We chose Cordoba

[Andreas_Montoya]

My wife and I looked and found really nice piece of flat farm land at the base of the mountains just outside of Cordoba. The land has sugar cane on it now but we will have it cleared and construction on our new home will begin next week. The city is beautiful ,the people are very friendly, prices are dirt cheap and the climate is great.

This is the river behind our house, the stones are of course free and that is what our house will be built out of.

Steaming hot tamales sold on the corners in the morning, 3 for 21 pesos.

Mount Orizaba, the tallest in Mexico.

[Mainecoons]

Wow, excellent. Good luck to you all.

Great photos!

[Cookie]

Great restaurants too!

[lakeside7]

And where pray is Cordoba, in Spain????

[Andreas_Montoya]

And where pray is Cordoba, in Spain????

Cordoba is in Veracruz between Xalapa and Oaxaca. https://www.google.com/maps/@18.8838909,-96.9237751,7z

I have lived in Paamul for almost two years and have looked in Playa Del Carmen, Tulum, Xalapa and Chetumal. Actually we were lured here quite by accident as we were headed for Xalapa, but I believe that everything happens for a reason. I was researching the mountains and saw a home for sale in our price range with photos. We headed for Xalapa and called the man, he said he was in Cordoba, the ad was lumped in Xalapa's real estate ads. I still don't know how he made the home look that good in the pictures. The land was vertical, the home was run down. The fireplace in the living room that looked so good in the picture had no chimney. He said "I'm not through with it yet." Bull it was years old, he just smoked up the house.

We checked into a hotel to look at more local property because the area is beautiful. There was a cantina right across the street and we went there. The owner was very nice, he said he knew of some flat property for sale near his house. My wife is from Mexico City, so this helps a lot. We loved the land, it is flat, a sugar cane plantation. A river runs behind it and the view of the mountains is great. His brother is an architect and gave us a very professional listed estimate of what would be needed to begin construction. He also was very helpful as I'm from Texas and he explained that the Fossa (septic system) is very different here. The land does not absorb water well as it rains daily. So the fossa requires cleaning every three years, it's only 300 pesos. He also recommended a Topanga or loft to double the living space without sprawling out the house.

We went to Xalapa and 1/2 a day convinced us we made the right choice. The city was filthy, the people were rude and the traffic was horrible. No realtor wanted to show us any property under $200,000.00 US and assured us that we wouldn't find any. They just don't want to deal with you unless they make a large commission. Cordoba is very clean, people sweep the streets daily, the people are all very friendly willing to stop and give directions and the city has everything. Home Depot, Auto Zone, Sams's Club, Walmart, KFC, Pizza Hut and hundreds of local restaurants. A very large mercado with an abundance of fresh produce. Grapes are 15 pesos for 2 kilos, a huge bag of limes for 10.

The land will be cleared and construction will start very soon.

[Sonia]

Thanks for sharing. Love the photos. Interested in knowing more about the weather.

Sonia

[Snafu]

Looks like an incredible place except that thing you call a mountain, sure looks like a volcano to me.

[Andreas_Montoya]

Looks like an incredible place except that thing you call a mountain, sure looks like a volcano to me.

It's a dormant volcano.

Orizaba is a huge dormant volcano that last erupted between 1545 and 1566. It is the second highest dormant volcano in the world; only Kilimanjaro in Africa is a higher volcano.

The volcano formed in three stages in the Pleistocene Epoch over a million years ago.

Pico de Orizaba is a true alpine environment with nine glaciers--Gran Glaciar Norte, Lengua del Chichimeco, Jamapa, Toro, Glaciar de la Barba, Noroccidental, Occidental, Suroccidental, and Oriental. The Gran Glaciar Norte or Great Glacier of the North is the largest on Orizaba, spilling down from the summit to about 16,000 feet with an average thickness of about 160 feet, and covers about 3.5 square miles. Most of the glaciers occur on the northern side of the volcano, which receives less sun than the southern flank.

This is why there is so much water in Cordoba, and it is pure. The rivers are everywhere and flow very fast. The Moctezuma Beer Company gets it's water for the beer here. Land for sale is plentiful with all of the services, internet, cell phone and TV.

[Frijoles]

What about the weather? Isn't it hot there?

[lakeside7]

Sounds like a green horn has just come into town..and boy do I have some land to sell you...reminisce of the good old days when I went to seminars in Michigan back in the 60's, and the promoters were selling (swamp) land in the Florida everglades..but in this case watch out for the lava when the volcano erupts!!!

Seriously I wish you well , hope you will have clear paperwork and honest builder

Now that you have got us on the hook , keep us up to date with your progress, warts and all.....

[cbviajero]

Sounds like a green horn has just come into town.

It sounds to me like the green horn is you, lakeside7,you didn't even recognize El Pico de Orizaba in the photos,even with the caption provided...

[Andreas_Montoya]

Deleted by Moderator 3

[cbviajero]

While I agree with much of what you said about lakeside7,you should know that that type of language is neither welcomed nor allowed on this forum.

[RVGRINGO]

I just lost interest. Too bad.

[slainte39]

Forgive the (magnificent) lakeside 7.....they are probably still in Cordoba, Espa~a, where greenhorns are known to congregate.

[bmh]

Cordoba weather is warm and humid, cooler than Yucatan, it can get unpleasant in the winter and there is a lot of fog in the morning and afternoon.

It is a sugar cane area and Cordoba is loaded with coffee companies. The plaza is colonial the rest of the town less than exciting and there are big box stores.

Interesting we stayed inXalapa a couple of months ago and I do not agree the town is dirty, traffic awful , totally agreed and the town is tough to navigate because of the hills.

The Xalapa museum of Anthropology is a must see. Lots of chipichipi in the area.

We like to stay in the towns of Orizaba or Fortin de las FLores over Cordoba but to each

its own.

Orizaba (the volcano) is magnificent not doubt about it.

[Andreas_Montoya]

The rest of you, forgive my outburst. It seriously aggravates me when someone who knows nothing about you tries to look big by making you look small.

Back to the topic. We visited Xalapa the day after Independence Day, which may explain all of the filth in the streets, horse manure, paper plates, plastic spoons etc. However, we were in Cordoba for Independence Day and witnessed the parade. They immediately had people with brooms and dustpans and two street sweepers following the parade and cleaned everything. In fact, they clean every day.

It does not explain the way the people there acted when we asked for simple directions, such as a lavenderia. The locals were rude in general and my wife is Mexican so it was not a gringo thing. Again, the traffic downtown was terrible, as it is here in Mexico City. Cordoba is not so much in a hurry.

The market is incredible, we will never buy produce at Walmart again.

The people are incredibly friendly, this woman Gloria owns a small restaurant that we ate in a lot.

Everything grows wild.

The history is rich..

[RVGRINGO]

You have piqued my interest again. I hope that flat land is much higher than the river, or the rainy season floods might carry you away. Be sure to build well above historical flood levels.....and then some.

[Cookie]

What are those yellow flowers? They look sculpted!

[bmh]

they come in yellow and red but I do not know their name. People from Vera Cruz state come and sell them in Chiapas but they cheated us and sold us some ginger instead... They look made up, very stiff..

[michigander]

Very nice pictures, thank you for sharing.I think I will add Cordoba to my visit list.

[Andreas_Montoya]

RV, we are well above the flood plain. We were looking at 625 meters but wanted more. Dante found 1,250 meters for less money, also flat cane field at the foot of the mountains. He has a successful restaurant/bar but wants me to partner up as I was raised in Texas and know how to smoke meat. You simply can't find smoked brisket, ribs and chicken here. I'll construct a large, upright water smoker out of a propane tank and put it in his kitchen, he has an open roof area.

Cookie, I forget the name of that flower, but they are quite beautiful. They mature into an oblong, pine cone shape and keep for days in water. I didn't ask him to but he just plucked on for my wife.

These were growing on a large piece of land in Fortin De Las Flores. It had a river running through it but was too steep and wooded for our needs. Oranges, coffee, macadamia nuts and limes just grow in the jungle there.

Stone construction is also common there as the materials are free.

[Andreas_Montoya]

Coffee..

Spicy, crunchy dried insects. They cover the bugs to keep bugs from getting in them..LOL

[cooper]

Why do you believe that you can take the stones from the river for free?

[lakeside7]

Andreas,I apologize if the play on the word "Expert" offended you.

We have many “Experts” here at Lakeside

Some who arrived 20 years ago, and others who have just got off the boat, after reading a book by an recent writer? Expert after being here only 3 months.

We have “Experts” who purchase lots in a upper class Fracc, who many years later found that a section of the development was on Ejido land and the total sales of any house in the Fracc was held up until a settlement was reached

Then we have the “Experts” who bought in another upscale Fracc, who thought that they had good deeds to their homes and promise of water connection to the city supply. And the attorney, who was helping them, was subsequently spirited back to the USA on murder charges.

We have “Experts” who have lost thousands, not just hundreds, of dollars dealing with dishonest builders. Builders who continued to stay around for years.

The we have “Expects”, frustrated with the high number of morosos in the Fracc, decided to try the town life in Chapala or Ajijic.

Silly them. Only to experience a new restaurant or bar open’s a few doors away. Or perhaps an adjacent neighbor has moved in with 10 cats and dogs. Why not someone who would grow organic lettuce and carrots you ask

Then you have the “Experts” who decided that you could live cheaply and benefit from the “Free” “Low” cost Mexican medical care. Only to find that as you become an Octogenarian, your issues either for cost reasons or specialty can not be fix here.

Also the other “Experts” having low income thought that Mexico would be heaven, but now with new Immigration regulations cannot qualify to stay. And if you stay below the radar do not have documentation to join IMSS or Seguro Popular

Fortuitously we do have a great Expert Attorney, who OP this board and who struggles to fix the damage caused by the other "Expert" facilitators ental.

Someplace among this bundle I find my self.I think I have seen the best of times and the worst of times. Time to move on. I would love to sell my house for its replacement cost .Not what some buyer thinks it is worth.

My wish is that I do not see myself among the other "Expert" skeletons that litter the Lakeside area .Peace+