New Listing, Tower 1, Playa Royale, Paradise Village

Robert:

This exceptional, newly listed condo is uniquely appealing and breathtakingly located. Instead of awakening out of a tropical dream as you might be doing now, you'll be waking up in a tropical dream. Take your coffee out to the terrace, listen to the waves and the birds, while looking out over the magnificent Paradise Village beach club and to the bay beyond.

This 2 bedroom 2 bath unit is on the ground floor with a huge wrap-around terrace, enabling a private gate with direct access to the gardens, pools and beach. 

Maple cabinets, granite counters, breakfast bar.

Beach club main pool and restaurant.

Condo Peacock is spacious and well-cared for, nicely decorated, and comes with the Paradise Village Country Club Social Membership included in the price. (The Social Membership gives you half price on green fees, discounts on spa treatments and Paradise Village restaurants, and free use of the beach club.)

Golf course club house and spa.

Priced to sell at $479,900 USD turn key. Great livability or rentability!








For more facts and an HD video, click HERE to go to the main web page for this condo.

For more info or to arrange a showing, contact Robert Foster at 322 135 5979 or email robert@rfasoc.com

"...how you made them feel."

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  

Maya Angelou

Two Closings In Two Days

The market is coming back to life. Tuesday morning we closed the sale of Condo Krutulis, in Paradise Village.

This morning (Wednesday), we closed the sale of  Casa Mariposa in La Cruz.

A Stone's Thoreau, cont'd.

Back to Tierra Alta (see previous post). Here are a few more photos. These three were sent by the listing broker.

 

I promised you some price ranges so I'd better deliver. Cross reference the chart below as you would have a Rand McNally printed mileage chart (in the olden days). For example, lot 2 (1829.70 sq meters = 19687 sq ft) ) with either of the two smallest models (the Chalet or the Salado) for a package price of $101,891.

Lot 2 with the Kimball (the model in the photos) would cost $142,891, as indicated in the space where the vertical Kimball column intersects with the horizontal Lot 2 row.

The price includes a simple septic system, but not a leach field. A leach field may not be needed in this porous soil and low density development.

Electric is the Mexican national service, CFE. Water is a private, high producing well, about 33 ft deep.

There will be common areas (the pool, the well and the roads), so there will be a condominium regime and eventually an autonomous HOA. Projected monthly fees are about $70 USD a month, including water.

For more info on this unique project, or to arrange a tour, email or call me, Robert Foster. Our toll free (from Canada or the USA) line is 1 866 210 1324. Or email robert@rfasoc.com

Bukowski says...

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  “An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.”― Charles Bukowski

Tierra Alta - Just A Stone's Thoreau From Vallarta

Robert:

Tierra Alta; that means high ground. And, it's the apropos name of a new development in the mountains south of Vallarta, in the cool pine and deciduous forest, at about 2,000 ft. elevation, just outside the village of El Tuito. I almost bought a house in El Tuito back in 1995. But that's another story.

The development is listed with a very reputable Vallarta agency, and when I received the invitation last week to go up and have a look around, I decided to jump out of my daily work rut, and take them up on it.

I thought this might be an interesting alternative concept to offer to my clients; but I also wanted to see it out of pure nostalgia; the idea of living in the forested mountains an hour from town brought on a fit of self indulgence. Semi-remote mountain living is my kind of ambiente. For years before moving here, I lived in a post and beam Vermont-style colonial at 9100 feet in the Rockies west of Boulder, Colorado, on 3 1/2 heavily forested acres. So this concept appealed to my inner-and-still -kicking  pseudo-intellectual hermit.

I drifted into instant reveries. There would be the deep woods; the bird song in the mornings; the dramatic mountain views! But no Sorel boots! No driveway to plough! No snow to shovel! No frozen septic tank to chip free of ice at 15 below. (This actually happened in my Colorado life.) So Saturday afternoon I boarded the chartered van at Lazaro Cardenas Park, in the Olas Altas part of old Vallarta, and away we went. An hour later, we arrived (Okay, you're right. It would be a long stone's throw. But worth it.)

There are potentially 28 home sites in Tierra Alta; the smallest lot is 1600 sq meters, which is .4 acres. Most lots are a half acre or larger. There are various cabaña floorplans and sizes to choose from. The existing model is the version called The Kimball. All the cabaña options have the warm, rustic, log-home look and feel, although the exterior wood is a specially treated siding which mimics logs.

 The interiors are all finished in warm, natural wood, which, like the exteriors, have been treated to resist fire and insects.

Tomorrow I'll ad some more details to give you an idea of the price ranges for a lot and finished model. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the affordability I think.

Caterpillars and Bears

There's always something here to break the ennui.

This afternoon, when pulling out of the Pemex station near Mega, I looked out the window and right into the very red eyes of this guy:

The Fruit, Not The Phone!

Robert:

It's that time of year again. The guy from the more southerly state of Michoacan is here cruising the streets each afternoon, selling fresas (strawberries) zarzamoras (blackberries) mandarinas (mandarin oranges)  and duraznos (peaches).

I am a sucker for this stuff. I often buy a whole kilo or half kilo of whatever looks most delicious.

Last week, and today again, I bought  a half kilo of zarzamoras (blackberries). They are picture perfect lately; big, fat, none crushed or damaged, and just delicious. Tonight I will eat the whole bag, like a happy pig. Oh, by the way a half kilo is 30 pesos, or about $2.25 USD.  I have no idea what this would sell for in the USA, Canada or Germany Anyone care to clue me in?

Deborah Cruises Yelapa

Robert:

Occasionally we are able to crawl out of the office and actually get to remind ourselves that there is a beach here! And a bay! Yes, it is rare, but it happens.

This weekend Deborah and some friends spent the day cruising around the bay, and made the obligatory pass-by of Yelapa village, near the south west end of the bay.

Here is some of the incriminating evidence:

Looks like fun. Better than shoveling snow, eh amigos?

The Book Thief (La Ladrona de Libros).

The film adaptation of the best selling book is in our local theatres now. You can catch it in English, or in Spanish. I've see it in both languages, and the Spanish dubbing is just superbly done.

This sort of more serious, almost artsy film is not often booked into mainstream Mexican movie theaters. Usually, we get the standard, depressing, action and special effects trash that everyone else gets.

But occasionally, something good comes along. I've been able to see Silver Lining's Playbook, Gravity, Rush, and a few other respectable, intelligently made movies here. 

I found The Book Thief to be lovely, deeply tragic, and yes, wrenchingly sad. I would say it is extremely good...but not quite what I would call a great film. (But then I have dizzyingly high standards, ha ha.)

To me, lovely as it is, there is very little actual internal character arc in the story, with the exception of Liesel's mother Rosa, who is indeed transformed; softened.

The others (Rudy, Hans, Liesel), lovable as they all are, have change forced upon them by momentous external events, but we see no real internal changes, and those are the changes that make characters fascinating and unforgettable.

No doubt I am putting too fine a point on it. Because it is a very good and beautiful film. See it before Cinepolis replaces it with another typical low brow movie filled with gratuitous violence, explosions and car chases.

Just my 2 centavos. 

Take a towel or a bucket. You may find yourself crying more than a little.

P.S. Cinepolis in Pitillal. has the most screenings and largest variety of showtimes.

It is also in Lago Real in Mezcales, but only one late evening showing per day.

Tranquility Break - Planet Earth

Robert:

This is just spectacularly beautiful. It's in 1080 HD, so be sure your YouTube screen settings are in 1080 HD as well, so you see this in all its clarity.