Friday, April 30, 2021
Dear Your Overseas Dream Home Reader,
With nearly 20 years of scouting experience under my belt, I thought I knew how to recognize a tourist.
But here in Tulum, on the Riviere Maya, you never can be sure.
That couple who were sunbathing on the beach are now logged into their laptops, fielding Zoom calls and writing computer code. The lady doing yoga by the pool is actually live-streaming a class for clients across the world. The young patrons at the beach club aren’t hanging out, they’re networking (and those piña colada are virgin—at least ’til 5 p.m.)
In Tulum, the gentle tapping of keyboards is as much a part of the soundscape as the rustling of palm trees and the calling of great kiskadees from the jungle canopy. Tourists and the remote working crowd are often one and the same.
The town is chock-full of folks who would have dropped $5,000 to come here on a two-week vacation. But now, they’ve discovered that they can stay in paradise for months at a time…to live and work, as well as play.
The boom of remote working is one of the most exciting trends to hit real estate in decades…
It completely changes how rental markets operate, boosting demand, growing the shoulder-season, and adding a new and affluent market of renters. A market that will play a significant role in our various RETA deals in Tulum.
Yesterday, I sent my researcher—and Tulum travel partner—Jason Holland out to get a sense of who these remote workers are and why they’ve come to Tulum…
Here’s what he discovered…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
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Ronan McMahon, Real Estate Trend Alert
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Laptops in Paradise
By Jason Holland
“I’ve been working from home for the last year. I’m from LA. I grew up there. I love it. But my apartment was $3,000 a month. Here I pay about $2,000, and I got a bigger place with an office, and I can ride my bike to the beach.”
“And I get to live here,” he said, gesturing to his surroundings.
My new friend and I are in a hip little café on the beach road in Tulum, Mexico, one of the hottest vacation destinations in the world right now…a longtime must-stop for digital nomads…and, since the pandemic, a hub for the work-from-home crowd.
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The beach is just on the other side of a strand of trees. People flow by on beach cruisers. The breeze rustles the palms above us. He’s just come from some sort of shaman-led jungle retreat—I didn’t ask too many questions about what he saw during the ceremony, but one of the effects was that he never wanted to go back to the office.
He’s certainly not alone in Tulum.
I’m amazed at what’s changed in the area since I was last here three years ago.
Aside from new development, there are just a lot more people. Families and couples of all ages coming for beach vacations are still the primary group. But there’s also this new crowd here for weeks, months…some even settling down long term. All working from home.
Check out the scene at a beach club about 15 minutes ride north from the cafe…
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When lockdowns began and employees were sent home to a world of Zoom meetings and working in pajamas, many decided that if they were going to be working from a home office…it might as well be in a cool place with a highspeed internet connection.
Many came to Tulum, as well as Playa del Carmen about an hour up the coast. They were drawn by the laidback lifestyle, the white-sand beaches, and the clear Caribbean waters…a quick walk or bike ride away. And who would want to settle for a vending machine snack when you could get street tacos for lunch?
During my visit this week to the Riviera Maya, I’ve seen the digital nomads and work-from-homers all over the world. In the mornings and the middle of the day, you see them gathered in cafes, co-working spaces, and even beach clubs. Usually, headphones in, tapping away at their laptops. I’ve overheard more than one conference call at a neighboring table. I always imagine someone in a dress shirt and tie in some bland conference room on the other end…I wonder what they must think of their world-traveling colleague…
Even I got into the action in between appointments.
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Of course, the Riviera Maya is just one place. Los Cabos over in Baja California, Medellin, Colombia, the Algarve in Portugal, Spain’s Costa del Sol…all have seen an influx since the pandemic started that could continue for years to come.
And even as vaccinations roll out and lockdowns are lifted, many offices remain closed…and many companies, including big names like Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, and Spotify are allowing all or a portion of their workers to continue working from home permanently. Others are allowing this arrangement on a case-by-case basis.
Research firm Gartner found that 47% of organizations surveyed plan to allow employees to work remotely full-time post-COVID. And many will. Every work-from-homer I’ve met on the Riviera Maya plans to do it for the foreseeable future…some have even quit their old jobs and gone freelance or started consulting businesses.
Companies themselves have realized savings on utility costs and office space. And studies have shown that a remote workforce, free of office distractions, actually gets more done. A study of major companies by Global Workplace Analytics found that employees are actually 35% to 40% more productive working from home.
Obviously, many of these companies that allow working from home post-pandemic are in tech and lend themselves well to working remotely. (My new friend in Tulum works for an ecommerce consulting company.) And not every job can be done from home.
But really this trend is inevitable…unstoppable, and in years to come we’re going to continue to see a large percentage of the workforce with this arrangement.
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Ronan says: Like I said yesterday, a two-bedroom condo, like the one members locked down in Natal, will run you $1,750 to $2,000 per month in Tulum…if you can find one.
One of the few available listings I came across was a one-bedroom condo for $1,685.
With the right rental, at the right get-in price, we’re set to see serious profits here.
And right now, I’m working on what could be our hottest deal yet in Tulum. I’m talking about some of the closest condos to Tulum’s prized white sands. A community in a new, previously untouched verdant area.
And what’s really exciting about this coming deal is that plans include a private shuttle bus from the community to the beach club, as well as the town. That’s the beach club that Jason shared in the video above. You can see it here.
This deal is still a number of weeks out. But I’ll have more details soon.
Like what you’re reading?
Send your thoughts to feedback@realestatetrendalert.com. I’ll post and respond to as many of your emails as I can right here in the e-letter. Find out more about our feedback policy here.
Your Comments and Questions Irina says: Could you, please, explain what “deals” RETA member have? How does it work? Ronan says: Hi Irina, I’m glad you asked. I sometimes forget that new subscribers to this e-letter might not know what a RETA deal is. Indeed, they might not know what RETA is. So here it goes: What’s RETA? RETA stands for Real Estate Trend Alert. That’s my premium service. RETA members get access to a whole range of extra content. Most importantly, they access to exclusive RETA deals. What’s a RETA deal? A RETA deal is a real estate opportunity that’s available ONLY to RETA members. That means, we get deals that no regular retail buyer will ever see. What makes a RETA deal special? Simple. We get huge discounts. I’m talking 20%…30%…sometimes 50% off retail pricing. How can RETA get such deep discounts? By pooling our collective buying power, we can deal directly with best-in-class developers and negotiate exclusive deals. This is a win-win for both the developer and for RETA. By giving RETA deep discounts, the developer can secure a chunk of sales at the early stages of a project. This boosts their cashflow and cuts their sales period significantly, saving them money. For RETA members, it means they can get in on an opportunity for tens of thousands of dollars less than if they tried to buy retail. Does that mean RETA members share ownership? Not at all. Individual members who get in on a RETA deal own their property entirely, just as they would if they bought it themselves at retail pricing. Where can you find a RETA deal? Once you become a member, you’ll be the first to hear about new deals, and I’ll send you my full report on the deal before it launches. I hope this helps explain it. You can learn more about joining RETA right here. And you can see some of our current RETA deals here.
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