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Baja Real Estate Clues

The ongoing Mexican housing boom has the education business booming

The long-term success of property sales along the Tijuana to Ensenada coast to United States citizens will largely rest on educating California real estate professionals on Mexican laws and procedures coupled with mortgage financing programs available to buyers.

Conferences on the topic, some sponsored by private sector specialists and others by Baja California state agencies, are booming. For instance, the Baja California Secretary of Tourism will hold its second annual Baja California Meeting Point Oct. 18 and 19. Baja's Oceanfront, a consortium of developers and real estate professionals, holds its third exhibition and seminar on buying property in Baja on Oct. 20 and 21. In both cases, participants must travel to Tijuana and/or Rosarito for two or four days of events.

In discussions with UCLA over the phenomenon taking place in the Baja coast 57 developments are aimed at the American market with more than 7,000 residences on sale amounting to in excess of $3 billion and more to come there is a need to discuss both the opportunities and pitfalls with the real estate profession in Southern California.

The success of Baja real estate development and sales to Southern Californians will ultimately provide a substantial economic benefit to San Diego. Baja developers purchase a significant amount of construction products in the United States. And, those who retire in Baja become frequent visitors to the San Diego region. Additionally, the increase of employment in Baja provides ready cross-border buyers in our region.

Sensing a need, UCLA will host a one-day conference on Sept. 14, The Baja Real Estate Boom: Opportunities and Pitfalls. It will open with a 20-minute video that includes aerial photography of the Tijuana, Tecate, Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Rosarito regions with emphasis on the dynamics of the coastal developments existing and under development.

Panelists will include Deloitte's Mauricio Monroy, accounting; Baker McKenzie's Pepe Laroque, real estate law; and Executive Realty's Diane Gibbs, CS Financial’s Justin Mehren and RE/MAX’s Gustavo Torres, buying procedures and financing.

The conference will include an assessment of the impacts of the new master planned communities; the under construction Corredor 2000, which is a highway starting east of the Otay Mesa port-of-entry cutting diagonally through east Tijuana to meet with the coast highway south of Rosarito Beach; and the projected role for retirement housing communities proposed for Tecate. Panelists for this discussion will include Manuel Guevara, who was responsible for the new master plan for the city of Tijuana, along with Hugo Torres, owner of the historic Rosarito Beach Hotel and a real estate developer.

Ernesto Ruffo, former governor of Baja California, will address Current and Future Economic and Political Outlook for Baja California. Ruffo, the former mayor of Ensenada, went on to be the first opposition party governor in Baja California. His victory is credited with starting the downfall of the mighty PRI, which had maintained almost absolute power since 1929. Today Ruffo is the managing director of Grupo Ruffo, the promoter of the mega cargo seaport in Colonet south of the port of Ensenada.

The conference also has exhibition halls. CS Financial, which offers mortgages to American buyers in Mexico, is the marquee exhibitor and donated space to the American title insurance companies and to the AMPI, a nonprofit Realtor organization and primary mover toward bringing professionalism to the real estate selling profession throughout Mexico. Additional spaces have been contracted by various developments and real estate offices such as Las Olas, Executive Realty, RE/MAX, Bajamar Real Estate Services and the Baja Times, leading English language newspaper.

An exhibitor of particular interest is Porto Hussong, a high-end development and marina scheduled to break ground in September just north of the port of Ensenada. The development is interesting not only because it involves one of the most famous Baja California families the Hussong family but because it is tied in with U.S.- based, The Meridian Development Group, which has extensive experience in high-end developments in Mexico. The developer’s fractioning concept is tied to a 250-slip marina to accommodate yachts up to 200 feet in length.

Rosarito Beach Hotel's hotel-condo development also is breaking ground in the near future. The concept is well-known to many investors and occasional use of such services, and deserves further attention. It has great potential but also requires careful consideration for its benefits, risks and tax consequences.

UCLA (uclaextension.edu) has mailed out 34,000 brochures to the greater Los Angeles real estate professionals that include brokers, financiers and investors. The capacity for the conference is 375, and exhibitions are limited to 30.

San Diego-Baja California will be well represented.

Patrick Osio Jr. can be reached at patrick@transbordercommunications.com