from here but it is far and a vigorous walk. There is not a lot going on for entertainment. Most of the festivals are downtown as well as the theaters.

What San Javier has going for it is there are many of the traditional small neighborhood stores, pharmacies, and small cafes and some restaurants and hotels. If you lived here you could set your guests up at any of the fine hotels that are in this barrio. There is also a new multiscreen movie theater in a small strip mall that is close by. You could walk there from almost anywhere in San Javier.

What San Javier has going against it is that it is pricey. Real Estate prices are high as are the rents. We have American expats friends who are renting a lovely four-bedroom home for about $800.00 usd a month. It is nice but was unfurnished. Most Guanajuato rentals come furnished.

The houses in San Javier are modern Mexican. Most have ample parking spaces for cars, a rarity in the rest of Guanajuato's barrios. They are spacious and you will pay dearly for them in this area. The neighbors seem more upscale-educated-in terms of friendliness and seem easier to get to know.

If what you are accustomed to is upper-middle class homes in the United States then San Javier would be more up your ally. You might, and I stress the "might" part of this statement, find more neighbors who were bilingual here because of their educational level. I wouldn't count on this, but it just might be so.
Puqero

This is the first barrio or colonial in which we lived when we moved to Guanajuato. This area is uber-provincial, and traditional Mexican to the power of infinity and beyond. The houses are old, some were homes that are now cut up into apartments, and most Americans I know would not be caught dead living in this barrio. That's too bad since you can see what traditional Mexico is like living here.

This area is popular with students at the university. Since the Mexican universities do not have dorms, student must find housing in the community. They try to find housing as close as possible to the university and Puquero fills that need. Puquero is right behind the university up the Calzada Guadeupe street making it convenient for students. Some of the houses are run-down looking while others are nice. Some, in fact, are hidden treasures that are old family homes built generations ago and still occupied by subsequent descendants.

You will find one of the largest concentrations of "roof dogs" in Guanajuato in the Puquero barrio. This, of course, makes it extremely noisy. Also, one of the Callejóns leads from Puquero up to the Panoramica and there are several loud partiers who are drunk on the way to the party, at the party, and on the way home from the party, traversing this callejon. The noise level can be deafening and nonstop.

The rents are cheap, though. We rented our first place for less than $300.00 a month with all utilities paid. It was in one of the super nice area of Puquero in a super nice house-one of the few. Most of the gringos were students from America studying at the University of Guanajuato.

Besides it being the Party Barrio, with its noise level reflecting this social status, it is also home of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. This is Mexico's patron saint and each December there is the mother of all parties that will last the first two weeks of December that takes place there. Noise.

Unless you are deaf or want to go deaf early in life, living in Barrio Puquero is the place to live. Otherwise, looking elsewhere is where you want to focus your hunt for rental properties.

Pastita

This barrio is one of the oldest sectors in Guanajuato. It is where my wife and I now live. When you talk to locals in Guanajuato and tell them you are looking at Pastita in which to live you will get all manner of wagging of the head and clicking of the tongue. For some reason, those who do not live in Pastita think and will tell you that they think it is dangerous in this barrio. We were also told that about Barrio Puquero by those who did not live there. Strangely, everyone seems to have some horror story, and it is just a story, about each other's barrios that may or may not be based in fact.

We love living here. It is mostly quiet (for Guanajuato), relatively safe, and a good location in the far eastern part of town. We live on a dead end "Privada." This means "private" street. The houses are middle-class with a few rentals available from a couple at a reasonable price.

Pastita is east of Embajadoras and you can easily walk to downtown-El Jardin-in less than thirty minutes. The buses traverse the Pastita Street making it simple to make connections to every part of the city at large. There are scores of small mom and pop stores for you to shop and of course, there is the gigantic weekend market in Embajadoras for your pleasure. You can get most anything there or find someone who can get it for you.

I've heard so many rumors about Pastita being dangerous that I have to issue the warning. If they are true, you should avoid the baseball stadium late at night and the Pastita Street nearest the Panoramica. There is always such a good police presence there that I cannot imagine much going on with crime. Nevertheless, we've been told stories by reliable sources to avoid walking the streets past midnight to avoid muggings.

Another warning is the street, Privada de los Arquitectos. There is a woman on that street that has built a large real estate empire. She has some nice houses, all with phones, and some with washers and dryers. These are lovely homes that are horribly overpriced.

This lady is charging San Miguel de Allende prices for these rentals. Also, she is crooked as Al Capone. In fact, you could call her the Al Capone of Guanajuato.

She will do all manner of unscrupulous things to you if you dare rent from her. She is not above coming into your house and taking money you might have lying around. She will also wire electric sources into your meter so you end up paying for her private electrical needs. We know this from personal experience. So, avoid this woman like the plague because she is in fact, the plague of Guanajuato.

El Centro

This is going to be the prime spots that just as in San Miguel de Allende, the gringos are going to want to buy up for residential (and business) investments. I was told a few months ago that prices were going to go up so high simply because there is a backlist of gringos waiting to buy it up.

The attraction is that in El Centro is literally The Center. It is where everything is centrally located, where all the events are happening, and people want to live as close as possible to this area. For that reason the locals that do own the property in El Centro will hold out for the highest possible price just as they did in San Miguel de Allende.

I know of gringos who are so adamant about living as close as possible to The Center that they will hold out until something is available and will pay almost anything for these properties. Again, this is what happened to San Miguel de Allende and I am hearing reports of this about to happen in Guanajuato.

The Center, or El Centro, will be where it is the safest, the most patrolled by the police, and where you can access everything located in the center of town. This is what gringos want.

Frankly, the appeal is grossly overrated. The area is the most crowded, the nosiest, and hard to navigate during the festivals. The noise level alone is enough to make me run for the more isolated barrios like Pastita or La Presa. The restaurant prices are higher in El Centro as are the few little local stores strewn throughout the small plazas.

La Presa

I love this area for several reasons. The primary one being, it is quiet-for a Guanajuato barrio. This area used to be the "out of town" or the "outskirts." It was outside the actual city limits where the rich kept their "other homes." You can still see evidence of this in the huge homes that have been converted into government office buildings. They were essentially mansions and are fascinating to look at while trying to imagine what life was like in the days when families lived in them.

I think this area is the quietest in Guanajuato. That, at least, is how my wife and see it. There just isn't a "draw" that brings the masses into this area. Having said that I do have to mention there are certain holidays and festivals where the area nearest the dams (La Presa de la Olla) is crowded. But those are few and far between.

Another advantage of living in the area that it is close to some of the finest restaurants and hotels in Guanajuato. The guidebooks mention these but fail to describe exactly the ambience and charm of the area. We regularly walk from Pastita to a restaurant on the Paseo de la Presa (the street leading to and through the barrio) that is charm and delicious food personified. Also, if I had out-of-town guests I would put them up in one of the fine hotels in the area. There are also some dumpy, "Won't Tell Motels" there that appeal to the backpacking crowd (and others).

All the common guidebooks mention this area in passing. I guess I can understand this to an extent. The exciting stuff in this city is almost all centralized in the El Jardin area. La Presa is the place you want if you want a goodnight's sleep as a tourist or resident. We've lived-in barrios here where parties and festivals went on all nightlong and sometimes even longer. If you don't want that then I would look into this area.

Some of the residential housing for rent is basic to high-class. Even as I write this chapter the prices are beginning to skyrocket due to the fact more and more gringos are coming here seeking out places to live. So, La Caseras (the landladies) are going to charge what the market will bear-and why not?

Guanajuato Cites

Marfil

Marfil is a separate town from Guanajuato. It is about six kilometers from Guanajuato and is easily accessible by cab, bus, or car. I know an American woman who often walks into Guanajuato from her home in Marfil. It was founded in 1556, around the same time as Guanajuato, and although historically significant, is not as popularly known, as is Guanajuato.

The area is somewhat isolated and from some points in the area, you would swear it was sparsely populated. Some of the houses look run down and a bit shanty-like. It is generally safe, quiet, and not a whole lots goes on there. Most of its inhabitants ride the bus into Guanajuato where schools are located and jobs.

Gringos have ended up there accidentally. Though this might the largest infusion of gringos in one area in Guanajuato, I do not believe this was purposely done. It just happened.

I've known gringo expats living there who either love it or despise it. I've been told the locals are standoffish and difficult to get to know. However, I usually hear this from gringos who do not know Spanish that would indeed make it hard for the Mexican neighbors to warm towards you.

Marfil, as is the rest of Guanajuato and most of Central Mexico, is provincial. They do not understand, for example, of why a gringo would pitch a fit just because their German Shepherd dog ran up and chewed on your foot while riding a bike. This happened to a friend of mine. When he confronted the Mexican owner, the man didn't understand my friend's anger at all.

Living in Marfil would be like living in a bedroom community. You will find that you will be going into Guanajuato a lot because there isn't much going on in Marfil. Though I have not lived in this community, I get the impression the gringos who do are looking for a place where they will be left alone.

Dolores Hidalgo

This little town is so sweetly charming that it behooves you to check it out. If you love history then this is the place for you. This little colonial town in Guanajuato is the birthplace of the Mexican nation.

It was here, Dolores Hidalgo where the rebel priest and political insurrectionist, Miguel Hidalgo and co-hort Ignacio Allende, launched the drive toward Mexican Independence from their Spanish invaders and oppressors. It was here that El Grito-the Cry for Freedom-was given on the night of September 15, 1810 from the church that is still standing and available for tourist to visit.

Today, Dolores Hidalgo is known for their fine ceramic shop that produces Talavera ceramics. The city seems to have one central street or, as I term it, Pottery Strip, where tourists come to buy pottery to furnish their homes and offices. It is also known for its delicious ice-cream with the most exotic flavors-even shrimp ice-cream.

The appeal for the potential expat is that this town is hugely untouched by Americanization. Though San Miguel de Allende is close and many from there frequent Dolores Hidaglo on shopping jags, it is still Mexican. I do not see an invading American expat army coming to this town. And the reason is there isn't anything here to support the needs Americans seem to think that have to have when moving to another country. I am afraid that this little town will "catch on" and Americans will set about changing it as they've down San Miguel de Allende, but for now it is genuine Mexican.

The major drawback is that if you decided the buy property here you would have to be, for all practical purposes, Mexican through and through. There is nothing here that is slanted to the English speaking expat. You will have to know Spanish and know it well. Also, the forays we took there to check out the lay of the land, we discovered there is no central place where rental properties are listed. Even in Guanajuato, there is a weekly paper that has rentals. Everyone we asked said that you would have to walk through the streets of Dolores Hidalgo and look for signs, white flags (a very old Mexican tradition-a white flag in the window or hanging from the balcony indicated a rental), or ask. And to do this, you would have to be very fluent in Spanish.

But it is lovely, isolated, and there you can get the truest feeling that you are in a foreign country. It is unlike other cities in Mexico where you are liable to see a Kentucky Fried Chicken staring you in the face or a MacDonald's on the corner. I hate that and in Dolores Hidalgo, you will not see this-yet.