Homeowners

Do any of us remember him?

Embree C. “Chuck” Bedsole
Interim President
TSD Loreto Partners, S. en C. por A. de C.V

How would you grade the leader of the end of most of our dreams in Nopolo? He said there would be good communications and we would stay informed! What say you? Thank God we are behind our Homeowners Association and we have a great leader in Rob Carter. He has a great board and will do the best they can for us. Keep the faith!

Hi Kaz,

I trust you are doing well. I came across your web site information and thought I’d pass this water softener and water purifier information along if you think it would be helpful. This information is to help any homeowners interested in protecting their pipes from calcium build up and in providing sterilized water at their kitchen sinks.    They can contact me directly – doug@the4browns.com.  

WaterKing Water Softeners:

Water-King is a no-salt, electronic water softener that we have tested in Loreto Bay (BCS) in almost 100 homes since November ’08.   Here are some of the results:

        Shower tiles squeegee off water without dragging.

        Milky rings at bottom of glass glasses have significantly disappeared.

        Rings around toilet bowls have disappeared.

        Detergent in washing machine foams instead of looking murky.

        Softer feel on skin.

 As you know, softer water will also prevent calcium build up on shower heads and help the preserve the bathroom valves and plumbing parts of the water appliances.

 Water-King Water Softener How does it work?

 Hard water is caused by Calcium and Magnesium combining into large particles forming Lime scale. This is the white buildup you see on the faucets and shower doors.Saltwater softeners remove these minerals and in the process adds salt to the water. Calcium and Magnesium are actually good for you. They are in all daily vitamins. Salt is not good for you and is hard on your metal fixtures. Water-King sends electromagnetic sound waves through the water and pulverizes the large particles of Lime scale (Calcium and Magnesium) and breaks them into very fine particles like you would find in natural soft water.   Therefore you have the benefit of soft water and the good minerals of Calcium and Magnesium without the salt.

 The manufacturer offers a 100 day money back guarantee and 5 year warranty.   I offer a full refund (less installation cost).   Contact: Doug Brown – doug@the4browns.com.

 Bill Doyle, owner of The Construction Coach in Loreto Bay reported, “Laurie and I bought one and had it installed in our house in Loreto, and we are astounded at the difference in the quality of the water. These things do work!” You’ll find reports at:   http://www.water-king.com/commercial_downloads.htm    Find the heading “Product Literature” and click on “Water-King Research Data”.   Also visit Waterkingusa.com.   The WK2 is recommended for homes fed by aquifer or well water rather than the smaller WK1 unit.   No maintenance required. 

Trojan UV Water Purifiers with a 5 Micron Water Filter

This water purifier meets another household water need that has worked successfully in Baja.  The Trojan water purifier and filter require minimal space under the kitchen sink, and its dedicated spigot provides for drinking water and washing produce.    The Trojan Ultra Violet (UV) systems pass the most stringent California testing standards.  A significant advantage over reverse osmosis is that costly filters do not need to be changed constantly from sitting idle.   The Trojan’s UV lamp can be turned on when you arrive and immediately sterilizes the water, and the lamp can be turned off again to prolong its life during your absence.    Details follow: 

• www.trojanuvmax Model A with the 5 micron, carbon pre-filter.
• It is a “point of use” installed under the kitchen sink; water is good for drinking and washing food and dishes.
• It comes with a 5 micron, carbon filter.  The filter serves to removes sediments and “polishes” the water for better taste and to remove odors.
• We know from previous installs that the UV Max and filter use minimal space and mount well under the sink with out sacrificing the trash receptacles.  A spigot is mounted through your sink or counter top.
• * Parts can be supplied to install a line to your refrigerator’s ice-maker so you have purified water for ice. 

Maintenance:  Change the UV bulb and micron filter about 1x/year if lamp is continually plugged in during the year.  Warning lights will prompt you.  Replacement bulbs and filters on hand for your replacement convenience. 

Best regards, Doug Brown,   Trust Home Care,  RFC: THC090206GZA

Yesterday morning Mauricio Rivero and myself had a meeting with Hector Medina (TSD), to discuss the following:

  Delinquency status for HOA dues for May and June for all of TSD properties:

They will pay 100% of these dues next week.

  What properties will they be selling to Homex and when:

They are negotiating ALL properties, including all lots in AV, Posadas, Beach club and every other empty lot (i.e.,  E3). Hector  said they finished about 90% of the negotiations and he expects that HOMEX will make an official announcement before the end of this month. Later in the meeting he talked about first and second sales stages ( he mentioned that the beach club and E3 would be negotiated on a second stage )

  What would happen with Paseo:

This is part of the pending negotiations with Homex, they are talking about only repairing Paseo ( not improvements ), he said basically paving and building curves, but this is yet to be confirmed.

  Dirt lot where beach club is to be located:

He agreed to allow us use the dirt lot at beach club going from Paseo to beach construction road to park construction cars and get them out of Paseo, this obviously until the property is sold.

  AV benefited assessment:

He told us their attorney was in disagreement on the procedure the assessment was approved, I asked him if I could contact him and find out what is exactly what he believes it was incorrectly done, so in case we need to do the process again I could talk to the committees, he agreed, but he also mentioned that even if this issue was fixed  there is also a cash flow problem, and he said he just doesn’t know from where TSD will get the money to pay this assessment

  900’s at AV

He told us they were working on creating a new Sub regime for these lots, he understands that an assembly for the Master association needs to take place to approve this, and  he believes that they should be ready to request for a master assembly in order to discuss and approve this in around 2 months.

They not only look sharp but they act smart & are nice to boot! I think this is one of the best things that could have happened to our community! We have more security guys and at the same price to us. Here are a few of the new faces walking the beat!

Dear Homeowners,

It is with great pleasure that I write to officially inform you of the recent change in administration at Loreto Bay. After much thought and consideration by the various sub and master committee delegates, Associa was chosen to begin today, June 1^st, as your new acting administrator. While there is much information to communicate regarding this change, I would like to first begin by introducing our staff and company to you.

Associa was formed in 1979 in Dallas, Texas as a company exclusively focused on the management of homeowners associations. After achieving success in the Dallas market, Associa began to grow across Texas and then eventually across the nation. What started as a small family owned business has now become the largest HOA management company in the world. Today Associa manages approximately 7000 associations comprised of over 1.1 million homes. This is all done through a network of more than 100 offices across the United States and Mexico and a staff of more than 6000 employees. The benefit of all that for you, the homeowner, is that you receive local service backed by the resources of the leader in the industry. Click here to view a brochure that speaks about the company, our history, and our services.

As you know, the management of Loreto Bay is larger than any one person and requires a team working together to take care of all the operational needs. In order to accomplish that, we have assembled a team of 3 full time administration employees supported by myself, a regional office CEO, and a back office accounting team from Los Cabos. That new team and their contact info is as follows:

Full Time Loreto Bay Employees
Jorge Macias (jmacias@associamexico.com) – General Manager
Gabriela Crespo (gcrespo@associamexico.com) – Assistant Manager
Mariluz Murillo (LBassistant@associamexico.com) – Homeowner Assistant

Regional Support
Joey Carona (joeycarona@associaonline.com) – Vice President of Business Development, Associa; President, Associa Mexico
Mauricio Rivero (mrivero@associamexico.com) – CEO, Associa Mexico Los Cabos
Fabiola Leyva (fleyva@associamexico.com) – Director of Operations, Associa Mexico Los Cabos
Libya Puente (lpuente@associamexico.com) – Accountant, Associa Mexico Los Cabos 

Now for the pertinent information. There are two items that we would like to communicate to you immediately. The first is in regards to the payment of your HOA dues and the second is regarding the security staff at Loreto Bay.

Payment of HOA Dues
With the change in administration, all the bank accounts of Loreto Bay had to change as well. Rather than creating new accounts for you in the name of Associa, at the direction of your Master Committee, we formed a new Civil Association for the benefit of the community. This entity, after the appropriate general assembly meetings are held, will become property of the owners and be appointed permanent “Administrator” for Loreto Bay.  While there is a lot that could be said about this structure, the basic summary is that it gives you, the owners, long term ownership and control of the legal rights of the community and allows you greater protection and continuity of service when it comes to those who provide service at Loreto Bay. 

For your June assessments (due today) please do not pay into the Balandra bank accounts, but rather into one of the three accounts whose wiring instructions are included. You will see that there is one US account located at First Associations Bank (a bank that provides services exclusively to HOAs), and both a USD and MXP account at Bancomer in Mexico. For those of you who previously paid by auto charge to your credit card, that will no longer continue. All of those authorizations were specifically for Balandra and are no longer effective. For making payments this month, you have three options:

1. Wire transfer to any of the three new accounts:
   Click here to view the First Associations Bank wiring instructions
   Click here to view the Bancomer USD wiring instructions
   Click here to view the Bancomer MXP wiring instructions
2. US Check mailed to the following US address:
   5401 N. Central Expressway, Suite 300; Dallas, TX 75205; Attention: Joey Carona/Alex Streng

Payment in person at the Loreto Bay office

We are actively working on both a new credit card and ACH/e-check option for you but require more time for the set-up. As soon as those systems are in place, we will send out instructions. Realizing that this is a significant change and may require time to adjust, the Master Committee has agreed to waive late fees for the month of June to ensure that everyone has sufficient time to make their payments. With that being said, your prompt payments are still appreciated and necessary for proper cash flow purposes.

Security
After many meetings with the security staff of Loreto and an offer of continued employment with Associa, the workers chose to take a severance payment and waive future employment in the community. Left with an immediate and large vacancy to fill, we contacted various security companies in BCS and decided to outsource the job to a security firm called Serviproc. Serviproc was able to provide double the amount of guards that had been patrolling Loreto Bay at a reduced cost. The new guards started last night and bring not only an advanced level of experience and training to the community, but a much more professional image. The feedback we have received from the owners currently in town has all been positive.

To the extent that this change affects the safelock system, please know that we are still providing service 24/7 key service and training additional people while at the same time trying to bring enhanced security and control to the whole process. As we have updates on this, we will let you know. In the meantime, Gaby, the Assistant Manager, is taking charge to make sure that everyone gets the keys they need.

While there are many more things we have to communicate to you, these are the pertinent things that will help us all move forward. Again, we are excited to be working with you and looking forward to a long relationship with Loreto Bay. Please don’t ever hesitate to ever contact us. We are here for you.

Best Regards,

Joey Carona CMCA, AMS, PCAM
President, Associa Mexico Realty Services S. de R.L. de C.V.
An Associa® Member Company
Transpeninsular Highway KM 28.5, Costa Azul
San Jose del Cabo, B.C.S. CP 23400, Mexico
+52 (624) 172-6593 - MX Office
+1 (214) 295-6245 - US Line
+1 (214) 432-5449 - US Fax
+1 (214) 335-8134 - US Cell
143*93331*1 - Nextel Radio
www.associamexico.com

Associa® - the Leader in Community Association Management

This is our recommendation for how to get to Loreto cheaply.  Maybe you want to put this in the Nopolo News.

Recently we have found that a relatively cheap way to get to La Paz or to Loreto or La Paz has been to fly to Cabo (SJDC) and then take the bus up to Loreto.  However, for the long ride up to Loreto, it might be more relaxing to spend the night in San Jose del Cabo before taking the bus in the morning.  We do the same thing coming home: take the bus to SJDC and stay overnight before flying back.  By flying to Cabo and taking the bus a couple should be able to get to Loreto for about $1,000 (including airfare, buses, taxis, and hotels).

The most reasonably priced and convenient (yet fully adequate) places to stay in San Jose del Cabo are not shown on Expedia or, as near as I can tell, the internet in general.  The travel sites don’t seem to carry the less expensive hotels, and some of the smaller hotels don’t have websites.  So, the following are some good options that we have discovered.

Last year we stayed at Hotel Posada Terranova on Delgolada street (between M. Doblado and Zaragoza) in the historic old town of SJDC.  The cost is about $50-55/night for a double, and they have a good, yet inexpensive restaurant for breakfast.  For dinner there are lots of interesting places within walking distance.  We spent a relaxing evening walking the town for entertainment.  They don’t seem to have internet service or a web presence, but their phone number is 624-142-0534.

More recently, friends of ours have stayed at Hotel Colli, also in the old town.  Hotel Colli is on Hidalgo Street, just one block in from the main drag (Blvd. Mijares) with all its tourist shops and restaurants.  It is also is right next door to a good bakery/restaurant (the French Riviera Bakery/Bistro) where you can get goodies for the bus ride . Their price was also about $50 (their brochure says $650 pesos for 1 or 2 persons).  Go to www.hotelcolli,com, or write to them at hotelcolli@hotmail.com, or phone 624-142-0725.

To get from the airport (SJD) to old-town SJDC recently cost us $13 apiece for an airport shuttle van.  The taxis wanted to charge us $45!.  To get to the bus station (the Aguilar bus) from your hotel you need to take a cab (it’s reasonably close by, but too far to walk with luggage).  The taxi cost us $5.

The Aguila buses depart from the SJDC bus station at 6 am, 9 am, 10:15 am, noon, and 4 pm.  They arrive in Loreto between 9 and 10 hours later.
Coming back the buses depart from the Loreto bus station (located off the traffic circle on Salvatierra) at 8 am, 11:45 am, 1:45 pm, and 11 pm.  Note: these are the departure times as of March, 2010, they may change over time.  The late bus from Loreto (11 pm) can take you directly to the airport at SJDC, so if you have a flight leaving comfortably after that, you may be able to take the “red eye” and save the cost of a hotel going home.  You can generally purchase your tickets at the bus station on the day that you leave in SJDC, just arrive half an hour early.  In Loreto we get our tickets at least a day early.  Seats are reserved, and I think they fill the buses up from front to back.  Try to get tickets on the least sunny side.

The buses have restrooms (take your own TP), but they stop frequently enough at rest stops to allow you to avoid them completely.  You need to get off the bus in La Paz so they can wash it.  Otherwise, its generally the same bus all the way.  Be sure to take some food that you like on the bus, otherwise its junk food all the way.  Good luck..

Rick and Sandy Schaefer

This Sunday if you are in Loreto come over to 306 on the Paseo!!!!!!! BYOB from 2-4 for the next 3 Sundays. Yesterday a group of 12 got together to hash out what we want this space to be! There will be post here tell us all the things that will be going on in our space. The Zumba Group meets Monday-Friday 11:30-12:30. A bridge group and a AA meeting group have already been meeting. We will have more info as time goes on!

Please add any comment of things we should have at our HOA room and any other suggestions!

On the restaurant front, Del Borach opened up last week, and we’ve eaten there twice - both good experiences (El Guapos, friend Caesar salad with chicken, and vegie lasagna).  La Palapa was very good - but we were the only ones there with the exception of a table for 12 who were going to eat their catch), Super Burrito was good as usual, big burrito and a baked potato.  Had a lunch at the place next to the coffee shop next to La Posada de las Flores.  Same old.  La Cascada was good, not great.  Lunched at the clam shack on the empty beach south of LB, very good fish and shrimp tacos.  Had dinner one night at Domingo’s steakhouse.  My “best steak in the house”, a filet mignon, was great.  Took some home for tacos later.  Last night we went to Pizza night at La Mision on the Malecon.  Apparently they are doing this every Thursday night.  All you can eat was something like 80 pesos.  They just keep cooking pizza all night, outdoors by the pool, and they come around and give you a piece of the latest thing out of the oven.  You can sit and drink and eat all night.  It’s become beastly hot here and sitting outside is  great at night.

 AP – Soldiers patrol in Piedras Negras, northern Mexico, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. The Mexican government has …

Chech out the Earth Quake reported from the L.A. Times! Lucky we weren’t in that area!   http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/08/earthquakes-in-sea-of-cortez-dont-appear-to-have-shaken-many-up.html