Saturday, October 30, 2021
Dear Your Overseas Dream Home Reader,
This past week, I’ve had boots on the ground in Tulum, on Mexico’s Riviera Maya.
I reckon I spend more time scouting this region than anywhere else in the world, which gives you some indication of just how powerful the opportunity is here. And on every single visit I discover new buildings, restaurants, cafés, bars, amenities, roads.
This week, I’m here to meet with developers, brokers, and local contacts, and to check in our past Real Estate Trend Alert deals.
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After spending a few days here, I’ve come to recognize what I’m calling the “Zoom look.”
You might be familiar with it too. It’s all business up top, and all party down below…
I saw it all over town, and then again when I dropped in on the tenants in my condo near Akumal, about 20 minutes’ drive from Tulum. I’m renting to a young couple, long-term. The kind of renters that just weren’t around pre-Covid, but now they’re one of the strongest markets on the Riviera Maya.
To explain the look…well, it’s exactly what you’d wear if you lived by the beach but also had to show your face on Zoom for work meetings. A nice dressy shirt up top, then shorts and flip-flops down below (and off camera). Always ready for a quick dip in the Caribbean between meetings.
It’s one thing to hear about the surge of work-from-home folks coming to the Riviera Maya, but it’s another to be here and witnessing it, and even to be profiting from it…
This is the kind of renter I love. They don’t stay for just a couple of nights, but a couple of weeks, sometimes months. It gives me higher occupancy, even in the shoulder seasons. They stay long-term but are happy to pay short-term rates if it gives them flexibility.
And in Tulum, this work-from-home crowd is driving huge demand for rentals.
Tulum is easily one of the most popular work-from-home destinations in the world right now. It benefits from easy access by air, good weather, beautiful scenery, fun things to do, conveniences and amenities, and, of course, highspeed internet.
And it’s not just the young that are coming here and staying longer. Throughout this trip I’ve seen more families, more children, and, importantly, more dogs. (You don’t take a dog on a short vacation.) Foreign owners are coming here and settling in. And the town is adapting.
There are signs up in Tulum for new malls and commercial areas. Luxury furniture stores are springing up on the highway on the way into town. This really blew me away…
I remember first visiting in 2004, when Tulum town had one ATM and a supermarket. The beach was just a few open-air rustic restaurants and cabanas for accommodation.
Now, the beach is fronted by luxury hotels and high-end beach clubs. It’s kept its low-key charm, but you could easily pay upward of $1,200 for a night’s stay.
However, for me, these new fancy furniture stores mark a new point in Tulum’s evolution. These kinds of stores are rare in seasonal vacation destinations. In the past, folks here would have furnished their apartments by making a run to the city of Playa del Carmen an hour down the highway. Now, Tulum is becoming self-contained, and a city in its own right.
Tulum is a location that I call a Zoom Boom Town. Earlier this week, I told you more about how events of the last 18 or so months have accelerated the work-from-home trend and is creating opportunity in these towns. You can read the full article here.
If you’d like to see some more photos of Tulum, and find out what makes it so special and draws all these people here, I also shared a photo essay with you…. check it out here.
My Scout Didn’t Come Home
Right now, I’m at the beginning of a 10-day scouting trip that will see me travel from the Riviera Maya on to Costa Rica where I’ll be traveling by car to Costa Elena on the Pacific coast, near the Nicaraguan border.
But I’m deploying more of my team to hit the road elsewhere. They’re planning trips to Spain, France, Belize, Panama…and even some far-flung places that probably haven’t even entered your radar (one of my team is planning a trip to Albania).
At the moment, one of my team members Paul O’Sullivan is in Croatia. You may remember that Paul was one of my scouts on our recent “Mission Italy.” He hit up Rome, the hill towns of Abruzzo, and Venice on that trip.
But he didn’t come home after that…he kept going. And right now, Paul is in Croatia.
Paul is one of those digital nomads that I told you about above…he can work from anywhere. And as well as seeking out bargain real estate around Europe, he’s also on the hunt for an ideal base for himself.
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He’s spending a couple of a couple of weeks in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.
“What I like about Zagreb is that there are no pretensions here,” Paul says. “People aren’t full of smiles but they’re friendly, and they’ll switch to speaking English with no hesitation.
“The widespread use of English and the low cost of living are two of the reasons this city has been building a reputation as a hot spot for digital nomads like myself. It’s an easy place to work from, there’s a good nightlife and café culture, and plenty to do. It’s safe, accessible, and full of wide open green spaces.”
If you missed it, you can read Paul’s full report in what he’s found in Zagreb here.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
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Ronan McMahon, Real Estate Trend Alert
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