Our Hunt For Real Estate in Guanajuato

We have looked at properties in the Historical Centre, outside the city, new construction, adobe construction, falling down buildings, partially finished buildings, just property, and even a wonderful large villa and an old convent (please no jokes about Joanne). The weather here has been unseasonable cool, in the day about 17C. to 18C. and at night 5C. to 6C. and we had an unheard of day of rain. Guanajuato is a city of small alleyways, stairs, and going up and down hill we have certainly been getting our exercise.
Out of all this properties there are 3 of some interest;
Land
There is a triangular shaped property just off The Panaramico. If you think of Guanajuato as being a bowl with the Historical Centre at the bottom of the bowl, The Panaramico is a road that runs around the rim of the bowl. The lot is vacant, is quite slopped and it has the most spectacular views of the city. We would have car access and parking which are a rarity. To get to town and the markets we would have to take a taxi, about $2 …not expensive.
A houses built on the property would wave the entrance, living room, dining room and kitchen on the top floor. Down one floor would be the bedrooms and the next floor below would have an apartment with a separate entrance. The flat roof would be and outdoor living area that would have a breathtaking view.


The small house on the laneway.


This house is located about halfway down the side of the bowl on a small laneway that goes up to The Panaramico and down to the Historical Centre. There is no car access, you would park up on The Panaramico. To get to the city and the markets you would walk down the small laneways and stairs flanked on both sides with homes of the same.
The existing house is unfinished and has 2 bedrooms and it has a small front garden. We have met with an architect and are getting a quote. The plan is to put on a second floor that would extend over the garden and contain a great room (living, dining, and kitchen areas) a master suite and 2 additional bedrooms. The roof would have a covered portion with living, dining, a small cooking and barbequing area plus a fireplace. The roof would also have an uncovered sitting area. The new second floor and roof would be our living area and have a wonderful view of the Historical Centre, hence why we are interested in this property. The existing 2 bedroom home would become a rentable apartment.






The Large Unfinished House

This place is huge, over 6000 sq. ft. of living area plus a large roof top living area. It does not have views of the city but of the mountains. It has car access, street parking, and is about a 15 minute walk to the Historical Centre. The builder was building a very stately home for his family and ran out of money. There are no windows, doors, floor coverings, plumbing, kitchen, or electric. What he has done is grand, high ceilings, crown molding, sky lights. We would have to divide this into our living area on the top 2 floors and have apartments on the lower 2 levels. This is a large project and may be too large for us.

Oh if we had money
Outside Guanajuato is a hacienda that was built by a well known Italian architect in the 1950’s. With a little TLC this place could be amazing. It has a front house and a back house both amazing as you can see in the pics below.They are asking 3.8 million pesos or about $350,000 US$
Directly below is the living area of the front house.