The House Then

Innocents in Mexico

Chapter 23

After a quick trip to San Miguel and Back, we loaded our extra stuff into a cubicle at a storage place conveniently located on the Carretera in Ajijic and settled into a small casita on a street conveniently located near the Nueva Posada as well as another restaurant and the Lake Chapala Society.  The rooms were homey and traditional with lovely gardens and pathways in between.  Here Bearcat was welcome and roamed the pathways, firmly leashed, with little trepidation. Like Bob, after a few initial fears and traumas, he had acclimatized himself admirably.

There was another couple staying in a room near ours who were also looking for a house, although they seemed to be more sure than we were that they actually wanted to buy.  Strangely enough, their names were also Judy and Bob, and we shared information about our daily viewings nightly over drinks and dinner at The Bodega, a cozy restaurant just a block away.

Lucy seemed almost psychic in her ability to show us homes we loved, be they small homes in town neighborhoods or fancier homes on the cliffs up above.  We saw condos and mansions—one of which looked like the Taj Mahal. Years later I discovered it was purchased by  an American religious cult that was using it as a retreat center.  We saw homes from Chapala to Ajijic to Jocotepec, on the far western edge of the lake. We even saw homes in the tiny pueblos on the south side of the lake where very few expats lived, but for us they were too divided from cultural activities we knew we’d enjoy on the north side, which was an expat haven.

Lucy encouraged us to attend Open Circle at the Chapala Society so we could acquaint ourselves with some of the other people who had chosen to make Lake Chapala their home. It was a weekly non-denominational Sunday gathering that celebrated mind, body and spirit via speakers who shared their experiences and information about the lake and environs as well as views into alternate religions, beliefs and meditation practices.  No one way was espoused, but all were invited to be presented. People were very friendly, and at the two sessions we attended, we met people we knew would become our friends, and in fact, some of them remain my friends 22 years later. Others have passed away or moved away, as is likely in this area that contains the most U.S. expats of any place on Earth. But I am getting ahead of myself, putting the cart before the horse.

Of course, we had immediately shown Lucy the house in the Raquet Club. She was amazed that she had not yet seen it, probably due to the fact that it was unlisted because the owners did not wish to pay a realtor’s fee, but the more likely reason is because the gardener had never put out the flags and “For Sale” sign other than when he knew the owners were coming to view it.  It was our good luck because I’m sure if he had, that it would have been sold.

Lucy could tell, I am sure, that every house she showed us came up wanting compared to this house, and she, too, expounded on its merits.  She had a good friend, a Canadian who was a builder who lived in her compound, who, she was sure, could find the fault with the pool.  The Raquet Club was noted for its good maintenance, for it’s hot water Olympic-sized pool that offered pool aerobic classes, for its tennis courts and raquet ball courts, its dog park and various social activities.  Many Guadalajarans had week-end homes there but other Americans and Canadians lived there full time along with a number of Mexicans who had made their fortunes in the U.S. before retiring back in Mexico.

We did not need Lucy’s encouragement when it came to our admiration of the house, and we visited it again each time we went to see other houses in the Raquet Club or San Juan Cosala, the village located on the lake directly below.

We found another condo we liked in a neighborhood about half-way between the center of Ajijic and the Raquet Club. It was a good deal less, yet our hearts kept turning back to the pale yellow house with the lovely rose-colored domes.

But. $180,000 dollars?

There was something that we had not told Lucy, in fact we had really not considered it ourselves. This was that in the past five months we had lost both of our mothers, and the truth was that both had left us money—some of which would come to us later, but each had left a lump initial sum which just happened to amount to exactly $180,000!!  It seemed pre-ordained––too much of a coincidence to overlook.

For the past few years, Bob had not displayed his usual enthusiasm for things and this was the most excited I’d seen him about anything for years. So, if not now, when? And one morning ,we woke up of a mind.  Let’s make an offer!  We used the phone in the lobby to call Lucy and she kept us connected on one phone as she used another of their office phones to call the number on the spec sheet we’d been given which turned out to be an invalid number! No wonder this house had sat empty for three years. The gardener had done everything he could to insure it. Lucy made calls to the Raquet Club and eventually uncovered the real number, called it and . . . . discovered that they had  just that morning received and accepted an offer for full price!

We had waited too long. Crushed, we told her to go ahead and make an offer on our second choice, the condo.

But no, she said.  She knew we really wanted the house. She was going to see what she could do.  She called them again, asking if the other people had made a down payment. No, she was told. They were in Canada and hadn’t had a chance to. In fact, they had not yet seen the house except in pictures sent to them by a friend.

How much of a down payment were they asking for and when did they want it, she asked. Within three days, they said. The people had promised to make a bank transfer.

On her other phone, Lucy transmitted the news to us.  Could we make the down payment in three days, she asked? Yes, as a matter of fact we could make it today.

When did they want a full payment made, she asked the sellers. Within another two weeks, they said.  Could we meet that deadline? asked Lucy. We looked at each other.  Yes, in fact, we could pay the entire amount today, for it was exactly the amount we had inherited from our two mothers and we had not had time to invest it before we left for Mexico. It was sitting  right now in our bank savings account just waiting to be put to some useful purpose! What were the chances?

Lucy conveyed to the owners that we were ready to make arrangements for a bank transfer today and the deal was struck. They rejected the other offer and accepted ours.

Three days later, we were property owners in Mexico!! We took Bearcat to see his new home for the first time and he promptly climbed a tree and rested on a low branch—something he had never been able to do on the redwood trees that surrounded his former home.  Bob and I sat on the floor in our empty house and looked at each other in wonderment.  “How did you know this is what we were supposed to do?” he said, and pulled me into an embrace that rivaled that first kiss that I will someday tell you about, perhaps during our long drive back to the states to complete the sale of most of our worldly goods or the return trip with the van stuffed to the roof with what we have chosen to bring with us down to our new home. We were off on a new adventure, and this time we were absolutely sure that it was exactly what both of us wanted.

The House Now
(Click on photos to enlarge)