If you want to see where we started from day 1, I made a nice little page with all the links to previous posts about the house and Guatemala in general, like the cost of living, travel tips, etc. Check out my Guatemala page.
Hi there! It is good to be back home, after barely spending a week here in the past 6 weeks, we have been back for two weeks now. In our absence, the works have progressed nicely, both on the new room and some land development projects.
The room is supposed to look like the drawing below, a main room with a big French door, a bed, storage all around and stone walls, and an attached bathroom with a walk-in closet.
It is taking shape, slowly but surely. This is the front, which the room made of stone and the bathroom of block because in the old new room, the stone bathroom is really humid, so clothes are mouldy and towels take forever to dry.
From the side, you can see the “windows” which are just bricks with holes to let the air in. They will be sealed with mosquito nets, but no glass.
The electric wiring had to go between the room ceiling and the terrace, the guys had given me a quote including electric work but as I requested three ways and other complicated things, BF had to do most of the work. The contractor enjoyed the time off to go make money at other people’s, which pissed us off pretty bad. He was straightened up and did some extra hours the next few days.
That is the grid that will sustain the concrete terrace
and once they poured cement over it, we had a roof!
![IMG_3136[1]](https://reachfinancialindependence.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/IMG_31361.jpg "IMG_3136[1]")
We hesitated between leaving it like that or doing something on top, then decided it was a free floor anyway, so it will have flower beds, a bar, some hammocks and a roof to relax over the lake.
While we were away, my handyman was on carpenter duty, and had a whole list of doors and cupboards to make for the new room. I had bought some wooden planks so he just had to cut and assemble. Turns out after over two weeks away, he had barely done anything. I was furious, but chose not to say a thing because he was the only one able to do the job, and I have him on payroll anyway, so considered the salary while I was away was to keep the garden clean and everything running for some Airbnb guests.
However, a week later, we went away again for two weeks and when we came back, he was still the same unmotivated, bordeline lazy guy we had left. Since he and his girlfriend shared a full time job with us, they used to come in only four hours together, he would fix stuff and she would clean, so they had all afternoons free to do what they pleased. But with the new attitude, we asked the GF to work more hours, and him to come in the afternoon so we always have someone around to carry heavy things or wait for guests to arrive at night. They countered saying they wanted a raise (!) or work 6 hours a day instead of 8 for the same salary. Sadly for them, we are in a buyer’s market, as the vast majority of 3,000 inhabitants are dying to get a job in the village. I showed the girl that they already get paid 50% more than what the building workers make for a very heavy work, carrying 50lb bags of concrete up and down the land 8 hours a day when they just have to keep the garden clean. They also get paid 14 months a year plus two weeks holiday, while the guys get paid weekly and that’s it.
That was not enough for our guy, who decided to quit, but thankfully the cleaner stays in the morning and to attend guests, as she cooks well and speaks English. We replaced the gardener a couple of days later when a young guy magically appeared asking for the job. He said our neighbor sent him, which wasn’t true, but he probably heard me talking to the neighbor asking for recommendations as his brother gardens next door. There definitely are ears everywhere! But with a lot of alcohol problems in the village, and our house having so much temptations, from beers to luxury items they can’t afford, better have someone half recommended than a complete stranger.
On the land development, there was a major piece of news. When we bought the land, it had a small lake access which was public to everyone, but kind of attached to it, so the cattle could go drink water on the shore. A couple of weeks after the sale, we discovered that our dear friends from the council had sold that public property to the highest bidder, and we had no lake access anymore. Our plan was to keep it public, but make a nice deck and marina for our buyers. We were left with only two options right in front of our land to buy, so we could have our private beach. The third plot is the weather institute’s which has a station and allows you to swim there for free, so worst case scenario we would have talked to them to build a nice deck there. But we weren’t happy so we approached the other two owners. One was not selling and the second one gave us a crazy price, way above market.
Well, after months of thinking, and trying to lower the price, we finally throw the old lady an indecent amount of money, but became the proud owners of 100 meters of beach right in front of the development! We may have paid the highest price ever around the whole lake, but have already done a price hike on the plots to reflect the added value, and plan on building 5-6 houses there, for people who want a small place right on the water. Get in touch if you do!
The parcel is 100×100 meters so it is really big, and pretty flat. It has a lot of grass and trees already, that is a great bonus, as our land is quite bare, and will benefit from grass transplants soon.
There is already a small basic deck, which is the village’s laundry room as the mayor is not providing water at the moment, looks like the money to pump it is gone… I have been trying to keep people out as they have a public beach nearby where they can pour soap into the lake and litter, but it looks like the notion of private property is pretty foreign to them.
Other than this, Little Napoleon is still the cutest Great Dane around, and getting used to his new digs. He gets his shots at the cattle supplies store where BF buys shots for his cows, loves to run after the chickens and turkeys, and is getting bigger every day!
I think that you did the good choice by buying the land to get access to the lake. The beach looks great!
Thank you Simon, our neighbors says it is the nicest land around, it is quite beautiful and will sure add a lot of value to the project.
Nice work on getting that land right there on the beach! Everyone loves having access to a beach, so that was a great pickup in my opinion. That’s crazy how the worker wanted either a raise, or the same pay for less hours. That approach generally doesn’t work. 😉
they seemed to think it would have worked!
Wow! When you hire workers it seems like the same story over and over. Is this a different room you’re building (I thought you already have two…..). I think I missed something along the way. Hard to keep up with the Donald Trump of Guatemala!
haha yes it is a new building entirely, room and roof terrace, to be independent from the other complex, so we don’t have guests in our private space.
I love these posts so much Pauline! Lake access for your development is really fantastic, too bad it comes at such a high price. Finding employees you can rely on is so tricky. Hopefully the new guy works out better than the last one. The trials and tribulations you go through with employees seem to be quite tricky!!
yes, and then there is the fact that I am a woman and they are macho men… that is even more frustrating!
Nice to know. I’ll keep in mind when we go to Guatemala.
I’m sorry you had deal with lazy workers but that’s something every employer has to deal with at one time or another. Hopefully the new guy will be better. Good luck.
Thank you Aldo! Let me know if you want tips for your travels, I could go on about Guatemala for days..
It looks lovely 🙂 I love the fact that you’ve got access to the beach!
Thank you Nicola, yes it is a marvelous luxury to have your own private little beach.
I’m with Joe – I can’t keep up with you, Pauline! Is the new digs for you or for guests. I knew you were adding on so you could have a permanent room and not clear out for guests but I can’t remember which is which. 🙂 I’m glad you were able to score (well, sorta score) some more beachfront property. People want access to the water, so I’m sure those plots will be popular! Little Napoleon is super cute and I’m glad he’s doing well.
I am not sure if we will move to the new unit, which is pristine from guest occupation so I like that a lot, but the room is a bit smaller and the bathroom is not as fancy, so my boyfriend is not sold on the idea. It is much more private however, with the private lounge in front it should make up for smaller quarters inside. Otherwise we will keep our big room and rent this newer one instead.
Wow – looks amazing. I’m very jealous. So much nicer that my sub-urban landscape 🙁
Enjoy!
Thanks! Live is pretty sweet under the Guatemalan sun.
I’m glad the lazy ‘worker’ left. No one needs anyone like that around.
And ah, I feel your pain about keeping the locals from using your private beach! That would be so hard to ask them to leave!
Yes, I am tired of playing the mean lady and getting them out but the entitled attitude gets on my nerves too.
lol I’m with Joe and Shannon too! It’s hard not to get lost in the sea of Guatemalan chaos around there. It’s crazy to see the various work ethics there, and the fact that those people quit! Wow! Anyway, the pictures are great! On paper it all looks fascinating, but I think I could develop and ulcer doing what you do! 🙂 I also think your life would make a great reality series! 🙂
haha, I just had a guy write to me from NatGeo to come play B&B host for a month and film the whole experience, but I am camera shy, so I sent him to other friends around the lake 🙂
I’d also buy for lake access. So beautiful!
OMG! What a beautiful dog. I read the whole post, was thinking about what you were saying and then saw that beautiful puppy and forgot about everything else. I have just come from Indonesia where the people I was staying with were building a new building in their front yard. They told me it was for a store, but who really knows. They went through many of the same contractor issues that you did. The day I left marked the 7th day in a row that the contractor had not shown up. Maybe he has by now?
Haha, yes, that happens… I don’t think they would do that here, as the contractor lives in the village and we would bump into him every day, a bit hard to hide. But there are definitely challenges when you go away and count on people to get the job done.
I’ve missed a few updates. I love that your Great Dane is named Little Napoleon. How is Napoleon viewed from a French perspective? You are becoming quite the mogul. Next time I check in you might have a whole city under your umbrella!
I think most French people forgot about Napoleon, it was a long time ago, and while some may still long for the huge French empire, it is a fading memory.I have met a few people named Napoleon around here, which doesn’t happen in France (there are kids names McGiver here, or Usnavy from when the U.S. Navy ships used to moor on the coast), so thought it was fun to name the dog that.
Very cool. Despite having to pay a lot for beach land, it just seems like it would be so much better with it. By the way, I noticed in the comments above that you were approached by Nat Geo…also very cool. I’d probably do the same thing and refer to others 🙂
Yes, the potential link juice and visitor flow was not enough to convince me!
this is awesome!! i love it.. actually im planning to build a small one too!!