Confessions of a Real Estate Junkie

I Confess, I have struggled for many years with a real estate addiction. It started innocently by frequenting MLS sites but soon grew into a full time habit with uncontrollable urges to constantly watch HGTV and go to open houses. My husband Greg, also suffers from this addiction which began to manifest when he started coming home on Wednesday's with take out in hand yelling "whoo hooo, hurry up, it is Real Estate Wednesday on HGTV".

The two of us would watch "House Hunters", "Buy Me", Flip that House" , "Moving Up...you name it we watched it. We played games trying to figure out what house was chosen, who lost money and who was totally out to lunch on their renovations. We believed we had become experts in real estate.

It all came to a head this June when we went on a business trip to Merida. My business meetings took place and then we planned a few days of free time to spend in Merida as it was our 15th wedding anniversary.

We walked around town, rented a car, drove to Progresso, visited all the popular sights and even took a carriage ride thru town. It was a lovely few days and we fell in love with Merida. One evening as we were having a glass of wine deciding what to do the next day Greg said "Hey, why don't we take a look at some Real Estate tomorrow?"

It was like the universe slowed down, I got all dizzy, broke out in a sweat and started to recall an episode of "Buy Me" that followed around a lady looking to buy in Merida. It all happened so fast. The next thing I knew I was in an Internet cafe, surfing properties for sale calling out ID numbers to Greg as he feverishly wrote them onto the pad of paper we found in our hotel room. Greg started calling agents trying to get appointments for the next day, he was writing times and locations down , I was punching a calculator figuring out our budget.....it was simply crazy.

The next day was hazy, we went from one house to the next, falling in love with each and every one we saw. I could picture myself in pretty much every property we waked thru. I began to decorate each and every one of them, recalling different styles and designs from my store and doing a quick calculation of the cost for each to decorate....I am a Realtors dream...buying signals galore.

The final house of the day was the one. It was perfect, it was everything we wanted (WANTED!!!!!...Like we had time to even put a list together). We put an offer in before we left the property. The next day we boarded a plane, flew home and arrived only find out the property has sold to another buyer. We were devastated, but not ready to give up. We decided to put an offer in on our second choice, but that too had sold.

The following night we took a deep breath and began to giggle about how ridiculously close we came to buying a house in Merida. Common sense had taken back over and it felt good. We made resolution to stop the madness, to take our time...why the urgency? We began to make plans to go back down to Merida in the fall, take our time, look around and not make any snap decisions. We were getting our addiction under control.

The very next day I had a lull between Gringo Furniture orders. I resisted going to the web site for homes in Merida and instead got on my bike and went for a ride. I came back made a coffee and sat back down at my computer determined to work on Gringo Furniture. And that is when it all happened again. My fingers punched in the web site for homes in Merida, I started to sweat and began to surf and send suggestions via email to Greg's blackberry.....the madness began all over again. His blackberry started to go off like a fire cracker, he called me and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING"...I yelled back "I'M ONLY LOOKING."

Before he could get his key in the door that night I POUNCED on him...GREG! I have found our dream home in Merida...hurry, come look at my computer. That was all it took, he succumbed to the madness. He went thru all the photos of the house I had fallen in love with, then went thru them again, and again, and again, and again. Finally he announced "IT'S PERFECT!"

The next day we asked the agent to go and make a video of the property. The video arrive and it looked more like an Alfred Hitchcock movie but it still sold the house to us. We were in love and nothing was going to deter us. We placed an offer and within a few days and a little negotiating the offer was accepted and a deposit was sent.

To add to the madness, my mother took one look at the house on the Internet and insisted on owning 1/3 of it.....what is that saying????...... "the apple does not fall from the tree"....now you know where I get it from.

So here I sit, 3 weeks away from seeing my new home for the first time. Furnishing it from floor plans given to me from the real estate agency and preparing to wire the final amount.

Do I have any regrets....ABSOLUTELY NOT! Am I afraid the house won't be what I expect....NO WAY, in fact, I think it will be better than I expect. Since the purchase I have gotten calls from people looking for furniture who were also house hunting in Merida and went thru my house, they told me it was magnificent. Also, since we bought it we found out it had been profiled in Ambiance Magazine last year.

So you ask, is this the first time we've done something like this.....ARE YOU KIDDING, this is the 4th time we bought something without seeing it. And finally, the last question....how much of this story is true....ALL OF IT!

It feels so good to finally confess. I know we will repeat this story over and over again for years to come. When people ask how we choose Merida......we will say, Merida choose us, because honestly, is there really such a thing a Real Estate Addiction?!?

Toronto Star Article

We are in the Toronto Star today. There is an entire section devoted to "Buying in the Sun" . There is great information and interesting stories that we all can relate to, I highly recommend the read. Access the article written about us by clicking here http://www.thestar.com/article/503797

To view the entire section with all the articles go to http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/507583

Homes We have Furnished

GF Welcomes Another Team Member

Due to the unprecedented growth of residential developments within Mexico, Gringo Furniture has hired a Development Specialist to tackle the very specific needs of developers.

We would like to Welcome Cathy Scott to our ever growing team of experts here at Gringo Furniture. Cathy brings with her a vast knowledge of total home set-up needs and will be able to manage and execute the very specific needs of developers. Developments big or small, Cathy will put programs together tailored to each developments needs.

We look forward to growing our presence in Mexico through Cathy's efforts. If you have any questions or comments, Cathy can be reached at cathy@gringofurniture.com

Sneak Peek!
Coming SOON to Gringo Furniture is a "WHOLE HOME" accessories package. In this new module you will have the ability to purchase; linens, towels, kitchen utensils, BBQ's, outdoor resin furniture, home accessories, electronics, cleaning needs, floral packages....pretty much everything needed to set up a home.

All our products are hospitality grade and most are manufactured in the USA. We will be importing them specifically for you via FEDEX direct to your door.

I will be the GUINEA PIG for this new module as I am having the first shipment sent to my new home in Merida. Once we have done this sample run we will then offer it to all our Gringo Furniture customers.

We are looking for comments and suggestions at this point as to what people need and want. Please let us know your thoughts about the pricing, items or anything else that you can contribute. All your comments will be appreciated. Please click the link below and download the SAMPLE file and give us your comments.

http://www.gringofurniture.com/Accessories.asp

Customizing Furniture

I thought that this would be a good topic to write about today as I just finalized my own furniture order for Merida and most my items are customized. It it a 3 bedroom home with several outdoor spaces. The total area I have to furnish is around 4,000 sqft.

As you can imagine, that is no small task. Luckily, I have the ability to visualize space in my mind (part of why I am good at this job). But, regardless of this ability, it still is a massive job and one that takes a lot of planning and thinking (something I am not so gifted at) .

Fortunatly I have floor plans to work from that have dimensions indicated. This will help in the understanding of what I will need and also allow me to see what will fit and what needs to be customized.

Both the down stairs bedrooms have no closets. Therefore I am going to need both an armoire to hang cloths and a dresser for each bedroom. I want to put a KING bed in each bedroom as well as 2 night tables...these bedrooms are getting very full and they aren't that big.

So, my idea was to combine both an armoire and a dresser to save some space. I printed off a photo of the armoire (right photo) I liked, marked it up to show what I wanted then scanned it in and sent it off to the plant in Mexico. Cost is $2100 which is 2 meters long and has 13 drawers.

I wanted something a little different for the other bedroom plus the space was much smaller. I specified a total length of 1.20 meters for the armoire and added 6 drawers down the side (left photo). Cost for this is $1250.

The result was 2 practical pieces that suit my needs, fit the space required and I feel as though I can have ownership to these pieces and be proud to say "I designed them".

This house has a lot of outdoor space. The roof terrace is nearly 800sqft alone. The current owner has a great iron table and chairs on the roof (see actual photo on the right) I LOVE IT! I tried to get him to sell it to me, but no luck, he is keeping it for his next houses. So, the next best thing to do....KNOCK IT OFF. I sent a photo of what I wanted down to Mexico and VOILA, I have the set I wanted. The cost of this is amazing, iron table and 6 chairs for just $1275! I also got 4 bar stools made to match the chairs for the bar that is in the background of this photo.

Finally, because this house has wonderful old world charm that would really lend itself to antique looking furniture. The following photos are ones that I have found and I am having made in reclaimed pine. All these models can be purchased from us.

Armoire $1200 (reclaimed pine price and iron accents)

Table with Iron base $691 (reclaimed pine price)

Round Table 60" Diameter $975 (reclaimed pine price)
Coffee Table (middle) $390 (reclaimed pine price)

Coffee Table (bottom) $385 (reclaimed pine price)

And for my favorite piece, the dining table. it will be 8ft long and seat 10 people. I have a specific table in mind that I imported for a friend up to Canada. It was from Guadalajara and made in MESQUITE wood...it is simply a stunning table.

I cannot afford MESQUITE or the price this Factory charges, so again, I am having it reproduced in Reclaimed Pine. I will have iron Chairs made not wooden chairs (I really like the look of iron and wood together). The iron chairs will match the ones on the roof terrace. The cost of the table in reclaimed pine at 8 ft with iron accents is $899.

As you can see, I really have customized a lot of furniture to suite my houses needs. Anyone can do this, all it takes is a little creativity. Once all this furniture arrives to the house and is in place I will take photos and post them.

We are available at any time to assist in making your ideas a reality.

Figuring out FINISHES

I realized the other day that I had been less than "informative" on my site when it came to choosing a finish. Quite frankly I have done a poor job of showing what options people have. Of course this came to light when I was doing my own shopping for my house in Merida. It is amazing the things you realize you are doing poorly when you have to use your own service.

So here is a run down of what finishes you can apply to any of our furniture. We are not just a RUSTIC furniture supplier, we can can create some pretty cool pieces that are One Of A Kind

FINISH GUIDE

Light - Medium - Dark

These are our STOCK finishes and do not cost more. We use typical Mexican Pine which is very dense and extremely heavy. We then apply a wax finish in either Light, Medium or Dark. There is no distress to this finish and it is a clean finish.

Designer Series

This is a great finish for someone looking for something a little different. We combine several different colours and wash them onto the furniture to give it a Designer look. The wood is not distressed but the wash affect gives it a Shabby Chic feel to it. There is 30% up-charge for this finish. It is all hand done and each piece will vary from the next giving it that HAND MADE look.

Antique Finish

This finish is for those who like a distressed look. We make the furniture from the same Mexican Pine but we hand distress it to give it an antique look without paying the Reclaimed Pine price. There is a 30% up charge for this finish. It is all hand done and each piece will vary.

Reclaimed Pine

Our Reclaimed Pine is a very special look. It transforms a Rustic piece into a Hacienda piece. We specially purchase this wood and only about 70% of the wood is utilized due to nature of it. This wood is reclaimed from many different sources and each piece has it's own story told in the character of it's grains. The cost to upgrade any piece to Reclaimed Pine is 50% -- well worth the extra for the character is brings to your furniture.

Great way to start the day

It is always a GREAT day when I turn on my computer and find a happy customer's email accompanied by photos of their furniture. There is no better satisfaction then knowing a customer arrived at their home to start a long awaited vacation and were greeted by their new furnishings. Complete testimonial can be read here.

http://www.gringofurniture.com/WhitneyChalled.asp

Here we go into the world of Blogs...

I am new to this, and actually vowed I would never do it, but, decided after being a loyal follower of several other blogs that I needed to start giving back -- so here I am.

Ground Rules

1. I can't spell worth a darn, so please forgive me for any spelling mistakes. I will run spell check (my best Friend) but it does not always catch everything
2. The object of this blog is to give good information. I am not always going to talk about furniture as that would be rather boring....but I may drop a few sales pitches in every once and awhile. I also want to talk about my experiences in Mexico that relate to owning.
3. This is strictly for fun, please keep nasty emails to a minimum

Here I go again...Hello Merida

Just to give a little background about my entry into Mexico. Back in 2001 my husband and I purchased our first home in Playa del Secreto on the Mayan Riviera, it was a ready built condo. Furnishing it was a flipping nightmare, this was pre-costco days. When I think back to setting that house up the only solace was that I was 34 years old and had far more energy than I do now. We enjoyed that condo for about 4 years and then sold it in 2005 and purchased a lot in Puerto Morelos. We took the plunge this time and built a home from the ground up.

I got a little smarter with that house, but not much. First off, I scheduled the completion of it 3 days before Wilma hit. Everything got into the house; furniture , appliances, new linens, etc. a measly 24 hours before she blew ashore as a Cat 4 direct hit on our town. As luck would have it, I took my Mom (71 yrs) with me to help with the set up of the house, so she got to meet Wilma also.

Wilma devastated our town and my house. We hunkered down in Cancun for the storm and then went back to Puerto Morelos to salvage what we could. My husband worked on getting us out of there from Canada (between going to Hockey and golf games....still a sore spot with me) which took about 7 days.

To my surprise, the town and my house was back up and running in just 4 weeks -- it was incredible to see how Mexico handles disasters such as this -- totally amazing!

So that is a brief history. I still own my house in Puerto Morelos and love it!

Obviously, Gringo Furniture was born out of my own frustrations...somehow the word "frustrations" can not capture the entire feeling you get when you have to furnish a home from afar.

Living in Canada and trying to set up a house in Mexico is to say the least a challenge. Don't get me wrong, this is a challenge that the benefits absolutely out weigh the negatives...BUT, it is difficult to see those benefits when the task is at your door step, you are driving around in circles, you can't speak Spanish (other than knowing how to order a beer), unable to find a parking spot, getting lost, getting more lost, crying, going over budget, waiting on deliveries that never come, crying again, sweating in the heat, nobody is taking your credit card, hating everything you see and everything you like it out of stock AND all you really want is to get to the beach and actually enjoy all the money you just spent on this dream.

You'd think with a mind set like that I would be through setting up houses in Mexico and instead sitting back laughing at all those who still have to do it..... think again.....we just bought another home in Merida.

So, here I go again.

The cool thing this time around is that I have this great "IN" on a service/store that helps furnish homes in Mexico....Gringo Furniture -- How cool is that?

So, like all of you I am now faced yet again with furnishing from afar. I will use my own company to accomplish this task and keep it pretty honest as to how it goes via this blog. I am going to make myself the Guinea pig for a new accessories line that I hope to offer thru my store.

Our new home is in the Historic Zone of Merida in the Santiago neighbourhood. We bought it from an American who used Henry Ponce to remodel it about 3 years ago. It comes with all appliances and ZERO furniture. I have my work cut out, but this time I am excited about the job . I now have an opportunity to show everyone else just what we do and actually use my own company. Stay tuned as I go thru this process once again.