Entrepreneur Expat
On this podcast, we connect entrepreneurial expats and aspiring expats together to build a global community of adventurous entrepreneurs. Each week we bring you a new podcast where we share our expat adventures and highlight 6 and 7 figure expat entrepreneurs on how they run a business from anywhere in the world.
Entrepreneur Expat
Mexican Real Estate Expert Updates Us on Mexico Real Estate Market
👉 Want to learn how to make money online so you can go anywhere in the world? If so, download our free Make Money From Anywhere Guide here https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/money-guide
👉 Ready to start your own location independent business? Get started with our Get Your First High Paying Client Online Bootcamp: https://entrepreneurexpat.com/firstclient-yt
👉 Want to learn how to move to Mexico in the next 12 months? If so, click here https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/mexico
👉 Want personalized attention to help you grow your online business? If so, click here https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/apply
👉 Ready to jump in to building an online business? We have 30+ years of experience helping people start, grow and scale online businesses. Learn more about our programs here: https://www.entrepreneurexpat.com/programs
Connect with Shasta:
https://calendly.com/shasta-buyinginmexico-_q4d/safe-passage-discovery-call-entrepreneur
V I D E O S T O W A T C H N E X T :
Online Business Tips to Working and Traveling In Mexico: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGH0voCyOc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j&index=2
Moving to Mexico: 10 Reasons Why We Chose to Live in Guadalajara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK23vD8_xjc&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_LAY7UV78YMgms-f2e1UcwN&index=23
Tips for Moving Overseas: Top 5 Remote Work Skills That Make Money: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFzjCrlNAL8&list=PLh3xKhkMgH_IA6s3KvB_g9Cc9Ze1eji8j
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Inquiries: community@entrepreneurexpat.com
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Are you interested in investing in real estate in Mexico, but you're not sure about the ins and outs or how to go about doing it? Well, we've got you covered in this episode because we're going to be interviewing Shasta Townsend, who is one of our internet entrepreneur friends, but also a licensed real estate agent in Mexico. Her and her husband actually moved to Mexico three and a half years ago. From Canada, they were looking for an escape from the Covid situation and not being able to run their businesses in Canada. They came to Mexico looking for a little bit of an escape, not expecting that they would be here three and a half years later. And part of what. Made them stay is the amount of investment opportunity available in Mexico. And as two individuals who were involved in real estate before and also construction and had successful brick and mortar businesses in Canada, they know an opportunity when they see one. And today, Shasta's going to be sharing with us what a lot of those opportunities are. We're also gonna be talking a lot more. About, uh, kind of the culture in Mexico and how US Americans and Canadians have had to learn to slow down a little bit. And we have some very interesting conversations about the cultural differences between the two countries and how both Jasta and I have learned how to chill. Ouch. So we hope you guys enjoy this episode as a part of our Expat Stories series. If you guys like this kind of content, make sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you don't miss a single video that we have coming out on this channel. We got way more interviews. Where that came from, plus the interviews that, the videos that Justin and I do together, answering a lot of your questions about running online businesses, traveling, living in different countries, global citizenship, et cetera, et cetera. Also, make sure to give this video alike because it helps us get it in front of. More people. And in addition to that, if you are interested in having Justin or myself help you create or enhance your own location independent business, so you can go anywhere in the world, make sure to visit entrepreneur expat.com/apply. We both have been online entrepreneurs for 15 years, so we know this game pretty well. Okay, let's get into the interview with Shasta.
Amanda Abella:Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of entrepreneur expat expat stories series. I'm here with Shasta Townsend, who is a Canadian who moved to Bucerias, Mexico, a few years ago. Now she's a licensed real estate agent. In mexico and it's helping people with finding their investment properties In the riviera nairita, and she can also help in a few other places in mexico So thank you so much for being here shasta and sharing your wealth of knowledge with us Because we get the feeling a lot of people don't understand the investment opportunity that's available in mexico right now
Shasta Townsend:Yeah, absolutely. It's a pleasure to be here and thanks for watching everybody. Um, so yeah, I moved, I moved to Mexico 3. 5 years ago, right when Canada was going through brutal covid. So if you're Canadian watching this, you know what it was, it was hell because we were really locked down for about two years. So I actually have been an entrepreneur for 25 years. I had a very successful brick and mortar studio, yoga studio, yoga and wellness studio just outside Toronto, Canada. And then after Two years of basically not being able to operate. Uh, we decided, you know, we can't do this anymore. Let's go somewhere where There's opportunity and also freedom and just, you know, it, and my husband and I had a dream of always living in another country as I'm sure everybody here either is living or has a dream of doing. Uh, so we decided, you know, we're going to, we're going to move to Mexico. Um, and the interesting thing is, is that we thought we were only going to be here for a very short period of time. We thought it will just, you know, wait till COVID cools down in Canada and Um, you know, right out the Canadian winter in Mexico. Um, and to your point, what ha I mean, I have a background. I have my husband and I had, uh, brick and mortar businesses. He has a background in construction. I had a wellness studio, yoga and wellness studio, but we were also doing real estate in Canada. Um, when I moved to Mexico, And, you know, you and I have talked about this. Amanda is like, I was like, Whoa, the opportunity in Mexico for real estate investment, um, you know, entrepreneurs, like it was, I was like, Whoa, this is an untapped from my perspective. I knew there was lots going on in Mexico because I had visited here before, but I didn't realize that. How much so our six months has turned into three and a half years We're still here Because not only is it amazing lifestyle, but it is amazing opportunities as well Which you know, I'm happy to dive into so it's just you know a little bit about my background and you know You know, I, I love the expat life. I know you do too. Like, it's just, you know, all those, that sense of adventure and freedom and opportunity and meeting new people and expanding who you are. Um, it's been really, really powerful. You
Amanda Abella:I was trying to do a post, but Facebook went down so I couldn't publish it. And I wanted to bring it up with you because I wrote it from an American perspective, but I'm willing to bet a lot of Canadians, uh, also relate to a lot of the things that I said. And it was like 11 things I don't have to worry about anymore since moving to Mexico. Uh, the obviously American one, health care. I don't have to worry about going bankrupt. Over healthcare. I know it's a little bit different in Canada. You guys have a different system, so maybe you guys aren't as concerned about that as the Americans are. Um, but other things was like taxes. I literally slashed my tax bill, uh, with the foreign earned, uh, income exclusion, and Mexico's not too concerned with, uh, taxing temporary residents on their foreign income. Uh, so it's a good tax deal. And similar to you, it was like, whoa, there's opportunity. Everywhere here and it's not just opportunity. It's like opportunity combined with a much higher quality of life than what a lot of Americans and Canadians are experiencing right now. Can you speak to the quality of life aspect a little bit before getting into investments and all that? Because we'll see it in the comments all the time, right? You can tell who travels and who doesn't
Shasta Townsend:it's interesting because when I moved to Mexico, I had to like learn how to like, whoa, down,
Amanda Abella:slow down, right? You had
Shasta Townsend:yeah, like, whoa, girl, because being an entrepreneur before that I worked in corporate, um, I'm a super like go get her kind of girl and efficiency and you know, all those things that from a U S and Canadian perspective are like just normal, natural values for us. It wasn't the case here in Mexico. And it is still something for me, that's a learning curve. So. It's funny because I remember like we moved in, we bought this house. I'm waiting for like a dryer technician to show up and he's like, I'll be there tomorrow. And of course,
Amanda Abella:Mañana. yeah.
Shasta Townsend:not now.
Amanda Abella:Yeah.
Shasta Townsend:I'm waiting and I'm so annoyed because I've like had to rebook all my client calls and I'm waiting for this dryer guy to show up and he doesn't show up and doesn't show up and I can feel like my anxiety building and I had to be like, all of a sudden I was like shasta. Seriously, seriously, you live in paradise. You just bought an amazing home for an amazing price. And your biggest problem right now is you're waiting for the dryer technician to show up to hook up your dryer. And I think that's when, for me, I realized like, Oh, I had an addiction almost to things being on overdrive, like this addiction to stress, this addiction to like overworking. And I still work a lot. I love what I do. Um, But the tone of it has changed and I think when we talk about quality of life, there's certainly moving to places where the environment is better, the quality of the relationships I have with people here are better, you know, I have a massive social calendar that I didn't have in Canada, but it's also that I think as individuals, we have to actually take ownership for the quality of life that we're living in the sense that You know, I'm, I'm living in paradise. I was living in paradise and then I'm getting stressed over crap. That really doesn't matter. Like you still have to have a life and Mexico time does exist and it is frustrating when you're a professional, you're an entrepreneur, but that, that idea of quality of life is when you move to a place, you also have to really let yourself move to the place. And that's what I realized, you know, the level of, again, like I said, social opportunities. You know, walking along the beach, all of those things, they're all available. Um, but it's also us as individuals saying, I'm gonna actually take advantage of this. I actually have to shift who I'm being. I have to decide that I'm not just bringing the old me with me into a new place. And it's, you know, Groundhog Day, um, You know, when things like medical treatment in Mexico are outstanding, you know, the food quality is outstanding. I mean, I never eat tomatoes or potatoes in Canada. Sorry, Canada. But I moved to Mexico and I was like, holy crap, what are they doing? Why do these things taste so much better? You know, quality of meat. Yeah, it's it's
Amanda Abella:is next level. When we have people visit us, the first thing they notice is how delicious the fruit is. When they start eating it, I'm like, Yep, I am not looking forward to going back to the U. S. in the holidays and eating the food in the U. S.
Shasta Townsend:like that, that, you know, my husband and I lived really clean. We were, we were living, uh, rurally. We source all our old food locally, but even moving here, I'm like, wow, this is just a different level. I just, it, it is a,
Amanda Abella:And it doesn't cost as much to live
Shasta Townsend:no, and it doesn't, yeah, absolutely.
Amanda Abella:It's funny that you bring that up because, uh, the same thing happened to me specifically, Justin's been in and out of the U S for 10 years, but to me specifically, what you just said happened. And that was, and I think I've said this story on the channel before, but a few years ago I was doing like the American hamster wheel dream thing, and I was on my way to having a seven figure. You know, sales and marketing training company. And I, and I was going through some serious family health issue stuff at the exact same time. And instead of doing what normal people do, right, or people in other countries do, which is like, Hey, maybe you should chill right now and just like cool it. Uh, I did the American mindset thing, which was like, push through your machine. Let's go until I collapsed. Basically and pretty much lost everything and had like a super dark night of the soul crisis moment where I'm like, wait a minute This whole system's bullshit basically So that began my journey in terms of we need to talk about not just higher quality of life but sustainability In life and right now the way that work and productivity and business and entrepreneurship is set up in the United States And from what I hear it's not too different in Canada From our Canadian clients. It's just not even sustainable for a human to be doing that. Um, and I, what I have found in countries like Mexico or Spain, Latin America, Eastern Europe, uh, Southeast Asia, similar vibe. There is that more of a, uh, uh, Like your whole life is not your job or how much money you make to use you said it You have a very full social calendar here in Mexico because it's very easy to be social in Mexico It's not as easy in the US and Canada because they value that in Mexico they value their personal connections. They value family. They value having and they work very hard But they value that Um They value their time. They just value it in a bit of a different way. I feel like the American Canadian mindset is very much like how much shit can I get done in this amount of time and be a productivity machine and in other places in the world and in other cultures. It's like, how do I really enjoy the time that I have? And enjoy the people that are in my life. And to your point, when you're moving, uh, from the American, and I, I'm Latina. So I like grew up in like this weird, both worlds kind of a thing, right? Where like, I understood it, but then like actually living in it in Latin America was like a whole different story, even though I knew it. And the other day, uh, even the way that I teach business consulting has completely shifted and changed. Because, for example, yesterday, I was talking to a lot of our effortless mastermind clients, and it's December. A lot of businesses slow down in December while others ramp up, depending on what kind of an industry you're in. Uh, we're in a business where it slows down, which is fine, because that's when we do our traveling for the holidays and we plan for that. And I was finding myself teaching them, uh, just something that I wouldn't have said four or five years ago, which was, Hey guys, uh, we're human, and we all go through seasons, and businesses go through seasons and cycles, and you have to honor those seasons and cycles and adjust accordingly. We're not machines.
Shasta Townsend:Mm-hmm
Amanda Abella:And they were like, whoa, because they're all American and Canadian at this point. And that is something that, uh, we tend to forget, but that other countries understand. And so it's interesting that you bring that up, because, um, Justin and I were stressed out about something the other day, and I'm like, wait a minute, do we actually need to be stressed, or is this like our American mindset, making us stressed, when in reality, there's no need to be stressed right now.
Shasta Townsend:Right.
Amanda Abella:And that's,
Shasta Townsend:observation.
Amanda Abella:and I was like, I think our American mindset is fucking us right now because we want to push and control and manipulate and produce and, and do all of these things when in reality that's just not the season right now and that's okay.
Shasta Townsend:Yeah. Well, I mean, I think it's interesting because we're coming into Christmas, right? Navidad in Mexico and literally this Friday. So we're recording this on a Wednesday. No, Thursday, Thursday, excuse me. Tomorrow, um, you know, offices in Mexico shut down and they shut down for three, over three weeks. Like they're serious about their holidays, you know, and I have clients.
Amanda Abella:a huge holiday. Today's our Lady of Guadalupe. Huge holiday today.
Shasta Townsend:I mean, and I feel like every month I'm like, oh, there's a holiday again. Oh, there's all it again, which is it's just new shows the mindset. And yet, you know, Mexico is on its way to being 1 of the, like, top. You know, dozen economies in the world. And so you have this economy that's ticking along. It's booming and yet, you know, hundreds of millions of people are taking basically a 3 week holiday. Hundreds of millions of people do not work on Saturday and Sunday. Do not even call them. Do not message them. Do not send them a WhatsApp there with family.
Amanda Abella:Yeah, it's
Shasta Townsend:It's very protective. And one of the things that I learned too, because I do real estate and relocation here in Mexico, and I'd be working with, you know, Mexican nationals, and I'd be like, okay, here we go. And they're like, no, no, no, we need to have like a 15 minute conversation about like your family and your social life and what you did over the weekend. And I was like, Wow. This is so interesting. That level of connection, which of course, you know, I value as a human, but as an entrepreneur and business person, I was always like, can we just get this shit done and move on? And I, you know, this shift of realizing, um, that there's many ways to create a successful business. There is, as you said, and what our conversation is about is this, you know, American model of like, A hard driving, get shit done, which I'm very familiar and very comfortable with. But then there's also this sort of like heart space of like, well, actually you can accomplish a lot in your business simply through connection and slowing down and honoring people and honoring the seasons. And, you know, I think it's a very holistic way of looking at things. And so, you know, I value these lessons.
Amanda Abella:Yeah, it's definitely a lot more sustainable. It's like I was telling our clients yesterday, if you're in a slower season now, because that's the cycle, it's Then use that to look at your data, use that to, uh, you know, improve your systems in your business, look at your marketing, look at where the money came from, you know, like, that's a good time for that, that reviewing, because once it gets busy, once we get to January or February, like, you're not going to have time to do it.
Shasta Townsend:Absolutely.
Amanda Abella:So, just adjust accordingly. Uh, and that, that is something that's difficult for us Americans and Canadians to, to break. And like I said, I'm Latina. I grew up in like a slower, you know, the Soledad Mesa, the relationships, families, everything. And it was still difficult to adjust to because even though I am Latina, I grew up in the United States, in the United States school system, work system. So on and so forth, but, uh, yeah, no, we have to catch ourselves every once in a while to be like, Is that American Canadian mindset fucking us right now? And Mexico is interesting because, like you said, Mexico is starting to prove, and we'll get into the investments, that you can have both, right? You don't have to have, uh, and ironically, uh, countries that are known for their efficiency, like Germany, are like in total turmoil right now, economically and politically. So there's this interest, I think there's this interesting shift happening in the world, where you're seeing a lot of emerging countries, Like Mexico who are starting to prove you can have both. You can have a rapidly growing economy and a lot of money circulating in the company and investments and all of that stuff. And at the same time, not have to sacrifice your family. Or your health, or the healthcare system fucking works, unlike the United States, or, you know, you don't have to poison people with the food, uh, they're proving that you can do both, and then we're seeing companies, uh, or countries like Germany, that have like, basically ghost economies, and France too, that are having pretty much ghost economies right now. And their governments are like in total limbo, like there's no leadership in those countries right now, we're seeing collapses of whole governments in countries that were considered to be like, oh hey, these people got their shit together, and now we're seeing them start to collapse, while you see countries like Mexico, who seem to have figured out what my mother always thought was impossible, Which was, how do you combine, because when she left Cuba, she went to Spain, and then the United States. So my mother's question was always, well, how do you get the quality of life that you would get in Europe, but with the prosperity of the United States? And Mexico, assuming they don't fuck it up, right? Mexico seems to be on the trajectory to kind of figuring out what that looks like.
Shasta Townsend:I'm in that. I love it. I'm going to like quality of life and prosperity at the same time. I mean, that's the I'm writing it down literally because that's like it's it's the point, right? It is it's and you know, all of us who are here and and subscribe to your channel. It's like those are the two things that we want more than anything. Probably right. I mean, freedom in there. I would include but that's quality of life, right? And you're right. I mean, it's interesting because Um, there's lots of wealth in Mexico. There's tons of wealth. I mean, and there's tons of disparity. Also, um, I think that there's a certain level, at least if the federal government is trying to to address some of that. But the other thing is that Mexico is also a nation of entrepreneurs. I mean, whether it's the entrepreneurs who are juggling at the stoplights for 20 pesos, or the women who are selling Beria tacos in the morning to the construction guys. Or these massive, you know, nationally, international companies, um, that are, you know, driving, driving Mexico as well. And yet there is a tone, I think that's interesting, you know, that you've pointed out, there's also a tone to work like, you know, I grew up with the idea of like, yeah, you should work hard. It's how you make money, but it's also how you take your self esteem. And many of us from the Canada, US have this like value is in how much I slave over shit and. So you come to resent things, right? Like you come to resent your own business. You come to resent the hours you have to put in. You come to even resent your clients at times. And that's because we have this mentality about work. That's really toxic, actually. Not only is it I'm taking my self esteem out of work, but I have a fear about wealth and money, so I have to work my ass off. But in Mexico, that's not the tone. I mean, the tone is, um, and I'm not saying that there aren't, you know, um, Outliers and all of this, and I'm not trying to generalize on everything, but you know, there's like, you know, I, I recently built a house here in Mexico and the guy laying the tile was like so happy singing every day. And that's a shitty job. Laying tile is horrible. That's a hard job. And yes, we pay people well and all that. And then you see people that there's just a tone about their work and their businesses that are different. And I don't know if it's also because there's a work life balance, but there's also just a tone of. This is, this is what I do. I love what I do. And even if I don't love what I do, I kind of put everything into it. And I think that there's one of the things when you talk about quality of life, like moving here to Mexico, you know, people think, Oh, Canada is just full of all these like really polite people. But, um, you know, there's this sort of tone of both entitlement and attitude and toxicity. And I, I remember moving here and I was like, Oh, I'm not getting attitude from people. I'm not getting, and now there's other issues or entitlement issues for certainly in Mexico and things that I've had to learn how to navigate culturally. Um, but it is a very different country, you know, and it, it, it is like you said, I think there's, there's a sort of magical combination that's happening right now in terms of lifestyle and also prosperity and, um, You know, and again, it's to be respectful always of culture and not take advantage of culture, but for sure, when we talk about Mexico, you know, which I know we want to talk about on this today is like, where is the opportunity as entrepreneurs and creators and investors in our own life? How can we determine if Mexico is the right stop for you? But also what, you know, how do you take, how do you move forward on those things? And what do you, you know? without sacrificing, right? All of the aspects of that we want. And Mexico is, there is a magical combination. There's no, there's no question. You hit it on the head there for sure.
Amanda Abella:So let's talk about that. Let's talk about whether or not someone can determine whether or not, well first of all, let's talk about the investment climate in Mexico. And I told you this, but I don't think I've said this to the audience, which is, I was watching a woman from Spain. She's from Barcelona, and she's in real estate, and she does real estate developments in Mexico, the United States, and now she's moving into Spain and Dominican Republic. She doesn't have data. On Dominican Republic yet, because that's a newer thing, but she said this thing that I found absolutely fascinating as somebody who's Cuban and kind of has lived between like the cultures of like US, Spain, Latin America, right? I found what she said to be fascinating, which speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit of Mexicans. Which is in Spain, it's extraordinarily difficult to do what she does. Number one, because the government makes business kind of hard in Spain. Um, it just is, there's a lot more regulation and things like that. And also because, um, although you can get lending in Spain since 2008, the Spaniards are more risk averse to getting lending. Uh, so it's just harder to make money in Spain as an entrepreneur, right? In the United States. In her line of work, which is real estate development, super easy to make money because everybody just finances it with debt. The problem is people get started a lot later. In that real estate game in the United States, or you have to be at certain levels, uh, in the real estate game. And she said, in terms of making money and a country between the three and a country that is really, uh, echando palante, which is, uh, they're, they're working for it. You know, you know, they're working for their prosperity. They're pushing forward. They're really growing. She said, Mexico. And she said, although it's difficult to get lending in Mexico, and you wouldn't want to get lending in Mexico anyway because the math literally doesn't check out, right, to get like a loan with 9 to 12 percent on it, and then get 5 percent returns on a vacation, it makes no sense, right, so you wouldn't want to do it, financially, she said, although that's a problem, what's interesting in Mexico that I haven't seen in the other two countries is you'll see 22 year old guys, or people who've known each other for 20 years, They're still young, and they're pooling together to go buy investment properties. And they're getting started faster and younger because they're all pooling together. She goes, I hardly ever see that in the United States, and I never see it in Spain. And you know what she said? She goes, you want to know why Mexicans are like that? Because they don't trust their government. So they've always learned, right, that they've had to handle shit themselves. And what's happened in Spain, according to her, the Spanish woman, is they rely too much on the government. So then that pushing, or that the ambition is not necessarily there, and that the United States is kind of in the middle in terms of that. But in Mexico, because they don't have the greatest relationship with their government until recently, then they, they don't, uh, they don't expect anybody to necessarily come save them. They're like, we gotta go handle this ourselves.
Shasta Townsend:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Mexico is, I mean, it's, it's interesting. A friend of mine just visited from Canada and she lives in Vancouver where there's like Significant, um, drug addiction issues and just, you know, we have significant homeless issues in
Amanda Abella:In the U. S. too. I mean, I told Justin I'm not going back to L. A. until they clean it. My mother
Shasta Townsend:And, you know,
Amanda Abella:to come visit
Shasta Townsend:I don't, I don't know what the solution is and I don't ever want to sound dispassionate about things, but it's interesting because in Mexico, you can literally walk into a pharmacy and get like oxycodone and yet there's no, like, overwhelming, um, you know, opioid problem in Mexico and this isn't just romanticize things. We have lots of other issues and there's also no homeless issue. I mean, you see a few homeless people. I was just in Mexico City. I think I saw three homeless people. Um, the whole time that I was there and it's like, well, why is that? And you're absolutely right. And it's because there is an attitude of, I have to get my shit together. There's nobody coming to save me. Family is a huge resource and friends are a huge resource. And there is a, there is a attitude of, um, you know, where's the opportunity and how can we collaborate? Which is something that I think is very, and, you know, it's, it's, it's Something that we can, you know, also learn from is where are the hidden opportunities for things. And it's true. You know, we often think about real estate as having this really high. Um, investment level and it can be, you know, you, you can certainly invest at very high levels, but there's opportunities, especially here through Mexico through, you know, where I live is Riviera and I read and, and Puerto Vallarta and the opportunity to invest and to grow, make your money work for you. Um, there's no Airbnb restrictions here. Mexico city now has some, but we don't see that coming here. And they're just the sort of tone of. Um, you know, I think a lot of us who've moved here, Canadians and Americans, you know, we're looking for opportunity. We're looking to say, we want to have it all. How can we, um, you know, grow our wealth, but also grow our life as well, you know, grow ourselves. So there's no question there is, there is a, a lot of opportunity and it's not always the way you think about it. Um, real estate coming out of the U S or Canada. You know, there are, there are innovative, innovative and flexible opportunities, um, in Mexico for real estate too.
Amanda Abella:That's the beauty of geo arbitrage, right? Which, you know, Hormozy just did a video about this, where he's like, you want a 10x your income in the next year? Move. Like, literally just go somewhere else where it costs less, but part of the geo arbitrage was getting access to the same quality assets. That's at a much lower price. What would you say to people who are like, Oh, you guys moved to Mexico. So you're like sacrificing quality in terms of what you get access to? Because I'm like, you clearly have never been here. But what would you say to people who have that concern? We're like, Okay, yeah, I might spend, you know, 200 grand on a house, but it's not going to be as high quality as a house I'm going to get in the US or Canada. Or maybe it doesn't have, uh, we'll hear this. It doesn't have, uh, Like, uh, the long term hedge that I can use in the U. S. and Canada. What would you say to people where that's a concern?
Shasta Townsend:one, if you're, if you don't know and it's fine, because very few people are talking about it, you know, in terms of the opportunities in Mexico. So one, if you're not paying attention to Mexico, like you're, you're missing it, right? You're missing this massive market. Real estate, I'll answer your question, but I want to just preface this with a few things is. Real estate in the area that I live in, which again is Rivera, Nayarit, Puerto Vallarta, is actually increasing in value 20 to 25 percent a year. I mean, you got to think about that. If I bought a house today for 100, 000, literally a year, and you can't, I mean, unless you're in the barrio, like, don't think you're going to come to Mexico and it's your, it's Walmart here that you get everything for free or for cheap. Um, things are in less money, but I hate this attitude of people coming here thinking that, you know, this is their third world Walmart that they get to, you know, to, to, to live on nothing and treat people like shit. I mean, that don't come if that's your attitude. Um, but it's just, you know, but think about the real estate side of it. You know, if you, if If you invested 100, 000, that, that investment literally went up 20 to 25 percent in a year. Like there's literally nothing in the world that's paying like that right now. I mean, yes, you can invest in the stock market, but the level of risk around that and the amount of knowledge you need to know is extraordinary. Whereas here, you know, we're seeing these growth. So people will say, Oh my gosh, the real estate market has gone up significantly. I should have bought three years ago. And I say, yeah, you should have bought three years ago. But you should also buy today because it's going to continue to go that way. You know, the tourism rates, we have 365 day tourism because we have expats in the winter, but then we have Mexican nationals in the summer because they all want to come to the beach. So when people think about, well, how can I have, you know, like cash flow in my life. And as an entrepreneur, it's something, you know, for me, I was always like, I want two things. I want an asset that's accumulating in value really quickly in case anything did happen to my business, which it did, you know, I had to actually shut her as a seven, like a seven figure yoga studio. Unfortunately, I had a lot of real estate to lean on. Um, and also, you know, whether you like paydays, I like paydays personally, where I buy at some at a price and then sell at a much higher price. We're like cash flow. I mean, this is the area. So I think when people are evaluating things, they need to take in all of the metrics of what's available. And then the truth is, and you know, this because you live here, like. The quality of things in some ways are even higher here. Like there's, there's things that it's higher quality. Um, like my husband, I actually build homes in Mexico. It's a completely different process of building homes in Mexico than it is in Canada. Anyways, where we use lumber in Mexico, you use You know, you use concrete and and blocks, right? Like you're literally building a rock solid foundation. Um, but things that I mean, the kind of stone that's available here, the kind of fixtures like Mexico is a very luxury market as well. And people think of it as this again, this third world Walmart, and it's not, I mean, the amount of luxury brands and high quality services, high quality goods. I have a massage therapist that comes to my house. I have a
Amanda Abella:do too! Shout out to Delia if you're watching.
Shasta Townsend:You know, like, these are things like, I could never, I would have never, it just, people wouldn't even do it in Canada, um, nevermind the price barrier, and I pay all my people really, really well here, but there's a sort of, like, service, um, attitude, and, you know, like, water is delivered to my door, like, all of these things that are really sensational ways to live,
Amanda Abella:The eye doctor's coming when we're done here. My eye doctor's coming to drop off glasses and contacts before my trip.
Shasta Townsend:like they're just extraordinary, right? Like I have a doctor in my frigging what's up. Like I've never had a doctor's personal phone number before. So all of those things where people say to me, they worry about that. I mean, I get asked about medical treatments all the time. Medic medical care. Oh my God. Am I like, you know, and I say they're extraordinary, but all the other things, even international brands, the brands that you're used to having in Canada or Mexico, they're here. And then there's also great Mexican brands, Mexican products, great services. Yeah. And so when you combine that all together and you start to really think about like, Oh, from a real estate perspective, I could see my money growing 20 to 25 percent a year. Plus I could have cash flowing properties and whether I'm going in on. Um, I'm an an investor in something where I don't maybe own it outright, but I, I'm in a group of people investing, or I have asset cash or liquidity that I wanna put somewhere. And then, you know, I, I know you made the point about the mortgage, but I say to people, just do the map. I have a client right now they're looking at, at buying either entrepreneurs also, I mean, they're buying a higher end property, but when we did the math, them borrowing. 8 percent was their, the mortgage rate I got them, but they're making a hundred thousand a year clear in, in rentals. So it makes sense for them to do that right now. So I always say to people, you know, do the math, just figure out what you want, what you want to achieve. And, and there's, you know, there's tons of opportunity, but you, you have to go for it also, right? You have to say, I'm in, I'm going to do this.
Amanda Abella:Let's talk about that, right? Cause, uh, we've talked a lot about the opportunity that's available here, and Justin and I are saying the same thing. It's one of the reasons why we don't want to go back to the United States. We're like, holy shit, right? And I'd been to Mexico before. My family used to travel to Mexico a lot, but the last time my parents were here were in the 80s. That was the last decade in Mexico, where the government bankrupted them. And they had nothing. And then they hear from us what's going on, and they're like, holy shit. Because they're just kind of more aware, as Latinos, of what was going on here. Uh, all these decades, and what they went through, and, and all that stuff, and, you know, then the, the devaluing of the currency in the 90s, so they're seeing what's going on in Mexico now, my parents, and they're like, Holy shit. Like, this is, this is major, what's happening. Uh, also, you forgot to mention this part, Mexico has one of the fastest growing middle and professional classes in the whole world
Shasta Townsend:do. You're absolutely right. Yeah.
Amanda Abella:And a
Shasta Townsend:Well, and I mean, Mexico has nearshoring happening, right? Like, um, nearshoring the, the, you're in a nearshoring center, Guadalajara is a nearshoring center, Monterey, you know, Laredo, there's all these things. And what nearshoring means for those of you that are listening is that, um, companies that used to have locations, say, in China or Asia, or somewhere very far from Canada, the US, they've moved into Mexico. And it's also. Just they might still have places there. Uh, for example, Mercedes just opened a huge facility in, you know, in Mexico. And
Amanda Abella:Meanwhile, they're shutting down their facilities in Germany.
Shasta Townsend:Exactly. And so what's happened is you get this burgeoning all these people that are getting paid better as you know, the working class, if you call it that, um, day to day. And then there's a burgeoning management and senior management. So what that means also from an investment perspective, it's interesting and I've never really shared this publicly. It's one of the things that my husband and I are doing in our own strategy is looking at opportunities in near shoring cities because There are people that are both international travelers, but also the middle class that's growing, um, people like us, you know, people who are expats, digital nomads that want to go to cities like this because they have sensational culture. They have amazing wifi. They have amazing
Amanda Abella:Good infrastructure, yeah.
Shasta Townsend:Yeah, infrastructure is sensational, right? There's 5g in Mexico, everybody. Um, so, you know, there's, there's so many things when you start to be like, oh, you know, let myself be open to the data and the information and listening to things like this and, you know, learning more and, and deciding again, what's the opportunity because there's no shortage for sure.
Amanda Abella:So people are hearing this, right? And you and I both have these conversations all the time with people who are like, Man, I really want to do it. I really want to move to Mexico, or wherever. Insert your country here. But in this case, we're talking about Mexico. And there's always like, these barriers, right? All these things that start coming up, right? One of them being, I need to dislo Well, in our case, right? A lot of times, sometimes people feel stuck by their job that They literally cannot go work in another country, so we have to figure that part out first, and then we have to have whole conversations about dislodging people from the hustle culture, like, no, you don't actually need to work 12 hours a day and not see your kids, and not have, you know, freedom over your time and money, but that's usually a barrier. That we have to come through is dislodging them from that. Um, so if you're there, we got to work on that one first. But then there's this other one, right? Where people have the financial resources to be able to do it. They have the location independence, uh, to be able to do it. Or maybe they just sold a house and now they're like, okay, I got options. Or they have investments and they're like, I got options. But all that fear starts to come up. And then they kind of like kick the can down the road, kick the can down the road, kick the can down the road. And then they'll use their kids, their parents, whatever, in search, uh, concern here. That they have to figure out, which, you know, we both can help you sort all those things out. They can be sorted out. Um, what would you say to those people who are like, like to your point, right? You and your husband had been dreaming about living in other countries for a long time. So had I, Justin was already doing it. Uh, what do you say to people that they're like, I'm, they're this close, right? They have all the ingredients that they need, but actually like pulling the trigger is the hard part.
Shasta Townsend:Well, I mean, here's the thing that I say to a lot of the clients that I have that are thinking about, I have a lot of Americans leaving the U. S. right now, moving to Mexico that
Amanda Abella:I'm sure you do. As the number one immigration group to Mexico, I am sure you do.
Shasta Townsend:yeah. And, you know, you can move from fear. And I, I certainly, when I was leaving Canada, I was like, basically like, fuck this, I can't do this anymore. I worked my ass off and I feel like I'm getting taxed to death. And, you know, I live in a country that doesn't actually reward entrepreneurship. And, but it was kind of like a victimized statement. But I think for many of us, when change happens, I mean, humans don't love change. Um, change often happens. It's initiated out of some sort of catastrophe. It's like the hero's journey, right? They burn your village down. Something happens and you're like, okay, well, I got to get going. And then.
Amanda Abella:lost your business, you lost your career, you got
Shasta Townsend:whatever, or you're just kind of, like, fed up with something, you had a medical crisis, you went through a divorce. I don't know, whatever it is, but then you kind of, you know, that initial. Let's call it can kind of your, your mind is very good at making things okay for you that are actually not okay for you. And so then for me, I asked the question of like, well, what's actually your dream, you know, and my husband, I moved to Mexico. We were in our. Sort of like mid to late forties. And, and time is a real thing, you know, there's a sort of like, if not now, when, and because there's never going to be a perfect time and it's never going to be a perfect experience for you. And it's not supposed to be, it's supposed to challenge you, help you to grow. And then at the same time, there's also, especially now, so many people that help you, you know, when I was moving to Mexico, there was no one really did the kind of work that I do. There weren't the conversations that, you know, you're having with people. Um, so there's a sort of decision of don't be delusional about what you can accept. Like, how do you have to ask yourself, what are you tolerating that you don't really want to tolerate? And the second thing is like, what's your dream and why are you letting anybody else's fear and projection and nightmare? I mean, my husband, I'd left Canada during COVID. I had literally friends who are very like minded to me say, why are you What are you doing? Like, are you fucking crazy? You cannot move to Mexico during a plague. And I was like, don't put your shit on me. Like manage your own emotions. I know who I am. I know what I want to do. Now they're like, Oh, this is amazing. I love that you live here. I get to visit you all the time. Um, you know, and, and I think it's also, again, like we have to sort of decide. When is it going to be your life? When is it going to be your life? When is it going to be your time? And it's going to be uncomfortable, but any dream that you have, there's going to be hurdles we have to move through along the way. You can decide to get help with those hurdles. Um, but it's part of it, you know, it's what makes it sweet in some ways. It's like, I, I did those things. I'm here. I
Amanda Abella:had been through something similar because the system and what we're trained in is just not sustainable. And eventually you hit a wall. So that's kind of what happened to each of us as individuals. And we were like, Okay, we got to get out of this system. The system is not sustainable. really very conducive to building wealth, or fulfillment, or anything. And, to your point, right, he had already been here, but, uh, the first year that I was here, it was hard, and I am Latina, okay? I understood certain things culturally better than someone who's not. Latino understands, and there were still things that were challenging just because I grew up in the U. S. Um, I spoke the language, and there were still language barriers over the slang that I didn't understand that I had to learn. Um, and then, you know, um, it's like the first six months, I don't know if you experienced this, but, uh, Justin didn't notice this, I went through like an emotional detox the first six months that I was here. Where like my mind and my body and my energy, it was just like this massive detox from all the stress I'd been carrying for so long. So I was an emotional wreck, like the first six months and then we realized that's what was going on. And then in addition to that, to your point, you're just like navigating different systems, you're navigating another country. There's challenges that come with that, you can try and plan it perfectly, it's never gonna be perfect. But now that we got through all that, I'm a year and a half. Uh, in, I'm like, holy crap, right? Like, yes, after the moving costs, and the short term travel, and the switching the way that we work, like, yeah, that shit was hard, and it was very expensive during the time, but now we're running our numbers, and we're like, holy shit, for 2, 000 a month, we're living what it would cost someone in the US or Canada five figures a month. To live this way. We've been able to save over a year worth of living expenses and have money that if we wanted to buy land and start developing, we could. We have options now. Plus, we slashed our tax bill. So now we're starting to see kind of like the, the benefits and the rewards of having gone. Through that difficult piece. And when you start seeing those rewards, that's when you're like, that was worth it. That was worth it. So if anybody's like, oh, this is gonna be really hard. Yeah, it could be. I mean you could get help from me or Shasta and it'll be less hard than it was for us. But also keep in mind, to your point, like keep your eye on the prize. Because you're gonna go through that transition period and then you're gonna see the fruits of your labor. Of having gone through that transition period, and it's going to be worth it. And a lot of people in the comments who've moved to other countries have said the same thing. It was hard as hell, like the first year, we got through it, now we're seeing the fruits of our labor, would 100 percent do it again.
Shasta Townsend:And I think, you know, you said a word that's really powerful word, which is options. And I think that that is, um, something again, powerful and beautiful of like, when we move, when we were leaving, I felt like, you know, I've used up the options. There's really no more. I had a lot of financial success. I'd done all the things that I wanted to do in my life. And I was literally like middle forties and I was like, What are the other options I don't even know about in my life? How can I trust the unknown? And how can I allow this to be an experience that helps me grow personally, helps me grow my wealth, but also just like, What are the things because we don't know we're living in a box, right? We're living in a certain particular box and then moving here. And I think this is when we talk about opportunity I mean, it's probably the same root word, right? It's like you have options around things You have options that you can choose to do and how you want to operate your business. We just talked about that, right? I mean, this is like the whole theme of really what we've talked about is the option is you don't have to kill yourself either building or running a business. The option is you can actually have money and great relationships and health to, you know, the option is you can have a great property that you own outright here. Like there's, there's the option. I think that's a really powerful word that you said. And, um, the mindset around that, uh, when we get locked into not making a move around something, it's usually because we're not letting ourselves see, oh my gosh, I can choose an option here. And the truth is, even if, I mean, people are so afraid of making the wrong decision, you just make another decision. If it's not the right place, move on. Like, go somewhere else. No big deal. You
Amanda Abella:Yeah, you already did it once you could do it again. No big deal. That's how I feel. I'm like, well, I got through the first country. It'll be easier when we get to the next one.
Shasta Townsend:Exactly.
Amanda Abella:First one's the hardest one, is what I keep saying. All right Shasta, so tell the people where they can find you and then we're gonna have one more question for you. But tell them where they can find you, what you're up to now, Um, you know, we're probably going to be doing some collaborations in 2025 because we have a bunch of people asking us to relocate and investments and all that stuff, and Justin and I only want to work with the best of the best. So we've been like traveling around the country, actually meeting people, and Shasta was one of them in Buseria. So tell the people what you're up to, where they can find you all of
Shasta Townsend:so much. so right now I'm in the process of building out a brand new website that has a lot of relocation, information, investment, real estate information in Mexico. So it'll be live literally this week and it is shasta Townsend. com. Um, literally lots of great content. You can reach out to me also, you know, if, if you're looking for real estate investments, relocation, help. Um, and I just, I love to post around. you know, really great data and information, but also a lot of like mindset and opportunity and lifestyle stuff. Cause this is a really kind of cool and, um, you know, fun place to be. So ShastaTownsend. com. I'm also on Facebook, Instagram, and it's literally just my name, Shasta Townsend. So yeah.
Amanda Abella:All right, Shasta, if you could leave the audience with one thing, and let me give you a breakdown of this audience so you understand them, right? Okay. About a quarter of them already live in another country, so they get it, right? They understand. They already did it, right? But they might be looking at investments and all that thing, all that in Mexico or in other countries and things like that, right? The rest of them, uh, haven't quite bitten the bullet yet. They're still in that dream stage, right? And they're like, Oh, I'd love to have a house in Mexico. I'd love to, to be able to, you know, leave this soul sucking job and be able to just go to Mexico and, you know, build my, uh, farm or whatever. Right. So that's kind of like the breakdown of the audience. They're mostly American, then Canadian, and then actually Mexican. We have a lot of Mexicans who watch this channel as well because uh, they also want to make money. And invest and all that stuff. So if you could only say one thing to the audience that you think, okay, this is the most important piece of information that these people need to know, what would that be?
Shasta Townsend:I think, honestly, the most important information is there is always someone who will help you. There is always support. We often, again, stay stuck because we think we have to do it all ourselves or we don't see the solution. There is always somebody, I always say that here, even when there's things like I'm like, I don't know how this shit works in this country. I'm like, somebody does, and we can just find them and get them to help us. So know that you're not alone. There's always someone who can help you.
Amanda Abella:That's really good. I think that's a good life lesson to like, there's always somebody who can help. There's always somebody that you can ask, and there's no shame in asking.
Shasta Townsend:Absolutely.
Amanda Abella:shame in asking and getting help, and I would add this. There's also no shame in you investing to get help for yourself. Because a lot of people struggle with that.
Shasta Townsend:Yeah, it's the best investment you can make in my mind.
Amanda Abella:It's the one that you'll get the best returns every single time. Alright Shasta, thank you so much for being here and sharing your knowledge with this audience. We're gonna have to have you back, right? Like, we may have Shasta come back and be like, Hey, here are the market trends going on. I already see it. Right. I'm like Shasta's market trends. I already see it.
Shasta Townsend:That'd be awesome.
Amanda Abella:And I'm looking forward to collaborating in 2025. Everyone, thank you so much for watching. If you're listening to this on Apple, Spotify, all those things, leave us a review, leave us a star. Do all of that. We love all the reviews that are coming in. And if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure to give it a thumbs up. Cause it helps us with the algorithm gods. Uh, Shasta and I both are, have a shared mission where we're like, let's get as many people out of there as we can because they have options. In life, and Mexico is one of those options. Um, so help us by giving a like, because it'll help us get it in front of more people. Subscribe and hit the notification bell if you haven't done so already. And leave us a comment. What was the biggest takeaway for you in this interview? Leave us a comment below and let us know. Uh, if you're not on YouTube and you're listening on the podcast, you can do the same thing. Just shoot us a DM on Instagram, entrepreneur expat official. Letting us know what your biggest takeaway is, and we will catch you guys on the next one.