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Updated 7 months ago, 05/05/2024
Have any of you worked with RETA/International Living?
I’ve been looking into RETA deals (Real Estate Trend Alert) from International Living. The lead guy, Ronan McMahon, presents some compelling deals. I am curious though, if these deals are as sweet as they sound...
I’m also curious to hear about the complications of owning/investing overseas?
Quote from @Brad Costanzo:
I have experience with RETA. I'm typing this from inside my new property in Lagos, Portugal right now, July 2022. Found the deal via RETA and Ronan and couldn't be happier.
Discovered the deal in May 2021. Closed in November 2021, deal was Santa Maria. The transaction went very smooth and I'm beyond delighted with the work of the developer.
And we purchased this property having never stepped foot in Portugal before. To say we were a bit nervous is an understatement but I felt very comfortable with both RETA and the Ideal Homes team who facilitated the transaction.
Could I have gotten a better deal if I came here and did boots on the ground research? Who knows. But I wouldn't even have considered Lagos or Portugal had it not been for my initial conversations with Ronan.
In fact, after first discovering international living and Real Estate Trend Alert, I invited Ronan to be on my podcast (it allowed me to get more comfortable before making a decision).
You can watch both my interview with Ronan 9 months before closing and a second video I filmed yesterday sitting in our new condo by going here: https://baconwrappedbusiness.c...
FYI there are no affiliate links or any other payments I receive on that page.
Just sharing my love for this process.
Question for those in the RETA group - has anyone done an analysis on the pre-sale RETA-pricing versus pricing offered by either the developer or third party sales groups?
A quick check of a recent offering shows a delta of around $50K for RETA pricing on a 2/2 condo in Mexico. That alone may be worth considering their pre-sale offerings.
I know these deals are advertised toward "investors" and Ronan touts "big gains" post-delivery, but I'd imagine a good majority of buyers are interesting in holding (and using) their units long term, while renting them out along the way to receive some form of yield compensation.
Ronan Mcmahon from RETA is a scam artist. He gets the properties for himself. You can call as soon as the line opens up; they promise to call you back and don't. In the meanwhile he keeps selling subscriptions and grabbing the condos for himself and there is no real methodology to ensure his lifetime customers or customers regardless of what order they come in get the deals.
The service does NOT work. Terrible.
Quote from @Jeev Trika:
Ronan Mcmahon from RETA is a scam artist. He gets the properties for himself. You can call as soon as the line opens up; they promise to call you back and don't. In the meanwhile he keeps selling subscriptions and grabbing the condos for himself and there is no real methodology to ensure his lifetime customers or customers regardless of what order they come in get the deals.
The service does NOT work. Terrible.
Issue resolved w/ RETA and Team. Thank you Nancy and RETA Team.
@Jeev Trika how’d you resolve? I’m a member and have never gotten close to even being on the “real” list. Will cancel when my renewal comes up soon.
Currently, I am listing our Spain properties that we bought through RETA contact Geoffrey Donaghue last year. Hoping for a good return on our purchases. We purchased foreclosure units and after a few months of hell with the Spanish foreclosure agency, we took possession. Finally, the renos were/are completed and we are listing the units for sale. We will use the sale proceeds to try and find new units in Spain and to help pay for our Dona Ana units in Lagos, Portugal. Without RETA information bulletins we would have never known about these deals or these amazing locations.
RETA is a great resource for information and deals. I can understand the frustration when a few hundred units are available and many more RETA members are calling in for the deals. I missed out Cabo Costa in 2021 and made sure I was calling in at exactly the moment the deals went live for the next deal. This helped me get my Tulum, Samsara 2-bedroom condo. The price has skyrocketed since 2021.
All the rules of buying real estate exist, go visit the locations you are buying into, not all deals are good, and due diligence is key. Based on the information that RETA provided on future development areas I was able to find a lot, research the lot and find out I can build between 40-80 townhomes on the land. Got an accepted offer and now a whole new chapter of my life is opening up.
PS. I don't work for RETA, I am a semi-retired doc in Port Moody, BC, Canada.
I’m a memeber of RETA but haven’t purchased (yet). One thing they won’t say - but you can research- are the closing costs and capital gains tax . This greatly reduces that amount they publish you’ll be making. We own a place in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and met owners who purchased through RETA. Some shockers - Closing costs when buying is 4-6% of the purchase price. And capital gains tax can be as high as 35% when selling, and another 10% for agent.
Hello Aileen,
You're right, closing costs for foreign investors are higher in this area of Quintana Roo Mexico (Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cancun, Akumal, etc) compared to the US. However, one significant advantage is that property taxes here are among the lowest in the entire continent. As an example, a $200,000 property would typically incur an annual property tax of approximately $200. In Mexico, property tax is calculated at 0.001% of the cadastral value of the property. In comparison, New Jersey's property tax rate is at 2.49%. This means that in the long run, you'll end up paying significantly less in taxes in this region of Mexico than in the US.
When it comes to Capital Gains, I've never seen an investor pay the full 35% rate. There are multiple tax strategies available to lower that amount by more than half. I can provide you with the contact information of my CPA, who has a PhD in Mexican taxes and can assist you further in this matter.
Regarding agent commissions, it seems that RETA's commission is unusually high, charging around 10-12% to the seller. However, the average commission for a listing agent here is 6%, similar to the US. It appears that the owners you encountered may not have received proper advice on this matter.
I hope this clarifies some of the key points for you.
Best regards,
Update to this post. I would not recommend working with Geoffrey Donaghue (Spain) or any trades he recommends. Many RETA members including myself went through hell and back dealing with this individual. Heading into litigation. RETA is solid, but a few bad apples slip through the cracks. Quote from @Andrew Taylor:
Currently, I am listing our Spain properties that we bought through RETA contact Geoffrey Donaghue last year. Hoping for a good return on our purchases. We purchased foreclosure units and after a few months of hell with the Spanish foreclosure agency, we took possession. Finally, the renos were/are completed and we are listing the units for sale. We will use the sale proceeds to try and find new units in Spain and to help pay for our Dona Ana units in Lagos, Portugal. Without RETA information bulletins we would have never known about these deals or these amazing locations.
RETA is a great resource for information and deals. I can understand the frustration when a few hundred units are available and many more RETA members are calling in for the deals. I missed out Cabo Costa in 2021 and made sure I was calling in at exactly the moment the deals went live for the next deal. This helped me get my Tulum, Samsara 2-bedroom condo. The price has skyrocketed since 2021.
All the rules of buying real estate exist, go visit the locations you are buying into, not all deals are good, and due diligence is key. Based on the information that RETA provided on future development areas I was able to find a lot, research the lot and find out I can build between 40-80 townhomes on the land. Got an accepted offer and now a whole new chapter of my life is opening up.
PS. I don't work for RETA, I am a semi-retired doc in Port Moody, BC, Canada.
This is my reply to Mike Lambert who reached out to me about my comment about Geoffrey Donaghue. Thank you for caring Mike. Anyone who reads this thread, I really like RETA and Ronin is a really kind caring individual. Research any RETA deal and go visit the site, RETA brings some fantastic deals to the plate with great financing. I do feel strongly though that others don't make the same mistake as us with Geoffrey Donaghue and his trades. Many RETA members have suffered using Geoffrey.
Hey Mike
Thanks for reaching out. I enjoyed our chats.
In a nutshell, I really like RETA, and Ronin is a genuinely nice guy. I have met him several times now.
The main concern I have is when someone is associated with RETA, your normal screening defences are lowered, RETA must screen these people.
We bought in Tulum, Corasal, Cabo, PV, Panama and Portugal using RETA. (12 units in those areas). All has gone smoothly so far. Delivery of most units in the Fall of 2024/early 2025. Hard to beat the builder financing deals RETA offers. Smart Money Homes who work with RETA are truly amazing and totally go the extra mile for you.
Mike, as you know if you bought in 2020/21 you are sitting on major gains. The RETA deals have done amazingly well for us in this time period.
Spain is another story we bought 3 units with Geoffrey Donaghue as Geoffrey used RETA to market the properties. From the beginning, it has been a nightmare. The trades Geoffrey recommended have been appalling (we are now heading to the courts with one trade). We have been threatened with vandalism and worse. Electrical room fuses have been removed. Anyway, the courts will deal with that issue.
Regarding Geoffrey, he made the statement to me "I am in business since 1981 and have NEVER had any issue like this - ask anyone! You unfortunately did not correctly manage your project through busyness I assume".
That was a huge mistake made by Geoffrey and I decided to investigate. I talked to the lawyer/manager of the Casares project Geoffrey sold us. Lots of RETA members were complaining about Geoffrey and some were taking legal action. After a bit more work I found out more than 30 plus RETA members had bought in Casares. I talked to several and we all had the same story, only some were much worse than ours. One person had owned for 3 years and had Geoffrey manage her property and it had only been rented one week in that time period. I could go on forever. Big picture, lots of issues and very little clarity. I have informed RETA of this and I am interested to see what happens. As the court system may be dealing with a RETA member group action or we may pursue legal action with Geoffrey, I should not elaborate more.
I was at the RETA Gathering last November and met Lucy Maynard who has worked for Ideal Homes in Portugal and Spain. Lucy has taken over the task of getting our properties in the Costa Del Sol ready for rent. Lucy has been amazing and if you are looking for a property manager in the Costa Del Sol I would highly recommend her. Chris White of Ideal Homes in Portugal is also 100% fantastic to deal with and an amazing human being. I have so much faith in these individuals.
Moving forward we have bought multiple land parcels and will be developing them in the next 3-5 years. Utah and Mexico are the two main areas. We will be building 22 townhomes North of Cabo soon and subdividing a property in Los Barrilies and building duplexes and commercial.
My hope with these comments is to save others from the nightmare we have had with Geoffrey Donaghue. It may be a one-off but how he dealt with us and other RETA members was truly awful. FYI I have been doing REI for about 35 years now, this is not my first rodeo.
Thanks for the information Andrew. I am a RETA member and I just (July 2023) put down a refundable deposit on a Samsara 2-bedroom condo; delivery of which is promised for December 2024. The contract for the unit calls the project "Samsara II", although all the marketing calls it simply "Samsara". They say all the units were "allocated" meaning they are in the due diligence period like I am.
You said the price on your Tulum Samsara condo has skyrocketed since 2021, so I assume your project was Samsara I. Is that right? "Our" project is on the road facing the national park, which is one of its selling points (i.e., there won't be development on top of "our" project). Where is your project, and is there anything else you can tell me about your experience? Thanks very much.
Hi Jerry
Correct we are Samsara#1. This was our first RETA buy and we decided to get a 2nd floor unit in a quieter area. Priced in the low 2's. After we got comfortable with RETA we always tried to get penthouses.
Ultimately until you sell it's hard to lock in a resale price, but looking at the listings of equivalent 2-bedroom units we are sitting on some really good gains. I really like the fact that nothing will be built in front of Samsara.
I visited the site in November 2022 and it is a fantastic location, near the new mall and close to the beach but away from the busy roads. Make sure you get all the upgrades they offer.
Smart Money Homes (Viviana) was/is amazing to deal with, and goes the extra mile. Viviana deserves a 100% pay raise.
Pretty sure you will love the location and the condo.
On another note the lawyer in charge of Casares (Spain) strata informed our property manager that the contractor we hired then fired and now in litigation with, who was referred by the person above, broke into the electrical rooms and was up to no good with electrical power to units. Ugh, all these guys needed to do was do the work in a timely manner and get paid. Way too much drama. I hope RETA deals with this issue. RETA really does offer a great service.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks so much for the prompt reply and encouraging news. I would like to learn more from you about Samsara if you are up for it. I am also new to BP, so I am not sure how to have an off line conversation, although I have seen references to direct messaging in the posts. If you are gain, can you let me know how to contact you directly? Thanks again. Jerry
Everything is greatly exaggerated. I've had 3 out of 4 deals cancelled and the one I'm on, there's major issues. This is from the condo Singular Dream (referenced in RETA promo note below) owners chat group:
1. As one of Ronan’s top execs that was retiring said to me when I was complaining about stuff, she said, “Oh Jeff, you’re a smart guy, how stupid can you be to believe the stuff that Ronan puts in those marketing emails.” He gets 10% commission of every unit. He’s making a fortune. Once sold, RETA will refuse to take a call from you.
2. I have seen this kind of “RETA data” from Portugal, Spain, and Playa, where I have condos. From what I have observed, often claims of big appreciation are related to LISTINGS and not SALES, and cashflow claims may be one-off outliers vs averages.
3. RETA Deals Pay Off in Playa del Carmen
I saw a juicy income statement last week for a condo in Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Riviera Maya....what a lot of crap!!
The statement was for rental income on a one-bed in Singular Dream.
Singular Dream is in the lushest, greenest, and most desirable part of Playa del Carmen, with rooftop pools and views of the Caribbean. It’s a byword for boutique luxury. All the condos RETA members could buy come completely turnkey and ready to rent.
A fellow RETA member of ours bought his condo for $242,813. That was the RETA-only price when I opened that deal in June 2021.
Today I conservatively reckon the condo’s worth around $350,000.
Anyway...
The condo is renting now. And according to the rental manager it did $3,000 a month gross in its first year, which is $36,000 annualised. A 14.8% gross yield.
It’s doing $4,300 a month this year so far but of course that’s been high season.
The rental manager believes that the condo will outperform last year. I’ve no reason to doubt him. (He came to our annual RETA Gathering and he serves a lot of RETA members.)
The ROA fees being charged though are ridiculous and gross margins mean nothing and net leaves little for any such return!