Our Best Move Ever! – San Miguel de Allende Real Estate

When Adrian and I met in 2003, and our relationship grew to be something permanent, we had two dreams: have a home in Mexico and to own our own business. I had owned my own real estate brokerage in San Francisco, Herth Real Estate, with offices in San Francisco, the Wine Country and Palm Springs. This had been my career, with my start in San Francisco real estate in 1983. In addition to running a successful independent brokerage of 65 agents, Adrian and I had developed a passion for buying and redesigning San Francisco properties. We had worked together on over 20 remodeling projects in San Francisco.

Adrian and I first visited San Miguel in 2007, we were completed enamored and returned 6 weeks later to buy our first home, located in Ojo de Aqua with breathtaking views overlooking all of San Miguel and the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains.

Adrian, born in Nayarit Mexico and educated in the U.S. had some desire to return to his patria, but the truth be told, it was me who had the true passion for life in Mexico. I wanted the experience of living internationally and was attracted by the Mexican culture, Spanish language, great weather and an active art scene. San Miguel de Allende, in the central heart of Mexico checked all the boxes.

Given our experience of the real estate business of San Francisco, we saw that San Miguel offered tremendous opportunity to start a new chapter of our mutual and passionate interest in luxury residential real estate. In 2011, Adrian reached out to Sotheby’s International Realty in New York and opened the conversation to acquire a master franchise for San Miguel de Allende. Through that successful negotiation, we acquired the exclusive master franchise of Sotheby’s International Realty, for the two Mexican states of Querétaro and Guanajuato. We were off to an incredible new adventure!

The move has been a rewarding experience. Life in San Miguel has only proven to be more of everything than I expected. The climate is amazing; the homeless problems of San Francisco do not exist here; the culture is vibrant with great restaurants, live music and a thriving art scene. Additionally, the cost of home ownership is super affordable. The cost of owning and maintaining a home is less than $1,000 USD per month including domestic staff with daily maid service.

Adrian and I have now completed 12 projects in San Miguel, including our new office building located in the heart of the UNESCO historic center, located at Sollano 19. It has been a privilege to purchase and restore a 300 year old iconic property.

In moving to San Miguel, I brought the California real estate standard of professional practice to our luxury real estate business. I am proud of having grown the most successful group of 20 full-time bilingual and bi-cultural agents and have nearly a 50% market share. As a result, Adrian and I have built a tight supportive community of clients and friends. Life is good and our lifestyle is indeed enviable.

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