I got a great real estate listing the other day. It’s a large beach front building lot just south of Cancun in the northern end of the Riviera Maya. It’s in a gated community called Petempich. Even though Petempich is very close to Cancun it feels very remote there. When you are there it’s easy to forget that Cancun is only a few minutes away.

The lot is actually two lots which are adjacent each other. The seller owns another house in the area and cares about Petempich and so wants to insure low density by insisting on selling the two lots together.

Here’s a picture:

Petempich Beach Front Lot

We were fortunate the day we went to take pictures because the weather was PERFECT and the light was perfect and there was not a cloud in the sky. Even though we get more than 200 days a year of sun here, and we have this fabulous tropical weather we still have lots of days where there are enough clouds in the sky to make it hard to take perfect beach photos.

If you want more information about this lot you can see the full listing on the Mexira web site.

You’ve got one guess what we named the dog. After much deliberation (not) and several false starts (Johnny, Jack, Persephone?) we’ve decided to stick with Sam. It fits his gentle nature, and we all agree on it so we have a winner.

Sam did finally bark. I’ve heard him bark now 3 times, once when he was lonely in the yard, and twice when he got stuck outside in the rain. He’s also getting comfortable with the cats, which is another way of saying that he thinks they are toys and that it’s just a matter of time before one of them gives him a good what-for scratching.

We’ve taken Sam to walk on the beach twice. Both times we’ve gone to the beach along the north side of Cancun, the one that runs along in front of where Puerto Cancun and Residencial La Playa are being built. The pictures below are from that beach.

Sam on the Beach

Sam hasn’t been interested in the water yet. But he’s very interested in the wildlife we’ve seen, the horse (and rider), the stray dogs, the pelicans, the frigate birds, and various other birds I can’t name. He’d better enjoy them all now because once those two developments are completed I don’t think he’ll see much besides people along in there. Well, the frigate birds will probably stick around, I’ve noticed that they seem to like to ride thermals above hotels. So they may take to all the concrete behemoths that are being built out there.

View from the beach at Puerto Cancun and Residencial La Playa

I’m actually impressed with how nice that beach is. Being kind of a beach snob I prefer the beaches out on the long side of Cancun’s 7, the east side. Those beaches are very exposed to the ocean and get bigger waves. And the color of the water there is magical. But this north beach is protected by Isla Mujeres, and so gets smaller waves. And there’s some sea weed there, which darkens the water. But there’s still something magical about the beach there. And the view is quite nice, you can get some perspective on Cancun’s Hotel Zone from there. I imagine we’ll keep walking there as long as we can find easy access with the dog. Once it’s all built up I’m sure the dog will be banished, just the way he is from the other beaches in Cancun which all have no dog rules.

Sam with his Frisbee

Sam also loves playing frisbee. He’s got that bring-it-back-and-usually-let-go instinct. He goes like a bat out of hell and races around, kicking sand up in a storm. And then suddenly he’s tired, and then you have to go pick the stupid frisbee up yourself.

The vet came by last night, made a house-call to help us catch up with cat shots. She had the results of a test on Sam’s skin problems. She says it’s an infection and he just needs a round of antibiotics. She also suggested that we may as well take off the huevos now, since he’ll need an antibiotic after that. This way he’ll only need the drugs once. And maybe losing his manhood will keep the little bugger from getting horny every time I pet him!

One of the things we web designer types do is pay attention to where the visitors to our web sites come from. I use a program for this that gives me a sense of where they come from, what they do on my sites and where they go when they leave.

Well, I was just perusing my stats and figured out that my husband’s site Mexico Beachfront Real Estate, which I only released on October 8th, is rising fast in both Google and MSN Search, and is even number one for a couple of phrases.

The funny thing is that his site quickly gaining on both the Grupo Ritco site for Residencial La Playa and also the site that belongs to his boss there (she’s also an independent real estate agent). And both those sites have been out for a long time and have a lot more incoming links. But lately I’ve been finding that my sites are doing well in the search engines, especially the real estate sites I’m working on, I think it’s because I carefully studied the other major real estate sites for this area and have identified their weaknesses…shhh, don’t tell.

The other crazy thing that I just noticed is that this blog is ranked 4th on MSN Search (at this moment) for the phrase “Cancun Murder 2006”. Now really people, tell me, AM I THAT MOROSE? Do I deserve this? Do I talk about murder that much? The blog entry that’s being found is, admittedly, pretty negative but don’t all those posts about my stupid cats balance that out? I mean really.

Oh, and you might notice the new header graphic. I just got sick of looking at those green leaves so I did a 10-minute makeover on the site (which took half an hour of course). One of the joys of using CSS (cascading style sheets) is that I can change the header graphic and then go into the CSS file and search & replace all the blue text, change it to brown and voilá I’ve got a whole new look, well, a sort of new look anyway. I should really change out that dull boring green background…next time.

Ok so it’s shameless plug time! In a big way too! I just released a new web site for my husband, Arturo Rivero, who is a representative at Residencial La Playa Cancun, the new beachfront real estate project north of Puerto Cancun. The web site is here:
Mexico Beachfront Real Estate.

Until now there has been very little information in English available about this project, but we went through all the marketing documentation and translated everything. You will find up-to-date pricing and availability linked down at the bottom in the footer area (as a printable PDF, and subject to change without notice). And there are lots of pictures and a full description of the project and the amenities that will be available.

Residencial La Playa will be a pretty sweet project when it’s done, with all 180 condos having terraces facing the Caribbean. And while I first thought it looked expensive, after seeing Bay View Grand and hearing the pricing there I think that Residencial La Playa is very reasonably priced for brand new Cancun beachfront real estate. And it’s much more convenient than Bay View Grand if you will be working in the downtown Cancun area.

The site still needs a few things. Namely the gallery page needs a description of each image and each image needs to be a link to a larger image, I’m just waiting for an IT guy to get me those bigger images (I’m always waiting for an IT guy to do something…). And I think there are some spots with awkward wording so I’ll be editing those too. Oh and I need to take a nice pic of hubby and put that up.

So if you know of anyone who’s looking for a beachfront condo in this area be sure to have them check out this site. And if you have any constructive criticism about the site I’m all ears.

I had the privilege this week to meet Jerry Jacobs, the famous San Francisco interior decorator and architect. Jerry is nearly done decorating a condo which belongs to one of my clients. The condo is at Bay View Grand, which a beachfront hi-rise complex located on one of the nicest stretches of beach in Cancun.

I must say that the architecture a Bay View Grand is quite good, even without Jerry’s expert finishing. The condo is nicely laid out with lots of views of the sea. And Jerry did a lot to bring the ocean-views deeper into the condo. He used mirrors to reflect the ocean view back at you when you look away from the water. And he bought furniture which echos the colors in water and on the beach.

The place is plush and up-scale while remaining entirely comfortable. You want to snuggle into the over-stuffed furniture and spend countless hours staring out at the perfect Caribbean sea.

One of the things about Bay View Grand which I especially like are the wrap around decks on the corners of the buildings. They are architecturally interesting, but more importantly they insure fantastic views because from them you can see around the corner of the building.

All in all I was impressed both by the building and by Jerry’s eye. He took already good architecture and played up its strengths through creative use of color, space and furniture. He’s a gifted artist and is in full control of his craft. Meeting him and seeing his most recent work was an honor.

I’ll share the web site I’m building for this client when it’s completed.