In November 2022, members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group could buy two-bedroom condos in the Punta Laguna community on Mexico’s Riviera Maya from $228,600.
In April 2025, two-bed condos listed retail for $342,000.
That’s $113,400 more.
And it’s not the only six-figure uplift RETA members have seen in the cosmopolitan city of Playa del Carmen…
If you don’t know RETA, it’s a group I founded for folks who recognize the vast potential of overseas real estate. Using the group-buying power of all RETA members, I negotiate first-in, off-market deals from developers with exclusive pricing that ordinary buyers never see.
Earlier this month, I introduced you to Will Robinson. He’s the newest member of the RETA team.
Will’s job is to stay close to members from the day they buy to the day they take delivery.
He’s been looking in on past deals and seeing how they turned out. Today, a little of what he found in Playa del Carmen earlier this month…
Playa del Carmen is a place Will knows very well.
He arrived on the stretch of coast known as the Riviera Maya in 2009 and lived there for more than 15 years. He bought a studio just off Playa’s famous 5th Avenue.
And earlier this month he put boots on the ground there again for RETA.
Will headed to the Zona Dorada, the Golden Zone. It sits a couple of blocks off 5th Ave. It’s a walkable neighborhood where you can have breakfast at a café, pick up pastries from a French bakery and eat dinner in a courtyard restaurant.
Here, at a community called Siempre Playa, RETA members had an opportunity to buy in 2017.
Siempre Playa is one of the most popular rentals in all of Playa del Carmen. In 2017, RETA members could buy one-bedroom condos here from $142,700. Two-bedroom condos were available from $193,800.
RETA members have locked in some incredible uplifts here. For example, a two-bedroom condo available for $266,400 in April 2017 was sold in 2023 for $394,090.
That’s a gain of $127,690.
Siempre Playa sticks closely to the classic RETA recipe for success. Buy the right real estate in the right location at the right price.
Not long ago, if you were leaving the Golden Zone, chances are you’d head south, back toward downtown and Calle Corazón, where the restaurants, bars and buzz were. Today you’re just as likely to head north, where a new wave of lively, independent bars and restaurants draws tourists and locals alike.
“I remember when 5th Avenue’s bars, restaurants and shops ran from downtown to 30th Street, about 15 blocks. Today they stretch at least twice that. The Playa that put this town on the map hasn’t gone. It has moved north along 5th, where independent bars and restaurants carry the same spirit forward,” says Will.
“And Playa is growing steadily toward Corasol…”
5th Avenue ends at the gates of Corasol, a master-planned, gated community of nearly 500 acres. Corasol is built around an 18-hole Nick Price golf course. For my money, the secluded beach here is the best in all of Playa del Carmen.
Corasol is a different way to own in Playa. You’re not in the middle of town. You’re in a resort community, with the golf, the beach and the amenities inside the gates. It’s peaceful. When you want the restaurants and bars, Playa is a short taxi ride away. It’s also about a 30-minute walk along 5th, or you can stroll the beach to get there.
The Village is another RETA project that has been delivered in Playa del Carmen. Located in Corasol, it sits among holes 5 to 9, with the clubhouse and driving range across the boulevard. It has a cenote-style pool with a snack bar, a rooftop pool with a hot tub and bar, mini golf, and more. The rooftop looks out over the course, which Will says is absolutely immaculate. There’s a concierge in the lobby.
RETA members could buy two-bedroom condos in The Village in March 2022, from $258,600. In December 2025, similar two-bed condos in The Village were listed for $415,800. Over $157,000 more.
“The Village is one of the communities that impressed me most,” says Will. “Not only the build quality and the finishes, but the landscaping and the layout of the community itself.”
Will is going to keep doing this. Looking in on construction. Looking in on past deals to see how they’re playing out. And checking in with RETA members along the way.
Stay tuned. I’ll share what he finds…
Wishing you a good real estate investing,
P.S. While Will checks in on past RETA deals, I’m here in Uruguay checking in on a possible new opportunity. More on that soon…
