Real Estate – Baja Rental Occupancy Rates Improve

Baja Times – September 2009 – Jose Lopez

Poolside in Todos Santos

As Baja real estate and tourism had declined in the latter part of last year and in the first few months of 2009, we have seen tourist traffic slowly returning to our tourist corridor. “More and more people are starting to rediscover Baja… there are so many charms and amazing people, views, and much more… we are very excited” said Juan Pablo, who supervises the rentals at REMAX.

Confidence is growing as the media is starting to report early beginnings of economical recovery.

Along with this confidence, come a new group of cautious buyers that while still having their “dream hose” in mind, they approach real estate in a very different way than previous years.

Many scenarios we have seen in the current local real estate market is “should I rent before I buy”.
All though in the long-run, most of the time buying is better than renting, this is a smaller risk and gives you the opportunity to feel out the city, the people, areas of interest and the real estate market. Smaller risk and simple!

So, if you are interested in our area, but still undecided if you want to make the big purchase – why not rent before you buy? Or you can also lease-to-own. Many owners are realizing that offering this option gives them an advantage versus “cash out” sales.

There are oceanfront and ocean view properties that you can lease-to-own, where 100% or a good portion of your monthly payments go towards the purchase at the end of the rental lease.

Since the beginning of the year we have seen a huge increase on rentals with about 55% being Mexican nationals and 45% from the United States.

Most are renting ocean front condominiums or homes and the majority is looking for long term (6 months to 1 year). Still vacation rentals were considerably higher this summer versus 2008.

Hotel occupancy is starting to pick up again too. Occupancy percentages for the month of August stood at around 87% on the weekends and 65% on weekdays!

We hope to see you as our neighbor soon!

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