Newbie! Arriving 4/5 for house hunt!

[AlisaC]

Hello all!

As I write this, I am on my way (via Ventura County) to Guanajuato! We are house hunting, and will be relocating to GTO city (from Arizona/California) at the beginning of June.

So, needless to say, we are very excited - we have spent a good amount of time in the city, and know the different areas pretty well. I will be there for a week, starting April 5, looking around, and hopefully finding a home for us.

Some questions/advice...

* Would love to connect with a few of you while I'm there from 4/5-4/11 - let me know if you want to chat. Maybe coffee or drinks, or lunch? On me!

* Is there a description somewhere of the real estate purchase process. I know that I will need a Notary Public (I have contacted one, but haven't heard back, so any recommendations here would be awesome). Also, I'm guessing it would be really smart to work with a local lawyer. My Spanish is pretty good, but not great with legal language.

* I am working, long-distance with some realtors. Have noticed that some are GREAT at getting back to me - others, not so much. Any personal recommendations you have would be amazing.

* If you know of a property within walking distance to El Centro (up to 30 minutes) let me know. We need room for us (a couple), four dogs and a cat. So, either a small yard or a large terrace.

* How is mail delivered? Post office? To the individual homes?

* How accessible/reliable is internet service in El Centro areas? Marfil? La Presa? How is it connected? Via phone service?

* What's your favorite cell phone provider for a Mexican number - we are getting a Google Fi number so I can keep my US phone number, and for travel outside the US and Mexico.

* If you had to do it over again, what do you wish people told you?

* We are a lesbian couple - any insights on GTO attitudes? We stayed with a young lesbian couple when we spent a month in GTO in 2017, and they seemed pretty comfortable there, expressing no problems. Would love to hear from you, too!

* We "may" have a small sedan, at least for 6 months to help facilitate furnishing things (going to Leon, etc.) Some of the homes we are looking at have parking spaces, some don't. We are looking forward to ditching our car, ultimately. But, in the meantime....for those of you who have a car, but no attached parking space, what are our options?

THANKS in advance - so looking forward to moving to GTO, getting to know some of you, and being happy immigrants in a city and country that we love.