I rented a jack hammer and moved a toilet that was plumbed wrong too close a wall. If the house had it all then I would figure out how to add a water heater.

It might be hard to resell, so I would only consider buying if there were a considerable discount in price.

When it's very hot here I enjoy a cool shower -- but that's only a couple days of my year. How hot is the weather at this home, year round? And this is in a luxury community -- do the other homes have plumbed hot water?

It seems like a clever carpenter could rig up some sort of hot water for bathing inside. Or a bathing pavilion in the back yard. With enough budget I'm sure something could be done.

I would want to get an actual plumber out to understand the issue with adding hot water and the possibility of adding a tankless point of use water heater in the bathroom and kitchen.

It's Mexico, sometimes building norms are different in different countries. Not all homes have hot water as a standard, even in luxury places. If it's lux and safe, can probably afford to add hot water if necessary. And it might not be, the new owner might be OK without a water heater. Gas heaters or boilas are the most common option, and many of them act like on demand heaters- you fire it up, use the hot water, then shut it off. They aren't really constant tanks of hot water like is common in the U.S.. Electric tanklless or on demand is really uncommon. A newer option that is becoming more popular is to use solar panels to heat the water in the tinaco- but that can be a problem because the water isn't always regulated and so can be too hot, and also on days if there isn't water for the tinaco, the solar unit is empty and can burn itself out.

It wouldn't bother me to have a cooler shower, and it wouldn't bother me if I had to heat up some water on the stove to wash something or use in a bath. At least it wouldn't bother me in an area where hot water isn't so much the norm. If I had already been living there, I might already be accustomed to it and it wouldn't make any difference.

IMO no hot water no sale but really tankless I think couldbe an option I have a ton of friends who have homes in Mexico all have hot water . Love the house but IMO a no go if hot water cannot be installed you need it all the time just for washing your hands .Are those pics the actual house ?

Tankless should be an option. Even if plumbing can't be installed in the walls I'm sure there would be ways to conceal the piping. If nothing else a new wood stud furring walls could be built to hide piping.

At least where I go in Mexico, 'cold' water there is a whole, whole lot different than what comes out of my city water tap here in Wisconsin.

Does the home have community water service or does it have a water tank & water deliveries?

Oh, I'm sure there's a way to get hot water, even if it's not a constant flow of hot water in the bathrooms with pipes in the wall like we expect here. Most probably an outdoor shower and laundry room (which would be fine for me), or maybe turning a small room with a window into a shower/laundry room, piping in hot water through the window (rather than through the stone walls).

Lots of health benefits to taking cold baths and showers. Maybe you could retrofit just a bath for hot water?

If there is no hot water ... why does the bathroom sink faucet have two handles?

Is one just a dummy for looks only?

We lived in Mexico a few years, and yes, most construction is solid concrete and plumbing changes (or finding/fixing leaks) involves a jack hammer. But keep in mind, that is what contractors are used to doing there, so this won't be their first go at cutting up concrete and patching. I would suggest consulting a contractor to see how extensive the job would be to put point of use water heaters in the kitchen and bathrooms. For example, there might be room under the kitchen sink or a bathroom vanity to bring a line off the only water line to a small heater. Avoiding a full house hot water system should minimize the work.

"you need [hot water] all the time just for washing your hands"

Need is a strong term, there ... want would be more accurate. Hot and cold water are equally effective for washing your hands: They both cause the soap to lather and allow you to remove the germs from your hands; the temperature of the water does not impact this because for the temperature to be relevant to the germs, you would be scalding your hands.

Truth there Blueberry. 110 tends to be around as hot as skin can take, and that briefly. Water needs to be 35-40 degrees hotter than that to start killing germs.

We have no central hot water at our solid stone house in the Caribbean. That is normal. When I first went there, we boiled water on the gas stove to wash dishes. Now we have an electric tank heater on a spring timer, so I turn on the tank for 1/2 hour to wash dishes. Electricity is very expensive.

The master bath, in another building, has a small Bosch water heater. I usually take a cold shower. For those who don't, the hot water running out is a reminder of how precious cistern water is.

Our laundry, in yet another building, was cold only. I had a Bosch electric instant heater added. Unfortunately, the particulate matter in the cistern water clogged and killed it. This year we bought a different instant heater from an outfit in Florida that specializes in this sort of thing. Works like a charm, but does require 220 volts.

You just split the cold intake and run it through the heater. For the shower, Speakman makes an attractive surface mount system so you don't need to mess with the walls.

https://www.amazon.com/Speakman-SC-1220-AF-Commander-Vandal-Resistant-Industrial/dp/B076HBMBCT/ref=asc_df_B076HBMBCT/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241975708318&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16279093988595779186&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9025861&hvtargid=pla-1394087180156&psc=1

Sorry but you do need hot water for some things I happen to use if for washing my hands and I cannot imagine a house without hot water availbale and especailly a home as beautiful as the one shown

Those of us who live in the frozen north have one definition of "cold" water....however I am guessing the definition of cold water in Mexico is very different. VERY different.

The cold water that came out of the tap at a relative's house in Florida was pretty darned warm to me. I kept running it trying to get cold water, when it finally dawned on me that it WAS cold water, as far as Florida could naturally produce. LOL. I could have taken a shower in that just fine....

"but that stairway with no guardrails or handrails is waiting for a victim."

I thought the same thing: I wouldn't let the hot water issue keep me from buying a house, but I sure wouldn't buy one with that staircase!

I agree with Joseph about that dangerous stairwell. It made me shudder just looking at it.

I live in southern California and take cold showers all summer long. Love 'em! I also use cold for handwashing but I scrub and scrub and scrub so any germs are thoroughly washed away.

However ... I insist on hot water for washing dishes and washing clothes / bedding / towels / etc. That is not open to compromise as far as I am concerned. Like others here have mentioned before me, if i loved it I'd really try to see if there were ways to have it. If it wasn't possible, I would pass.

1. You dont NEED hot water to wash your hands - thats not how soap works, it doesnt kill germs and bacteria, it encapsulates them and helps them go down the drain with the water and soap. science

2. my spouses family is from central america and some have no hot water. the ground and spring water ranges from 70-80 F depending on the time of year and the spring. its quite refreshing also to take a nice cool shower in the morning. its not like a Chicago 40F cold water shower. they also make hot water attachments for shower heads to heat the hot water but electricity is expensive and a lot of the times water is shut off throughout the day depending where you live.

Climate varies greatly from one part of Mexico to another. In the higher elevations, the tap water tends to be colder, but I have stayed in many hotels that had no hot water.

In Mexico City, people tend to have their own propane tanks, as there are no gas lines throughout the city, due to earthquakes. To have a water heater, you also have to have a source for propane or natural gas, unless you have an electric water heater, and electricity is a very expensive way to heat water.

Southern beach towns in Mexico tend to be rather hot all year, and so I don't think it would be necessary to have hot water there.

I had to take cold showers in Oaxaca City, Taxco, Guanajuato, San Cristobal de las Casas (Chiapas), Acapulco, and (I think) in Cozumel. It was not bad in the beach towns, but it was not comfortable in the highlands. I could have had hot water if I had stayed in more expensive hotels, I think.

The only place that had a bathtub (of sorts) was in Acapulco, and it was a square, built-in tiled sunken tub that would have taken forever to fill.

The topic is interesting, but I am wondering why the post. OP is asking strangers about her friend's home purchase...??? If I were the friend and saw this discussion, accompanied with photos of my house, I would be pretty ticked off.

Wouldn’t bother me a bit if I lived in Mexico and it was in a luxury, safe community. It’s kind of like saying there is not a central heat system. Their “cold” water is more likely cool, not cold.

I live in Florida and cannot get cold water from my tap no matter how hard I try. The supply pipes absorb the ground hear. Tankless hot water will solve any issues in this home. I would buy it in a minute.

When I lived in Mexico I was taught to stick a plugged in and hot iron into a 5gallon bucket of water to let it heat up (they knew never to stick their hand in the bucket lol). Then after 20 minutes unplug the iron and pull it out using the cord. Fwiw it works ☠️

They have running water in their bathrooms, correct? All they need is a "hot water on demand" unit for each bathroom. You turn it on 10 minutes before you shower. I lived with exactly this situation.

So, yeah, lack of hot water currently is irrelevant.

But there are about a thousand reasons I wouldn't want this house. The house has not an ounce of "warmth" to it. Lack of warmth in the design and materials all goes along with preferring "cold" for bathing. It's all dead and unfriendly, when Mexico seems to be a warm and colorful place.

My opinion.

I was taught to stick a plugged in and hot iron into a 5gallon bucket of water to let it heat up.

What fool said water and electricity don't mix?