September 2010 Newsletter

Hola from Acapulco!

Summer is in its waning days in the Northern Hemisphere and, by the looks of the current temperatures in many Canadian and US cities, it is already gone!

Vancouver is recording highs of 17C/62F, Toronto 14C/57F, New York and Boston 21C/69F.  Those leaves changing color are pretty but it will only be a few more degrees lower and we’ll start seeing all the Canadians and Americans escaping the cold down here in balmy Acapulco.

Did You Know?

But what is interesting is that many northerners assume that Mexico, and other Central and South American countries are all hot.

Many don’t realize that places like Mexico City and Bogota, Colombia can be very cold.  Even in the summer Mexico City’s average high temperature is around 22C/72F.  Sure, that’s not that cold, but the average overnight low in January is 6C/43F.  It is always amusing to see the odd northerner walking around Mexico City in shorts and sandals in near-freezing temperature as they get a quick lesson in how altitude affects temperature.

And that is why Mexico City can get so cold, because it is based at a very high altitude – 2,240 meters (7,350 feet).

I don’t laugh at the foreigners in Mexico City who are so underdressed too much, though, because I did the same thing upon my first trip to Bogota, Colombia. Bogota is a really nice, beautiful city but it is even higher up than Mexico City at 2,640 meters (8,678 feet).

Weather Pattern Changes

All of this talk about weather was because I wanted to talk a bit in this month’s newsletter about how there have been distinct weather pattern changes in this entire region.  While Al Gore flies around in his private jets selling global warming the actual scientific facts are that the world has been in a cooling period for the last 10 years.

This past winter people in Miami spotted snow and hit overnight lows of 0C/35F and vacationers in Cancun were hit by wave after wave of cold fronts leaving their Mexican holiday more of a sweater and a hot chocolate type of affair!

Interestingly, one of the only regions that retained warm, balmy weather all throughout the winter was the very southwest of Mexico where Acapulco is located.

And so, for those looking for a Mexican vacation home and have dreams of balmy, humid tropical nights I suggest you take a look at recent weather pattern changes before making a purchase.  What once was hot in recent years may have cooled considerably!

Hasta Luego!

And with that I really should get down to the pool for my daily free dose of Vitamin D.

As I always mention when I sign off, don’t forget that we offer discounts for rentals of our suites in our hotel for interested buyers.  So if you’d like to come down and check out the city and our units, email us directly and we will try to get you into one of our suites at the hotel, Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites (http://LTGPS.com), so you can try living in one of our remodeled suites and living in the resort to see how you like it before you buy. 

And as summer fades remember that watching NHL hockey  or NFL football is much better in the tropics on the beach in HD on your flatscreen TV than it is sitting in the frozen stands in Green Bay or New England.  Trust me, it is!

Until next month!

Jeff Berwick

Manager

AcaCondos & Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites hotel



August 2010 Newsletter

Hello from beautiful Acapulco!

Things, as always here, are excellent!

However, for a change of pace this month I’d like to talk about Crime and Safety.

AT LEAST 52 SHOT, 7 DEAD OVER WEEKEND

I hear quite often from Americans asking about the safety of Mexico.  My reply to them is always the same: I should be asking you about the safety in the US!

The headline, above, is from an article in June from CHICAGO (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/21/chicago-violence-at-least_n_619259.html).  In fact, nearly every weekend, 40 people are shot in Chicago.

Other major US cities aren’t too far behind, either.  Here is a listing in descending order of murder rates for major cities in 2008:

Detroit                         37.4

Baltimore                    36.9

Washington DC           31.4

Philadelphia                23.0

Chicago                       18.0

Mexico City                8.1

I couldn’t find a reputable source for a murder rate for Acapulco but I can confidently state this: Inside of Acapulco (not including surrounding areas where there are some problems from time to time – anything within 200 miles of Acapulco is always reported in foreign news as occurring IN Acapulco) the rate would likely be very low.  And inside the tourist areas of Acapulco that rate would be even lower.  It is a rarity when even so much as a fight happens in the tourist zone.  The people of Acapulco realize the importance of tourism to the economy here and it is just simply not allowed in this area.

Put simply, if safety is a concern, and you live in the US, you should move to Acapulco!

However, as an adjunct, I will point out that it is very, very rare for any INNOCENT bystander to be attacked or killed ANYWHERE in the world.  Most murders come as the result of a dispute.  Most often surrounding the drug trade which has been pushed underground because it is illegal.  If drugs were legalized all of these problems would go away.  But that’s a topic for another day!

As far as petty crime, such as theft, the crime rate in the tourist area of Acapulco is significantly lower than any city in the US or Canada I can think of.  This was really highlighted to me when I first moved here.  My Acapulco-born  girlfriend left her sunglasses sitting on the dash of my car as we got out to eat at a restaurant.  Being from petty-crime ridden Vancouver, Canada I was stunned.  I said to her, “What are you crazy?  Put them in the glove compartment or take them with you or they’ll get stolen.”  She looked at me, bewildered.  “This is Acapulco! That would never happen!”.  And she is right.  As my friends from Canada write to me every few months about how someone broke into their car or into their home I have yet to even hear or see one example of this type of petty theft in Acapulco.

To summarize, the world isn’t a very dangerous place.  At all.  Your nightly news and your government have an interest in making it appear so, however.

BACK TO THE BEACH

Enough talk about that.  Let’s get back to what Acapulco is all about: beach, fun and sun.

Every day down here is idyllic.  And today is no exception.  I am about to head down to the pool and get my daily dose of free vitamin D.

In the meantime, August was a very quiet month at AcaCondos, as expected.  The summer months are much quieter here than the hectic peak season which generally runs from November to May.  But I don’t know how many emails I have received stating, “We are coming down this fall/winter and are definitely going to buy a unit”… so, if you want to beat the rush and get first pick on what’s available, the time is now.

We still have four units currently available:

1510N - $59,000 USD

2503S - $62,000 USD 

2907S - Double Size Large Studio (or easily converted to 1 Bedroom) - $105,000 USD as is or $128,000 with full Upgrade Package

3006N - 2 Bedroom Penthouse Unit- $115,000 USD as is or 140,000 USD with full upgrade package

And, as always, we offer discounts for rentals of our suites in our hotel for interested buyers.  So if you’d like to come down and check out the city and our units, email us directly and we will try to get you into one of our suites at the hotel, Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites (http://LTGPS.com), so you can try living in one of our remodeled suites and living in the resort to see how you like it before you buy. 

Until then, keep safe up there!

Jeff Berwick

Manager

AcaCondos & Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites hotel



July 2010 Newsletter

Hello from beautiful Acapulco!  Things are going swimmingly down here as always.

I had actually ventured North to my hometown of Vancouver in early July with the intention to try to stay in Canada for a month or so and visit all my friends and family.  But it is really very hard to get used to the Canadian or American lifestyle when you are used to living in Acapulco.  I returned after 8 days and am not sure how I managed to stay that long.

My arrival in Canada was, as is always the case, met by the Canadian border people who took me aside just to make sure I didn’t have any of the thousands of items that are deemed illegal there.  They prodded through my baggage and came upon a medication.  “Do you have a subscription for this?”

I responded, “Where I live, you don’t need permission from the government to buy medications.”

Perplexed she kept digging.  “So, what do you down there in Mexico?”

“Not too much to tell you the truth.  I’ve got a few business ventures but they don’t take up a lot of my time.”

“How do you survive there then?” she continued.

“Well, you don’t really need to have much money to live very well there.  They don’t take 50% of your income in taxes and there is no national sales tax (5% GST in Canada), provincial sales tax (7% in British Columbia), alcohol tax, cigarette tax, restaurant tax and the hundreds of other taxes you have here.  When you add it all up, it probably takes about 70%+ of everyone’s income here in taxes.  And, even when they have a tax in Mexico, like property tax, my property tax for my condo at AcaCondos this year was $150.  My mom’s property tax for her condo in Canada was $2,500.  So, really Miss, I should be asking you how YOU survive HERE.”

She finally realized she was getting nowhere with me and let me through.  I walked outside into a windy, frigid 44F/7C July evening!  I don’t even own a sweater or a jacket anymore so I huddled up and tried to keep warm as best I could.

I ended up staying in a hotel in downtown Vancouver where I was constantly being accosted by homeless street people begging for money, some of whom were doing so in a very aggressive manner.

Needless to say, I missed Acapulco.

Here is how I spend most of my days in Acapulco:  I am a late riser, so I usually arise around noon and open the blinds to an always spectacular and beautiful view of Acapulco Bay.  I make a protein shake and scan my emails and get caught up on the news on the internet.  I then have breakfast before I head down to the pool and the beach.  There is a man who sells fresh coconuts, mangos and other fresh fruits and seafood right beside the pool area here and I almost always buy a fresh coco (coco juice is one of the healthiest juices in the world) and some sliced fresh mango from him for about $2.

I then take some sun for 30 or 40 minutes, getting a full dose of Vitamin D… something that many people are just realizing is possibly the most important vitamin you can get.  A daily dose of sun will keep your immune system brimming near 100%.  I can’t remember the last time I even heard someone cough or say they had a cold in Acapulco.  And it is actually impossible to catch the flu in the tropics as  the high humidity makes it non-transmissible (a fact that not many people gave much thought to during the Swine flu scam/panic).

Normally I’ll take a dip in the ocean – the salt water is amazing for your skin - and then I do a few light exercises in the gym here at AcaCondos before heading back up to my condo.  By the time I get back my maid, Eustoria, who comes every day and knows that I am always down at the pool and gym between 2-4pm is usually just finishing up cleaning my entire condo, folding my laundry from my washer/dryer unit, making my bed and washing my dishes.

I then take a shower, have some lunch and then I either walk or take my car (or sometimes the bus) to a very high-end professional gym called Nautilus (http://www.torrecoral.org/unlimitpages.asp?id=73) which has all the best and latest in fitness equipment where I do a rigorous workout, sometimes utilizing their personal trainers on staff.  The amount of eye-candy, both for women and men, is enough to keep me there a good 1.5 to 2 hours, even if I am feeling lazy that day.

By then it is usually around 8pm and I stop home from the gym at any one of dozens of fantastic restaurants including the Sushi Factory, Forza Italian, Napoli Italian, Delicias Tacos and many more.

The evenings are then spent out and about with friends (Palladium nightclub here in Acapulco just got rated as the best nightclub in the world: http://techno-trance-music.suite101.com/article.cfm/palladium-acapulco-arguably-the-best-nightclub-in-the-world) or often I will stay in to catch up on some work (I do actually do some work here!).

And so, as you may be able to tell from that, I love it here.

As far as updates, unit 1104S sold this month.  It actually sold for more than they were asking as a bidding war between two parties had erupted.

But another unit, #1510N has come up for sale just in the last few days, so we still have four units currently available:

1510N - $59,000 USD **NEW!**

2503S - $62,000 USD **NEW!**

2907S - Double Size Large Studio (or easily converted to 1 Bedroom) - $105,000 USD as is or $128,000 with full Upgrade Package **REDUCED**

3006N - 2 Bedroom Penthouse Unit- $115,000 USD as is or 140,000 USD with full upgrade package

And if you are looking to buy a unit as an investment property the timing couldn’t be better.  Our boutique hotel, LTGPS.com, is nearly sold out for the upcoming peak season so we desperately need more units in our inventory to rent.  Return on Investment on a studio suite should be excellent in the coming year, possibly as high as 20% (income of $12,000 based on a purchase price of $60,000).

And, as always, we offer discounts for rentals of our suites in our hotel for interested buyers.  So if you’d like to come down and check out the city and our units, email us directly and we will try to get you into one of our suites at the hotel, Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites (http://LTGPS.com), so you can try living in one of our remodeled suites and living in the resort to see how you like it before you buy. 

Until then, you know where to find me!

Jeff Berwick

Manager

AcaCondos & Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites hotel



June 2010 Newsletter

Hello from beautiful Acapulco!

Rather than talk about how beautiful and amazing life is down here in Acapulco this month I want to talk about the investment opportunities of purchasing real estate in Acapulco at this time.

But before I do, I just wanted to let you know that Details magazine did a write-up on Acapulco this month.  You can see it here: http://www.details.com/style-advice/tech-and-design/201005/where-to-eat-play-stay-acapulco

As many as you may know Acapulco was literally the top vacation destination in the world during the 1950s and 1960s.  The whose who of celebrities of the time were here and while many celebrities still keep a house/villa here in Acapulco, from the 1980s on until the early 2000s Acapulco was forgotten by much of the world.

The Mexican government focused its efforts on creating man-made vacation destinations, literally from scratch, in places such as Cabo San Lucas and Cancun and funneled all their marketing dollars into turning these areas into top tourist destinations.

However, in the last few years Acapulco has received a complete rebirth.  This New York Times article does a good job of describing the transformation: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/travel/02acapulco.html .

World class hotels, restaurants, bars and discos have all been built in recent years making Acapulco the new hot, cool place to go.  Yet many still haven’t awakened to this reality.

You can still buy a condo in Acapulco for under $60,000 (as you can see on our Suites for Sale) page of our website.  Try finding anything cheaper than that in Cabo, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta or other overbought Mexican destinations.  They usually start at $200,000 and go higher from there.  Even here in Acapulco the great majority of new condo projects start at $300,000 and million dollar condos are becoming commonplace as Mexico’s rich have returned in droves to beautiful Acapulco.

As well there are two new recent events that I feel are almost certain to increase the value of Acapulco real estate nearly overnight.

First, there have been distinct weather pattern changes that have made themselves known in recent years.  Miami had snowfall this last winter and people who were in Cancun in the winter had better have brought sweaters, jackets and warm clothing because daytime highs often never got higher than 70F (21c) and overnight few even ventured outside as the thermometer dipped to 53F (11c) or lower.  Obviously, when people think of a Mexican winter vacation they don’t have thoughts of sweaters and hot chocolate in mind.

Even in Acapulco this winter was unusually cool.  But unusually cool here means highs of 87F (31c) and lows of 73F (23c).  Still very comfortable beach weather and perfect for sitting at a beach bar with a cold corona in the evenings.

As well, and we hate to dwell on something so horrific as this current Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but they do not even think they have a chance of trying to stop this spill until mid-August.  And even that attempt has been said by many experts to be futile.  British Petroleum drilled to unheard of underwater depths and encountered pressures 50 times higher than most normal wells (estimates are the pressure is somewhere between 20,000 to 100,000 pounds psi).  Even at 20,000 pounds that is more than any known technology can stop.  The nightmare scenario is that this spill may never be stopped until billions upon billions of gallons of oil and other toxic gases are dispersed into the gulf.

We want nothing more than for this nightmare to end with some sort of miraculous cure but the cold-logical fact of the matter is that if this well cannot be stopped it will destroy the entire tourism in the entire Gulf of Mexico including Florida and Cancun.  That would mean that the demand for vacation properties on the Pacific side of North America would receive a huge amount of demand almost overnight.

Again, we want nothing more than to hear that this disastrous spill has been mitigated.  But if it is not, we will almost certainly expect interest and prices for Acapulco real estate to skyrocket.  Especially when you combine this oil disaster with the weather pattern changes that look to be recurring for the foreseeable future.

And so, if you are looking to buy some of the nicest properties in Acapulco that we offer at these amazing prices, as low as $57,000 USD for a beachfront condo which is also rentable in our hotel as an income property, the time to do so may be now before the rest of the world catches on to the coming changes.

And, as always, we offer discounts for rentals of our suites for interested buyers.  So if you’d like to come down and check out the city and our units, email us directly and we will try to get you into one of our suites at the hotel, Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites (http://LTGPS.com), so you can try living in one of our remodeled suites and living in the resort to see how you like it before you buy. 

Until then, see you at the beach!

Jeff Berwick

Manager

AcaCondos & Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites hotel



May 2010 Newsletter

Hello from beautiful Acapulco!

As I sat today on the balcony of my suite in the AcaCondos resort towers overlooking Acapulco Bay, the sound of the surf lapping gently below, I cracked open an ice-cold Corona beer and leant back in my patio sofa. I had just returned from the pool and private beach below to my condo to watch the latest in the NHL and NBA playoffs on my 42” flat screen LCD in High Definition (HDTV) from the Canadian and US satellite channels that all come standard in all our suites (HDTV and all).  My maid had just finished cleaning my entire apartment, something she does for about an hour every day of the week (something that comes standard with all suites in the building) and I let out a very satisfied sigh. 

At that moment a friend who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, rang my Skype phone and I popped my headset on to hear, “Can you believe it is snowing here right now??” 

It is apparently the latest it has ever snowed in Utah in recorded history.  “Really?” I replied, “You don’t want to know what I am doing right now then.”

He laughed, “No, no I don’t!” 

I couldn’t help but dig at him a little bit, though, “You know here in Mexico we get daily maid service for pretty much nothing?  I mean, I haven’t washed a dish or made my bed in years.  And today my maid brought me some mangoes from the tree at her house!”

“Ok, ok,” he said.  I knew not to push it too much, most people can’ t handle to hear how we live down here.

And so went another day in Acapulco.

In fact, there is always something interesting going on down here if hanging out at the beach, or the pool or at a seaside seafood restaurant serving up fresh the catch of the day isn’t enough for you.

In February the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Worldwide tour was held in Acapulco, as it is every year.  Venus Williams won this year’s women’s title.

Later this year the LPGA tour arrives from Sept 30-Oct 3 playing just to the South of AcaCondos at Tres Vidas golf club.  “I'm thrilled that our great country will host an LPGA Tour event in Acapulco, an absolutely beautiful city with a great reputation for hosting top sporting events,” said Lorena Ochoa, the LPGA Tour's No. 1 player and resident of Mexico.

For music lovers, Yanni was recently in Acapulco and taped a special concert from the beautiful Mundo Imperial forum.  You can see a commercial trailer for this concert at Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvAaf4Gtabc .  Coming in July is latin pop star Pitbull and in October The Cranberries bring their world tour (http://www.cranberries.com/tour.asp) to Acapulco.

As well, the Copa Las Americas world surfing competition was held right here in Acapulco at Bonfil Beach last month.

I could go on and on but let’s just say that besides all the great swimming, scuba-diving, fishing, jet-skiing, surfing, bungee-jumping and parasailing there are lots more things to do.  That is, if eating at some of the world’s most beautiful restaurants, such as Becco al Mar (http://www.beccoalmare.com/) and spending time at the beach and pool isn’t enough for you!

We have one update to report this month.  The beautiful double-unit #2907S on the 29^th floor of the South Tower which was previously for sale for $115,000 USD (unrenovated) or $138,000 USD with our full renovation and rentability (you can rent it in our hotel if it is upgraded) package has been reduced.  The owner of that suite just let us know that he wants to reduce the price as he has some family issues and wants to get the unit sold as soon as possible.  We haven’t even had time to update our website yet but the new price is $107,000 USD for unrenovated or $130,000 USD fully renovated.

It was already an amazing deal to begin with but now we think it will sell very quickly.  So if you have any interest in this double-sized, front facing unit one floor below the Penthouse level please contact us soon. 

That is all for now.  But, as I told my friend from Utah, you really are crazy if you don’t seriously consider getting a place down here!

As always, we offer discounts for rentals of our suites for interested buyers.  So if you’d like to come down and check out the city and our units, email us directly and we will try to get you into one of our suites at the hotel, Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites (http://LTGPS.com), so you can try living in one of our remodeled suites and living in the resort to see how you like it before you buy.  From now until the end of June is an excellent time to come as our units are available much more during this period than during the peak periods and at even better prices.

Until then,

Jeff Berwick

Manager

AcaCondos & Las Torres Gemelas Private Suites hotel