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Guides

How buying property in Mexico works, step by step, plus 196 articles on costs, tax, rentals and life in the Riviera Maya.

The buying process in 4 steps

Buying in Mexico is different from the US and Canada. Read these in order before you make an offer.

1Step 1IntroductionEach country has their own rules for buying Real Estate and when you first buy in Mexico it can seem confusing! If you…Read step 1 →
2Step 2Fideicomiso or CorporationA Fideicomiso gives a foreign buyer all the property rights and privileges of a citizen, with the additional advantage…Read step 2 →
3Step 3Buying ProcessWhen making your initial offer, this should be done using a written Offer to Purchase contract, ensuring no confusion…Read step 3 →
4Step 4Closing and Title TransferAt this point, both parties should be able to execute the purchase/sales agreement (compra-venta), start the closing…Read step 4 →

Articles

All articles

Investment & Rental

How Currency Fluctuations Affect Rental Income When You Convert It Home

Earning rental income in Mexican pesos while budgeting in US or Canadian dollars adds a layer of financial complexity that many first-time Riviera Maya owners underestimate. The peso has moved substantially against the dollar over multi-year periods, and how you manage that exposure can meaningfully change your actual take-home return, separate from how well the property itself performs. Why Exchange Rates Matter for Rental Owners Specifically Even when a booking platform charges...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

Understanding Guest Damage Deposits and Liability Under Mexican Law

Damage deposits feel like a simple concept until something actually gets broken and an owner has to figure out what they can legally withhold, from whom, and how. The rules differ meaningfully depending on whether you're dealing with a short-term platform guest or a long-term lease tenant, and both differ from what many US and Canadian owners assume based on their home-country experience. Short-Term Guests: Platform Rules Govern Most of This For bookings made through Airbnb, Vrbo, or similar...

Aug 29 · 4 min read

Investment & Rental

Building a Rental Business Across Multiple Units: Lessons From Owners Who've Scaled

Buying a second or third rental property in the Riviera Maya feels like a natural next step once the first one is cash-flowing. It's also where a lot of the assumptions that worked fine for one unit start to break down. Owners who've actually scaled to three, five, or a dozen units tend to describe the same handful of lessons — often learned the hard way. The First Unit Teaches You the Wrong Lesson A single rental can be managed with a spreadsheet, a group chat with a cleaner, and a fair...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

Property Management Company vs. Self-Managing Remotely: Making the Call

This is one of the first real decisions every remote Riviera Maya owner faces, and it's rarely as simple as "pay someone or don't." The honest answer depends on how much time you actually have, how far you are, and how much risk you're willing to carry personally. Here's how to think through it clearly. What Self-Managing Remotely Actually Involves Self-managing doesn't mean doing everything personally from another country — it usually means the owner handles pricing, guest communication, and...

Aug 29 · 4 min read

Investment & Rental

Dynamic Pricing Tools for Short-Term Rentals: Do They Actually Help in This Market

Dynamic pricing software promises to squeeze more revenue out of every booking by adjusting nightly rates automatically based on demand, seasonality, and competitor pricing. It's a mature category in markets like Orlando or the US mountain-town rental scene — but the Riviera Maya has its own rhythms, and it's worth asking whether the tools built for those markets translate well here. What These Tools Actually Do Platforms like PriceLabs, Wheelhouse, and Beyond connect to your listing and...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

How to Handle a Problem Guest or Tenant From Abroad

The 2 a.m. message about a broken air conditioner, a guest refusing to leave at checkout, or a long-term tenant who's stopped paying rent — these situations are stressful under any circumstances, but they're worse when you're managing from a different time zone and don't have boots on the ground. Here's how to think through the most common problem scenarios as a remote owner in the Riviera Maya. The Core Challenge of Managing From Abroad Distance changes two things: response time and...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

Energy Efficiency Upgrades That Actually Improve Rental Reviews and Reduce Costs

Guests in the Riviera Maya complain about exactly two things more than anything else: weak air conditioning and unreliable internet. Both are, at their core, energy problems — and fixing them tends to lower your electricity bill at the same time it lifts your review scores. For owners paying CFE (the national electricity utility) bills on a property they don't occupy full-time, that overlap is worth taking seriously. Why This Matters More Here Than in a Typical Rental Market CFE's residential...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

How to Actually File an Insurance Claim After a Storm: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Hurricane season in the Riviera Maya runs roughly from June through November, with the highest risk window in August through October — which means owners are statistically more likely to need this information during exactly the months when they're least likely to be on-site. Knowing the claims process before a storm hits, rather than during the scramble afterward, makes a real difference in how much you actually recover. Before the Storm: What Should Already Be in Place A current homeowners...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

Corporate Housing and Relocation Rentals: An Alternative to Vacation Rental

Nightly vacation rentals get most of the attention in the Riviera Maya, but they are not the only way to generate income from a condo in Playa del Carmen or a villa near Puerto Aventuras. A growing number of owners are turning to corporate housing and relocation rentals — furnished stays of one to twelve months aimed at professionals, remote workers, and companies relocating staff. For a US or Canadian buyer weighing occupancy risk against regulatory friction, it's worth understanding how...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

Subletting Rules: What Happens If Your Long-Term Tenant Wants to Sublet

A long-term tenant asking to sublet is one of those situations that catches Riviera Maya property owners off guard, especially those managing from abroad. It's a common enough request — a tenant takes a new job elsewhere, wants a roommate to share costs, or starts renting the spare room on a booking platform without asking. Here's what actually governs that situation under Mexican law and what a landlord should have in place before it comes up. What Mexican Law Says About Subletting Lease...

Aug 29 · 5 min read

Investment & Rental

Wedding and Event Venue Rentals: A Niche Income Strategy in Tulum

Tulum has become one of the most sought-after destination wedding locations in North America, and a smaller but growing number of property owners have turned that demand into a specific income strategy: renting out villas and estates as private wedding and event venues rather than, or in addition to, standard short-term rental bookings. It's a genuinely different business model from typical vacation rental income, with its own economics, risks, and operational demands. Why Tulum specifically...

Aug 29 · 4 min read

Investment & Rental

Budgeting for the Unexpected: A Realistic Contingency Fund for Owners

Every ownership pro forma looks great until something unbudgeted happens — a special assessment, a hurricane season repair, a currency swing that makes your peso-denominated expenses more expensive in dollar terms. Owners who sail through these moments calmly are rarely just lucky; they built a contingency fund into their planning from the start. Why a contingency fund matters more here than in a typical US rental A handful of factors make unplanned expenses somewhat more likely, or at least...

Aug 29 · 3 min read

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The buying process in 4 steps

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