If you’re curious about how it all began from day one, I’ve created a page with links to past posts about our house and Guatemala in general, including living costs and travel tips.
Hey there! It feels great to be back home after spending barely a week here over the past six weeks. We’ve been back for two weeks now and, during our absence, works have progressed well on both the new room and the land development projects.
The design for the room includes a main area with a large French door, a bed surrounded by storage, stone walls, and an attached bathroom with a walk-in closet. It’s gradually taking shape. The front features a stone structure for the room, while the bathroom is built with blocks. We opted for blocks because in our previous setup, the stone bathroom was too humid, making clothes mouldy and slowing towel drying.
From the side, you can see windows made of bricks with holes for ventilation. These will be covered with mosquito nets but won’t have glass.
The electrical wiring needed to be placed between the room ceiling and the terrace. Although the quote included electrical work, BF ended up handling most of it due to my specific requests. The contractor took this as an opportunity to work elsewhere, which was quite frustrating. But eventually, he returned and put in some extra hours to make up for it.
That’s the grid that will support the concrete terrace, and once the cement was poured, we had a roof! We debated leaving it as is or adding more, and decided to make it functional with flower beds, a bar, hammocks, and a shaded area to relax by the lake.
While we were away, my handyman was tasked with carpentry work, including making doors and cupboards for the new room. I had supplied the wooden planks, so he just needed to cut and assemble them. However, after two weeks, he had barely made any progress. I was quite upset but didn’t say anything since he was the only one capable of the job. I also considered that his salary while we were away was for maintaining the garden and looking after Airbnb guests.
When we went away again for two weeks and returned, he remained unmotivated. He and his girlfriend shared a full-time job with us, working four hours each day to split tasks. With this attitude, we asked her to work more hours and him to come in the afternoons to help with heavy lifting and greeting guests. They demanded a raise or wanted to work only six hours a day for the same pay. Given the local job market, I pointed out that they already earned 50% more than the heavy labor workers who carried concrete bags all day. They also received more benefits like 14 months’ pay and two weeks’ holiday, compared to weekly pay for others with no benefits.
Unsatisfied, our handyman decided to quit, but the cleaner stayed on. We quickly replaced the gardener with a young guy who appeared asking for the job, likely after hearing me ask a neighbor for recommendations. With widespread alcohol problems in the village, it felt safer to hire someone with a slight recommendation rather than a stranger.
Now, on to land development. When we bought the land, it included small public lake access for cattle to drink. However, soon after, we found that the local council had sold it to the highest bidder, stripping us of lake access. Our plan was to keep it public but add a nice deck and marina for our buyers. Faced with limited options, we had to buy one of the plots in front of our land for private access. The cheapest option was priced outrageously.
After months of negotiation, we ended up paying a steep price but acquired 100 meters of beachfront property right in front of the development! Although we likely paid the highest price ever around the lake, we’ve increased our plot prices to reflect the added value. We plan to build 5-6 small houses for those who want lakeside living. If interested, get in touch!
The new parcel is 100×100 meters, quite expansive and mostly flat, with plenty of grass and trees—a nice bonus since our current land is sparse. It also has a small, basic deck that’s currently the village’s laundry spot due to the mayor’s failure to provide water. We’re trying to keep people out since they have a nearby public beach for such activities.
Aside from all this, Little Napoleon, our adorable Great Dane, is adapting well to his new home. He gets his shots where BF buys supplies for his cows, loves chasing chickens and turkeys, and is growing bigger every day!