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Updated 3 days ago, 12/12/2024
Investing in Tulum, Mexico
Hi All,
I am currently exploring investing/buying a unit in Tulum, Mexico. Any advice or things to look out for would be greatly appreciated! I will likely buy with cash and not hold a mortgage. If you have invested in Tulum yourself, I'd love to chat with you! Currently looking at investment options in the downtown side. Thoughts on downtown versus the beach side? Thanks in advanced!
@Mike Lambert been to Tulum many times, I have family there and going next week to look at land on beach side that is direct to owner contact. Yes many places taken but not all land is developed , still many plots left passed Rosa nearing the lagoon and on the street on opposite site of beach.
It’s awesome that you have family on the ground. I’d personally prefer the one opposite the beach as I think the other lots are too far but I haven’t made a study on hotel clients. I assume that the one opposite the beach would be much more expensive. You just need to factor the price into your calculations to see if you can get a profitable enough.
My previous reaction to your earlier comment was due to the fact that the hotel zone is pretty much done. If it’s a great deal, I’d wonder why I have access to it and the local developers don’t. But maybe you have a motivated seller on your hands nobody else knows about.
In any case, I wouldn’t but anything that has an ejido title. Some Tulum hotel owners got expropriated in the past and have learned that at their own expense.
It's slow going. They were starting to work on construction on the Belize property in Aug, but then new covid restrictions slowed that down. I've seen the renderings for the Belize property, and they look amazing. But it's going to take a while, which I was expecting anyway. In my mind I was already expecting it to take a couple years before seeing anything, just b/c projects tend to have delays anyway, and these are big projects. Then covid and everything. So yeah. Their Puerto Aventuras location also got pushed back with covid, but it opens Dec 1. That's where I plan on staying when I go down there, but that one is actually not part of the fund. It was funded before.
Hola! I came back from Tulum so much construction going on insane. 25x300 meters of land on beach side ( cant disclose where but so good) $900k. We are moving forward!
Clean title no ejido.
Hi Aaron Logan and April Molina. I also have investments in Kasa Ceiba and their Caribbean fund, would love to touch base to see how your properties are doing. Cheers!
@David Garcia let’s connect! Email me april@aainvestpartners. com
@April Molina. I'm looking at doing a project there and would be interested to know how yours is going. My project is not on the beach, but would be interested to know if there were other plots you found on the beach that we could move our project to.
Message me let’s chat
@MikeLambert thanks for all the insight on Tulum I love the town and would like to purchase A condo For myself don’t care if it doesn’t make much money but obviously would like a great location I am a dual citizen and want own property in Mexico
I probably won’t stay there much if at all I just love to buy real estate one of my addictions 😂
Searched online There are so many developments from $100k - $200k would be my comfort level if any of you guys have recommendations on location would appreciate it
@Aaron Logan @David Garcia
Have either of you had any issues with your KASA investments? I recently became interested in checking out some of their new offerings, but as I was researching I saw a few things in the reviews for Kasa Parota in Tulum about a legal battle with some of the owners and locks being changed before hotel guests arrived. Do you know if there's any truth to that, or have you had any of these issues affect your investments so far? Interested to know!
Thank you for bringing this to the conversation. I checked with my insiders and it seems to be way worse than you mentioned. I've been told that the developer is wanted in the US and other countries. I heard of one person only getting his condo I Puerto Aventuras after a 3-year delay and it seems to be a mess with there projects. They seem to be the absolute worst developer in the area. Avoid.
The majority of the Mexican developers are honest and do a great job but people need to do a proper due diligence, including knowing who they're dealing with.
Hi @Latoya Tomlinson, I'm not familiar with the Kasa Parota issues, but I also haven't bought any condos from KASA. I invested in the fund, which is not connected to their Mexican properties. It starts with their new Belize project, then goes from there to Turks & Caicos and Costa Rica. I have read some stuff about some issues they had in the far past on a development, but that was before they built their current hotels, Kasa Parota & Kasa Riviera Maya. From the hotel side I know they have generally had excellent reviews, but from the condo owners, I'm not sure. I don't know any. I did all the due diligence on them that I could before getting involved in the fund. I knew it was a long term play as well, and wasn't looking for something immediate with them. I'm still on board with them for the new projects, and in fact just had a zoom call with the founder a few weeks ago, going over the current status & plans for Belize. But again, I don't own any condos with them, so I can't really speak to that.
Originally posted by @Latoya Tomlinson:
@Aaron Logan @David Garcia
Have either of you had any issues with your KASA investments? I recently became interested in checking out some of their new offerings, but as I was researching I saw a few things in the reviews for Kasa Parota in Tulum about a legal battle with some of the owners and locks being changed before hotel guests arrived. Do you know if there's any truth to that, or have you had any of these issues affect your investments so far? Interested to know!
Aaron, I don't want to unnecessarily worry you or be the party pooper but and I hope you'll be doing well with your equity investment. The fact that the fund isn't connected to their Mexican developments wouldn't provide any solace to me, to the contrary. If the same people are involved, it doesn't matter. If they do shenanigans somewhere, they can do it everywhere. And, if they had issues in the far past, it can still be a red flag too. Maybe they had issues that were not their fault but unethical and dishonest people sadly tend to remain so.
And, if I was accidentally dealing with shady people, the last thing I'd want is to be in a fund of theirs in which I have no control, am in a subordinated position and take most of the risks while they make most of the profit. I by far rather have a title on a property or a right to a title on the property. So, in this case, I rather be in their Mexican developments even if that's where the current problems are located.
This shows once again the importance of doing a proper due diligence.
I thought I replied to this back in May, but I guess it didn't take properly. I did do my proper due diligence with KASA. I'm absolutely confident in my decision to work with them. I had also been speaking with a different agent at another agency in Tulum (no affiliation) before I chose KASA, and they spoke highly of KASA when I brought them up. The guys at KASA are not shady. I haven't seen anything unethical or dishonest with them. Their KASA Hotel Parota in Tulum is an award winning hotel with Booking .com. Their new hotel in Puerto Aventuras is up for an award with worldtravelawards .com. Great reviews on all the major travel & hotel sites. They're a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World organization, which is not easy to get approved for - but which also now means they are on Hyatt .com (Hyatt just recently bought the Small Luxury Hotels of the World). So people can now book KASA on the Hyatt site. I like the plans for Belize and other expansion sites, which is what I'm a part of. No regrets in my decision to work with them.
A few points here:
1. Because you already invested and presumably can't get out, your brain will automatically be selective and tend to trust the positive information and ignore bad information. There's nothing wrong with you. We're all like that. That's human nature. We just have to be conscious of it. It's something similar kind of thing like we buy with our emotions and justify it by reason .
2. Whether they are shady or not mightn't have any bearing on the profitability of your investments. Indeed, there's no reason for them not to pay you if the business is a problem. Shadiness becomes an issue here when something goes wrong and shady people will put their own interests ahead of yours. This is even more of an issue here because you don't own title on any property but it is ultimately a question of risk tolerance.
3. I'm not sure of what sort of due diligence you did but here are a few comments on the points you made.
a. You talked to just one real estate agent in Tulum and you took what he/she said for granted? Do you know how low the bar is to become a real estate agent in Tulum? I probably wouldn't trust many of them and I'm still double checking what those who trust tell me.
b. You haven't seen anything unethical or dishonest with them. How would you have? Do you live in Tulum? Have you checked out what they're doing?
c. What your mentioning about their awards and reviews tell me is that they're great business operators, which is great for your investment. But what's the connection with shadiness? Don't you think shady people own successful businesses? Where do you think all the dirty money is invested and recycled?
Speaking of due diligence, did you check whether they have a criminal record? Whether they has been any legal action against them, past or pending?
There are things that are going on there that you'll never know unless you're connected with the right people. Let me be clear. I don't know any information from the source and what I mentioned I heard it from the grapevine. However, I'll never second guess what my well-connected and trustworthy contacts on the ground tell me, especially if it's very (negative). As the saying goes, when there's smoke, there is fire.
I trust that you won't take these remarks as condescending since we've already been in contact with each other. Hopefully you'll end up doing very well with your investment whatever the story is. You're already in so hope for the best but be vigilant for any sign. As you know, I'm probably the main proponent of the great investment opportunities Mexico offers on this site and I will help and support anyone who wants to take advantage of these great opportunities. However, the main message I want to make here is that please do your proper due diligence, don't believe anything you read and you're told and scratch below the surface. And, if you're not in a position to do that, get advice from or work with people who are.
There are shady people everywhere and Mexico has its share of those. In general, most Mexicans are great, honest and decent people, in spite of their lower standard of living. Mexico has some of the world's best real estate professionals. Most Mexicans love us foreigners, welcome us and will go out of their way to help us. Just make sure you work with those and you won't regret it!
Honestly, yes, you are coming off a bit condescending. And what dirty money are you talking about??
Point taken thank you. While it's then a good thing that I wrote that my intention wasn't to be condescending, I'd have been better off writing my post in a way that clearly wasn't.
When posting in the forum, you often run the risk of making someone unhappy, even if you're mindful about avoiding it. You mentioned that you did your due diligence and that the people behind the project are legit. By reminding people of what Latoya Tomlinson and myself uncovered, I'd implicitly suggest that you didn't do a proper due diligence, whichever words I used. Mind you, I don't think that you didn't do a proper due diligence. I would have been easy for you to find out about the information I got.
I don't like to make anybody unhappy, especially unnecessarily so the easy way out would have been to spare my time and not post. But then, if other people invest with them and lose money as a result, I'll feel partly responsible for not having warned people.
You have already invested so my message was mostly addressed to everybody else to remind people them of the importance of doing a proper due diligence. If I were in your position, I wouldn't worry until proof of the contrary because you should be ok if the business is running well. Would I invest with them if I know what I know now? No, because I wouldn't be ready to take that kind of risks. But that's me.
To answer your question, I'm not in the business of recycling dirty money but I think it's pretty well known and established the the proceeds for criminality and the drug trade is invested in all sort of business, especially real estate. Obviously, some of these businesses and investments are doing well so a successful business doesn't imply that the owners aren't shady, which was one of the points I made.
Never listen to "experts" that tells you you are too late for the party, I invested in the beautiful Tulum area and it has been the best investment ever! Never underestimate the knowledge of a local!
I'm not sure what you're referring to but here are my two cents on what you wrote:
1. By all means listen to whoever you want, expert or not, if you're not sure about what you should do but do your proper due diligence. And then make your own decision and try to avoid being unduly influenced by others, especially those who have a vested interest that is divergent to yours.
2. As the legally required small print in the offering of financial products reads: "Past performance is no guarantee of future performance". That applies here too.
3. Unfortunately, by definition, you only know if you're too late to a party after the party has ended. Nobody has a crystal bowl so you generally can't tell beforehand. However, there are situations were it's pretty obvious that the party is coming to an end. For example, the signs of the 2008 housing crash were all over for everyone to see but many investors were blindsided by their "following the herd until the last minute before the party ends" kind of strategy and lost everything as a result. And, then, to give themselves an excuse for their mistake, they said: "But nobody saw this one coming". The reality is the smart money did know and did pull out of time. Some even bet against the market and made a fortune. Think the Big Short movie.
4. Since you generally won't know for sure when a party will end, you can try to protect yourself when entering the party by buying into the type of property investment that will suffer less should the party come to an end. While you have no control over what happens to the party, you have control over what you buy. It's those who buy anything indiscriminately irrespective of the (sometimes crazy) price who will get crushed if and when the party ends.
Quote from @Vivian Huang:
Hi All,
I am currently exploring investing/buying a unit in Tulum, Mexico. Any advice or things to look out for would be greatly appreciated! I will likely buy with cash and not hold a mortgage. If you have invested in Tulum yourself, I'd love to chat with you! Currently looking at investment options in the downtown side. Thoughts on downtown versus the beach side? Thanks in advanced!
Hey @Vivian Huang - did you end up buying a property in Tulum? Let me know if I can help advise!
Hi, I am looking to buy a condo in Tulum and wondering if it worth it for a short term rental. The whole complex is still under construction and will be finished in 2026. Located close to the new railroad station.
TIA
I'm afraid you're way too late to the party. I started investing in the area in 2017 but stopped a few years back as it's being completely overbuilt. But, ultimately, it could work if you don't mind a low ROI.
It could make sense if you look at a lifestyle rather than an investment purchase and you're just happy to cover your costs. Mind you, it would be much less expensive to rent when you go there given the very low nightly rates due to the overbuilding. Also, I'm not sure why you'd want to buy close to the station, as that would probably one of the worst places where you could buy IMHO.
Hope this helps.
Quote from @Anna Pugolovko:
Hi, I am looking to buy a condo in Tulum and wondering if it worth it for a short term rental. The whole complex is still under construction and will be finished in 2026. Located close to the new railroad station.
TIA
Hi Anna,
As a buyers representative, developer, and investor in Tulum, I wanted to share some insights to help guide your decision. Tulum has incredible potential, but whether it’s the right fit for you depends on your goals and strategy.
If you’re thinking long-term, Tulum is a solid investment. The international airport already hit over a million passengers this year, and the projection is 4 million passengers by 2030. The Mayan Train, set to be fully operational by 2025, is expecting 8 million passengers annually.
Big brands like Faena and Nobu are also betting on Tulum’s future, which shows the confidence they have in its long-term potential. However, the market is currently crowded with cookie-cutter apartments, creating a lot of internal competition and pushing rental rates down.
For short-term gains, I’d avoid preconstruction projects unless backed by bridge loans or completion guarantees, as many developers in Tulum have failed to deliver. Instead, focus on immediate delivery units or work with reputable developers—we have a trusted list from 9 years of experience.
For something even more under-the-radar, there are also other emerging markets in the Mexican Caribbean that are becoming very attractive for investors—less competition, lots of potential.
Let me know if you’d like more info. I’d be happy to share exclusive insights and projections to help you find the best opportunities for your portfolio!