| Building a Home in Mexico |
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| Yes, you can have a beautiful, well-built, safe and comfortable custom home at Costa Cardonal. ... and it will cost you half what a comparable home in the U.S. would! For a real case of building in Baja, see "Casa Cardonal" |
| Imagine your home on a Costa Cardonal lot... |
1. Home designs reflect the climate, the culture, the lay of the land and the local
materials. Beautiful homes of many styles have been built in the area. The designs that work
best keep out the direct sun, but invite in the sea breezes. Wide verandas provide shade and
extend the living areas. "Spanish Hacienda" styles with tile roofs and floors, and "Santa Fe
Southwest" homes with stuccoed walls and exposed roof beams are common, but other
interesting styles are to be seen up and down the beach. While cinder blocks have proved to be
a durable, low-cost, and community-supporting building material, homes are also built of adobe
bricks, native stone, and even straw bales! The use of wood is generally limited, due to its
relatively high cost and vulnerability to wood-eating pests.
2. Homes are built to American standards by experienced builders. Mexico's building
codes lag behind those in the U.S., so you won't be plagued by building inspectors. However,
most homes are built according to an informal set of standards that reflects the requirements
and sensibilities of many non-Mexican residents. Contractors and their crews in the area are
very familiar with building homes to please foreign clients. Local contractors abide by
Mexican labor laws, and provide social security, worker's compensation and medical insurance,
vacations and other benefits to their employees.
3. Protecting the environment is a key principle in home-building. Costa Cardonal, by way of
its Property Owners Association, will take particular care to set standards to protect its
environment and neighboring areas. The Association will search out and recommend the best
technologies for sewage treatment, grey water reuse, management of harmful substances, and
other important precautions. Appropriate standards for building materials and methods will be
developed, and contractors and crews will be required to abide by those standards in their
activities. An area for recycling of building materials and other reusable items will be
established.
4. Experience and skills in energy self-sufficiency technologies are readily available. It
may be some time before "grid-based" electricity arrives at Costa Cardonal - and many folks
aren't looking forward to that day! Baja's almost constant sunshine guarantees an abundance
of reliable solar energy. Solar panels and sometimes wind turbines, with backup generators,
provide electricity to individual homes up and down the beach. As a result, energy
self-sufficiency is well proven, and there is a wealth of experience available to assist a family
just getting started. Most appliances that are found in American kitchens can be transplanted
to Costa Cardonal, although, because of their high electricity demands, some may run more
efficiently on propane.
5. Homes cost less to build in Mexico. The average cost per square foot of custom-built
house in Mexico is around $80 U.S. The same house in the U.S. would cost $150 per square
foot or more. Some of these savings are attributed to less expensive materials and equipment,
and some come from the comparatively low wages of Mexican workers. In Baja, most building
tasks are done by hand, and more people are involved for longer in building activities. There
are also fewer "overhead" costs, such as fees and insurance, passed on to the homeowner, and
there are fewer "intermediaries", such as heavy equipment operators. All this will contribute
to making your home affordable.
materials. Beautiful homes of many styles have been built in the area. The designs that work
best keep out the direct sun, but invite in the sea breezes. Wide verandas provide shade and
extend the living areas. "Spanish Hacienda" styles with tile roofs and floors, and "Santa Fe
Southwest" homes with stuccoed walls and exposed roof beams are common, but other
interesting styles are to be seen up and down the beach. While cinder blocks have proved to be
a durable, low-cost, and community-supporting building material, homes are also built of adobe
bricks, native stone, and even straw bales! The use of wood is generally limited, due to its
relatively high cost and vulnerability to wood-eating pests.
2. Homes are built to American standards by experienced builders. Mexico's building
codes lag behind those in the U.S., so you won't be plagued by building inspectors. However,
most homes are built according to an informal set of standards that reflects the requirements
and sensibilities of many non-Mexican residents. Contractors and their crews in the area are
very familiar with building homes to please foreign clients. Local contractors abide by
Mexican labor laws, and provide social security, worker's compensation and medical insurance,
vacations and other benefits to their employees.
3. Protecting the environment is a key principle in home-building. Costa Cardonal, by way of
its Property Owners Association, will take particular care to set standards to protect its
environment and neighboring areas. The Association will search out and recommend the best
technologies for sewage treatment, grey water reuse, management of harmful substances, and
other important precautions. Appropriate standards for building materials and methods will be
developed, and contractors and crews will be required to abide by those standards in their
activities. An area for recycling of building materials and other reusable items will be
established.
4. Experience and skills in energy self-sufficiency technologies are readily available. It
may be some time before "grid-based" electricity arrives at Costa Cardonal - and many folks
aren't looking forward to that day! Baja's almost constant sunshine guarantees an abundance
of reliable solar energy. Solar panels and sometimes wind turbines, with backup generators,
provide electricity to individual homes up and down the beach. As a result, energy
self-sufficiency is well proven, and there is a wealth of experience available to assist a family
just getting started. Most appliances that are found in American kitchens can be transplanted
to Costa Cardonal, although, because of their high electricity demands, some may run more
efficiently on propane.
5. Homes cost less to build in Mexico. The average cost per square foot of custom-built
house in Mexico is around $80 U.S. The same house in the U.S. would cost $150 per square
foot or more. Some of these savings are attributed to less expensive materials and equipment,
and some come from the comparatively low wages of Mexican workers. In Baja, most building
tasks are done by hand, and more people are involved for longer in building activities. There
are also fewer "overhead" costs, such as fees and insurance, passed on to the homeowner, and
there are fewer "intermediaries", such as heavy equipment operators. All this will contribute
to making your home affordable.
| Costa Cardonal ..a desert sanctuary beside a tropical sea. |
