Any further government delay in approving the sale of Grand Bahama Film Studio may keep the facility from landing the kind of mega Hollywood production that has just gone to its chief competitor.
"Certainly, if we are given the approval to purchase the studio with the plans that are there, it has the potential to be productive and successful," said Owen Bethel, lead for a the group of businessmen trying to buy the studio, FilmInvest. "If we are not prepared, it will be a missed opportunity."
The studio, with a broken filming tank at its center, has just missed such a revenue-generating opportunity.
Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia 3 is now preparing for an extending shoot in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, specifically at the Baja Film Studio and in its filming tank.
The production crew is expected to pump as much as $60 million into the local economy over the course of the four-or five-month shooting schedule. That gargantuan effort is set to start in November and is focused on underwater and beach scenes.
It's the same kind of big box production the Gold Rock Creek facility in Grand Bahama was built to attract, although it has utterly failed to do so since the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean II and III in 2006. They, too, were Disney productions, suggesting the Bahamian facility could well have had an inside track in winning the third in the Narnia series. That's only if its tank was fixed and other key investments in the property made.
The sequel of a CS Lewis Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe adaptation, it is now in theaters and has grossed more than $150 million since its May opening.
The danger for the GB studio is losing another Disney mega production in the offing, Pirates IV, which is close to winning final approval Guardian Business has learned.
"We are simply waiting on the government to indicate the intent of the current position of the studio," Bethel told Guardian Business. His group has pledged to pump millions into rehabilitating the tank as well as the rest of the facility. It has also indicated it will develop a film-related theme park to piggyback off the facility and better tie it into the faltering local tourism industry.
Here again, its Mexican competitor has already made substantial ground.
The Xploration theme park, built by 20th Century Fox in 1996 for the filming of Titanic, is now open five days a week, attracting U.S. visitors looking to tour the facility where Master and Commander, Pearl Harbor and Tomorrow Never Dies were shot. The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be the next name added to that list.
Grand Bahama's list is much shorter, although a low-budget German production has just wrapped up its filming schedule there.
However, the state of the whole Bahamian filming industry this year has failed to meet expectations, unable to land the big movie shoots that pump tens of millions of dollars into the economy through goods and services leased and bought over the course of filming. The Bahamas has been limited to five relatively small productions for 2008, with schedules measured in days rather than weeks. The country's film commissioner Craig Woods would not peg an amount to the impact that work has had on the economy.
Still, that figure represents ground lost from 2006. Over the past four years, in fact, $70 million was pumped into the Bahamian economy by 10 international films. Of that number, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean sequels accounted for around $43 million.
Part of the reason why The Bahamas is an ideal location for producers to shoot their films is because of the filming tank, which is usually used for water scenes.
That combined with the proximity to the U.S. and our English-speaking population lend the destination an edge over our Mexican competition, argues Bethel.
So goes the theory, at least. The current uncertainty surrounding the GB facility, however, has now creating a new reality where the Baja facility may ultimately attract the lion's share of work not only this year but going forward.
But the possibility of regaining success in the film industry all depends on the government. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham suggested his administration was not only considering revoking the license now held by the current owner, Gold Rock, but the take-back of some of the 1,000-acre parcel of land. It would then re-lease the remaining studio site to Bethel or another interested party.
Diminishing that land holding could alter Bethel's plans to follow Rosarito's lead with the development of GB's own theme park. It isn't clear how successful that particular end of the Mexican operation has been, however, specifically how many tourists come through its turnstiles each week.
It may be something the government will look into as it decides the fate of Grand Bahama's operation.
Still, local stakeholders are calling upon Ingraham to make that decision soon, in order to shore up a Freeport economy mired in the doldrums.
"Timing is critical," said Bethel on Friday. "The assessment needs to be made before the Disney movie comes along."
http://www.bahamaislandsinfo.com/
By Brian Flock
The Recent Fuel Crisis Hints at Manufactured Hysteria and Jaundiced Coverage
Baja California, Mexico, has been on the receiving end of a wave of negative news over the past year – including the real, the distorted, and the completely manufactured. A handful of violent crimes involving foreigners became a barrage of one-sided, singularly heavy-handed critiques of the region. Furthermore, gangland-style violence common to urban areas of California and greater United States’ cities became somehow intriguing and newsworthy when it occurred south of the border. Footnotes regarding violent crime on the nightly news in the United States became major headlines when it occurred in roughneck neighborhoods south of the US/Mexico border.
This ongoing trend of negative news towards the United States’ southern neighbor became especially apparent during this month’s Baja California “fuel crisis.” On June 11, I included a section in my monthly newsletter regarding the dramatic price differential between fuel in Mexico and California where gas was approaching US$5.00 per gallon, and diesel had already surpassed that threshold. My point was to simply catch readers’ attention by showing them one nominal perk of a visit to Baja California. I saw the difference as notable but there was certainly no obvious invasion across the border for cheap gasoline.
Then on June 14 The San Diego Union-Tribune, the original instigator of the supposed crime wave against tourists in Baja California, began the story of a purported run on fuel throughout the northern Baja California region by United States’ citizens. The implication of the story was that U.S. citizens suddenly started a mad dash south of the border in order to save between forty and fifty percent on fuel. On June 14 they were “heading” into Mexico. On June 15 they were “swarming” into Mexico. By June 18 there was a “mad scramble.”
The culmination of the slanted news barrage seems to have peaked on June 19 when Reuters news service released an article titled, “US motorists dodge bullets for cheap Mexican fuel.” My normally unflinching reaction to the ongoing fare of negative press articles on the Baja California region was finally jolted.
The headline instantly struck me as utterly outrageous in its assertion. The press had either perfected a conspiracy to berate the border region, or a group-think fueled by its own fumes had perfected the art of distorting facts. In fact, the self-fulfilling prophecy of the media was later doused by a single tanker shipment of diesel to the region.
As a northwestern Mexico local whose profession has me traveling up and down the coastal corridor of Baja California, I did not observe any of the aforementioned shortage until I went to purchase gasoline on June 18 at the largest and most profitable AM/PM service station in the world, located in southern Rosarito less than a kilometer south of the historic Rosarito Beach Hotel. (This was four days after the story of cheap gas first broke in The San Diego Union-Tribune.)
I was astounded to see possibly a hundred or more vehicles waiting to receive diesel from the only two pumps in operation. Of the scores of local buses and trucks waiting in line, I viewed precisely one fair-haired gringa with a pickup full of materials who I visually considered to be an American. Yet her fully loaded and tied down Dodge Ram pickup bed indicated that she was a regular visitor and not a casual tourist enticed into Mexico by low fuel prices as indicated by the media. Nor was she dodging a single bullet. Instead she stood outside of her cab and leaned against the driver’s door with boredom as she waited for the line of trucks to advance.
Meanwhile I filled up the tank with regular gasoline at just over US$2.50 and waited fewer than thirty seconds in order to be attended. Clearly the crisis related to not gasoline but diesel trucks with much larger tanks with a much more significant impact on the region. I have little doubt that the crisis on diesel was in fact created by the media, not simply reported by it. Fear created by the news seems to have created the diesel crisis.
What is the United States’ media bias against Baja California and Mexico? I can’t answer with certainty but it is downright distorted and out of touch with reality from the perspective on the ground overlooking the Coronado Islands.
With thousands of students in town for Spring break, 7,500 bike enthusiasts here for The Rosarito Ensenada Bike Ride and thousands more vacationing over the Memorial Day weekend, all having come and gone without major crime incident, the City is optimistic about seeing more tourists returning over the summer season.
"Each event brought more visitors despite the less-than-perfect weather," said Laura Wong, President of the Rosarito Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Even though hotel occupancy was down slightly more than 20 percent from last year, Memorial Day was an improvement over Spring Break and was actually better than we had anticipated," she went on to say.
Despite the negative American media reports involving crime and tourists, the city is proud to say that not one incident regarding American tourists and major crimes was reported during any of these events which is actually amazing when one considers the odds. How many U.S. cities can make that kind of claim?
"Steps taken by new Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres to increase visitor security and comfort also have helped tourism rebound," Wong added.
Those include establishing a Tourist Police Force and an ombudsman's office to assist visitors. The Convention & Visitors Bureau also had two information booths during the Memorial Day weekend, one on downtown Boulevard Benito Juarez and one in the Puerto Nuevo Lobster Village, where higher numbers of tourists are more common.
It is unfortunate that the American media does not report this type of information to its viewers, listeners and readers.
A friend in the States is thinking of having some surgery done. It’s just a little eyelid tuck that would “take away that tired look.” But as it’s cosmetic surgery it’s not exactly urgent, and it’s definitely not covered by her insurance, so she’s having trouble justifying the cost.
She’d find it easier to justify, I tell her, if she lived in Mexico—or even if she just chose to come here for the surgery. Medical procedures in Mexico usually cost from a quarter to a half of what you’d pay in the U.S.—for comparable quality of care. For procedures not covered by insurance that’s a great savings.
In fact, sometimes it’s a great savings even if your insurance does cover a procedure. That’s true for expensive surgeries, like some heart surgeries or joint replacement, which can cost four to seven times more in the U.S. than in Mexico. In those cases, you may pay more after insurance in the U.S. than you’d pay in Mexico for the surgery.
So what kind of savings are we talking about? Well, $1,600 to $1,800 for LASIK eye surgery (both eyes) here in Mexico, for instance, versus $3,000 to $5,000 elsewhere. A gastric bypass for about $14,000—a sweet $11,000 off U.S. prices. Or an angioplasty for about $10,000 in Mexico, as opposed to anywhere from $57,000 to $82,000 in the U.S.
Not surprisingly, given these prices, budget-conscious U.S. residents now plan “vacations” south of the border to get medical treatment that they can’t afford at home. The trend is called “medical tourism,” and it’s growing. Some savvy Mexican hospitals now actively market to U.S. and Canadian medical “consumers.” Several U.S. hospital chains have also jumped on the bandwagon, opening hospitals in Mexico that offer U.S.-style technical expertise and Mexican-style attentive care—and prices.
If you live in Mexico, of course, you can access these excellent hospitals all the time. You can also take advantage of similar savings on doctors’ visits, lab tests, and other medical costs. Seeing a specialist, like an ophthalmologist, before you decide on that LASIK surgery runs $33 to $47 here in Mexico. It can cost $250 to $300 in the U.S. A visit to the gynecologist, with pap smear and pathology, cost a friend just over $70 here in Mexico. In the U.S. it might cost six or seven times that much—perhaps $250 for the doctor’s visit and that much again for the lab test.
One of these top-notch hospitals is just up the road from me, in Mérida. It’s the Star Medica, part of a Mexican hospital chain, and it’s where I plan to go if I need expert hospital care. But there are plenty of excellent hospitals to choose from in Mexico. And I should know—we devoted the entire April 2008 issue of Mexico Insider to health care, from listing the top hospitals to the cost of medical care to the insurance options available.
Best Regards,
Glynna Prentice
Editor, Mexico Insider
International Living
The cold U.S. housing and mortgage markets have lenders looking for warmer possibilities, and a few are sending more efforts to finance Americans looking to purchase primary residences and second homes south of the border.
New York-based Lehman Brothers Resort Home Lending (1-866-233-4799) will enter the market in a big way, offering U.S. consumers mortgage packages this year in Mexico and Costa Rica, beginning July 1. The company plans to offer borrowers in Canada and the United Kingdom similar loan programs in Mexico and Costa Rica by the end of the year.
The programs, featuring one-, three-, five- and 10-year adjustable-rate mortgages amortized over 30 years, also will be available in the next year to U.S. borrowers who wish purchase in the Bahamas, according to Lehman Brothers. The company also is targeting the second-home market in Canada, the United Kingdom, Panama and the Dominican Republic, but specific roll-out dates were not released.
GMAC was the first national lender to introduce a 30-year, fixed-rate product south of the border but pulled out of Mexico late last summer when the U.S. mortgage market meltdown began to influence international partner companies. Lehman Brothers purchased some of GMAC's Mexico back-office operation late last year.
Wachovia Bank also has launched a program that enables the bank to purchase vacation-home loans made in Mexico. The vacation-home origination process is designed to look and feel like the loan origination practices in the United States, according to Wachovia.
"Having the support of a successful U.S. bank like Wachovia really speaks to the strength of the vacation-home market in Mexico," said Joe Schneider, project administrator for Cascadas de Manzanillo, a 530-acre planned-unit development on Santiago Bay just north of Manzanillo, Mexico.
How have Americans financed second homes outside the United States? Traditionally, it was get out your line-of-credit checkbook, add any savings you could muster, and then pray that the seller would "carry the paper" until you found another way to refinance the balance.
Bryant said the company will scrutinize builders and developments in specific destinations. For example, Lehman Brothers will focus on waterfront and view communities in Mexico's Riviera Maya, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.
Underfunded projects and unscrupulous developers in popular drive-in areas, such as Puerto Penasco at the northernmost point of the Sea of Cortes and at a few oceanfront buildings on the northern Baja Peninsula, have lenders spending more time on analysis and research before electing to approve permanent financing.
Anaheim, Calif.-based World Wide Lending LLC, which plans 20 locations in Mexico, has begun to list its approved developments on its Web site. It plans to utilize a broker network throughout Mexico while Lehman Brothers will have retail sales relationships inside each approved development.
Chris Stopp, a broker for Sacramento-based MexUs Capital, said his goal is to provide a menu of attractive loans to not only second-home recreational buyers but also for retirees and sophisticated investors.
"The variety of people coming to Mexico to live part time or full time continues to increase, and their needs are different," Stopp said. "We want to offer them an American transaction in a development they will enjoy for a long time."
Interest rates on Mexican loans are nearly 2 full percentage points higher than those in the United States because there has been no competition in the secondary mortgage markets or with Wall Street capital markets to purchase the loans as securitized assets. Once the loans become more attractive and marketable to investors, interest rates will drop, according to financial analysts.
The Canadian offerings could provide an attractive option, especially with the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver just around the corner. Retirees and aging baby boomers "from the states" are drawn to Canada for its wonderful skiing, health care, bargain medicine, terrific sailing and clean air, but the numbers of second-home buyers and older full-time residents have not been as attractive to lenders as the pool of thousands of snowbirds who head south to Mexico and Latin America.
Americans can borrow from Canadian banks and vice versa. But trying to finance Canadian property with U.S. funds becomes difficult. Location, security in the property and the ability to enforce simply make the package unattractive to most U.S. lenders.
Lehman Brothers is willing to gamble that it can make cross-border lending work, and that the number of Americans buying in Canada -- and elsewhere -- continues to rise.
By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, June 25, 2008.
Inman News
UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
A shared charge
Mexico, U.S. must address drug issue together June 24, 2008
Mexico and the United States have a number of shared problems, and they have to work together to find solutions for the sake of both countries. We can't just keep pointing fingers at one another and refusing to accept responsibility for what ails us. That includes drug trafficking and the violence that goes with it. As any economist can tell you, where there is demand, there will be supply. That Mexico is now the world's top exporter of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines may have something to do with the fact that it borders a country whose people have an insatiable appetite for illegal drugs.
That was a point that one Mexican economist drove home during a recent luncheon meeting in Tijuana with members of the Union-Tribune editorial board. That economist is José Guadalupe Osuna Millán , the relatively new governor of Baja California. In office for just over seven months, Gov. Osuna Millán seems to be a capable leader who knows his way around politics, having served as mayor of Tijuana from 1998-2000. But he also knows his way around spreadsheets, having studied and taught economics before entering public life. That background should serve him well as he charts a course for the economic development of Baja.
But Osuna Millán 's first priority is combating the drug violence that is scaring away American tourists and inflicting a terrible toll on Tijuana businesses that depend on those dollars. His task isn't made any easier by the fact that the cartels are now armed to the teeth with weapons smuggled in from the United States, guns that are then used to kill Mexican police officers. There is yet another illustration of the law of supply and demand, one with deadly consequences.
The United States seems to have a solid partner in Gov. Osuna Millán . We should make sure he has the tools to succeed.
Union Tribune
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA--- The Twentieth Fish and Seafood Fair and Competition, “La Feria del Pescado, el Marisco by la Bebida Tropical,” is shaping up to become Baja’s live version of the popular food television program, Iron Chef.
Admission is free and food samples start at only $2 (US); the competition will take place on Sunday, July 13, 1 pm to 6 pm. Parking is free with validation and everyone is welcome.
Hosted by the Rosarito Beach Hotel and held in their oceanfront gardens, it promises to be a fun-filled and exciting event for the whole family all part of the annual International Seafood Fair.
“This is the perfect Rosarito event, combining sun, sea and great seafood,” said Rosarito Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau President Laura Wong. “That’s why it’s so popular every year.”
The best restaurants in the region will feature their top chefs who be competing to win first place for the best seafood/shellfish dish. This year’s competition will allow the contestants to bring their own ingredients rather than the organizers of the event supplying them with a “surprise” list of ingredients to cook from.
This will definitely “heat up” the competition as each chef will be an expert in preparing his or her own dish.
The first place dish will be judged for creativity, preparation and timing, taste, and presentation, all combining to determine who will be the “Iron Chef” of Rosarito Beach. Those who love to cook will enjoy this exciting competition that will pit chef against chef in a “cook-off” against the clock or “Kamikaze Cooking” at its best.
In addition to the competition there will be a folkloric dance presentation with Caribbean dances and live music.
For more information go to www.rosarito.org
Media Contact: Ron Raposa
ronraposa@hotmail.com 619-948-3740
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA--- As part of the outreach effort of Rosarito, this quaint seaside community just thirty miles south of downtown San Diego is for the first time sponsoring a major racing event in Southern California.
The Golden State Classic will be held at the famous Auto Club Speedway (formerly the California Speedway) in Fontana, California this coming July 12 and 13.
"We have a long history of great relations with the U.S. and its residents, and a strong Sister Cities program with Glendale and Huntington Park," said Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres. "We're always enthusiastic about bi-national cooperation and events."
Rosarito has more than one million visitors annually and over 14,000 expatriates, most from the U.S., living here. Under the leadership of Mayor Torres, the city this year started a special Tourist Police Force and ombudsman’s office to make visitors feel more welcome and provide them with special attention.
“This event is very important for our city, as it will allow us to promote Rosarito with this target market,” said Laura Wong, president of the Rosarito Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“It is the beginning of a relationship that will lead us into several activities between VARA and us, including a vintage car show in this fall and maybe races in our town in the future,” she added.
The Golden State Classic is being produced through VARA, the Vintage Auto Racing Association and promises to be an exciting weekend of racing entertainment and action.
The event will feature the one hour Open Wheel Enduro for formula race cars followed by American stock cars, the Pro Truck series and of course VARA’s entire regular vintage race classes. There will be a large variety of cars racing and they will all combine to create the fun and excitement race fans would expect for a top-notch racing weekend.
Rosarito will be represented by two cars branded “Team Rosarito” by owner/driver Efrain Olivares. The public is invited and there is free parking. For more information go to www.vararacing.com or call 800-280-VARA (8272).
The Canada Pension Plan fund manager expects to focus its investments on global markets over the coming years as it seeks to shelter itself from cyclical downturns at home and meet its 2020 benchmark value of $320-billion.
David Denison, president and CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, says the board will focus on global markets for its investments.
The investment model is being lauded by New Brunswick business officials, who affirm confidence in the ability of the fund's private-sector board to ensure long-term sustainability of pensions.
The fund is concentrating on commercial real estate across Europe and infrastructure projects in countries like Mexico and India, says David Denison, president and chief executive officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The board currently manages a roughly $123-billion fund, with about $58 billion invested across the globe in public and private equities, infrastructure, real estate and inflation-linked bonds.
The investment strategy for Mexico and India will focus on sectors in which the fund currently isn't active, Denison said in an interview this week.
Initial investments in Mexico, where the fund is focused on industrial real estate, will likely target existing infrastructure projects, potentially utilities, with plans to become directly involved with development of new ones at later stages, he said.
In India, where the fund owns no assets, investments will likely flow to existing airports, with longer-term plans to build a new airport, highway or seaport, said Denison.
"Over time, we will get involved with the development of infrastructure; they are green-field operations right now," he said.
"We're also looking at Turkey, which is a big country with (70 million) people and a rapidly growing middle class. Retail is a great investment opportunity for us, because they don't have the shopping centre facilities we take for granted in the developed world."
The investment board's global focus is designed to reap greater returns and diversify its portfolio. Canada represents less than three per cent of global capital markets, Denison said in recent speech in Halifax, and investing internationally gives the board access to markets, such as technology, health care and consumer goods.
These markets, he said, aren't well represented in Canada's markets, which are heavily concentrated in a few sectors, including natural resources and financial services.
The move is also meant to shelter the fund from cyclical downturns in the Canadian economy and generate investment income abroad, rather than home, and use the funds to pay for pensions in Canada.
The investment board, meanwhile, currently has more than half of its investments - $65 billion - invested in Canada, including 700 public companies and $600 million focused on venture capital.
"The board appears to be make a varied number of investments all over the world, with a long-term view, which will mean that our pension fund will grow as least as well as the averages," said Derek Oland, chairman of Moosehead Breweries. "Canada should be proud and comforted with the way the Canada Pension Plan Investment board is handling our money."
Not all Canadians share Oland's confidence, however. An Ipsos Reid poll conducted last week found 40 per cent of respondents believe the CPP will be out of money by the time they retire. More than 60 per cent reported the pension was not successfully reformed 10 years ago.
During that period, Canada's chief actuary estimated the CPP would have been insolvent by 2015. Concerns over the pension's survival sparked public outcry, but they were answered with reforms. In 2005, when legislation requiring Canadian content in pension investment funds was repealed, the CPP investment board started looking global.
The chief actuary's 2006 report revealed the plan is sustainable for the entire 75 years covered by the forecast.
A central strategy in this turnaround is the investment board's commitment to make investments itself, rather than focusing on other investors, such as private equity funds. The switch is commonly referred to as an active, rather than passive, investment strategy.
"We are lucky to have a CEO of the calibre of David Denison running this fund for us," said David Hay, president and chief executive officer of NB Power, who attended a breakfast meeting with Denison this week. "I felt he demonstrated a very clear vision of what they are doing, which is moving from a passive investment mentality to an active one."
The procedure for a real estate closing for foreigners in Mexico is different than the process north of the border. This checklist helps demystify the process of buying property and creating a bank trust in Mexico through a cash sale, still the most common type of transaction.
1. Buyer and Seller agree to a purchase price and purchase terms for a given property. This may be done informally as an "Offer to Purchase" or, optionally, as a formal purchase contract created by an attorney of the parties. The appropriateness and need for a formal purchase contract is a decision of the parties involved. Formal contracts in Mexico, just as in the United States and other countries, are enforceable only through court action. Neither a Buyer nor a Seller should take a contract as a guarantee of anything; it is simply a promise to fulfill obligations.
2. Buyer and Seller create and sign escrow instructions and send them to an escrow company for approval, along with a copy of the purchase agreement/contract. Once the escrow agreement is approved the escrow company notifies all the parties.
3. Buyer funds the escrow account with the initial deposit (agreed upon by the parties) plus an escrow fee. Once this deposit has been made the escrow company notifies the parties.
4. Buyer completes a bank trust application packet and pays up-front fees to start the bank trust process. These fees cover government permits and standard fiduciary bank fees.
5. (OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED) Buyer applies for title insurance. This has its own forms and associated fees. The cost of the insurance policy is approximately 0.55% of the purchase price plus attorney research fees. This estimate includes “gap” insurance that covers the Buyer from the moment of signing before a Mexican Notary until the Notary registers the bank trust with the city – a gap of up to 90 days.
6. Buyer applies for an FM3 resident visa at the most convenient Mexico consulate office, or at a Mexico foreign affairs office in a Mexican state such as Baja California. The processing of a visa application usually takes a few days to ten days, after the Buyer has provided the Mexican government with the proper documentation. Some Notaries allow the use of tourist visas (FMT) to prove legal status in the country, but FM3 resident visas are recommended for tax purposes.
7. The parties select a Mexican Notary to draft their bank trust. All Mexican Notaries have equal authority to do this yet fees can vary slightly in a given area. The Notary will require upfront fees to cover their work, surveyor fees, appraisals, various certificates, etc. The parties may request a review of the bank trust document a few days before closing but such a review is not automatic to the process; it normally has to be explicitly requested by the parties.
8. A few days before closing, the Buyer will normally need to deposit the balance of the purchase funds into the escrow account.
9. On the closing day, the Buyer will pay final closings costs (transfer taxes, registration fees, etc.). The fiduciary bank will likely attend or will have already signed the documentation. Proof of Buyer title insurance will be there if the Buyer has ordered and paid for it.
10. At the closing, the parties sign escrow disbursement instructions that tell how the purchase funds will be distributed by the escrow company. Wire transfers are normally executed by the escrow company within one to two business days.
11. The Buyer can normally take physical possession of the property immediately after the closing. At this point anywhere from 30 to 90 days – or even more – has transpired since the original offer agreement depending on many factors. (Closing periods in Mexico are notoriously longer than in the US.)
12. The Buyer may request a copy of the bank trust from the Notary within a few weeks to three months, depending on the Notary and their workload.
13. Although the Notary takes care of registering the bank trust in the property registry, the Buyer should separately ensure that the property is also registered in the city’s urban department (Catastro) so that the Buyer gets proper credit for property tax bills, and so that the previous owner’s name is removed from all city records relating to the property.
Bank or seller-backed financed closing procedures are very similar to a cash transaction, yet they add their own set of forms and fees that vary according to the lender.
Brian Flock
Illicit drug usage in one
supports carnage in the other Why are the drug cartels in Mexico fighting each other, the police and military forces? Why are they carrying their reign of terror into the streets of Baja and elsewhere without regard to human life? What is the connection between these events in Mexico, San Diego and the rest of the United States?
Money is the engine that drives the illicit drug trade and trafficking is the crucial link between production and consumption. Trafficking, as described by the United Nations, is “far and away the most lucrative stage in the process from the cultivation and processing to the point of final consumption.” Gross profits from production to consumer sale ranges from 93 percent to 98 percent. The estimated value of world trade in illicit drugs tops $500 billion a year.
The United States is the largest market. At least 70 percent of cocaine for U.S. consumption enters through Mexico. Marijuana is the world’s most used illicit drug. The U.S. and Mexico are the largest producers of marijuana in the world.
Mexico annually eradicates 85 percent of the marijuana grown throughout the country and leads the world with 38 percent of the marijuana tonnage confiscations. The U.S. manages to eradicate between 30 percent and 50 percent of the marijuana grown on its shores and seizes 24 percent of that confiscated worldwide.
The U.S. and Mexico are making it tougher for criminals to ship illicit drugs into the world’s biggest market. But the dollar value remains high as drugs have won a place in the subculture, particularly with young adults.
A United Nations’ survey indicates the number of people in the U.S. having consumed illicit drugs at least once in the year prior to the survey was 26 million, or 13 percent of the population aged 12 years and over. Of those, more than 13 million use illicit drugs at least once a month. Some estimates show illicit drugs to be a $150 billion business in the United States.
The rash of killings are about those dollars.
How it affects San Diego is illustrated by the recent arrests of as many as 76 SDSU students for distribution and buying of illicit drugs after a year-long undercover investigation. One of those arrested has ties to a Tijuana drug cartel and is suspected of being the supplier to the student distributors.
The arrests made headlines throughout the U.S. and most of the world and generated hundreds of message board comments from readers of The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Los Angeles Times. Excerpts:
- “Drugs are on every campus. And the people who died due to overdoses died from choosing to use drugs, not from the dealing of drugs.”
- “What a waste of money and time! There are terrorists and serial killers out there, why are we wasting our police enforcement’s capacity to control violent crime on arresting stoned students?”
- “Yet another story of the police out to lock people up for consensual crimes. No one forced anyone to buy or take drugs. Why lock up people for things that hurt no one else than those willingly involved?”
Such comments indicate these individuals have no inkling or sense of the real life consequences regarding drug trafficking and drug usage. The idea that drugs and drug trafficking “hurt no one else” ignores the bloodbath taking place a mere 25 miles south of the SDSU campus where Mexican authorities have drawn a line in the sand in their battle against narco terrorists.
Students of all ages must be made aware that illicit drug distribution and usage does have life and death consequences not only for users, but also for those attempting to stop, or at least gain the upper hand on the ruthless criminals bringing them into our country.
Patrick Osio Jr. can be reached at posiojr@sandiegometro.com
This is a great story. Well worth reading.
After leaving El Milagro, it was about 11:30am or so when we were passing through El Sauzel. I had just looked over to my left to drool as we drove by El Trailero and I began to dream about their carne asada tacos and toasty, grilled jalapeños, when I turned my head back to the right and saw a dark blue Izuzu Trooper with a halibut sticker on the bumper drive by us in the right lane. It was our trooper that had been stolen just a few weeks over a year ago from the Pyramid Resort while we were attending a Baja author's book signing. As you can probably imagine, we totally freaked out! Lynn quickly dug around in her purse for her cell phone, while I tried to remember the Baja emergency number (Let's see, 911, no that's in the U.S. Uh, 666? Nope, that's the sign of the devil. Ah, got it! ‘066’ ...THAT'S IT!)
The operator quickly passed me on to an English speaking officer who took down all the information and pulled up the previously filed theft report on his computer. The guy in our car had absolutely NO idea what was going on as I followed him while talking to the police. After he passed Punta Morro and we were able to determine that he was headed through the port instead of the road that takes you through the center of Ensenada, the officer assured me that they would have a 'greeting party' ready for him by the time he made it up to the Pemex station ...and that they did! As soon as he made that turn, police cars came flying out of practically every direction.
The driver of our Trooper was pulled wide-eyed from the vehicle with an automatic weapon in his face. Unlike similar situations in the U.S., the suspect was not forced face down on the pavement, nor kicked, nor abused in ANY way. He was simply frisked, cuffed and escorted into the back of one of the patrol cars. Their precision in execution and calm, professional demeanor was amazingly smooth. The 'take down' looked like something that had been planned for weeks, not the 4 or 5 minutes that it actually took to coordinate their efforts. One of the English speaking officers told us that they would expedite our drive to the police station with a special escort. They were extremely helpful and courteous as we waited for them to process all of the theft and arrest reports; they told us that the guy in our car said that he had purchased it from someone, and they promised to follow up on his source for acquiring the vehicle. In the meantime, they placed our Trooper in their impound unit cost free until we could get back to the U.S. and bring down our title (which we had stopped carrying around a LONG time ago, thinking that it was a 'lost cause') so that they could release it back to us. We are making a special trip down this Friday to do so, and we will drive it down to our place, pull it into the car port, put The Club on it, cover it and then register and insure it in Mexico when we finally move down there full time in about 9 months.
Anyhow, if anyone you run into in the future happens to start bad-mouthing the police in Baja while reciting a bunch of U.S. media 'horror' stories, you might want to relay this little tale to help mitigate their venom! ;-)))
with Steve Dryden
Mexican Wine: On a Long and Winding Road
Whenever I travel to other wine regions of the world I take several bottles of high quality Mexican wine along for the journey. Wine lovers, enthusiasts and connoisseurs are always amazed that Mexico even makes wine, most thinking of us as strictly a beer and tequila country. But, after tasting samples of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Grenache, Syrah, Tempranillo and Nebbiolo from Baja California many are impressed enough for friendly conversation, hospitality and sharing of their own wines. I live well within the boundaries of the wine culture, so many of the people I meet and taste wine with are winemakers, vineyard managers, winery owners, journalists, wine regions promoters and knowledgeable winery staff. It’s a little unusual to take your wine into other people’s tasting rooms, but it is generally appreciated as wine lovers as open to exploring wine from other regions, especially if they use the same varietals of grapes in their wine industry.
This month I ventured up old Highway 101 to Central Coast California exploring the wine regions of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Traveling on Interstate 5 and Highway 405 towards 101 at Ventura, California I could cover ten miles in about 5 minutes, but once I arrived in the magnificent and beautiful wine country along scenic Highways 101, 154, 1, 246, and 135 in Santa Barbara County it took about 4 hours to cover ten miles, that’s one winery at a time! The Santa Barbara wine experience actually starts in downtown off of State Street on the Santa Barbara urban wine trail and extends north to the wine trails of Solvang, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, Santa Rita Hills, Foxen Canyon and Santa Maria. This wine region is phenomenal, but the most impressive element is the environmental consciousness of almost everyone in the wine, agricultural, and hospitality industry with their “green mantra” of “local, sustainable and organic or biodynamic.” As an owner of a small French intensive organic vineyard in Mexico, I find this way of living most impressive, and now I understand why this region has stayed so green and healthy in contrast to the over-developed concrete jungles of southern California. When someone tells me that they make a natural product, recycle materials to make new ones, or treat the earth with respect, I immediately like them and their products. It just so happens that this region is leading the way in sustainable, organic and biodynamic vineyard management and winemaking technology in California. Despite the different growing methods used throughout this region most of the wine ranges in quality from outstanding and superior, to premium and “world class.”
One of the most impressive wines I explored was a 2005 Reserve Syrah from Addamo Vineyards of Santa Maria in northern Santa Barbara County. According to the Santa Maria Sun newspaper, “Addamo has the best tasting room in Santa Maria.” I would agree with that and further add that they have a beautiful, charming and most knowledgeable tasting room employee, Sienna Hamilton, who educated me about the wines, history and the dedication of this family in making “world class” wine. This Rhone-inspired 2005 Reserve Syrah shows hints of coffee, white and black pepper, huckleberries and plum flavors with a graceful and elegant finish. The soft tannins and well-balanced structure of this stunning Syrah fully complimented a beef tri-tip sandwich from their gourmet cafe. (In case you don’t know this ~ Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties produce fabulous, tender and delicious beef) Addamo makes other “palate pleasing wines” to include: 2005 Riesling, 2005 Chardonnay, 2005 Rose, 2004 Grenache, 2004 Pinot Noir, and 2005 Dolcetto.
Addamo Estate Vineyards are located in the hills of Santa Maria, east of Highway 101, where premium weather, cool ocean breezes and sandy loam soil create perfect conditions for growing superior fruit.
ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA CALIFORNIA--- As the city’s newly elected administration works hard to improve the city, it hasn’t forgotten about the importance of arts and culture.
Mayor Hugo Torres, who took office in December, is a strong supporter of the arts and understands its importance to the community. Arts have always been a strong part of the Mexican culture the city should honor its heritage with special attention to this sector.
Rocio Hoffman was recently elected as president of the newly formed AMAR, the Association del Movimiento Artistico de Rosarito, the Artist Action Association of Rosarito. Rosarito Beach has a thriving artist colony, estimated to be about ten years old, with several hundred artists of different types living here now.
Some of them are full-time, making their living as an artist while others are part-time, doing other work to supplement their income while cultivating their craft and building a following. “The art community is definitely getting more organized and growing significantly each year,” said Hoffman.
“As for artists working in paint or plastic, we have at least seventy who make their living with their artwork,” Hoffman said. “And there are many composers, musicians and writers, probably four hundred now living in Rosarito,” she went on to say.
Hoffman’s goal as president of AMAR is to create the best artist community in Mexico and feels that Rosarito Beach has something that no other community in all of Mexico can offer: geographic location. To take advantage of that fact, she plans on having two big art festivals every year, each lasting two days and attracting thousands of American as well as Mexican tourists.
“Plans in are in the works to create an international art committee with San Diego which will raise awareness and give the community the recognition and respect that it deserves,” Hoffman stated.
In the community there are 12 major fine art galleries representing artists like Ugi, Juan Angel Castillo, Jorge Luna, Francisco Cabello, Miguel Nigera, Angel Valera, Manuel Lizarraga Garibaldi and David Silva, to mention just a few. These galleries all help to create a unique and wonderful artistic ambiance.
Condominium developments, which occupy much of the landscape now, are one of the best markets for art. New owners are investing in local artists for their new homes and at least one development features original art as part of the sales price.
Many of the art buyers from the US are shocked to see how inexpensive much of the artwork here is when compared to the prices they are used to seeing across the border, sometimes one-fifth the price, Hoffman said. They can purchase an original oil or acrylic for the cost of a limited edition litho in America.
“And here, people can get to know the artist much easier than other places; they are more receptive and open to allowing people to become a part of their lives,” says Hoffman who also does portraitures of both people, emphasizing on the eyes, and pets.
The city also has a cultural committee, headed by Luz Del Carmen Calderon, which is responsible for organizing concerts and other cultural events throughout the year.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 22, 2008
Rosarito Has Information Booths Memorial Day Weekend
ROSARITO BEACH---The city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau will offer visitors assistance at two information booths starting this Memorial Day weekend as part of ongoing extensive efforts to help visitors have a more enjoyable stay.
One booth will be on the main downtown street, Boulevard Benito Juarez, in front of Oceana Plaza and the ConVis office. The other will be in the famed Puerto Nuevo Lobster Village, several miles south of downtown. Hours for each are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
“Memorial Day is the start of our busiest season in Rosarito, which hosts more than a million visitors a year,” said Rosarito Convention & Visitors Bureau President Laura Wong. “We want to be sure that they get all the information and assistance they need.”
The booths will be staffed by a representative of the Convention & Visitors Bureau plus a volunteer greeter from Rosarito’s 14,000-member expatriate community. The successful greeter program started last year.
Information booths will be available throughout the summer. In addition Rosarito has started a special Tourist Police Force and an ombudsman’s office to assist visitors with any problems.
Further information is available by calling Marco at the ConVis office, 661-612-0396.
MEDIA CONTACT: Ron Raposa
ronraposa@hotmail.com
(619)948-3740