Celebrating One Year in San Miguel

April first, April Fools Day, marked the our one year anniversary of moving to San Miguel. We spent February of 2015 here, and signed a rental lease beginning April One. We flew home filled the Clampett Mobile with as much of our personal belongings as we could, put the rest in storage and drove 3,300 miles to San Miguel de Allende. Dave and Cheryl Leland loaned us their casita for a few days until we could take possession of Umaran #66. The Clampett mobile is a 2001 Mazda Tribute. It has battle scars, but it has only 87,000 miles and runs at 90 mph, hour after hour, across Texas with not a whimper or hesitation.

Because the owner of the Umaran house has the house up for sale, we wanted to make sure we had a house to live in should the new owner want us out, we signed a lease on a new place to live. This time we will be at Huertas #9 and our furniture arrived on March 23rd. This house has a big yard, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge kitchen with a Dutch door to the outside and a living room and dining room with ceilings over sixteen feet tall. We awake to the birds singing and Doves that seem to ask, "What, what's with you?" We have a gardner that comes twice a week to water, prune the bushes and mow the lawn. He is paid 100 pesos a month - $6! Huertas is on the east side of the Jardin and close to La Parada, where we love to dine, and Parque Juarez, a beautiful large park where Bev takes Tai Chi.

Looking back on the year what have we learned?

• We learned that our decision to move here was the right one. We love the sunshine, the warmth of the people here, both Mexicans and expats, the violent thunderstorms and rain that fall in the June through August period that last an hour or so, the restaurants, the sunsets, and the walking.
• We shake our head at the cost of living. Property taxes that are less than one tenth of what we were paying in Portland. Car insurance less than a quarter of Portland-$383 for a year. Dental care, a third or more of the states. I had a root canal and a new crown for about $500. Transportation by taxi 40 to 50 pesos. One hundred pesos is right now about $6. Bus transportation to the grocery store five pesos! Last night the Scherbers and the Landfairs dined at a new restaurant to us named Pork Belly. John and I had BBQed ribs and Kristine and Bev had chicken and Salmon. It not only looked delicious, but didn;t disappoint in the taste department. With tip the bill came to 1,300 pesos or about $76. The amount included a bottle of wine, lemonade and  one carrot cake.
• A short forty-five minute drive to Celaya and we have Home Depot, Sams, and Costco. We may be in Mexico, but at Costco we can get HP printer ink for 145 pesos, sharp cheddar cheese, and the same great Costco hot dogs and strawberry sundae. However, if you love Cheetos, they are not available without bacon flavoring.
• We learned that living on Umaran is a great location, close to the Jardin and my favorite ice cream store,  the barbershop, the chicken man, restaurants, the Saturday market where they have great cinnamon rolls, BUT it is noisy with motorcycles and cars and taxis. It reconfirmed to us that when you first move here, renting is our recommendation. It just takes a while to get a feel for the different Colonias.
• We've learned that friends are easy to make here. Our friends are expats. They seem to be adventurous and eager to impart advice to make the transition easier. Every week I learn something new.
• We've learned that this is not the U.S. You need to be flexible and accepting. Those who aren't like a river, have trouble here and tend to complain. Why can't these people,yada, yada, yada.
• I learned that if you want to reinvent yourself, Mexico is the place. I want to be a writer, not just a freelance writer, but a teller of stories either as a novelist or a short story writer. I joined a writer's group. There are six of us. Each is trying to be a better craftsman and each of us trust the feedback we get about our weekly submissions. 

Do we miss the United States?

My first answer is no. Then I think of our friends, my family and Bev's family and we do miss them, but not much about the U.S. do we miss. Someone asked me, "Don't you miss the freedoms in the U.S.?" I thought does he think we don't have freedoms down here? I don't miss the feeling that the U.S. is a big target for all the loonies around the world. Someone said that envy is a big reason for the target on the U.S. I think it's also that the U.S. meddles in the affairs of every country on the planet. I don't miss the feeling of being a target.

There seems to be groups of expats. There are the expats involved in writing or painting or some form of creative arts. Then there are the golfers, the drinkers, the snowbirds who spend a month to six months here every year, the permanent residents divided into the renters and owners.Women seem to outnumber men about eight to one. They complain that all the good men are taken. 

Sometimes the little things get frustrating. If you get a parking ticket the police take your license plate. In order to get in back, you can;t just send a check, you must go into the police station. We made an appointment to have cable installed in the new house. They said they would be here after 12:00, but Monday was a holiday. So they came on Tuesday close to 5:30.

I find myself saying no entiendo, I don't understand, a lot to Mexicans. Try to explain to a Mexican woman who doesn't speak English that you are there to pick up the cable box and she's trying to explain you don't need one. You just reconfigure your TV. It's frustrating to be sitting in a dental chair hearing the dentist and assistant converse with no idea what they are saying. It's isolating. I learn a little each day, but I only catch a word or two. If I lived in another city with fewer expats, I would need to learn Spanish faster to lose that isolated feeling.

The common question we get when we've visited the U.S. is, "What do you do all day." We say the same things we did when we were living in the U.S. Except we are warm. We don't lay on the beach all day because we are six to eight hours away from the beach cities. For me I spend a lot of time writing, trolling the internet, emailing, and reading. We walk almost everywhere and that means one to two miles a day walking. For Bev that means three to five miles walking a day.

American retirees flock to Mexican shore in Baja looking for living and financial ease

Despite what many Americans may believe about the dangers of Mexico, there are a few “brave” souls who would argue that the Mexico they know is not only safe, but safer than the U.S., and has maintained the core values America lost years ago.

Thousands of Americans annually retire to various Mexican cities, making up a good chunk of the estimated 1 million U.S. citizens that call Mexico home.

Pam Salzman and her husband Brian retired 12 years ago. They say they were vacationing in Mexico so much that at one point they decided to try living there full-time and see how it felt.

In 2013 the Salzmans sold their house in Alpine, a rural neighborhood in the San Diego County of California, and promptly plunked down $500k in cash for a 3,700 square foot oceanfront property and never looked back.

Read more at FoxNews Latino

Mexpatriate — in the key of Steve

Steve Cotton, Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico, has written a piece on his blog about driving through the "Oregon Badlands Wilderness east of Bend. The "wilderness" designation is new. 2009, to be exact." Interesting article about the geology of the area est of Bend. I've beeb reading about Steve's adventures for years.

Vonage Introduces the Mexico Freedom Plan

Vonage, a leading provider of communications services for consumers and businesses, has launched the Mexico Freedom plan, providing flexible, easy and affordable communications between the U.S. and Mexico. The Mexico Freedom plan is the only residential calling plan offering unlimited1 calling both to and from Mexico for both landlines and mobile phones, and is available for $29.99 per month (plus taxes and fees) with a one-year agreement.

Staying in touch over the phone can be cost prohibitive for many with friends and family in Mexico. Since the cost of calls from Mexico to the U.S. can be expensive, the burden often falls to those living in the U.S. to call Mexico. The Mexico Freedom plan not only provides unlimited1 calling to address the increasing need and desire to call mobile phones throughout Mexico, it also offers Local Access Numbers in Mexico. Local Access Numbers are phone numbers in Mexico that friends and family can call to reach a Vonage customer, giving them the freedom to call a Vonage customer in U.S. for the price of a local call. taxes and fees) with a one-year agreement.

"We know that a big hurdle for those trying to stay in touch with friends and family in Mexico is the cost to call both to and from the country," said Vanessa Rodriguez, Director, Multicultural Marketing, Vonage. "The new Mexico Freedom plan breaks down these barriers by giving both those in the U.S. the flexibility to call Mexico easily and affordably while at the same time enabling family in Mexico to call Vonage customers in the U.S. for the price of a local call with our Local Access Numbers." taxes and fees) with a one-year agreement.

Customers can also use their home phone plan to make and receive calls on their iPhone® or Android™ smartphones2 anywhere there is a Wi-Fi or data3 connection with the Vonage® Extensions® App. Once installed, calls to a customer's home number will ring on the linked smartphones, ensuring customers never miss a call, can keep their mobile numbers private and can make low-cost international calls from virtually anywhere. With Wi-Fi calling, customers can use Vonage service on mobiles in areas with poor cellular coverage, including their homes. taxes and fees) with a one-year agreement.

In addition to unlimited1 calls to Mexico, the Vonage Mexico Freedom plan provides unlimited1 calling throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more here. taxes and fees) with a one-year agreement.

"The Vonage Mexico Freedom plan provides customers with an inclusive calling experience, with the ability to make and receive calls from their smartphones using their home calling plan and providing local access numbers for friends and family in Mexico to call them in the U.S. for the cost of a local call. No other home phone service provider offers this level of versatility, convenience and value," Rodriguez said. taxes and fees) with a one-year agreement.

1Reasonable Use Policy applies. 2 Up to two mobile phones per line can be linked. 3 Data rates apply.

Vonage residential service (www.vonage.com) for individuals and families, and Vonage Business Solutions service (www.vonagebusiness.com) for small and medium businesses, run over the top of a customer's existing broadband connection. Through Telesphere (www.telesphere.com), Vonage offers service with carrier-grade performance over a private national MPLS broadband network, which is especially well suited to address the needs of larger businesses with multiple offices that require higher service level agreements (SLAs).

Javier Berrera Is An Artist in Brass

Tonight we ate dinner with Gary and Sue at Reconsita in San Antonio area of San Miguel. On the way back we walked by a small garage owned by a plumber Javier Berrera and his friend Marcos, What we saw amazed us all. Javier had spent three years making a scale model of the Perroquoia in brass.

Marcos and Javier in the red shirt

Parroquia San Miguel

Compare Javier's version to the photo of the real Parroquia.

We saw that Javier had also completed the statue in the square in Deloros Hidalgo.

Javier's current project is a scale model of the San Antonio Church

Look at the  detail and soon he will attach the brass pews.

Finally, for those of you who watch the Jardin from the web cam, the camera is mountred on the roof of La Terraza:

If you are in San Miguel, visit his garage on the corner of 28 de Abril and Pila Seca

Casa Sundance Umaran #66

We did it. We signed a year lease on a rental in the heart of San Miguel, We move in on April 1st just before what will be a memorable Easter. It is a 2 1/2 bedroom, 2 bath home, furnished with lots of original art on the walls. It has two or three terraces to sit in the sun and entertain. We think it will be perfect for the two of us and any guests who venture south of the border. We thought we had a place before, but it turned out to be just a little small.

Here's a link to pictures of our new home for the next year: http://www.sanmiguelrentals.com/sundance.html

Three More Days

More packing today, more giving stuff away. Just three more days in the house: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Fly out to San Miguel on Saturday morning for a month.

We talked to a rental agent in SMA and may have found a two bedroom-two bath multi-level casita for $700 a month near the Jardin. It's cute, Mexican motif, and needing some TLC.

There's nervousness and excitement. Will we like it there? We've burned our bridge here by selling the house. Whoa Mama! We are really going to do this!

Trying to Beat the Winter Blues, More Americans Moving to Latin America

Cotacachi Volcano Ecuador

"The warmer weather. The beaches. The lower cost of living. The many options for health care coverage. And the proximity to the United States.

"Those are among the top reasons that Americans increasingly are looking south of the border to retire, or for those not yet ready to comb gray hair, to start a new mid-life chapter. They are particularly appealing during the winter months, when large swaths of the country are dealing with nasty snow storms and sub-zero temperatures, so says Elizabeth Llorente at elizabeth.llorente@foxnewslatino.com or https://twitter.com/Liz_Llorente

Everyday Life In Mazatlan by a Happy ExPat

I was wowed when I first visited Mazatlan. My friend Darryl printed up T-shirts that said, "I've fallen in love with Mazatlan." Here's Dave who comments on living in Mazatlan from Retire Abroad! MEXICO:

Hola Barbie,

I have been living in Mazatlan for about 8 months now and I am living in Playa Sur in el centro. The city is very beautiful and has much to offer an American retiree.

The delicious fresh fruit and vegetables at very inexpensive prices are a bonus. I often shop at Fruiteria Emma in the Juarez colonia for amazing prices.

Difficult for me are the lack of some common American foods (grits). As many different ways as they have here for elota (corn) they do not have grits. A giant Sams club and a new Costco across the street from Sams will have many gourmet products and some American foods.

I use satellite radio (Sirius) for stock market, news, sports and NPR. The signal is excellent here. They will merge with XM radio in the next few months for even more options. I brought with me nearly 300 DVDS of US movies as the Mexico DVDS are area 4 (not compatable with US area 1 DVD players).

The local newspaper “Noroeste” is excellent at 8 pesos a copy, but you need to be able to read Mexican. I say Mexican because it is not Spanish. It uses Aztec words like cacahuate (peanut) guajalote (turkey) elote (corn) ejote (green beans) Guadalupe (lupita) achote (savory sauce) guajillo, molcalete, etc. Also the level of slang words is huge and only the locals understand the slang.

Voy a casarme con Angelica en Noviembre en Club Nautica, cerca del Faro (Translated: I will be marrying Angelica in November at Club Nautica by the lighthouse).

Buena suerte amiga!

Sincerely, Dave

The Conversation: Arielle Thomas Newman’s Big Adventure in Mexico

Cindy Hoedel of THE KANSAS CITY STAR writes about Arielle Thomas Newman of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, who is owner of Yoga By the Sea, morethanyoga.com. Newman, a longtime Kansas City choreographer, dance critic and yoga instructor, moved to Playa Del Carmen with her husband in 2001 and opened a studio where she offers classes and teacher certification. This conversation took place at Port Fonda when Newman was back in Kansas City to give a workshop, which she does a few times a year.

Your life sounds like a fantasy: Pack it up and move to a tropical beach. Why did you decide to live in Playa Del Carmen?

I had a friend who was a travel agent and she had a connection in Akumal, a little beach town south of Playa Del Carmen, and we would go there. At one point, I realized that I had made three separate one-week trips there in one year, and I don’t go anywhere that often. So I thought: Huh, that’s interesting.

Then my husband had an opportunity to sell his part of a family business and do something else, and I said, “Let’s check out Mexico, where I’ve been going.” It was a big and bold move.

What was house hunting like down there?

It was crazy. We had one weekend to find a place. We rented a VW Beetle and loaded our suitcases in that and we ran across a guy who was a real estate agent who spoke English. It was a Saturday and his office closed midday so we had to find something in one morning.

Our criteria was, you had to be able to see the sea. The first place we had, if you went up one story to the rooftop and peeked over the trees, you could see that strip of azul blue of the Caribbean.

For the past 10 years we’ve rented an apartment a block and a half from the sea.

What is your business like?

I have a yoga studio on the roof of a boutique hotel three blocks from the sea. You can see the ocean, the palm trees and all of Playa Del Carmen.

I have local clients, mostly ex-pats who live there full time and snowbirds, and also tourists who find me through my website. I can teach in Spanish and English.

Besides the weather, what is different about living there as opposed to Kansas City?

Time moves more slowly. I learned that “ahorita,” which the dictionary says means “right now,” really means “maybe tomorrow or maybe next week when I want to do it.”

You have to pay all your bills in cash. So you go to the electric company to pay your electric bill and the phone company to pay your phone bill. And you have to go to the bank to pay your rent. There are quaint and lovely aspects to that.

Why were you not afraid to make such a radical change in your life?

I was afraid. But I did it anyway.

I call myself a reluctant adventurer. I have these big adventures, but somewhat reluctantly because I carry some fear around with me while I’m doing it. I’m a worrier and a warrior. But the rewards are there.

To reach Cindy Hoedel, call 816-234-4304 or send email to choedel@kcstar.com. Follow her oninstagram.com/cindyhoedel, Twitter @CindyHoedel, and at facebook.com/cindy.hoedel.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/living/star-magazine/article5231697.html#storylink=cpy

Puerto Vallarta - January 2, 2015

In a growing trend over the last several years, Puerto Vallarta is once again named as a top retirement destination by a travel magazine.

International Living’s list of best places to retire in 2015 says Puerto Vallarta’s expat community makes for an easy transition into international living while also offering real estate deals much lower than what you would find in the United States.

In May, CNN featured a story on expats living in Puerto Vallarta, estimated to be over 40,000 around the bay and over one million nationwide. That was shortly after US News and World Report named Puerto Vallarta as a top retirement haven for expats which they titled “an affordable and sophisticated haven for expats”.

Peddicord’s retirement index, a group that ranks the affordability and overall quality of life for retirees, named Puerto Vallarta among the best international destinations for retiring on a budget and high marks for quality of life.

With tourism on the rise in Puerto Vallarta and closing out one of its best years in 2014, more people are taking notice of Puerto Vallarta as more than just a place to visit.

International Living ranked Puerto Vallarta just below Ecuador and Panama which offer slightly lower cost of living due to smaller nation economies.

Puerto Vallarta offers a vibrant expat community and organizations that can help people interested in retiring to the area. Expats in Vallarta is an excellent source of information and also a great way to meet people in the expat community while in Puerto Vallarta.

Sayulita, Mexico

A beautiful morning in Sayulita, captured just before sunrise.

Is the U.S. Burning? Well Is It?

Over two years ago I asked if the U.S. is Burning? Here's another reason Mexico is calling. In this piece from the latest Gartman newsletter, Dennis cites historians, Will and Ariel Durant, on the decline of the Roman Empire.

Rome had its socialist interlude under Diocletian. Faced with increasing poverty and restlessness among the masses, and with the imminent danger of barbarian invasion, he issued in A.D. 3 an edictum de pretiis, which denounced monopolists for keeping goods from the market to raise prices, and set maximum prices and wages for all important articles and services. Extensive public works were undertaken to put the unemployed to work, and food was distributed gratis, or at reduced prices, to the poor. The government – which already owned most mines, quarries, and salt deposits – brought nearly all major industries and guilds under detailed control. “In every large town,” we are told, “the state became a powerful employer, standing head and shoulders above the private industrialists, who were in any case crushed by taxation.” When businessmen predicted ruin, Diocletian explained that the barbarians were at the gate, and that individual liberty had to be shelved until collective liberty could be made secure. The socialism of Diocletian was a war economy, made possible by fear of foreign attack. Other factors equal, internal liberty varies inversely with external danger.

The task of controlling men in economic detail proved too much for Diocletian's expanding, expensive, and corrupt bureaucracy. To support this officialdom – the army, the courts, public works, and the dole – taxation rose to such heights that people lost the incentive to work or earn, and an erosive contest began between lawyers finding devices to evade taxes and lawyers formulating laws to prevent evasion. Thousands of Romans, to escape the tax gatherer, fled over the frontiers to seek refuge among the barbarians. Seeking to check this elusive mobility and to facilitate regulation and taxation, the government issued decrees binding the peasant to his field and the worker to his shop until all their debts and taxes had been paid. In this and other ways medieval serfdom began.

Sound familiar? The U.S. is following the same path and the outcome will be the same as Rome's. I think a prudent man would take his family out of harm's way.

We are farther down the path. We are just waiting for an excuse: "...the barbarians were at the gate, and that individual liberty had to be shelved until collective liberty could be made secure."

Then there is the Princeton Study: A new study from Princeton spells bad news for American democracy—namely, that it no longer exists.

Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield most power.

How to Buy a Retirement Home in Mexico

From US News and Kathleen Peddicord Dec. 23, 2014 | 9:15 a.m. EST

The largest number of Americans living outside the United States is in Mexico. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City estimates that more than 1 million Americans live in the country either full or part time.

The U.S. Census Bureau forecasts a doubling of the nation's 65-and-older population, which will grow from 43.1 million in 2012 to an expected 83.7 million by 2050. It is reasonable to expect that many of these retirees will also be attracted to Mexico, for the same reasons the million Americans already in Mexico made that choice. Mexico offers a warm climate, proximity to the United States and an affordable cost of living.

On the list of destinations in Mexico that get American retiree attention, San Miguel de Allende, with its colonial charm, great weather and international flavor, is near the top. The expat community in this colonial city is more than 15 percent of the total population, and, like the expat retiree population of the country as a whole, is likely to increase substantially over the coming decade.

San Miguel also enjoys a lot of attention from within Mexico. This country’s economy has grown at a consistent pace over the past few years, making it possible for more Mexicans to afford second homes. President Enrique Peña Nieto has been successful at implementing political and economic reforms, instilling confidence that more good times lie ahead.

San Miguel is located in the "cradle of independence" in the state of Guanajuato, a part of the country where many Mexicans feel strong cultural and historical ties. Also, many Mexicans who have spent their career living and working in the United States are returning to their native Mexico for their retirement years.

In the years leading up to 2008, real estate activity in San Miguel was frenetic and property values were on a tear. However, prices and sales fell with the post-2008 disappearance of North American buyers.

Today, the real estate market has stabilized, and values are again beginning to move up, due to the influx of Mexican buyers, increased purchasing by Canadians and the return of U.S. buyers, thanks to the improved U.S. economy.

For all these reasons, the property market in San Miguel de Allende is among the most interesting worldwide. However, it is not among the world’s most affordable places. This market qualifies more as luxury than bargain, with many properties priced over the $500,000 mark. Two and three decades ago, 300-year-old homes in the Centro neighborhood were plentiful and cheap. Today these properties are priced in the millions. The best deals are the fixer-uppers. These come at below-market value, and, if remodeled well, can see big jumps in value.

For example, on the market right now is a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home in the heart of the downtown Centro neighborhood. The asking price is $495,000, due to the location. If you were to invest $60,000 to $75,000 in a remodel of this property, adding a master suite, for example, it could become worth $1 million.

San Miguel de Allende’s rental market is active, and you have good options for property management. Both snowbirds and income investors can buy with the intention of renting out their properties either short or long term to enjoy steady rental income. One good location for this kind of purchase is the popular San Antonio neighborhood. This is a walkable, friendly neighborhood with bakeries, shops, restaurants and cafes. Values in this neighborhood are well below those in Centro. You could buy a one-bedroom, one-bath condo in this part of the city, only three blocks from the main square, for less than $200,000.

Most real estate transactions in San Miguel are cash purchases. While it is possible for a foreign buyer to finance a purchase through a Mexican bank, the terms are very different from those American buyers are accustomed to.

It can be difficult to get reliable information on the property purchase process in this country. Foreigners can legally own property in Mexico. However, you have different options for how to take title to property you buy in this country depending on the location (within a certain distance from the coast, for example), intended use and whether financing is involved.

A foreigner purchasing in San Miguel de Allende can hold fee-simple title in his or her own name, or you could take title through a Mexican trust. This can be advisable when financing is involved or when purchasing through an individual retirement account or 401(k).

If buying for business or commercial use, you could establish a Mexican corporation, and then purchase your property through that corporation. However, this option is not allowed when purchasing property for use as a personal residence.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.

Moving to Mexico

From the Expat Blog comes this advice:
When it comes to moving large volumes or covering long distances, in Mexico it is recommended to leave it up to the expertise of professional movers who will take charge of the removal process.


Some tips to prepare your move: 


Start your moving preparation 3 months in advance
You may have to obtain visas, work permits, vaccination, or cancel services which require a notice period.

Make a list of all you need to do. 
Being well-organized will help the move go more smoothly.

Sort through your belongings 
Choose which goods you would like to bring along to Mexico and which ones you prefer to leave behind either with a friend or in a storage unit.

Seek advice: 
it might cost less to buy goods in Mexico instead of bringing over your belongings.

Choose the right moving company 
Finding a good moving company is essential to any expatriation project. Independent regulatory bodies like FIDI will help you find reliable moving companies. Internal quality processes, specialized packing materials and a large network will guarantee high standard of quality and service.

Prevent the risk of breakage
Since zero risk does not exist, material damage insurance is highly recommended.

Sold the House. Now What?

Sold the house. So we have a few questions:

1. Did you ship furniture and possessions to SMA?

2. How about mail service?

3. We will be getting iPhone 6s soon. What do we need to do to avoid roaming?

4. After we get back to PDX, we will drive to SMA. Where would you enter Mexico and how long will it take to drive? I assume you don't drive at night.

5. We will be looking for place to live near Centro. What area do you like and can we find a cool two bedroom for $1,000 per month or so?

Packing To Move

We have completed all the tasks necessary for the photo people to come today and take pictures inside for the advertising. Then tomorrow the realtors do their walk through. Just two weeks and two days before Christmas. Will they like the house enough? Will buyers show up?

Mexico is calling! Moving there is exciting, but still a lot of work to do to move out after the sale.

Do People Buy Houses This Close to Christmas?

Do people buy houses this close to Christmas? We are about to find out. We have been told, "Yes they do!" Some people love to shop in December for a major purchase. That’s why you see TV car ads showing big red Christmas bows on expensive autos bought by romantic husbands hoping to surprise their wives with the best Christmas present ever. There’s no need to wait until after New Years or even spring if you are not in need to sell quickly.

Here are some things you can do to make your home more appealing during December and get that house sold by Christmas. These are some of the things we are doing:

1.    Be agile! You want to be ready at the drop of a hat to show your home to potential buyers. That means any holiday parties may be out so you don’t have to worry about post-party cleanup. Just say to friends and family that you are trying to sell your house. “Why not celebrate at your house?”

2.    Put up your decorations, if you want, but stay on the conservative side. You don’t want so many lights that the house can be seen from space. Potential buyers will experience a warm feeling with some decorations. You want them to get excited about spending holidays in their house. A huge Christmas tree could be wrong if it makes your house to appear small.

3.    Get the price right, maybe just a little under the market. The last thing you want is the house to sit on the market which could lead to a price reduction.

4.    Make sure to hire a knowledgeable agent who knows the area your house is in. Buyers like to know what the schools are like and how close; how close is shopping, parks and access to the freeway, etc.

5.    If you are looking to sell your home quickly and are not sure you have the time to look for an agent and prepare your home to be ready to show buyers you may want to consider an all cash offer. A reputable cash home buyer will offer you an all cash offer for your home as is. You can have your home sold before Christmas and close shortly after in some cases you may even be able to close before Christmas.

Our house goes on the market Monday for $449,000. Patsy McKelligon of (W)here Inc. is our realtor. Next stop Mexico!

Obama Watch: FATCA on Tour

By Donald Grove, Contributing Editor, The Casey Report 

Implementation of the infamous Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) got underway in earnest on July 1, 2014. A cacophony of protests and warnings could be heard as that date approached, and it has only grown louder as more and more people realize how startlingly draconian and wrongheaded this legislation is.

Even if one believes that the real objective behind FATCA is, as professed, to snag wealthy overseas tax cheats, it isn’t hard to see that the collateral damage far exceeds any conceivable benefit. Any additional tax revenue will be dwarfed by compliance costs, lost foreign investment, overseas financial institutions refusing to do business with Americans, and the alarming specter of more and more Americans renouncing their citizenship.

Road Trip

Jim Bopp, a serially successful Supreme Court litigator, and Mike Lee, Republican Senator from Utah, have taken their battle against FATCA on the road. Mike Lee is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who stepped onto the national stage with his rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address in January this year. Senator Lee will explain how FATCA can be attacked legislatively.

As I write, they are in Paris addressing attendees of an event sponsored by the Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO) and Republicans Overseas. Additional stops are planned for London, Frankfort, Geneva, and Luxembourg. The tour may even extend to Asia.

Jim Bopp is preparing to challenge the constitutionality of FATCA in the Supreme Court and will be lining up plaintiffs for that court case during this tour. The AARO told its members that the pair will discuss the court challenge and explain why FATCA is “an invasion of privacy, an overstepping of authority on the part of the Treasury Department, and a tool for ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’” Their tour will build support for FATCA reform among 7.6 million Americans who live and work overseas but mostly do not vote in US elections. Organizers hope to register and get ballots to this huge block of voters—equivalent to the 13th-largest state.

Unwilling Participants

It’s easy to understand why foreign banks are closing Americans’ accounts and refusing to open new ones: FATCA basically turns them into snitches for the IRS. Overseas Americans are treated like tax evaders—guilty until proven innocent. Foreign financial institutions (FFIs) are required to perform “due diligence” on “suspicious” customers, including flagging those who open accounts using foreign passports but are US citizens or permanent residents of the US. Banks that are not sufficiently attentive or fail to report suspicious customers risk being deemed “negligent” by the IRS and may be sanctioned.

The US Treasury Department seems quite proud of the fact that foreign banks are complying with FATCA. That compliance is not willing, however. The banks really have no choice. US correspondent banks in New York have been told not to provide correspondent services to foreign banks that don’t comply with FATCA. To tighten the noose, US banks have also been told not to do business with any foreign banks that assist banks that are not compliant. Thus, a compliant FFI that assists a noncompliant FFI is shunned by US correspondent banks on which it relies to process its own payments.

Closing the Gates

The poor, if they want to slip away from the clutches of the US before becoming wealthy, have a relatively easy time of it. It is not as easy for the wealthy to escape. The IRS imposes a tax on unrealized capital gains of both citizens renouncing their citizenship and of noncitizen green card holders who have been allowed to live and work in the US. Under Internal Revenue Code § 877A, the property of “covered expatriates” is taxed at 15% on a mark-to-market basis on the day before expatriation.

Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) have more than once tried to enact the Ex-PATRIOT Act (Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy). Their bill would have doubled the tax on Americans leaving the US for tax reasons to 30%. These efforts to keep money from leaving our shores are reminiscent of exit taxes imposed on Jews leaving Nazi Germany in the 1930s and by Rhodesia in the 1970s. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, suggested that Schumer “probably just plagiarized it and translated it from the original German.”

Since 1996 American citizens who renounced their citizenship to avoid taxes could be denied a visa to return to the US. The Ex-PATRIOT Act would have replaced that 1996 Reed Amendment with its own provision denying admission to “specified expatriates” and shifting jurisdiction from the Attorney General to Treasury and Homeland Security.

In 2012, in response to Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin renouncing his citizenship, Senator Casey warned that: “We simply cannot allow the ultra-wealthy to write their own rules.” Today many of those renouncing their citizenship aren’t the ultra-wealthy evading taxes. Many are overseas Americans who find that they can’t do business with FFIs, are not free to make their preferred investments, are hopelessly overburdened by trying to comply with incomprehensible and complex regulations, and are genuinely afraid of the severe consequences if they make a compliance mistake. Yet Bruce Ash, chairman of Republican Overseas Action Inc., concluded that the Obama administration “is building a virtual Berlin Wall to keep overseas Americans from renouncing their citizenship.”

The Obama administration’s response has been to increase the fee imposed by the State Department on those renouncing citizenship by 422% from $450 to $2,350.

Just Junk

The date to list the house is December 1st and we are busy touching up baseboards and doors, kitchen woodwork, deciding what furniture stays for the open house and what we move to storage. When we come back from Mexico and have committed to an apartment, we will decide what specific furniture will be moved to Mexico.

It still looks like a formidable undertaking, however we don't have to move yet, until we actually sell the house. I can tell you right now that we all have too much stuff. Too many books. Too many papers in the office that we can't seem to throw away. Too many knick knacks. Too many kitchen utensils that never get used. I went through one kitchen drawer and found 400 to 500 business cards that are never used; two garlic presses, rubber bands, push pins, a rock with the word "joy" etched into the surface and tape measures galore. I must be addicted to spiral notebooks. They are stashed everywhere, in many different sizes along with pencils with hardened erasures.

It will be great to start over with a clean junk slate. I will vow never to do it again, unless I come across a 19 cent special on 70 sheet spiral notebooks.