This week, I’ve been telling you about The Gathering XI event for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.
The event concluded this past weekend in Playa del Carmen, on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. And my team are still pulling together all the incredible intelligence, updates, videos, photos, presentations and more we collected.
But here’s a brief overview video of The Gathering XI, to give you a sample of what the event was like…
Check out this brief video of The Gathering XI that I posted on my Instagram. The Gathering is the annual get-together for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group. (To get your invitation to the next one, learn how you can join RETA Lifetime here.)
We explore a lot of different topics at The Gathering XI…
As I shared yesterday, the No. 1 reason RETA come to The Gathering is the deals.
And at The Gathering XI, we ran the rule over opportunities in Portugal, Uruguay, Sicily, Spain, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and beyond. I also offered a sneak peek of the brand-new RETA-only deal—a chance to own stunning luxury condos in the heart of Playa del Carmen at exclusive pricing and see expected gains of $201,600 five years after delivery (more details on all that here).
But while deals are always the headline act at The Gathering, we also dig into a lot more besides.
This year, we touched on killer rental strategies, top tips from attorneys in key markets like Mexico, Costa Rica, and Spain, and how to use AI in your life and investing.
Here are some rapid-fire bullets from those discussions at The Gathering XI…
The Gathering is one of my favorite times of the year…an opportunity to catch up with RETA members and share stories.
Top Tips From Our Go-To Attorneys
Among the speakers at The Gathering were the attorneys I use in Spain, Costa Rica, and Mexico.
Here’s some of the top tips they shared…
Gonzalo Viquez on how to buy in Costa Rica: “Many of my clients will ask, ‘Can I purchase property in my personal name or can I purchase property in an LLC?’ The answer is that, in Costa Rica, you can purchase property in your individual name or within in an LLC. The structure to create the LLC is a fairly simple procedure. I highly recommend that structure because you can include yourselves as managers of the corporation with power of attorney.”
Attorney Alex Radford offered an explanation on bank guarantees in Spain: “Typically, when you buy an off-plan [preconstruction] property in Spain, you’ll put between 20% and 40% down, and that can be paid at exchange of contract or over a period of time. And the developer, by law, is obligated to give you a bank guarantee. So if the developer didn’t complete the property, you can recover your monies. The monies are protected 100%.”
Attorney Ivan Castillo discussed whether you always need the services of a lawyer: “Regardless of where you’re buying, you must always hire a real estate attorney… Over the past years, the laws have been changing. So it’s very important you receive legal advice when acquiring property as things can change dramatically. A very small technicality can dramatically change the outcome of your purchase.”
These are just some of the tips our go-to attorneys shared at the event. RETA members can find the contact info for these attorneys, and many more, in our RETA Rolodex here.
From left to right, Ivan Castillo, RETA Senior Researcher Margaret Summerfield, Gonzalo Viquez and Alex Radford discuss top legal tips when buying overseas at The Gathering XI.
Killer Rental Strategies
Another of the speakers at The Gathering XI was Ryan Pitts.
Ryan is a rental income whizz. He’s bought and owned real estate in Tulum and Playa del Carmen and owns a vacation rental management company that covers both cities.
At The Gathering XI, Ryan shared his strategies for maximizing rental income with a property on the Riviera Maya. Here’s a few…
- A vacation rental doesn’t have to be expensively decorated, but it has to be well decorated. The style has to flow and be congruent. Don’t mix and match furniture styles. Nothing too personal either, like family photos. A sleek Miami look is en vogue.
- Great photos on Airbnb and similar platforms are essential. The photos should be colorful, inviting, and homely. Hire a professional to shoot these if necessary.
- Buy in an amenity-rich community, particularly one that has rooftop amenities like a bar and pool. Pictures of rooftop amenities are a major pull for short-term renters.
Ryan Pitts, second left, hosts an information and advice session for RETA members after sharing his best rental income strategies on stage at the event.
New AI Tools
Brad Costanzo, an entrepreneur and AI strategist, spoke at The Gathering XI on how artificial intelligence is changing virtually all aspects of our economy, including real estate. Besides offering some top tips for investors, he also shared some of his favorite tools. Here’s three:
- With Gamma.ai, he showed how you could make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch in two-and-a-half minutes.
- He explained how an AI tool called Google Notebook could turn my book, Ronan McMahon’s Big Book of Real Estate Investing, into a podcast with AI hosts in minutes, with zero outside input. (Get a free copy when you become a Lifetime RETA member here.)
- With Suno.com, he showed how you could create a theme song for RETA (or any business or project) in seconds.
Brad Costanzo shares how we can use AI to supercharge our productivity at The Gathering XI.
This is just a small sample of what we discussed at The Gathering XI.
As I’ve been sharing this week, major developers were on hand to discuss how “Paths of Progress” are transforming some of the world’s most beautiful and opportunity-filled destinations. (A Path of Progress is anything that makes a place easier to get to or more desirable, like a new bridge, airport, or resort.)
For instance, famed investor and developer Charles Brewer was there to chat about his incredible Las Catalinas community—an Italian-inspired, car-free town he’s built from scratch on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica…
Charles Brewer discusses his vision for the walkable, car-free community of Las Catalinas alongside Margaret on stage at The Gathering XI.
Developer Alfredo Aleman came from Panama to explain how the country’s tourism sector is developing rapidly, and to discuss the opportunities this presents for investors…
Developer Alfredo Aleman, left, and his son pose with RETA members and my scout Eoin Bassett, right, at The Gathering XI.
And there was all the other aspects of The Gathering XI.
The friendly conversation with friends new and old…
The cocktails and great meals in the warm Caribbean air…
And of course, the mind-blowing deals (learn more here)…
To make sure you get your invite to the next RETA Gathering, join RETA Lifetime today. I keep our events small, intimate, and relaxed. I want to make sure when you come you get a lot of in-person time with my team, my contacts, and myself. So seats go fast.
The Gathering is a fun, relaxed, and intimate affair…a chance for me, my team, and my contacts to meet up with RETA members.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. We talked about a lot of great stuff at The Gathering XI…
But the showstopping revelation was the sneak peak of the incredible new RETA members-only deal, in a community called The Landmark.
- It’s an exclusive deal to own stunning condos in the heart of Playa del Carmen, a short walk to the beach, the dining, the shows, gyms, stores…
- This community will be next-level, with a half acre rooftop amenity area called The Sky Club.
- I expect gains of $201,600 five years after delivery and red-hot rental income—I’d say an annual gross yield of 13%.
- I expect these condos will be an absolute money-machine as a rental and a stunning personal retreat in one of the world’s coolest beach cities.
I’ll have more on this in the days ahead. In the meantime, here’s a developer render of this upcoming RETA members-only opportunity (renders shouldn’t be considered final, but can give a good idea)…
A half-acre of resort-level luxury makes The Sky Club at the Landmark utterly unique in Playa del Carmen. Own here at RETA-only pricing and I’d expect gains of $201,600 five years after delivery and conservatively predict gross yields of around 13%. (This deal is exclusive to RETA members. To get access to this and all future RETA deals, join RETA Lifetime here now.)
