Live a full year in Mexico before you sell a thing in the States

Follow my rent-first year at Lake Chapala to find a casita at the neighbors' price, live through all 12 months and decide on paper whether to stay... even if your Spanish stops at "gracias" and you've never rented anything abroad.

Playing on mute. Tap the video for sound.

Imagine...

  1. Month 1

    You find the casita the neighbors would rent

    A retired American couple walking up a cobblestone lane in Ajijic, smiling at a hand-painted rent sign on a gate

    No wiring a deposit to a stranger from Ohio. You walk the lanes with a notebook, ask the woman at the corner shop who owns the place with the sign, and sign a one-year lease at the price the family next door pays. Your house in the States is still yours.

  2. Month 6

    You're a regular, not a stranger

    An American man laughing with the woman who runs the corner shop in Ajijic

    The shop lady saves you the good tomatoes. You've been to the doctor while you were well, ridden the bus the length of the lake and slept through a fiesta weekend. You know what a real month costs you, to the dollar, because you wrote it down.

  3. Month 12

    You decide with your head, not with February

    A retired couple at a table by Lake Chapala at sunset, a sheet of paper between them, his hand on hers

    You've seen the cold mornings, the May heat, the rains and the winter crowds. You fill in the scorecard, side by side, and make the call. Stay, and you never paid the gringo price. Go, and you still have a house to go to.

Have you ever sat at the kitchen table with the numbers in front of you, and thought:

"If we sold the house, we could finally afford to retire somewhere warm... couldn't we?"

Your check goes further in Mexico. You've seen the videos of the lake, the gold light, the $600 casita. The realtor already told you what the house would fetch. It all points one way: sell, ship and go.

A man in his 60s alone at his kitchen table in Indiana at night, an unsigned listing agreement in front of him

So you went looking. The tours showed you sunsets and three-bedroom villas. The Facebook groups argued about whether Ajijic is "ruined." One video said rent was $400, the next said $1,100. The consulate's page gave you an income figure higher than your Social Security check, and nobody told you what to do about it.

Every source answered one small piece. None of them told you what happens if it doesn't work out. Where do you go back to, once the house is sold and Indiana prices have run away from you?

So you closed the laptop with a realtor's card, a head full of sunsets and one quiet thought:

"Maybe I'm just too old to take a chance like this."

But what if...

  • It isn't that you're too old, or that Mexico is too risky.
  • It isn't that you need perfect Spanish or a fat pension.
  • It's that you were told to make a forever decision on a one-week visit, when what you needed was a year you can walk away from.

Over 15 years at the lake I've watched the same three people come through. The couple who bought a lake-view house in their first week of February. The widow who sold everything, flew south with two suitcases and was gone again in a month. And the man who rented for seven years, then bought on exactly the street he wanted. The only thing the third man did differently was wait.

Rent first. Pay what the neighbors pay. Live through every season. Keep the way back open. Then decide, on paper, in month 12.

Nobody can promise you Mexico will work. I'll tell you the good and the bad, because you deserve both halves. All you need is a year and the patience not to sign anything in February.

Carroll Kay talking with a newcomer on a bench in the Ajijic plaza

"Why would a guy who lives in Mexico tell me not to sell my house?"

Carroll Kay at the gate of his rented casita in Ajijic

Because I sold mine. My name is Carroll Kay. I'm 72. I spent 31 years behind the parts counter of a farm-equipment dealership outside Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in June of 2011, at 57, I came to Ajijic for a month. I'm still here.

Mexico has been good to me. I've rented four places, I've never owned a square foot of it, and I live on a Social Security check of about $1,700. But I sold my house in Fort Wayne before I'd spent a single rainy season at the lake. It worked out, mostly. I got lucky. If I could undo one thing in 15 years, that would be it.

This book is the system I wish somebody had handed me at 57, at my kitchen table in Indiana with a stack of papers and a realtor's card.

The rent-first year, in 7 steps

Follow these steps and you come out of the year knowing whether to stay, without ever paying the gringo price, and with a door back to the States.

Before you go

  1. 1Don't sell the American houseNot until you've lived 12 months in Mexico.
  2. 2Rent the Mexican house for a yearOn a written lease, at the price the neighbors pay.

The year itself

  1. 3Live through every seasonThe cold mornings, the May heat, the rains and the winter crowds.
  2. 4Test what will matter at 80The doctor, the pharmacy, the bus, the bank, and who would notice if you didn't come out.
  3. 5Keep a dollar logWhat it really costs, every month.

The door back

  1. 6Keep the way back openThe address, the bank, Medicare and a return fund.

Month 12

  1. 7Decide on paper, and not beforeA 15-line scorecard, with a version for couples.

What viewers say about the videos

These are real comments on my free videos on YouTube, shown exactly as they were posted. They are not reviews of the book.

  • @swedeincny

    Great video. Most honest, no-nonsense I've seen. Also great script and delivery.

  • @followyourdreamqueen

    Enjoyed this. I moved to lake Chapala in 2019. Your narrative was honest.

  • @neighborinillinois9404

    I really enjoy your videos. You speak from a place of more than knowledge; it's a lived wisdom that I can tell has been cultivated by a definitive decision to make Mexico your home. I've been a yearly visitor to Ajijic for several years now. Love the place. If I moved to that area, I might choose somewhere a little less "gringo," like Chapala or even San Nicolás de Ibarra. I'd love to join you guys for one of your breakfasts when I'm there in December. DM me if that's a possibility.

  • @Thincatt

    I enjoy listening to your stories. You keep it real!

  • @pruenster

    Thank you for your posts! They are very helpful! I enjoy listening to you!

  • @lcwilliams7140

    Am enjoying your very relevant perspectives! The good, the bad and sometimes realistically ugly…cheering your efforts ON!

  • @Danni0829

    This was such a realistic, thought provoking video. I'm currently planning my retirement abroad, and I plan to do it slow, starting with 6 months at home and 6 months abroad. I'll do a test drive for about 2 years, then slowly increase the amount of time abroad. I'm hoping and praying that I'll make the right decisions and won't have any regrets.🙏

  • @mssassypat

    Great channel for over 60 crowd😀

  • @suen5006

    I think rent first is good advice for living in many new places. See how you like it, get to know the area.

  • @joaquincastrejon788

    Thank you good info. Life is good. I am 60 yrs. I will keep watching you videos. Good info. Thank you again.

  • @happygrandma6372

    Hi there, watching you from Fort Wayne, IN!

Don't Sell the House Yet on a computer, a tablet and a phone

Introducing Don't Sell the House Yet

My rent-first year retiring in Mexico: the casita, the neighbors' price, the lease, all 12 months, the money and the way back, written down plain and printed large.

  • Instant download. Your link arrives within minutes of your order.
  • PDF and EPUB. 109 pages in large print. Read it on screen, or print the whole book at home.
  • Phone, tablet or computer. Open it anywhere, even at the gate of a casita.
  • Yours to keep. One payment, no subscription, no account to remember.

Here's what you'll find, chapter by chapter

Page 13 of the book: The rent-first rule
Page 13. The whole book on one page.

Chapters 1 and 2: Keep the House, Then Get Ready. Set up the door back before you leave.

Why selling is the one move you can't take back, and the boring work at your kitchen table in the States that makes the year easy.

  • Rent it out, leave it with family, or leave it empty: the three choices, and what each one really costs.
  • The tax clock on a home sale that a one-year test doesn't touch, and the questions to take to your tax preparer.
  • What to keep alive in the US: the address, the bank, the phone number, two credit cards, your doctor.
  • The visa question in 2026 numbers, visitor or resident, with the fees, and why the consulate's page beats any book.
  • What to bring in two suitcases, and a checklist for your last three months.
Page 25 of the book: The questions to ask
Page 25. 16 questions to take to every viewing.

Chapter 3: Finding the Casita. Where the cheap ones hide.

The best casitas at the lake are never on the English websites. They're on a hand-painted sign, a cork board, or in the head of the woman who runs the corner shop.

  • Why you never rent a place you haven't stood in, and the deposit that vanished with the photos.
  • 8 places to look, from the coffee-shop regulars to the Spanish-language sites.
  • Which village: Ajijic centre, West Ajijic, Chapala, Jocotepec, with 2026 rent ranges.
  • Walk your daily route before you sign, once in the morning and once after dark.
  • Why you always ask for the last electric bill: one couple was quoted 500 pesos and the bill said nearly 4,000.
Page 28 of the book: Never state your income
Page 28. The one question that gets you the neighbors' price.

Chapters 4 and 5: The Gringo Price and the Lease. Pay what a regular pays, and sign what you understand.

The gringo price isn't a scam. It's what a stranger pays. These two chapters show you how to stop being a stranger, then what to look for before you sign.

  • Why you never state your income: the friend whose rent went up 3,000 pesos in a week.
  • The "everything included" cushion, and the bills one by one.
  • Shopping like a neighbor: the tianguis, the comida corrida, the senior card.
  • What a normal lease looks like, and why the Spanish copy is the one that counts.
  • 15 red flags to take to your own lawyer or notario.
Page 44 of the book: Month 3, The Slump and the DampPage 45 of the book: Month 3, what to test and the tick box
Pages 44 and 45. Month 3, the month many newcomers stop going out.

Chapter 6: The Twelve Months. What each month at the lake will test.

People call Lake Chapala the land of eternal spring. It's close, but it isn't true. Each month, June to May, gets its own two-page spread.

  • What to watch: the damp that bubbles the paint in August, fireworks at 5 in the morning, smoke on the mountain in March.
  • What to test while nothing is wrong: the doctor while you're well, the bus, a sick day, an after-hours emergency on paper.
  • What it cost, and where to look when the month runs over.
  • A tick box and note lines to finish every month.
Page 65 of the book: the one-page dollar budget
Page 65. A real month for one person, in 2026 dollars.

Chapter 7: The Money. Where $1,753 a month goes.

Everybody wants one number. Here it is, line by line, for one person renting a small casita with no car, and why yours might be different.

  • A one-page dollar budget for 2026, and my own month on a $1,700 check.
  • "Prices doubled." Yes, and here's what rose a lot and what barely moved.
  • The peso trick: how my rent went from about $510 to $630 without my landlord changing a thing.
  • Moving the money and filing your US taxes from abroad.
Page 72 of the book: the stay-or-go scorecard
Page 72. The scorecard you fill in alone, with a pencil.

Chapters 8 and 9: Stay or Go, and the Way Back. Decide on paper, and keep a door open.

By May you've seen it all. Now you decide with your head. And whichever way it goes, the door back is already set up.

  • Why people really leave, in the order I've seen it over 15 years.
  • The 15-line scorecard, and a version for couples, swapped at the kitchen table.
  • If you stay: the 4 decisions. If you go: the 8 steps, with your head up.
  • The return fund, and why I still pay for Medicare Part B. What I chose, not advice.
  • IMSS, Mexico's public health insurance, in 2026 numbers.

Why you'll be paying less for this book

A paper book has to be printed, boxed, stored and shipped to Indiana, Arizona or Ajijic, and every one of those steps adds to the price on the cover. This one is a download, so none of that is built in.

I'd rather this book land on as many kitchen tables as possible. It's for the man doing the math at night with a realtor's card on the fridge. It's for the couple where one of you is sure and the other isn't. It's for the folks already at the lake who wonder what happens when the rent goes up or the knee goes.

And it's brand new. This is the launch price: $17. When the launch bonus ends, the price goes to $27.

So for now, it's $17. One payment, and the whole year is yours to keep.

Total Value: $148

Now only

$17

One payment. Yours to keep.

Get the e-book for $17
Guaranteed safe and secure checkout, powered by StripeAccepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Pay, Apple Pay
  • Instant download
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
30 day money back guarantee

Plus you're backed by my 30-day money back guarantee

You don't have to decide today. Download the book and spend a full 30 days with it. Read the twelve months, try the budget with your own numbers, print the phrase cards.

If it isn't for you, send one email to support@carrollkay.shop within 30 days of your order and you get every dollar back. No forms and no hard feelings.

You either find it useful... or you don't pay for it.

Get 3 bonuses included free with the book

A year abroad runs on paper: the folder in the drawer, the words at the gate, the log on the fridge. So each bonus comes inside the book and as its own printable PDF.

Bonus 1: Who to CallBonus 1: The Hospital Deposit Plan

Bonus 1: If Something Happens to Me

Family 2,000 miles away can't knock on your door. This 10-page kitchen-drawer folder tells a neighbor or a paramedic what to do, so nobody has to guess.

  • Who to call, in order, with the country codes.
  • A hospital deposit plan: what to ask the private hospitals near you in a calm month.
  • Your medicines in Spanish and English, who has the keys, and the accounts and beneficiaries to check.
  • Questions to take to a notario, your wishes, and the "three local friends know" plan.
Bonus 2: phrase cards, At the viewingBonus 2: the Lease Red Flags sheet

Bonus 2: The Landlord Phrase Cards

The lines I wish I'd had on my first day. Cut them out, keep the right set in your pocket, and read them off at the gate.

  • 49 cards, each with the Spanish, the English and how to say it.
  • Sets for finding a place, the viewing, talking price, reporting a problem, the neighbors and the market, and getting help.
  • The lines that get you a fair rent, like "Busco un contrato por un año": I'm looking for a one-year contract.
  • A one-page lease red-flag sheet to take to your lawyer or notario.
Bonus 3: The Twelve-Month TrackerBonus 3: Monthly Cost Log

Bonus 3: The Rent-First Workbook

This is where the year gets written down. In month 12 you decide from your own numbers, not from a feeling.

  • The 12-month tracker: tick each month's tests as you go.
  • A monthly cost log in pesos and dollars. Print twelve.
  • My dollar budget, with the book's sample beside a column for yours.
  • The month-twelve scorecard, one copy for each partner.

Here's everything you're getting so far

  • Don't Sell the House Yet, the full book in large print, 109 pages, as a PDF to read or print and an EPUB for phones, tablets and e-readers (value: $97)
    • Chapters 1 and 2: Why I'd Keep the House, and Before You Go
    • Chapter 3: Finding the Casita
    • Chapters 4 and 5: The Gringo Price, and The Lease
    • Chapter 6: The Twelve Months, June to May, a two-page spread for each
    • Chapter 7: The Money, with the one-page dollar budget
    • Chapters 8 and 9: Month Twelve: Stay or Go, and The Way Back
  • Bonus 1: If Something Happens to Me, the kitchen-drawer folder (value: $19)
  • Bonus 2: The Landlord Phrase Cards, 49 cards and the lease red-flag sheet (value: $17)
  • Bonus 3: The Rent-First Workbook: tracker, cost log, budget and scorecard (value: $15)

Total Value: $148

But now you get everything for just $17

Total Value: $148

Now only

$17

One payment. Yours to keep.

Get the e-book for $17
Guaranteed safe and secure checkout, powered by StripeAccepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Pay, Apple Pay
  • Instant download
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

One more bonus, for launch only

The Wallet CardThe large-print fridge sheet, Mi casa, My house

Launch bonus: The Wallet Card and the Fridge Sheet

If you fall at 10 at night, the people helping you will speak Spanish. These two pages speak it for you, one in your pocket and one on the fridge.

  • A bilingual wallet card, two to a page: blood type, allergies, medicines, who to call and your preferred hospital.
  • Keep one in your wallet and one in the folder, in Spanish first, because that's who will read it.
  • A large-print fridge sheet, "Mi casa · My house": your address, the hospital, the doctor, the pharmacy, the landlord and the neighbor.
  • Family in the US, your medicines and your allergies, where a paramedic will look first.

Value: $17 → Included free

The launch bonus ends in

00days
00hours
00minutes
00seconds

Ends in 14 days at 11:59 PM Eastern. After that, it's gone.

Total Value: $165

Now only

$17

One payment. Yours to keep.

Get the e-book for $17
Guaranteed safe and secure checkout, powered by StripeAccepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Pay, Apple Pay
  • Instant download
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

P.S. The launch bonus disappears when the timer hits zero.

Why this book works better on a screen than on a shelf

I could have printed it and shipped it. Here's why I didn't.

Reading it tonight

No shipping and no week of waiting. Your download link lands in your inbox within minutes of your order.

Nothing to pack

You're moving with two suitcases. A book on your phone weighs nothing and crosses the border with you.

On your phone at the gate

Pull up the questions to ask, or the phrase for "a one-year contract," while the owner is showing you the kitchen.

Easy to share with family

Send your daughter the chapter on the way back, so she knows the plan and stops worrying.

Text as big as you like

It's already large print. On a phone or tablet you can make it bigger still with two fingers.

Print only what you need

The phrase cards for your pocket, the wallet card, the cost log every month. Print them as often as you like.

A retired couple in their rented casita on a video call with their daughter
Month 7 in the book: make sure your family can reach you.

Prefer paper? The PDF is made for printing, so you can print the whole book at home or at an office store.

Got more questions? I've got answers

Need a hand? Email support@carrollkay.shop.

Why would a guy who lives in Mexico tell me not to sell my house?

Because I sold mine in 2011, before I'd lived through a single rainy season, and it's the one thing I'd undo. Mexico worked out for me, mostly, but I got lucky, and Indiana prices have run away from me since. I've watched a lot of good people who weren't lucky. Keeping the house for one year costs you little and keeps a door open. This book is the system I wish I'd had at 57.

Prices at the lake doubled since 2011. Isn't that just inflation?

Yes, a lot of it is, and the book says so. Chapter 7 has a plain list of what rose a lot (rent in Ajijic centre, foreigners' restaurants, anything imported, wages) and what barely moved (electricity for a small house, the bus, many generic medicines, a local doctor's visit, the market). It also shows the peso trick: a stronger peso makes your life dearer even when no price changes. That's exactly why the book says to keep a dollar log and test the year before you sell anything.

The residency income bar is higher than my Social Security. Is this still for me?

It might be. The book gives the 2026 figures plainly: roughly $4,300 to $4,630 a month in income, or $73,000 to $78,000 in savings, for temporary residency, depending on the consulate. That's far above most Social Security checks, including mine, and I only have residency because I got in years ago. The book explains the visitor route and the savings route too. These numbers move every January, so always check your own consulate's page the week you apply.

I already live at the lake. Is there anything in it for me?

Yes. The gringo price and lease chapters help when your rent comes up for renewal or you have to move. The money chapter and the workbook help you see where your month goes. The way back chapter and the "If Something Happens to Me" folder are for anyone who lives here alone or worries about getting sick.

Is this only about Ajijic?

My numbers come from Ajijic and the Lake Chapala towns, because that's where I live. The system works the same anywhere: rent first, pay the local price, live through every season, keep the way back open. If you test another town, write your own numbers in the workbook.

Is this legal, tax, immigration or medical advice?

No. It's what I did and what I've watched friends do over 15 years. Rules, fees and prices change every year, and every case is different. Before you sign, sell, file or drop a policy, take your questions to your own lawyer, notario, tax preparer, consulate or doctor. The book tells you what to ask them.

Do I need to speak Spanish?

No. The Landlord Phrase Cards give you 49 lines for the gate, the viewing, the price talk and the repairs, each with how to say it. Read them off the card. Nobody minds a slow, polite foreigner.

What formats are included, and how does it work?

A large-print PDF that's ready to print, and an EPUB for phones, tablets and e-readers, plus the three bonuses as their own PDFs. Within minutes of your order an email arrives with your download link. Click it, and the book opens on your phone, tablet or computer. There's no app to install and no account to remember.

Can I get a printed copy?

The PDF is made for printing. Print the whole book, or just the phrase cards, the wallet card and the workbook pages, at home, at the library or at an office store.

Is it one payment? What if it isn't for me?

It's one payment of $17, with no subscription. If it isn't for you, email support@carrollkay.shop within 30 days of your order and you get every dollar back.

If you've read this far, you're probably ready

No pressure. Whenever you want it, here's everything you get for just $17:

  • Don't Sell the House Yet, the full book in large print, 109 pages, as a PDF to read or print and an EPUB for phones, tablets and e-readers (value: $97)
    • Chapters 1 and 2: Why I'd Keep the House, and Before You Go
    • Chapter 3: Finding the Casita
    • Chapters 4 and 5: The Gringo Price, and The Lease
    • Chapter 6: The Twelve Months, June to May, a two-page spread for each
    • Chapter 7: The Money, with the one-page dollar budget
    • Chapters 8 and 9: Month Twelve: Stay or Go, and The Way Back
  • Bonus 1: If Something Happens to Me, the kitchen-drawer folder (value: $19)
  • Bonus 2: The Landlord Phrase Cards, 49 cards and the lease red-flag sheet (value: $17)
  • Bonus 3: The Rent-First Workbook: tracker, cost log, budget and scorecard (value: $15)
  • Launch bonus: The Wallet Card and the Fridge Sheet (value: $17)

Total Value: $165

But now you get everything for just $17

Total Value: $165

Now only

$17

One payment. Yours to keep.

Get the e-book for $17
Guaranteed safe and secure checkout, powered by StripeAccepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Pay, Apple Pay
  • Instant download
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

P.S. The launch bonus disappears when the timer hits zero.