What it’s like living in San Angel, Mexico City? Pt. 2 🇲🇽 - Nomads in Mexico City

So yeah, I just wanted to basically tell you a little bit more about France here. So if you want to rent an apartment, like a one-bedroom apartment is from a thousand dollars, ten hundred dollars, twelve hundred dollars. I mean right here. But if you look in like neighboring areas, it's not as much. So you can easily find something for eight hundred dollars or even five hundred dollars. So it really depends on your budget, kind of like what you're trying to find. Yeah, I mean my advice if you're planning on coming here, so before signing any agreements or anything, signing any contracts, my advice is for you to come and arrive at an Airbnb and, you know, look around neighborhoods, experience the neighborhoods yourself, ask questions. You can ask me any questions you want in the comments. And yeah, I mean just be more familiar with what you're getting into. And that's basically, you know, for anywhere. I've lived in three different places by now, so I've learned that's the way it works. That's the best way to do it. So don't deal remotely, don't do deals remotely. Come here, meet the owner in person, your landlord, and then do the deal with them. That's my advice. But yeah, I mean, if you want to get a little bit more of an idea of prices and neighborhoods and stuff like that, I'm gonna leave in the description the link for Inmuebles24, which is the site that I've been talking about, which is the site that I've used. I'm also gonna leave in the comments another site that is kind of like, if you are looking just for a room and to live with roommates, which, I mean, it's not very suitable for someone who is retiring, but maybe someone who is just a digital nomad and wants to come here, maybe you want to live with roommates. So I'm gonna leave in the description a direction to that website where you can find rooms for rent. I've actually used it before, so I mean, it's not bad, but it's not like Airbnb. So like, you know, the people who post in there aren't verified, so my advice is that you still, you know, go and talk to the person and then listen to your gut. I believe that's the most important thing. And yeah, I mean, don't allow people to BS you. There's actually a little dog right there. This property is actually also for sale, and it's actually... I love the architecture of it, so that's what it looks like. And it's very colorful, and all of these houses are really nice. I know how much is that property, but I'm guessing just around the price that I told you, between $700,000 and $1,000,000, which is definitely not cheap, but if you're someone who's retiring and, you know, someone who's looking for... Look, this is another property that's for rent. That's exactly what I was telling you earlier. You should look, you know, for signs like that, where people just say, hey, I have a room for rent, do you want to come and rent it? And then you just call the number, and then the way it usually works is that you call the number, they're going to give you the information, and then if you want, you can schedule a meeting for them to show you the room or the apartment, and then you just come see the room. And usually the requirements for when you want to rent an apartment here, it's like, they ask for one month rent, they ask for a deposit, which is one month worth of rent, and that deposit is used to ensure that you will live the apartment in the same condition as you got it. And also, basically, so, a warranty. What I mean by warranty is, like, someone who can commit to pay the rent in case you default. Look at this, also a property for rent. Property, sorry, for sale. And yeah, I mean, that's what they usually ask for. Someone who can pay for you in case you default. Well, there are some companies, that, you know, you pay a fee, and then in return, it's kind of like an insurance, like an insurance policy in case you can't afford to pay rent anymore. There are some companies that specifically do that. So, a lot of landlords will take this insurance policy if you don't have, you know, this person, which I know it's likely that you won't, because of course, if you don't live here, you probably don't know anyone. But yeah, I mean, the architecture of this house is beautiful, and we're actually about to get to Alta Vista, which is one of the most exclusive boulevards here in Mexico City. You know, there are like, kind of like, very fancy stores and restaurants. But I actually came here because I wanted to show you Diego Rivera's house, which is also very beautiful. So, you know, this is a furniture store, which is actually very popular among foreigners. But in my experience, you know, I don't think their furniture is really good, and it's also kind of pricey. So, so if you're coming here, just for a short period of time, don't buy any furniture. Because, you know, especially if you want to get, especially if you don't want to spend any money, because a lot of times people, people will buy furniture, and then they will try and get the same quantity that they paid for it, and then they just get mocked at, because no one is willing to pay that same price, because their prices are somewhat ridiculous. So, so yeah, don't do that. So this is what Avenida Alta Vista looks like. It's just a pretty long street, and the fancy stores. It's very quiet today, even though it's a Saturday, because none of the shops are closed. But the restaurants are definitely open. So, if you ever decide to come and live in this area, you have very nice restaurants around. That's actually... A lot of condos are currently being built, and of course, I mean, they're not as expensive. You can find a condo for anywhere from from $300,000 to $500,000, and they're very nice condos. So, Mexico City, real estate-wise, definitely not cheap anymore, but the lifestyle, I definitely find it more appealing than that of the United States. I mean, it's just that when I lived in Toronto, you know, food is super expensive. You can actually get quality ingredients for cheap, and like here, everything you get is fresh and cheap, compared to the United States. Also, I mean, if you don't want to, you don't really have to drive, so that also saves up money. Like, no matter where you live, even if you live in, you know, outside of the main neighborhoods that I was talking about earlier, like, you can still get because the public transit system is actually very well connected. So, I could say that's one of the strongest points of Mexico City, especially its subway system. The subway is definitely one of the most impressive I've seen, and yeah, there are a lot of different lines, and they can basically take you anywhere in the city. So, for instance, if you take the subway, it can leave you right outside the airport, which is not very common for a lot of the cities that I've been to. You know, for instance, in Toronto, once you get to the last station of the subway, you have to take a bus, and then that bus is the one that's going to take you to the airport, which is, of course, not very efficient, and we actually made it. That one over there is Diego Rivera's house. As you can see, it's not far at all, like, it was a five-minute walk, and yeah, I'm in another location. I'm going specifically inside Diego Rivera's house, as you can see. It's actually kind of impressive to think that one of the most iconic artists of Mexico used to live there. As you can see, the design, Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo, and I just find it very cool that you have all of these museums and everything just within walking distance, which is actually rare. Sorry, so I needed to use the washroom, and that's actually one of the things that I really like about Mexico City. For instance, when I lived in Italy, bathrooms aren't very accessible over there, and in Mexico City, there's basically one in every shopping mall that you are at, so I just came to the shopping mall because I needed to use the washroom. Yeah, that's something I really like about this city. So, now I'm heading to Diego Rivera's house. I love the palm trees here. You know, actually, after living here for so long, like, people are not as used, you know, at looking at the sky, so, like, people don't look at the sky very often, and then when you get the chance to actually look at the sky, you realize how beautiful it is. Well, you can see that's a dark cloud, so, yeah, I mean, Mexico, there's definitely a lot of rain. Summers are rainy, but the good part is that it doesn't rain for a very long time, like, it rains for an hour, some days, or two hours, and then it doesn't anymore. Lookit, this is Diego Rivera's house. So, as you can see, like, it's covered by curtains because it's actually a museum, so you have to pay to get in there. If you have a student ID, you don't have to pay. A lot of museums also offer discounts for seniors, so, like, if you have a senior ID or something like that, you don't have to pay your ticket. It's actually closed currently because it's already kind of late. Museums close around 5 or 6, which is actually not that bad because they're also open on Sundays, and on Sundays, all museums are free in Mexico. So, the architecture in this area is also very beautiful. As you can see, I talk a lot about architecture, and that's because I really like architecture, although I'm actually a product manager. That's what I went to school for. Yeah, I mean, this is just the general overview of the neighborhood. I'm gonna show you in a bit a plate where the names of the streets are, and my goal with this is for you to see the organization of our government here. So, there's basically the municipal level, which in Mexico City, they're called alcaldías, so like town halls, and then after that, there's the state level, which are called estados in Spanish, and then there's, of course, the federal level. Look, that's a plate. It says Alcaldía A. Obregón, Colonia San Angelín, postal code 01060, and yeah, so that's the way it's divided. So, every street has a name, and then there are colonias, which is the name of the neighborhood. This neighborhood is San Angelín. That house is beautiful, and then there's also... So, after a neighborhood, there is the postal code, of course, which is a group of neighborhoods, and then after the postal code, it comes the municipal level. At the municipal level, it's actually, you know, where you have to go for permissions, like if you want to do a modification on your street, you want to plant a new tree, or if you want to present a complaint about a pothole on the road, or, you know, just general maintenance of the streets and neighborhoods in general, maintenance of parks, and construction permissions, zoning permissions, and all of that, you have to go to the alcaldía, but for stuff like driver's licenses, and yeah, I mean, basically, all that you need from the state government are could be driver's licenses. Like, it doesn't come to mind a lot of things other than that that you're gonna need from them. Oh, or if you buy a car, then of course, you know, the plates for cars, and like all of that is regulated by the state government. So, if you get a car, you know, usually the car dealerships do all of this process for you, like they're going to go to the state government, and then they're going to have your plates processed in exchange for a fee, so you have to worry about that. Which is actually my advice. It just saves you so many headaches. So, in Mexico, the less you have to deal with bureaucracy, the better. Like, a lot of times, just paying a little bit more is worth it, because you don't have to go through those headaches, especially, you know, if you're a foreigner, and you can like, don't know the dynamics of things here, that's a smart choice to do. And then there's the federal government, for which you have to go, you know, for taxes, and of course, revenue taxes. And if you have a business, you know, you have to pay taxes to the federal government, like the value-added tax, and all of that. So, yeah, I mean, we're about to get to the end of this neighborhood. And now I'm going to show you a park that is nearby, that is called which is actually kind of famous, because a historical character of Mexico had a very interesting, yeah, anecdote that happened there. I'm going to show you in a bit.