- Description -
This home has it all…PRICE …VIEW and LOCATION More white water views then not. This 2 bedroom plus a Den or 3rd bedroom is located in just one row up from the beach and has views from almost every. The master bedroom not only has a white water view, you can hear the surf as you sleep. A garage with a work bench, a laundry room, you own private entry, dimmers on all lights, new carpeting, new tile and much more.

See the full listing at http://www.owninginmexico.com/Rosarito/Baja_California/Ho… along with other similar homes in the area.

- Description -
Casa overlooking the lake, the clubhouse and ocean, this hacienda style villa has all the comfort and cozy feeling that one could want. This three bedroom, three bath 2200 square ft house has been newly refurbished and tastefully decorated.

Villa de Vino looks out across the golf course, clubhouse lake and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Backyard patio invites entertaining with a stunning sunset backdrop and a pool nearby. Located on a quiet cul de sac and close to miles and miles of hiking trails or bike riding.

Twenty-four hour security with gated entrance and patrolling guards. New to market.

For more details on this real estate listing in Ensenada visit:
http://www.owninginmexico.com/Listing_33909914.html

For more Mexico Real Estate visit:
http://www.owninginmexico.com

Many people buying Mexico real estate as a vacation property or for retirement like to see their property as an investment; while there is a very strong aspect of lifestyle investment, as well as the large savings enjoyed in comparison to owning a vacation property or retiring in the U.S. or Canada, a true investment should do more than just bring you savings; it should generate an income. With Mexico real estate, this is a relatively strait-forward step to take.

Mexico Real Estate Opportunities: How To Move From Vacation Property to Life-Long Investment

With only a slight shift of focus, and a relatively minor short term sacrifice of lifestyle, the same property you bought for vacationing or future retirement can become a first step towards lifelong income from solid real estate investments.

As a buyer you usually choose your vacation or retirement property based on comfort, convenience, proximity to the beach, shopping, a lake, attractions, activities and fellow expat residents. These same features are attractive to vacationers and other renters; Mexico’s large tourism industry offers many small groups of vacationers and even long term renters. As an owner of vacation/retirement property in Mexico you can consider the following possibilities:

Rent out the property to vacationers. This takes effort. One developer once pointed out that you could have the best hotel in the world, and it would sit there empty if it didn’t have a clear plan for active promotion. Property management companies can help; but you should do your homework, investigate occupancy rates in their area, and evaluate the results from the company. Personal promotion can work if you have access to a network of people with a need to rent a vacation property. Internet social networks and promotion can also be useful. Good rental agencies will use these tools as well. The real estate office through which you bought the property may also offer rental services, and if not should be able to recommend good rental agencies, or even promote the property informally to future clients visiting to make their own purchase.

Use the property only during the low season. If you have decided to take this step towards making your property a real investment, put investment at #1 in importance. This doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying the property for personal use, but it does mean that you should use plan your use of the property during the regular low season, when the property may be empty anyway. If you are truly dedicated, you may even consider changing plans if a renter turns up. One couple who successfully carried out this kind of plan stayed in moderately price hotels for their own visits rather than jeopardizing their rentals. Remember that any happy renter is a potential returning renter.

Rent out the property long term. Mexico also has a healthy market for long term rentals. While the monthly rate is usually lower, the income is consistent year round, and usually requires less effort to constantly find a new stream of renters. This idea has also proven successful in actual practice in places like Playa del Carmen.

Buy another property. Once you’ve established a steady income from your first property, invest in another, and follow the same process. If you are renting out your properties for vacationers, then owning multiple properties will also give you more options for personal use during off-seasons.

Buy through a mortgage . Acquiring Mexico property through a mortgage directly in Mexico is becoming easier and more common. Using a mortgage directly from a Mexican bank also allows you to leverage the same property you are buying, rather than a property back home. This way you don’t have to wait to generate enough cash from your first property to step into the second. This can help to speed up the process.

Cover monthly payments and expenses rental income. Real life examples have shown that is possible to generate sufficient income from a rental property in Mexico, either for vacationers or long-term, to cover all expenses, such as utilities, repairs and taxes, as well as the monthly loan payments if careful planning is done.Your first property will give you an indication of how much income can be generated and how much is available for use after other expenses. Speaking with mortgage specialist, or even some real estate brokers , will help to gain an estimate of the monthly payments. Some easy math will show you if its possible. If the numbers don’t look like the work out, try tweaking your first rental project to see if you can bring the income up to the necessary level.

Of course, these moves aren’t carried out overnight, but the final result will be that you are the owner of several high-quality vacation properties. One very important plus is that it isn’t necessary to start on a large budget; lower budget properties will generally bring a lower income, but the same concept can be applied with successfully.

Once more than two have been acquired, one can be mostly or even entirely dedicated to personal enjoyment. When retirement arrives, one property will become a retirement property, and the others will continue to provide a constant income substantially boosting financial resources. Since the cost of living is considerably lower in Mexico, especially in large expense areas like health care, using one of the properties for retirement is an ideal move; the funds will go considerably further in Mexico.

Consider changing your Mexico property into a lifelong investment.

Thomas Lloyd graduated from Purdue University Krannert School of Management with a degree in Management/Financial Option Investments, and also holds a degree in Mexico real estate. He has 15 years of experience in Mexico’s business culture, and as a Mexico agent, has guided many investors through real estate transactions, safely.

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New reports have been released by Expedia and Visa which have revealed a sharp increase in interest in travel to Mexico in the past year. According to Max Katz of Baja Real Estate Group, this news has been taking the Riviera Baja resort region by storm.

Mexican Resorts Are Hopeful As Reports Show A Sharp Increase In Travel And Spending In Mexico

Expedia recently reported that travel bookings made to Mexico from its various brands, such as Hotels.com, was up nearly 25 percent in the last 12 months. Visa also noted that the amount spent on its credit cards by inbound visitors had increased from $4 billion in 2009 to $4.4 billion in 2010. Visa described Mexico as being a “sought after destination.”

The information was revealed at Acapulco’s Tianguis Turistico conference in March, an annual event organized by Mexican tourism officials to boost the country’s profile as a top Latin American tourism destination. Mexico’s Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara Manzo said that the country had “made real and sustained progress in making Mexico safe and secure.”

These reports have made officials at Mexican resorts such as Naos Living, Sol Melia and Ritz-Carlton, very hopeful for the rest of the year and 2012, according to Katz. Katz, a veteran real estate agent in Baja California who represents several high-rise residential projects, cites the country’s beautiful beaches and rich cultural heritage as the main attraction to tourists.

“With the extra dollars being invested into safety and security, we are looking forward to a more prosperous year ahead of us,” he said.

One of the newest resorts in Mexico to open is Naos Living, a $200 million project developed by Central de Arquitectura of Mexico City, which plans on opening 144 five-star hotel rooms within the next year to complement its luxury condos. Located in the Rivera Baja, the 20-story oceanfront tower has a prime location right across the street from the new convention center and will comprise 394 units upon its completion, split into three high-rise towers. Naos is also offering lockout units as an opportunity for ex-pat baby boomers looking for Mexico real estate, may it be a second home or a home with a sustainable community.

Later this year, Sol Melia has also announced that it will open two flagship resorts on the country’s stunning eastern Caribbean coastline.

Last month, Ritz-Carlton announced that it will open a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Los Cabos, a 124-villa complex with views across the Sea of Cortez and private infinity pools, butler service and outdoor fireplaces.

The majority of the interest was from the U.S., Canada and the UK, according to a report from Expedia, which described the country as one of its top three destinations in terms of traveler feedback.

Two Baja Real Estate Firms Merge To Become Powerful Force In Northern Baja

According to Max Katz, owner of Baja Real Estate Group, the new company will be called Baja Real Estate Group but will operate two divisions, Beachside Realty in Rosarito and Baja Premiere Properties in Bajamar and Ensenada.  A new office is already planned in the Guadalupe Valley, just north of Ensenada.

“Mimi Mills and associates have an outstanding reputation in the area,” said Max Katz, “and her long history throughout northern Baja will contribute greatly to the strength of our new organization.”

Bajamar Premier Properties began within the gated oceanfront golf community of Bajamar, since 2005 guiding American and Canadian expatriates through safe and successful transactions.

“Max and his wife Kathy Katz represent some of the most respected real estate developers in the region and, as we combine our forces, we will be able to serve more new developments and spread our expertise to those who need our services,” said Marianne “Mimi” Mills.

New residential developments currently represented by the Baja Real Estate Group include Calafia Resort and Villas in the area known as Calafia, 10 Miles south of Rosarito; Palacio del Mar in El Descanso, 20 miles south of Rosarito, and Naos, where sales recently began in the northern beach corridor of Rosarito

Kathy Katz, Max Katz & Marianne 'Mimi' Mills

“This is a perfect way to expand our business without spending a great deal of money,” Kathy Katz added.  “We can serve more clients by combining all of our sales agents into one company.

“Agent support will be the key to our success, making sure their sellers and buyers have all the tools needed in today’s market,” she continued.  “Our team will be unmatched.”

Eduardo Rosales, president of the real estate trade association AMPI in Rosarito, echoed the remarks of the new business partners.

“The combination of these highly regarded real estate professionals, now united together, is a perfect balance for the continually changing real estate market here in northern Baja,” Rosales said.

A 16-year veteran of real estate sales in the United States, Mills retired to the golf course Bajamar community in 2002 but couldn’t stay away from assisting other Americans in either buying or building their dream home.

“Our brokerage prides itself on trust, integrity and hard work to bring our buyers and sellers together in the most beneficial and profitable manner for all parties, she said. “I am delighted to team up with Max and Kathy Katz, who share my same dedication to ethics.”

Max and Kathy Katz founded Baja Real Estate Group in 2009, after successfully running a Prudential Northern Baja office in Rosarito for three years.  Both have over 20 years of experience doing business in Mexico.

To contact either Baja Premier Properties or Beachside Realty, visit the Baja Real Estate Group’s website at www.bajaREgroup.com.

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You know that saying if it sounds ‘too good to be true’ it probably is. The Baja Real estate Group specializes in finding you that ‘too good to be true deal’ with 100% safety.

We represent the area’s Top Developers, and after 20 years in Baja nobody knows the history of our area better than our Brokers. We work with the Title Companies, Escrow Company, the Developers themselves and buyers to insure a safe and smooth transaction. There are many added steps involved when buying distressed property in Mexico and the Baja Real Estate Group has been on the forefront as leaders in the distressed property market for the last 3 years,

We have a strong track record of proven results through long lasting relationships with Developers, buyers, sellers and local agents. We constantly comb the coast to bring you the latest Bargains in the area.

Contact one of our agents, our developments or your Realtor before you make your first or next investment in Baja.

Sincerely

Max Katz
Broker / Owner
Baja Real Estate Group For Sale $698,500 | Baja penthouse at a fraction of the original price. Call Now! Perched on top of the beautiful Las Brisas tower at Club Marena, Baja’s finest resort for 20 years, is a spectacular palatial luxury Penthouse of 3600 sq feet (plus a private two car garage). This incredible space was completely gutted and remodeled over the last year.
 

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Lobster & Art Festivals Highlight This Weekend in Rosarito Beach

ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA , MEXICO—This Sunday (October 17), from noon to 7 pm the XVIII edition of the Lobster Festival will be held in Puerto Nuevo, the famous lobster village 12 miles south of downtown Rosarito on the Free Road .

A large art festival will take place the same weekend in downtown Rosarito.

The lobster festival will take place on the Puerto Nuevo’s main Rentería Street and will feature the restaurants Puerto Nuevo II, The Lobster House, Villa Ortega’s, Restaurant Playa Delfines, Ortega’s Original and Sandra’s.

The Rosarito and Puerto Nuevo restaurant associations plus its Convention & Visitors Bureau are sponsoring the event which marks the start of fresh lobster season in one of the city’s main tourist destinations.

The lobster fest will cost $ 260 pesos or $20 and includes a lobster dish with rice, beans and flour tortillas, plus three drinks per person. Live music and a raffle also will be featured.

Puerto Nuevo, which was a small fishing village in the 1940s, has grown to one of the world’s most famous destinations for lobster lovers, with more than 30 restaurants and a million of the tasty crustaceans served yearly.

Puerto Nuevo-style lobster is widely served in Mexico and California .

“It is important for restaurateurs in Puerto Nuevo to participate in this event that has become a tradition,” said Rosa Maria Plascencia, who is part of the Festival Organizing Committee and belongs to one of the founding families of Puerto Nuevo.

Also featured at the event will be LA Cetto and Santo Tomas wineries, Corona Beer, Rosarito florists, regional products (cheese, olives, olive oil), Mexican candy, etc. Live music will be provided by Tijuana ’s The Moonlights and other groups.

Meanwhile, more than 60 artists from this city’s thriving art community and beyond will be featured on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 16 and 17) at the first Rosarito Art Fest.

The huge free exhibition and sale of paintings, sculpture and other works will be held each day from 11 to 6 on Boulevard Benito Juarez, directly in front of the landmark Rosarito Beach Hotel in the downtown tourist district.

Rosarito in recent years has become home to a thriving colony of artists, many of whom work from Popotla Boulevard studios and show their work at galleries there and elsewhere. A Rosarito Art Association works to promote them and regional culture.

The art festival will highlight established as well as emerging artists. Music and food also will be featured at the festival that organizers plan to make an annual event highlighting the region’s rich art and culture.

Additional details on these events plus some great hotel packages and rates are available on the Convention & Visitors Bureau website: www.rosarito.org

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ron Raposa
619-948-3740
ronraposa@hotmail.com

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Culinary Tour of Baja, Mexico

Ensenada and the nearby Valle de Guadalupe, in northern Baja, are known outside Mexico for three things: the burgeoning local wine scene, which has been hyped ad infinitum; the food, which hasn’t been hyped enough; and the spectacularly bad roads, which everyone warns you about, though you never fully believe them. Really, you think, how bad could they be? And then one night in the gathering dark you take an innocent shortcut across the valley and drive your rented Hyundai into a riverbed. A dry riverbed, but a riverbed all the same. You and your equally baffled companion spend 40 minutes spinning the car’s wheels in what might as well be quicksand, then digging frantically, then panicking, then digging and spinning some more, until finally you resolve to abandon the car and hike the two miles back to the highway—suitcases sinking in gravel, sand filling your socks. And as the coyotes wail in the ink-black hills you decide that you probably should have paid more attention to that part about the roads.

“Ah, the Baja shortcut!” said our innkeeper, Phil Gregory, when, at the conclusion of said ordeal, he collected us and our dusty belongings from the side of Highway 3. “Never a good idea!” Severe rains the previous week, our host explained, had caused the river to flood, washing away a whole chunk of the road we were on. Those tire tracks I’d followed across the sandy riverbed—believing we were still on course—had been left by a backhoe, dispatched to repair the road. No one had bothered to post a sign, let alone erect a fence. “Honestly, this happens all the time,” Gregory said as we rattled down the inn’s rutted dirt driveway. He meant this to be reassuring. “But let’s get you settled, pour you some wine, and we’ll retrieve your car in the morning!”

Gregory’s tone was oddly chipper—maybe this did happen all the time? After showering off the dust, we sampled the inn’s own Tempranillo beside a crackling mesquite fire in the lounge. Not the smoothest specimen, but it worked: two glasses later I gave up worrying about the Hyundai.

The Valle de Guadalupe’s wines get most of the attention here. But it was the food that lured me to this corner of Baja California, 90 minutes south of San Diego. Friends had raved about Ensenada’s plentiful huarache oysters, sweet baby abalone, and ruby-red bluefin tuna. On the Baja forums of chowhound.com, I pored over descriptions of barbecued-quail stands and itinerant sea-urchin vendors, unfiltered honeys and farmstead cheeses. I devoured the posts of StreetGourmetLA (real name Bill Esparza), a Los Angeles–based musician who seems to spend all his days eating his way across northern Baja, then regaling fellow Chowhounds with his discoveries, including an Ensenada ceviche stand “that will change your life.” (Baja Tourism should put this guy on retainer.) Most tempting of all were the fish tacos. Ensenada’s signature snack was invented by Japanese fishermen who migrated here in the early 20th century and introduced tempura cooking to the region. Today the taco de pescado—a perfect storm of double-fried fish, shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, lime juice, and mayonesa on a warm corn tortilla—is sold on every corner.

Ensenada had loomed in my imagination since Warren Zevon name-checked the town in his 1976 ballad “Carmelita.” I’d always envisioned a jasmine-scented, hippie-boho idyll—a sort of Laurel Canyon South—where barefoot senoritas danced on beaches to the lilt of Spanish guitars. (Those of you who’ve actually been to Ensenada can stop laughing now.) Stirred by visions of oysters, tacos, warm sunshine, and ice-cold micheladas, I invited my friend Adam to join me for a four-day bacchanal. How could we go wrong?

The trip began well enough. North of Ensenada the coast is quite lovely indeed, recalling that of Oregon or central California: vivid-green slopes tumbling into the silver-blue Pacific. Our first stop was at Casa Natalie Hotel Boutique, an intimate seven-room resort set above a rocky beach six miles north of town; we would spend two nights here and two in the Valle de Guadalupe, 30 minutes inland. With its handsome infinity pool and votive-lit seaside bar, Casa Natalie made for a promising start: here you might convince yourself that Ensenada was a bastion of sophistication and style.

Well. The reality was decidedly less dreamy, with blocks of sleaze and tackiness between the occasional nice parts. Most of Ensenada’s 325,000 residents are employed in fishing or shipping (this is Mexico’s second-busiest port), but in the compact, low-rise downtown, you might think everyone works as a mariachi, a souvenir vendor, a strip-club tout, or a pharmacist. Dozens of farmacias line the main drag, their billboards advertising cheap prescription drugs: Ultram, Cialis, Propecia. (Orange County retirees seem to be the primary target.) It’s a reminder that Ensenada is still a border town, albeit a slightly more refined one.

Fortunately our meals made up for it. We tasted raw perfection at La Guerrerense, StreetGourmetLA’s beloved ceviche cart, where just-caught shrimp, octopus, and pismo clams are marinated in lime and soy sauce—another gift from Japan—then dressed with avocado and pico de gallo and served on crisp tostadas. The bill: $3. (We discovered a near-identical cart down the street, called Mariscos El Gordito, that was just as good if not better.) And at Tacos Mi Ranchito La Fenix, a corner stand no uninformed visitor would think to stop at, we found what may be the best fish taco ever. It’s a DIY affair: they give you the tortilla and double-fried nuggets of angelito shark, then you build the rest from a counterful of trimmings—though it hardly requires a thing, so moist and flavorful is the fish. (A note for nervous eaters: food from busy street stalls is generally a safe bet, given the high turnover.)

The trip highlight, however, was a four-hour lunch at Manzanilla, owned by acclaimed chef Benito Molina. The Mexico City native started his career in Boston, working under Todd English at Olives, where he fell in love with the bold, direct flavors of the Mediterranean. Returning to Mexico, he found in northern Baja a Med-worthy combination of rustic wines and stellar ingredients from land and sea. Molina takes full advantage. Local Manila clams arrive in a bacony broth tinged with saffron. Baby abulón, farmed in nearby San Quintin, is sliced into thin disks and seared on a hot rock, then sauced with mesquite-smoked tomato and cream; the delicate flesh is nothing like the outsize abalone so cherished in Asia. Tender grilled rib eye is seasoned with rosemary and served with strong mustard (how Mediterranean is that?); on the side come buttery morsels of fat, twice-cooked to resemble crispy chicharrones.

After nine years downtown, Manzanilla moved last year to an industrial garage in the shipyard district, which makes a funky stage set: raw-concrete floors offset by zany canvases and pink Plexi chandeliers. It’s a fine place to while away the day. Adam and I were due to check in that afternoon at La Villa del Valle—Phil Gregory’s inn in the Valle de Guadalupe—but we wound up lingering at Manzanilla over chamomile panna cotta and didn’t reach the valley until after sunset.

That was our first mistake. Our second mistake was taking that left in the dark. Only now do I realize (a) how insane we were to attempt a shortcut, and (b) how lucky we were not to wind up someplace worse. Oh, and (c) how foolish it was to take a two-wheel-drive Hyundai Sonata on a road trip in Baja. Back in San Diego, our rental company had charged us an extra $25 a day in mandatory insurance just to bring the car into Mexico. At the time this struck me as suspect. Now, with our Hyundai in the riverbed, $25 a day seemed entirely fair.

We hiked back to the car the next morning, accompanied by Gregory, his handyman Juan Paredes, and four shovels. It took a half-hour to uncover the wheels. Finally we were able to push the car forward a few feet—and then it promptly sank back into the sand, unmovable. Clearly we needed a tow. But what vehicle could negotiate the riverbed? Paredes suddenly pointed at a distant plume of smoke. “Retroexcavadora!” he cried. A backhoe—likely the same one whose tracks we’d followed the night before. So off we trudged, across a mile of floodplain, to enlist the operator’s help. I offered him $50 to haul us out (in Baja there’s probably a going rate for backhoe rescues), and soon the Hyundai was bouncing and rattling down the pitted valley roads once again.

The Valle de Guadalupe’s terrain alternates between harsh (cacti and agave; acres of dust) and graceful (olive and citrus groves; grapevines receding into the hazy distance). Watching skinny horses graze in scrubby fields, I was reminded of Tuscany’s Maremma. Needless to say, the valley is far more attractive than Ensenada itself. The bulk of the region’s few visitors come for the wineries—more than 60 of them along a stretch of Highway 3 known as La Ruta del Vino. The valley’s arid microclimate, cooled by ocean breezes, is near ideal for wine cultivation, and though the product is still mostly uneven, the wineries, farm stands, and restaurants of the Valle de Guadalupe form a remarkable little foodie universe. We savored buttery diver scallops, seared bluefin tuna, and local roast lamb at Laja, the valley’s most famous restaurant. Amid the orange groves at convivial Restaurante Los Naranjos, we feasted on spicy Guadalupe quail and slow-cooked pork shank marinated in tequila, beer, red wine, garlic, orange juice, and rosemary. There was fig jam and tangy Real del Castillo cheese from the humble provisions shop Cremería Los Globos in the one-stoplight village of San Antonio de las Minas. And for breakfast there were eggs collected that morning from the coop at La Villa del Valle.

Poised on a lone hilltop with 360-degree views, La Villa del Valle occupies a handsome, two-story hacienda that was built in 2002 but looks as if it has belonged here forever. Phil Gregory and his wife, Eileen, imbue the place with thoughtful touches: bottles of mint-infused water at bedside; sprigs of lavender on your pillow. Guest rooms are basic, but the public areas are gorgeous, especially the main living room, with its cowhide ottomans, pressed-tin lamps, and burnished-oak bookcases filled with bird-watching and wine guides.

As the sun descends, cool air sails in from the mountains, carrying the scent of rosemary, mint, and citrus blossoms up the hill to the inn, where it mingles with the primal aroma of mesquite burning in the hearth. No better time to take a snifter of tequila reposado to your balcony and gaze out at those Georgia O’Keeffe hills. In the fading evening light you can trace the trajectory of the riverbed in the near distance—which, really, looks so much nicer from up here.

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Mexico's big hope: get 5 million U.S. retirees

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is silently working on proposals aimed at drawing millions of U.S. retirees to this country, which could eventually lead to the most ambitious U.S.-Mexican project since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

President Felipe Calderón is likely to propose the first steps toward expanding U.S. retirement benefits and medical tourism to Mexico when he goes to Washington on an official visit May 19, according to well-placed officials here. If not then, he will raise the issue later this year, they say.

“It’s one of the pillars of our plans to trigger economic and social well-being in both countries,” Mexico’s ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told me. “We will be seeking to increasingly discuss this issue in coming months and years.”

Calderón brought it up during a U.S.-Canada-Mexico summit in Guadalajara in August last year, but President Barack Obama asked him to shelve the idea until he was able to pass healthcare reform, another official told me.

Now that Congress has passed healthcare reform, Calderón is preparing to charge ahead.

A GROWING MARKET
There are already an estimated 1 million Americans living in Mexico. And according to Mexican government estimates based on U.S. Census figures, that number is likely to soar to 5 million by 2025 as the U.S. population grows older and more Americans look for sunny, cheaper places to retire.

The U.S. Census projects that the number of U.S. retirees will soar from 40 million now to nearly 90 million by 2050. Already, 5 million American retirees live abroad, of whom 2.2 million are in the Western Hemisphere — mostly in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Another 1.5 million live in Europe and 850,000 in Asia.

The key to luring more U.S. medical tourists and retirees to Mexico and other Latin American countries will be getting hospitals in the region to be certified by the U.S. Joint International Commission, which establishes that they meet U.S. hospitals’ standards. There are already eight Mexican hospitals certified by the JIC and several others awaiting certification.

According to Mexican government estimates, healthcare costs in Mexico are about 70 percent lower than in the United States. And from my own experience, those estimates are right: As I reported at the time, when I was hospitalized in Mexico two years ago for an emergency operation, my hospital bill was indeed about 70 percent lower than what it would have been in Miami.

So what will Calderón specifically propose to Obama? Most likely, the Mexican president will suggest starting with a low-profile agreement that would allow the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration to pay for Medicare benefits to U.S. retirees in Mexico. Under current rules, Medicare only covers healthcare services in the United States.

IT JUST MAKES SENSE
My opinion: Mexico and much of Latin America are bound to become growing U.S. retirement and medical tourism destinations, much like Spain has become a permanent living place for Germans, Britons and Northern Europeans.

You won’t read much about it now because neither Calderón nor Obama will emphasize it publicly while the drug-related violence in northern Mexico is making big headlines, and while the political wounds from the recent U.S. healthcare debate are still open in Washington, D.C.

But I’m increasingly convinced that, as the violence in Mexico subsides and the healthcare debate becomes a distant memory in Washington, medical benefits’ deals will become a top U.S.-Latin American priority. Just as free-trade agreements were the big thing of the 1990s, healthcare agreements will be the big deal of the coming decade.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Calderón and Obama take the first baby steps toward a U.S.-Mexico healthcare agreement by finding a way to pay for Medicare benefits for U.S. expatriates in Mexico, or getting U.S. states to allow similar payments. Then, most likely after the 2012 presidential election in both countries, the two would start negotiating a more ambitious deal.

Demography, geography and economics are pointing in that direction. With the U.S. population getting older, a record U.S. budget deficit, rising U.S. healthcare costs, and Mexico and other Latin American countries badly needing more tourism and investments, this should be a win-win for everybody.

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