My quest is not for a new Nirvana, for I think I have found Paradise here in Puerto Vallarta (albeit a Paradise with a few problems).. My for the past four months has been trying to find a new apartment. I have not bothered to write about the continuing problems living in this "Little House of Horrors". The last straw was my last electric bill. The bill went from 58 pesos, to 500 to 3,500 and this month 7,070 pesos (almost what I pay in rent)! When I got the 3,500 bill, I immediately called the electrician who told me he would "hot wire" it so that my bill would only be a few hundred pesos. Obviously it did not work (I was never good at cheating anyway). He could not understand it. He said he had done it a 100 times before and it always worked. When some one tells me "This has never happened before". I tell them, "You have no idea who you are dealing with here" I am a magnet for the strange and the bizarre. The impossible is a common occurrence for me. Not always in a bad way, for some extraordinarily wonderful things have happened to me during my long life.. Just not today.
After six trips and calls to the electric company I finally got an inspector to check out my apartment. He agreed that with what I had in the apartment and my usage, my bill should not be more than a few hundred pesos. Then he said that the problem was in the wiring of the building and particularly the condenser. It wasn't my fault, but it also wasn't the electric company's problem, so I still had to pay the bill. The building manager does not care.
In any case, it was time to move. I had found a place located just around the corner from me. It was an old casita where the owner had build two apartments on top of it. It was old and a little dark, but so much charm and it was quite large (3 bedrooms 3,baths). I saw it the day before I was to leave for Cancun, so I gave them 5,000 pesos to hold it for me for one week. I would decide definitely when I got back. They rented to someone else anyway. Yes, this is Mexico, but I did get my money back. The biggest draw back is that I needed a large private terrace or patio and I wanted to stay in the Zona Romantica . One place had everything I wanted plus a wonderful view. But it was 176 steps from the street to the front door! (I counted them on the way down) Now I am fairly healthy, but 176 steps?? Another was located on the street next to the river, a prime street with no bus traffic. It looked like a bordello with faux marble walls and crystal chandeliers. . It was so small the the satin covered bed was in the middle of the only room. The kitchen was smaller than my linen closet. Another had a lot of things I liked but it had a roof deck with about 100 balconies overlooking it. It also had no glass windows. My favorite was another little house that was old and crude, but charming. It had two patios. The draw back was that the only bathroom was in a separate building across the back patio,. I decided it would not work for me. I could go on for I have seen 100 of them.
So when I saw this place, it was not all I wanted, but it had possibilities and it was cheap! I have lived over a sandal shop, a major bus depot and now this one is over a fish taco place (better than a fish market). I just had to get out of where I was. Even though I knew I would have to spend a lot of money on it, I thought I could make it do. It was not exactly in the area I wanted, but not too far away and it did have a very large roof top deck plus a balcony. So I said I would take it. The landlord did not want me! Did not want me?? Is she crazy?? Well, as it turns out she is. She is also the most hated woman in Puerto Vallarta. She not only closed her store without paying her employees, (they are still picking outside the store). She owes a lot of people money. Not a good person to rent from, but I was desperate. She wanted a Mexican National who owned a prominent business to cosign. Some one like her maybe? I went looking again. Nothing worked and the closer it gets to October and the high season, the fewer apartments are available. Finally I agreed to pay six months in advance (plus I was spending the equivalent of another six months rent on it before I moved in) .
She finally agreed and when I went to sign the lease, My Realtor pointed out that is was only a six month lease with no options! The lawyer said that if I was a good tenant and paid my rent on time, she would extend it. PAY MY RENT ON TIME! I gave them seven months rent. She could raise the rent or ask me to move. I was investing too much money in it to leave in six months, so my Realtor said he would get it rewritten. It took two weeks! Meanwhile I am in a panic. I had only a few days to either give notice or pay another months rent (plus electric). I told my Realtor I did not care that it was a six month lease. What could be worse than staying here?
Finally I said that I would sign the six month lease and take my chances. I had to move. The lawyer agreed to meet us at 11:00 at the apartment. He did not show up until 1:30 (Mexico!!) It was just for six months and then I was told that I also had to come up with the one month deposit. I had to give them seven months rent for a six month lease. I had no choice and raced to the bank again. Then he found out that none of his keys worked in the lock. It took another hour and two more attempts to find who had the right key. I finally have a key to my new place.
I am going to send you a few photos so you can see how really ugly it is, but in a month or so you will see what I (and a lot of money) can do to make it pretty. Oh, I forgot to mention that the lease being in Spanish is completely illegible to me, but I did notice a strange name on the lease. I asked who that person was. It turns out that it is the aunt's name who actually owns the building. I asked if she could sign the lease. I was told that she was dead! I have just given him seven months rent for a six month lease and I do not even know who really owns the building. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?? OOPPS!!
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