You can't compete against the all-inclusives unless you offer complimentary food and booze or you're cheap, as you seem to be confirming.This being said:1) Properties in Mexico/Cancun trade in USD so you have no foreign exchange risk in Mexico while properties in Colombia are traded in COP, the Colombian peso, which has been tanking over the years, eliminating any hope for capital gains for American investors.2) You can get a mortgage in Mexico but you can't in Colombia so even with lower revenue, Cancun would likely still be more profitable, even if you don't take capital gains into account.3) The political risk is much higher in Colombia, especially at this present time.Is Cartagena a bad investment?

You’ll also pay transaction fees disposing the asset, likely in the $40k+ range.I don’t think you have a clear-cut answer here, but you’ll need to rack up all the financial trade-offs to make an informed decision.

What was the outcome?

The biggest trade off I have heard from someone (also not a CPA/tax advisor) that qualifies as REPS is upon sale, you no longer have long term capital gains, but rather active income.  

But I’ll explore the groups that have more action/outcomes focus and go from there. 

what wsa the outcome?

Here's why I waited:Visa Uncertainty: With a temporary visa like an F1 CPT or even an H1B, there’s always a chance that, due to lottery outcomes or policy changes, the path to a green card could be delayed or not happen at all.

I do not know the outcome long term.   

What was the outcome?

When I added all this up, it was going to cost $150k in a neighborhood where sales comps trade for $100k per unit.