Purchasing an Investment Property in Tulum MX

[Deisy P.]

Purchasing an investment property in Tulum Quintanaroo Mexico. Hi, all. I am a dual citizen of USA and México. I am flying to Tulum this week to tour some properties. This will be my first time purchasing property there and I am not familiar with what my rights are as a Mexican citizen purchasing and borrowing money from Mexican banks. I've read in other threads on here about a Mexican trust? Would I need one, as a Mexican citizen? I just don't want to end up taken advantage of or be misinformed. Does anyone know what particular area in Tulum is expected to yield some good return? I know some investors may be skeptical for any type of foreign investments due to the pandemic but this is a time of great change, especially in working professionals. A lot of the work can be done from home now. I have reached out to a couple of BP members that are agents in Playa and Tulum for some guidance, but if I can have others input, that would be great too. Thanks.

[Mike Lambert]

@Deisy P.

We haven't started selling properties in the area. We were going to invest in a development there for which we had buyers, who wanted to invest in Tulum.

During that long process, the market in Tulum started to turn in the wrong direction and I came to the conclusion that it was likely to get worse rather than better. I then made it clear to the buyers that their decision to buy in Tulum was theirs and theirs only and that I had no intention to promote the place. As the situation continued to deteriorate, I decided to put a hold on the project until we got the latest short-term rental statistics. As they turned out to be much worse than expected, I made the executive decision to cancel the project even though it was against my own interest. It was the ethical thing to do and the last thing I wanted was to get involved in people losing money, even if it was their responsibility, not mine.

I think Tulum's issues are there to see for anybody who does a bit of research and it doesn't take a PhD to figure out what's going on there so I'm not sure how much more value I can add by commenting on the topic. Therefore, I tend to avoid it in the forum these days unless I'm tagged. This way, I don't get into sterile discussions with people who defend the place. Instead, I rather focus my commenting on things that people might not necessarily see or read elsewhere.

Case in point, across Mexico and outside of Quintana Too, there's a finally a tendency towards a more serious enforcement of the zoning regulations. As I ask industry professionals and other market participants why, the spontaneous answer I get is "We don't want our city to become another Tulum".

So, if I were you, I'd actually be happy that I couldn't purchase the property and I suspect you might come to that same conclusion in a not-to-distant future as that tidal wave of supply increasingly hits the market.