San Francisco

About San Francisco:

San Francisco lies almost in the middle of Petén and is the second-smallest municipality in the department. San Benito and Flores, Santa Elena included, border it to the north, Santa Ana to the east, Sayaxché to the south and La Libertad to the west. One road runs south from Santa Elena straight into town; another leaves the CA-13 at the Santa Ana junction, passes through San Francisco and carries on west to La Libertad. Guatemala City is 495 kilometres away, about eight hours by the Atlantic highway, Río Dulce and Poptún. For a flight or a big shopping trip, people head north to Santa Elena and the Mundo Maya airport.

The old Itzá name was Chachaclún, “red earth”, and in the nineteenth century the site was a hacienda raising cattle and horses. The town took the name of its patron, Saint Francis of Assisi, in 1927. Four years later it absorbed San Juan de Dios, a separate municipality that had run out of money and people after many of its men left for Belize to avoid forced military service; today San Juan de Dios is an aldea two kilometres from the centre. Farming and cattle still carry the local economy, and six in every ten hectares of the municipality belong to private fincas.

The town is made up of eight barrios: Centro 1, Centro 2, Paraíso, Las Flores, El Porvenir, San Rafael, Concordia and La Paz. Beyond them lie the aldeas of San Juan de Dios and Nueva Concepción and caseríos such as Santa Cruz, Zapotal, San José Pinares, Santa Teresa and Nueva Guatemala, whose cooperative sits at the end of a 38-kilometre road the state has been rebuilding. San Francisco holds on to Petén customs that have faded elsewhere. On the evenings of 7 and 8 December families put out the mesitas, small tables in front of their houses loaded with sesame sweets and jocote, nance and cashew fruit preserved for a year, and visitors pour in from across the department. The patronal fair runs from 26 September to 4 October, and the town has its own bullring, stadium and motocross track.

Water is the question to ask first. The municipality sits away from Petén’s big river basins, and what it has is three rivers, two lagunetas and 24 aguadas. Piped water does not yet reach every street in the cabecera; Barrio El Paraíso is still waiting for a proper network. For a cattle finca, that makes an aguada that holds through the dry months worth real money, and for a house it means finding out where the tap water comes from before you fall for the kitchen. Buyers are mostly local families putting up a first house, people who work in Santa Elena or San Benito and want a lot of their own within reach of the job, and ranchers adding pasture.

Houses in San Francisco:

Most homes for sale stand in the established barrios. Typical offers are a two-bedroom house in Barrio San Rafael a block from the newly paved street, a central property with three separate houses on one lot sold together, and family homes in San Juan de Dios. The three-house lots appeal to buyers who want to live in one unit and rent out the others. With houses for sale in San Francisco, Petén, the paperwork deserves as much time as the walls: confirm the deed is registered in the seller’s name, ask whether the house has a tinaco or cistern for the days the supply runs short, and check how the roof handles the afternoon heat.

Houses for Rent in San Francisco:

Rentals are whole houses or upper floors rather than apartments. An upper floor in Barrio La Paz with three bedrooms, each with working air conditioning, a small patio and water included, is a typical offer, as are two-bedroom houses with water and power built into the rent. In a town this hot, air conditioning that actually works is one of the first things tenants ask about. Before comparing two houses for rent in San Francisco, find out which services the rent covers and who pays when the air conditioner breaks.

Land and Lots in San Francisco:

Subdivisions supply most building land. Nuevo San Rafael sells 12 by 20 metre lots in Barrio San Rafael, Lotificación San Rafael offers 15 by 15 metre lots on monthly payments, and in San Juan de Dios, Lotificación Luna sells 12 by 20 metre lots with no down payment. La Paz and Las Flores have their own projects. Larger single plots appear too, among them a 948 square metre property on the road into town with deeds ready for transfer, pitched for a small shopping plaza or a petrol station. Ask for the subdivision’s municipal approval, confirm that your lot for sale in San Francisco, Petén will be split off as its own registered finca, and get in writing who brings water and power to the boundary.

Fincas and Pasture in San Francisco:

With most of the municipality in private hands, farmland is a steady part of the market, and it is sold by the manzana. Small holdings of six manzanas are offered, as are 16 manzanas of land that is nine-tenths flat with an open road to the gate. A 27-manzana parcel already in grass sits 300 metres from the asphalt on the road to San Francisco, with its deeds in order. A 57-manzana finca combines four fenced paddocks in pasture with seven hectares planted in mahogany, melina and rosul. For fincas for sale in Petén around San Francisco, look hard at the aguadas, the fences and whether a truck can reach the corral in the wet season.

FAQ:

• How far is San Francisco from Flores and Santa Elena?

  The town is 18 kilometres south of Flores, and houses in Barrio San Rafael are a quarter of an hour from San Benito by car. The Mundo Maya airport in Santa Elena is on the same side of the lake. If your job is in Santa Elena or San Benito, living here and driving in each day is realistic.

• Can I buy a lot on monthly payments?

  Yes, and it is the normal way to buy here. Subdivisions around Barrio San Rafael and San Juan de Dios sell on fixed monthly instalments, and some ask for no down payment at all. Read the contract for the lot number and measurements, the penalty for a late payment and the date your individual deed is handed over.

• What should I check on the title of land in San Francisco?

  Much of the municipality is old hacienda and finca land, and some of it was later settled through cooperatives such as Nueva Guatemala Tecún Umán or parcelamientos such as Santa Teresa. That means a lot may be a fraction of a larger finca that was never formally split, a parcel may still be in the cooperative’s name, and a family plot may be held by possession only. Ask for the finca, folio and book numbers, check owner, area and liens at the property registry, and walk the boundary with the neighbours before any money changes hands.

• Is water a problem in San Francisco?

  It can be. There is no large river or lake near the town, and some barrios, El Paraíso among them, still lack a complete piped network. Ask the seller how many hours a day the supply runs, plan a tinaco or cistern, and for rural land count the aguadas that keep water in the dry season.

• What kind of rental can I expect?

  Mostly whole houses and the upper floors of family homes. Water is often included in the rent and sometimes power too, which changes the real monthly cost a great deal. Turn on every air conditioner before you sign.