Mexico anyone?

Question

I've been living in Playa del Carmen Mexico for just over a year and have had my eye on this market for several more. The opportunity here is excelent but can be unsettling for some to invest south of the boarder. The area I live in is turist driven and the property value for the last five years has been going up 20% a year on average, beach front is higher. I would love to help anyone interested in checkin out the posibilities here.
To answer 2 of the most FAQ's... #1: Yes, you can hold title to property in Mexico as a non-Mexican citizen. #2: No, the government will not send anyone in the middle of the night to take it away from you!
If anyone would like to read some of the articles I've writen on the location and the investment opportunities here, just holler...

Mike Lambert · Answer

@Abhijit Joshi

I've been investing in Mexico and Playa del Carmen for a few years now and have written many informative replies to posts about that so feel free to check them out.

@Charley C.

I'd never invest in Cozumel and I don't know if it's even possible. A protected island? Cozumel had hordes of tourists before Playa del Carmen had a single one. There is an international airport on the island and plenty of all-inclusive hotels. If you go on holiday there, you'll stay there because otherwise you'd have to take the ferry to Playa del Carmen first each time you want to go anywhere. If you want to stay there, you'd want to be in an all-inclusive to have the amenities and activities otherwise you'd get bored so somebody who'd have a short-term rental there couldn't compete. Any tourist who'd like to go that route would have to pay much more money for their flight since all flights to Cozumel are charter flights, that are subsidized as part of the all-inclusive package (that you won't get if you stay in a short-term rental). Aside from those tourism economics, Cozumel is a beautiful place though.

It is true that, as the tourism and population of Playa del Carmen has exploded over the years, there has been somewhat more drug-related issues, as in many other places. What you wrote about Playa del Carmen is grossly exaggerated though. I've been many times and, like most tourists, I've never seen any incident, drug-related or otherwise. And, unlike most people, I walk a lot when in Playa del Carmen and I go off-the-beaten track where most people don't go. However, it's easy to fall for media sensationalism when it comes to Mexico and forget that there are drug issues in your city of Houston and my city of Montreal as well. Like anywhere else, most people who are victim of a drug-related issue are those who either went to the wrong places or were looking for trouble and are involved with drugs themselves.

We are all entitled to our own opinions but we're not entitled to our own facts. Statistics don't lie! If it was that bad, tourism numbers wouldn't keep increasing and people wouldn't keep going back!

Mike Lambert · Answer

@Charley C.

It's great that you clarified your thoughts! I guess there's very little we disagree on.

By now, I assume everybody has heard some stories about the cartel-related violence, which are very sad indeed. The level of violence varies over time depending on cartel rivalry but, unfortunately, they've been a fact of life in Mexico for many years now. Because foreigners have basically not been affected, tourism numbers keep increasing and hotel chains and airlines continue to make big investments in Mexico, knowing that investors haven't been deterred to come and so won't likely be in the future.

The thing is that the violence is concentrated in certain areas of the country. The US, Canada and other countries issue travel advisories. It's the first duty of any government to protect their citizens so, if there are areas that are dangerous for you to go, they'll let you know and they'll err on the side of prudence in case of doubt. According to these advisories, some parts of the country are clearly at the "don't go" level. However, most parts of Mexico where tourists go are at the same level as the UK, France, Germany, Spain, .... That includes places like Playa del Carmen and basically the whole Yucatan peninsula, Puerto Vallarta and the main other tourist hangouts. You can check the travel advisories on the government website. Obviously, they aren't fake news and are based on facts rather than media sensationalism.

Like you, I'm trying to help people out by sharing my knowledge here. Partly, it is to set the record straight about the huge misinformation there is out there (again I'm not singling you out there). Sometimes, I'm telling myself that I'm doing myself a disservice because I have no personal interest in having as many people as possible investing in Mexico as I want the prices to remain low so that my future investors and buyers can continue to enjoy high returns on investment.

Charley C. · Answer

@Mike Lambert Can not beat those all inclusive resorts. Why would anyone want to go down there to work on their rental when they could be doing that instead?

However, do want to say to any one reading this. Playa Del Carmen will get a lot worse before it ever gets better. If you are hell bent on investing there, look several blocks north on 5th ave away from the coked out street hustlers. There are 2 very dangerous cartels controlling the streets and its a matter of time when there are several more cartels fighting and shooting one another.

Charley C. · Answer

I was really zooming in on starting something there in Playa (love that place) but its now going to the hell. If you are talking about 5th ave. Now we got the cartels , a hoard of street hustlers pushing drugs to me every 50 paces and even the shop-keepers get rude and heckle at people for not going in to their shop. Still love the place but not as much now as I did before

I would look at Cozumel. Protected island with locals that lived there for generations instead of the influx of desperadoes ruining Playa Del Carmen.  Cozumel is a short ferry ride to and from  Playa Del Carmen

Abhijit Joshi · Answer

Hello Peter,

Are you still investing in RE in Mexico?

Nathan Crumback · Answer

How is Playa Del Carmen? Are there opportunities for buying a property and having it as a short term rental (Airbnb)?

Charley C. · Answer

@Anthony Saheed I hear so many good things about that area. Me myself, I have to keep my eyes on my assets and dont like long flights. I do have friends and family working a hour plane ride from there. I will pass that information on to them.

Dubai, like the Yucatan, is an island of peace and prosperity compared to its near by surrounding areas

Benjamin A Ersing · Answer

@Peter Rocca very interested, please share

Charley C. · Answer

@Mike Lambert Fair enough, I should of  first pointed out the facts and sources: I got my information from the several news sources, that shooting was one Cartel moving in to the area to make it now 2 cartels. (not reported as just a lone gunman, it was organized, that is a point of fact) You can google it just like me. Right after (like 6 months later on my next trip) the street hustlers where more glass eyed than ever and really getting annoying and more aggressive than ever. So that's the main source of my info, for what its worth. That's it, no more than that as a real fact directly about the Yucatan. Rest of it is speculation.

Few more points of fact indirectly, in a 30 mile radius of me right now here in The Woodlands, Texas, we have thousands upon thousands of upper middle class Mexican nationals living here that fled from those types of cartels. Lot of kidnappings of family members and stories they told. Monterrey being the worse, then comes Mexico City and God help anyone living near their north border. I also visit South Texas where I get more specific stories (from Granny)  of these ding dongs Amercians driving in to Mexico from the border for just fun. They just loose their vehicle if they are lucky. she new their names and out comes, very specific stories so that aint speculation but true its not the Yucatan.

Compared to the rest of Mexico, The Yucatan is a paradise of safety. I really still can't wait to get down there and enjoy. Although I criticize it, I still go down there every chance I get and love it.

Mike Lambert · Answer

@Charley C.

I don't have a cristal bowl so I don't know what the future holds. I'm not into speculating about drug cartel activity. The only way I'd know about what's happening with drug cartels is if I was a member of one and, thankfully, I'm not. I'm not sure where you get your information from.

As you know, many people nowadays think it's their birthright to comment on anything and everything on social media and put out fake news, even if they have no knowledge on the matter (and I'm not singling you out here). Yet, I'm one of the many tourists visiting Playa del Carmen and coming back regularly. I have many local friends there so I get my information from the ground rather than the sensationalistic media. I get my information from people who live there and regularly vacation there, as well as from real facts and figures.

People who have read my numerous replies to posts here know that only I write about what I know first hand about and that it is based on thorough analysis, not hearsay or sensationalism.

Two comments though:

There is cartel or gang-related fights in many cities. My country, Canada, is considered one of the safest in the world. Yet, there are well-documented gang fights vying for the control of the city's illicit activities and, unfortunately, there are are regular killings with innocent bystanders and the amount has been increasing of late. It's well documented in the mainstream media and yet this hasn't made a dent into the number of people visiting Toronto or wanting to make the city their permanent home and the real estate prices and population numbers keep going up strongly. Why? Because the probability of getting hurt is minimal and this is the same in Playa del Carmen or in many other places for that matter.

Given the average salary of the Mexicans, the main clients for drugs in Mexico are the visiting foreigners. So the cartels have no interest in causing a decrease in tourist numbers. Moreover, a lot of their illicit money is almost certainly invested in real estate and tourist activities, as it's a very lucrative part of the Mexican economy. This is another reason why they have no interest in killing the golden goose of tourism.

I've been investing close to the 5th Avenue because that's where people want to be and that's where I want to be when I go there. Yet, I've done it in the quieter part of town and avoid the "entertainment district" for many reasons other than drug related. I invest based on facts and figures, not on hearsay from whoever or sensationalist media headlines the only purpose of which is to increase viewer- or readership.

As I usually say, tourists are never targeted in gang-related violence, which most of the time happens in places where they don't go. Of course accidents happen but the probably of being the victim of a crime isn't higher than if you go into a supermarket in the US and risk being the random victim of a mentally-ill mass shooter.

Mexico anyone?

Most Popular Reply