Our story starts in the spring of 2000 with a Canadian real estate broker who had been looking to purchase a winter home in a southern latitude. For years the broker had lived in the Medeira Beach area of the Gulf coast of Florida and in the east end town of Red Hook on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas and was no stranger to the rigors of foreign ownership.

As fortune had it, he had a chance meeting with a geography teacher who, with two of her friends, owned a beach house in the sea side town of Progresso , in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico (about three and a half hours drive west of Cancun). She described her winter paradise as the Mexican version of "cottage country" which brought back fond memories of childhood summers at the cottage for the broker.

Although the broker had been to other areas of Mexico and not been overly impressed with the thought of owning a home there, something about that conversation had made a lasting impression. By December of that same year, after a little research on the Internet, the broker found himself on a road trip to Mexico with his duffle bag and a twelve string guitar.

Speaking only three words of Spanish and never having traveled to Mérida, the broker rented a car at the Cancun airport and embarked on a journey which would change the path of his life forever.

When he arrived in Mérida he found himself totally unprepared for the experience he had undertaken. The highway tolls on the road from Cancun had consumed all his Mexican currency, Telmex, the national phone company, had recently gone from a seven to a 10 digit dialling protocol, rendering his Mexican contact numbers invalid. His Canadian cell phone would not work in Mérida even though he had purchased a special package from his cell provider. The payphones did not accept cash. A phone card was needed even for local calls and he did not know what card to buy, how to ask for it or where to buy one.

Of course, all of the aforementioned was of little importance as he had no Mexican money left and neglected to advise his Visa card provider that he would be traveling out of his own country. This resulted in restrictions on getting cash from the automatic teller machines. Fortunately, a local hotelier was able to contact his real estate agent in Mérida, at which time a rendezvous was set up for the following day. The broker bought one of the three houses he came to see and the realtor spent time with the broker to assist him in establishing some local contacts as a starting point.

Well, that was five years ago and the Canadian real estate broker was me.

A lot has happened in the last five years. I have been changed by the beauty of the Yucatan and its people . As an example: when Hurricane Isadore hit on September 20, 2002, 15 of the townspeople came to help me put on my hurricane shutters and I only knew two of them ... I didn't even know the storm was coming..... they certainly saved my house and possibly my life! Afterwards, the weather returned to near perfect year round conditions, as usual.

I have experienced a lot through this process and yet my most important challenge thus far has been in creating a real estate organization which anticipates and provides for the specific needs of those who choose to embark on this cultural journey in order to enjoy the sunny lifestyle.