not sure about playa, but first i went to a bunch of agencies. that was a waste of 90 minutes. they all took down my number and said they'd call back etc. i wanted to look at places then, and not later. i then just started walking into condo buildings and inquiring downstairs at desk. that was by far the best move. every building i walked into had available units, they showed them to me right then and there, and i was able to view/compare several units in almost no time at all to make a somewhat more informed decision.

I had never been to Playa before so I didn't know the areas at all. I emailed a few realtors I found on google about a week before I was planning on coming. After I found one that spoke english pretty well, I told him what I needed and what I was interested in, all furnished condos with private modems (many places have shared wireless). I told him when I'd be arriving, and we went through 4 or 5 places the first day I got down here, and 4 or 5 the next day, at which point I made a decision. One thing that's different from the US is Sunday is not the same in terms of realty. In the US it's probably the busiest day for going through places, but down basically here nobody shows anything on Sunday. Another good part was that he basically drove me around to the places and gave advice on where the best areas were, which I definitely wouldn't have been able to figure out within a few days. The place I ended up renting I never would've found because it's a little out of the way, but still about a block from the beach.

If I spoke spanish better, I'd definitely take the same route as Lipo. Most of the condo places didn't have someone who spoke english well enough that I could've rented a place on my own without massive confusion. My spanish isn't that good, I took it for 3yrs in HS and 2yrs in college, but haven't looked at it at all in 4yrs now. I'm not sure about Cabo, but in Playa most condo buildings have 20-25 units, so I'm not sure every place here will have a ton of empty units to choose from, but there are tons of different condo buildings down here to choose from. Also one issue is that because high season down here is November-March, a few places that are vacant now have already been rented for a few weeks or a month during that high season, so I had to find one that was open the whole time. It wasn't a huge problem, but it did eliminate my #2 choice, so something to consider.

If I move after my lease is up I'll definitely just start going into condo buildings like Lipo did, because I'll have way more time and a better idea where the best places to stay are. Having the realtor at first was huge for me though because he also recommended a bunch of restaurants and other important places around the condo I eventually ended up renting, and also could communicate perfectly with the condo administrators.

As far as realtors work, it's not like the US where you have a buyer agent who goes around as you look at any place for rent in the city. He told me there basically isn't a buyer agent system, so I only had the places listed through his office to choose from. That said, people will list their vacation homes through multiple offices, so there is a ton of selection. Just in his office he had about 10-15 2br furnished vacation condos available in good areas, and his company wasn't that big. It was sort of annoying to know that I could be missing out on a really good place because they aren't listed with the realtor, but having a local to negotiate with the owners and convey things to adminstrators (installing faster internet, other random stuff that doesn't work when you're renting a place that hasn't been lived in for a few months). It's possible in Cabo there is a higher % of english speakers so most of that wouldn't be necessary, but I've never been there either.

Cabs and food are really cheap here. There is absolutely no reason to ever feel unsafe walking around late at night because about 10-15% of cars on the road seem to be cabs, and going completely across town usually costs $3 including tip. I don't really feel unsafe walking around at night, but $3 is an insane deal imo.

There are a bunch of security guards everywhere, almost every condo building has a 24/7 security guard standing outside. Also you'll see a vacant dirt lot with a guy sitting in a folding chair, even at night, which in the US is sort of worrisome. Down here those are security guards making sure other people don't start squatting on the lot because evicting squatters is difficult here apparently so they just act preemptively.

The food here is really good, and really inexpensive. I'd say it's 60% mexican food, 30% Italian, 10% other. If you go out for dinner, something that I'm used to paying $40-50/each for (margaritas, appetizers, then dinner) is only about $20/each. There are a few US chain places here like Subway, but I ate there yesterday and it felt way overpriced and the food was terrible, compared to what I've been eating around here.

I like it so far, hopefully my spanish gets better soon so I can communicate with everyone better instead of sounding like an idiot or looking for the person who speaks english the best.

FWIW, same type of thing is happening up in Canada. Some people get turned down from opening an account because they're American, or b/c they want to do it for poker, then someone else walks into another branch of the same bank and opens an account no problem. Just a lot of variance in the process.

Glad you guys are posting lots of related info about Cabo/Playa, if people do start getting/using aircards as a backup, please post your experiences about that as well. It gets cold in the wintertime in Canada apparently

Not sure if you already mentioned this but if you dont mind what did it cost you to get into a place? Like was a depo required? How many rooms etc.?

A lot of that is reassuring... thanks.
i barely know any spanish. enough to get around.. but yeah..
i was thinking about taking some classes..
it's good to see a few others moving to playa..
if anyone wants to grab a cerveza lmk

thanks so much for that info z32,
could you share the email of the company you used? that method seems like a winner, as I also don't speak much spanish

also what kind of price ranges did you encounter for 2br 2ba places?

here is spanish school in playa I'm thinking of doing
http://www.cancunspanish.com/playade...ageschool.html

just made first withdrawal from moneybookers to my bancomer. bancomer gave me 11.56 on the exchange yesterday and i think like hte no vig fx rate was 11.67 or smoething so not too bad on the conversion. + about 250 pesos of wire fees and stuff which is pretty standard.

I feel weird posting his personal email here, so if anyone wants the email of the realtor I used, just PM me. Can't recommend him enough considering his english is very good and how helpful he was.

I only looked in nice, touristy, safe areas, but for the ones I saw were about $1200-$1400 for a 1000sqft 2br/2ba furnished, with utilities included except electric. Those are either a couple blocks from the center of town (5 blocks from the beach) or really, really nice on the inside like the one I ended up renting (about 15 blocks from the center of town, 1 block from the beach). I ended up getting a 3br/3.5ba for $1600 plus electric because it was about 1500sqft and too good of a deal comparatively to pass up for what I need.

link
link2

there is a place on along fifth.. not sure where.. i was recommended to it.. that gives free spanish classes.. fwiw

awesome - good to hear.
have you tried getting a peso/USD account yet?
Or can you at Bancomer?

nice.. i heard electric can be a lot..

i was also recommended to not bring my cell down and tell my carrier that i'm on vacation.. i guess the roaming charges etc. can be awful..
you can get a pay-as-you-go cell at walmart..

up on stars in 60~ hours since arriving. GL to everyone trying to get everything sorted out. have a ways to go in setting up moneybookers, all the euro sites and coordinating to my mexican bank/rerouting it to the usa, but today was a good day in getting the #1 thing on my priority list accomplished

congrats

you can't get a USD account unless you are in a border state (to the US) is what i found out.