When Alex and I decided to move to Mexico, I thought finding housing would be the easy part. I mean, how hard could it be, right? We’re both from Chicago, we’ve rented apartments, we own rental property ourselves—we know the drill.
Turns out, I knew absolutely nothing about how renting works in Mexico.
How We Ended Up in León
Let me back up. We didn’t always plan to live in León. When Mateo was about eight months old, Alex had four weeks of paternity leave, and we decided to spend it here visiting family. We wandered around the city, checking out the neighborhoods and plazas, and something just clicked. The city had this perfect balance—big enough to have everything we needed, but not so overwhelming that we’d lose our minds raising two little kids here.
We had initially considered Mexico City. I mean, it’s beautiful, there’s so much culture and things to do, but with 20 million people? It felt like New York City, and while I love visiting New York, I definitely don’t want to live there. León felt more like Chicago—a real city with resources, different types of food, good infrastructure, but still manageable for our family.
I can’t remember if it was me or Alex who first said, “Why don’t we just move here?” but once we said it out loud, it became real. And Alex, who had always insisted he’d never leave the States, was suddenly all in.
The Housing Hunt Begins
Here’s where things got interesting. One of my closest friends, someone I’ve known for over a decade since before we were moms or married, lives here in León. When I told her we were seriously considering the move, she became my lifeline. She knows this city inside and out, and she was the one who shared a Facebook post about a rental property in Zona Norte.
Now, let me tell you about Zona Norte. It’s the northern part of León where the city expanded years ago, and it’s basically where everything is. Behind our house is literally a parking lot for Sam’s Club. We’ve got Walmart, Home Depot, cute boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants—everything we need is walking distance away. That accessibility was huge for us.
When I came down in the spring with the kids to tour schools (yes, we visited like 20 schools—that’s a whole other story), I also scheduled a tour of this house. My parents came with me, and as soon as I walked through, I knew this could work. It’s in a fraccionamiento, which is basically a gated community, and even though I hate using that term because of what it implies, the reality is it gave me peace of mind. My kids can play outside, people jog in the mornings, families walk their dogs at night—it’s quiet and safe.
The Legal Reality Check
Here’s what nobody tells you about renting in Mexico: it’s a whole legal process.
Back in Chicago, we own a three-unit building with tenants, and renting to them was straightforward. We had contracts, we followed Chicago’s very tenant-friendly laws, and that was it. Here? Completely different.
First, we needed something called a póliza jurídica. This is a legal rental contract that has to be signed with a lawyer present, and it protects both the tenant and the landlord. I was actually grateful for this because it legitimizes everything, but it also meant we couldn’t just show up with first and last month’s rent and get keys.
The biggest surprise? We needed an aval—a guarantor. Not just any guarantor, but someone who owns property. That property becomes collateral for our rental. Luckily, my grandparents live nearby, and my grandpa was willing to co-sign for us. He had to bring all his property documents, called escrituras, and sign everything with the lawyer.
The whole experience was eye-opening. I’d rate the difficulty of securing this place an eight out of ten, and that’s mainly because of all the bureaucratic steps. But we paid our first month’s rent as a non-refundable deposit back in May or June to hold the place, and then we moved in months later.
The Cost Breakdown
Everyone asks about money, so let’s talk numbers. We pay 20,000 pesos a month for a fully furnished three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house with a full kitchen, dining area, living room, and a big patio.
For people from Mexico, especially here in León, that’s on the expensive side. A typical furnished rental here might be around 17,000 pesos max. But we’re paying extra for the location and the space. This fraccionamiento is older—maybe 30 or 40 years—which means the houses are more spacious than the newer developments where everything is getting squeezed together.
Here’s the thing though: paying 20,000 pesos a month made complete financial sense for us. We looked into moving all our furniture from Chicago, and the quotes came back at $15,000 to $20,000 USD. So when you do the math, renting furnished actually saves us money, especially since we’re still not sure if this move is permanent. We kept our most important things in storage back in the States.
What I Wish We’d Done Differently
If I could do this all over again, I would use an inmobiliario—that’s a real estate agency. The person who showed us this house was professional and responsive, but he wasn’t a licensed realtor. In Mexico, you don’t need a license to show rental properties, only to sell them. That means literally anyone can post a rental listing.
We found this place through a Facebook group post, which worked out, but it would have been more legitimate to go through an actual agency. There are inmobiliario websites where you can filter by city, neighborhood, number of bedrooms, whether you want to rent or buy—the whole thing. And if you see a listing on one of those sites, I’d recommend going directly to the agency rather than just clicking through the website, because anyone can post there too.
The other thing? Everyone communicates through WhatsApp. I had my notifications turned off because I never used it back in the States, but here, it’s essential. All our communication with the landlord, with schools, with everyone—it all happens on WhatsApp.
The Landlord Situation
I’m going to be honest here because I think it’s important for anyone considering this move: our landlords have been… difficult.
Don’t get me wrong—the house itself has good energy. I felt comfortable here from day one. But there have been maintenance issues, and getting them to actually fix things has been a struggle. There’s a small room on the second level, kind of like an old servant’s quarters, that’s been flooding. We told them about it, they sent someone out, but they didn’t want to pay for the proper repairs. So they had their general maintenance guy basically slap a bandaid on it, and it still floods.
The problem? That room is above our laundry room, and I’m genuinely afraid the ceiling is going to collapse on me because the flooding has caused so much deterioration. I’ve told the landlord multiple times, and she’s just not as responsive as she should be.
They own four properties and pride themselves on being professionals, but I honestly feel like they just want our money without wanting to invest in maintaining the property. And that’s frustrating because if they want long-term tenants, they need to think about their return on investment.
It’s made us realize that when our year is up, we probably won’t renew—not because of the house, but because of them.
Tenant Rights Are Different Here
One thing that shocked us coming from Chicago: tenant rights work completely differently in Mexico. In Chicago, landlords are responsible for almost everything. Here, the rental contract states that we’re responsible for all minor repairs and maintenance. Need a new light bulb? That’s on us. Something small breaks? We fix it.
Major repairs are still the landlord’s responsibility, but the threshold for what counts as “major” is way higher than what we’re used to. It’s definitely something to consider and read carefully in your contract.
Would We Do It Again?
Despite the landlord issues, I don’t regret choosing this house. The location is perfect, the space works for our family, and being in a fraccionamiento has given our kids the freedom to play outside safely. Plus, we were able to personalize the kids’ room—we had all the furniture removed and bought them their own little beds and bookshelf, which they absolutely love.
If you’re thinking about moving to Mexico and looking for housing, here’s my advice:
- Start with an inmobiliario. Yes, you might find deals on Facebook groups (we did!), but going through a licensed agency gives you more protection and legitimacy.
- Turn on your WhatsApp notifications. Seriously. Everything happens through WhatsApp here.
- Understand that you’ll need a guarantor. Make sure you know someone with property who’s willing to co-sign, or start building those connections before you move.
- Read your rental contract carefully. Tenant rights and responsibilities are different, and you need to know what you’re agreeing to.
- Think about furnished vs. unfurnished. If your move is temporary or exploratory, furnished makes sense. But if you’re committed long-term, the math might work out differently.
- Location matters. We prioritized being near amenities and in a safe neighborhood over being close to the kids’ school, and for our lifestyle, that was the right call.
León has been an incredible city for our family. We’re still learning, still adjusting, and definitely still making mistakes. But finding this house, even with all its challenges, was the first real step in making Mexico feel like home.
Show Notes
In this episode of the “Living in Mexico” series, I’m sitting down with my husband to walk you through our entire housing journey here in León, Guanajuato. I’m answering one of your most-asked questions: How do you actually find a place to live in Mexico? Spoiler alert: it’s not as simple as browsing Zillow!
I’m sharing all the things I wish someone had told us before we started house hunting. If you’re thinking about making the move to Mexico or you’re just curious about what expat life really looks like, this episode is packed with practical advice and hard-earned lessons.
What You’ll Hear
- Why we chose León and how we fell in love with this city during what was supposed to be just a vacation
- The reality of renting in Mexico
- How we actually found our house, what made us say yes to this property, and why location became our top priority
- Our landlord struggles and the maintenance issues we’re dealing with
Resources Mentioned
- Inmobiliario websites for finding legitimate rental listings in Mexico: Lamudi, Inmuebles24, Trovit, Vivanuncios
- Facebook groups for housing in León (link available upon request)
- Sign up for my FREE masterclass: How to Get Dual Citizenship in Mexico on Thursday, November 13th at 7 pm CT.
About Jessica Cuevas
Jessica is the founder and creator of Viva la Mami, LLC a community centered around Latina motherhood. Jessica created this platform after not finding empowering stories about experiences of Latina moms. She realized that there was a lack of representation in this space and felt there was a need for mamis to share their stories and to learn more about the nuances about motherhood through a cultural lens.
Viva la Mami’s mission is to empower the modern Latina mom to redefine the meaning of madrehood through education, story-telling, and cultural relevance all while bringing comunidad together.
