Toying with the idea of moving to the Baja

Ant PJ wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of moving to Baja, buying some land, and investing money developing a tourist business, such as upscale vacation cottages. I'd like to get an idea of different places, the practical feasible of living and doing business in Mexico, and what living there would be like from a lifestyle, safety point of view etc.

The immediate potential positives for me are:
1. the climate, although I wonder if it could be too hot in summer
2. my (possibly wrong) idea that English is widely spoken there, at least by professionals, which might offer some protection against a foreigner getting ripped off.

The immediate potential negatives are
1. Safety
2. Earthquakes
3. Getting ripped off - corruption by officials and getting fleeced by professionals and tradespeople
4. Import duties
5. Potentially high overheads, such as property taxes and health insurance, and high costs for things like broadband, which may be limited and expensive in Mexico.

Welcome, Toying,

As you probably have heard, like many places in the world things are a little unstable currently, especially near the border. Earthquakes are mostly neat Mexico city because it is built on a lake. But Baja has a close relationship with the California fault lines so it can't be ruled out. Hurricanes might be becoming more of a problem.

I have found most of the people to be scrupulously honest and trustworthy for the most part. Yet tourist areas are a magnet for companies that are not so reliable and then tourist gets ripped off. Even the locals can have a different price for a tourist who is clearly not familiar and doesn't speak the language. Many of the companies doing the ripping off are not Mexican based companies.

broadband has been more reliable and cheaper than in the U.s Taxes like everything else seem to be going up. the current administration has radically changed the basic health insurance.  Things  have been and continue to be in transition here but it is still far cheaper to live here than in the U, S,

As for your positives, it is not necessarily too hot here, but we are like everywhere else experiencing climate changes so that is not a fact set in concrete but more of a who knows,
No not everyone here speaks English. Resorts usually require it. Some professionals speak English. but many only know a few words or think they speak better than they do. You will find more English speakers in places like T.J.

Thanks. Do you know what the kind of level of import taxes are levied ? I know some developing countries have extremely high import duties, which make imported luxury items prohibitively expensive.