There are lots of reasons people come to The Gathering, the annual meetup for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.
They come for the latest insights and market intelligence…they come for the chance to chat with me, my team, my contacts, and fellow RETA members…they come for cocktails and great food in the warm Caribbean sunshine…
But the No. 1 reason they come are the deals.
And the just-concluded Gathering XI that wrapped up at the weekend in Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Riviera Maya was jam-packed with incredible opportunities…
The Gathering XI took place Feb. 20 to 22 at the luxurious Grand Hyatt hotel in the booming Caribbean coastal city of Playa del Carmen.
At The Gathering XI, my contacts spotlighted opportunities in Costa Rica…Spain’s Costa del Sol…Nicaragua’s San Juan del Sur region…
My scouting team dug into the best places to buy and the best opportunities we’ve uncovered in Uruguay…Sicily… northern Portugal…
And then there was The Gathering XI’s showstopper: a sneak peak of the incredible new RETA members-only deal.
This is an off-market deal, exclusive to my RETA group. With this deal in downtown Playa del Carmen, I expect gains of gains of $201,600 five years after delivery and red-hot rental income—conservatively I’d say an annual gross yield of 13%.
More on this in just a moment.
First, let me offer a small sample of the opportunities that my team and my contacts revealed at The Gathering XI.
Let’s begin in northern Portugal…
I’m joined on stage at The Gathering XI by RETA senior researcher Margaret Summerfield, RETA scout Ciaran Madden, and Portuguese attorney Ricardo Pica to talk about the best opportunities in Portugal today.
As you may know, late last year I purchased a 5,000-square-foot historic mansion in the far north of Portugal. I decided to invest here because this is quite simply the most opportunity-filled region of this incredible country.
My senior researcher Margaret Summerfield, my scout Ciaran Madden, and I have all scouted this region recently in the past year. We’ve been digging deep there.
At The Gathering XI, together with Portuguese attorney Ricardo Pica, we shared the towns you need to know about in this region.
And we shared some homes we’ve scouted there, ranging from large farmhouses for €200,000 to incredible true beachfront condos like this one…
My scout Ciaran Madden toured this home in a beachfront community in northern Portugal. Check out those views! We shared this opportunity and many others in this region with RETA Lifetime members at our just-concluded Gathering event in Playa del Carmen.
My Costa del Sol contact Geoffrey Donoghue was also at The Gathering XI.
Our RETA group has a sensational track record on this perfect-weather stretch of Mediterranean coast in southern Spain, with members seeing uplifts like €155,000, €181,000, and €223,000 on past RETA deals there. (Details below.)
Geoffrey came with a new Costa del Sol opportunity…a chance to own almost-completed homes there from €285,000.
My Spain contact Geoffrey Donoghue meeting with RETA members to discuss opportunities on the Costa del Sol.
Also at The Gathering XI was my contact Shawn Fletcher from Costa Rica.
Shawn is based in Jacó, on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast, which was the first town in the region to explode with tourist development. He came with incredible beach lifestyle and rental opportunities there.
These included a 1,450-square-foot luxury oceanfront condo in an amenity-rich community (the same one where Shawn lives) with rooftop terraces, a co-working space, gym, and more for $535,000.
Shawn Fletcher gave RETA members the low-down on beach rental opportunities on Costa Rica’s central coast.
Then there’s bargain homes in Sicily…
My scout Ciaran told attendees about some of the mind-blowing bargains he found in Sicily. I’m talking about homes from as little as €15,000!
And he shared his favorite two towns to hunt for these bargains…towns that are experiencing a revitalization as foreign buyers snap up the incredible deals on Sicily.
At The Gathering XI, my scout Ciaran Madden spotlighted incredible bargain properties he’d seen in Sicily, including this charming historic home on the market there for just €28,000.
I could go on listing the opportunities we heard about at The Gathering XI…
I could talk about the dream beach homes that my contact Zach Lumin shared on Nicaragua’s Emerald coast…or the incredible-value luxury homes my scout Ciaran found near Punta del Este, Uruguay (South America’s most exclusive resort destination)…
I could also dig into how entrepreneur Brad Constanzo walked us through the opportunities that AI is opening up for real estate investors…
Or I could share insights from leading developers like Alfredo Aleman, Charles Brewer, and Joan Trillo on how incredible “Paths of Progress” are transforming Panama, Costa Rica, and Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic…
But I want to conclude with a few insights on the showstopping moment of The Gathering XI…
The big reveal of the brand-new off-market RETA members-only deal in Playa del Carmen.
As I say, at The Gathering XI, I gave attendees a sneak peak of the new RETA-only deal in a community called The Landmark…
- It’s an exclusive deal to own stunning condos at 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%. And I’m likely being conservative when you consider our incredible RETA track record in Playa del Carmen.
- I expect these condo will be an absolute money-machine as a rental and a stunning personal retreat in one of the world’s coolest beach cities.
Many attendees agree!
During The Gathering XI, RETA members strolled the short distance to the Hyatt Centric. The Hyatt Centric is right next to where RETA members have this deal at The Landmark…
RETA members heading for the roof of the Hyatt Centric to get an idea of the views from The Sky Club at The Landmark. Many were preparing to reserve their condos after what I’d revealed earlier at The Gathering XI about this exclusive deal.
This hotel is home to one of Playa’s plush rooftop venues with spectacular views of the Caribbean.
There we enjoyed drinks and got a sense of what the view from The Sky Club at The Landmark will be like.
See if you can spot me on the roof of the Hyatt Centric. (If you can, write in here!) And let me know if you were at The Gathering XI. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the event.
Members also had a chance to review the plans…ask questions…
A RETA member takes a closer look at plans for The Landmark with one of the Smart Money Homes team. (Smart Money Homes are representing the developer.)
That’s just a small snapshot of some of the deals and opportunities we had at The Gathering XI.
I’ll have more on this Landmark opportunity in the days ahead.
And if you’d like to join us at a future edition of The Gathering, you can sign up for RETA Lifetime here.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. As I say, our RETA track record in Playa del Carmen is incredible. A few examples…
- $259,533 More—In 2017 in Playa del Carmen I brought RETA members a deal in Siempre Playa, close to 5th Avenue and the beach. A two-bed condo available to RETA members for $264,400, was listed in 2023 for $523,933. That’s a price uplift of $259,533.
- Uplift of $309,018—We had another RETA deal in a stunning community called Singular Dream at the heart of Playa del Carmen in 2021. Our RETA price was from $265,304. In early 2024, a two-bed condo there was listing for $574,322. That’s $309,018
In the foreground, you can see the rooftop of the Singular Dream community in Playa del Carmen, where we had a sensational RETA members-only deal. The rooftop has a series of swimming pools and incredible views of the Caribbean.
Our track record in Spain’s Costa del Sol is also hugely impressive. This is the power of my RETA group! Check out these examples …
- €180,100 More: RETA members got in on a deal to own luxury homes in a golf community there called Ibergolf. A RETA member who bought there in 2017 for €189,900 sold in 2023 for €370,000.
- A Gain of €223,000: We had our RETA opportunity at Casares Costa in 2020. A condo a RETA member bought here for €327,000 was sold in late 2023 for €550,000—an incredible boost of €223,000.
The rooftop of a penthouse in the Casares Costa community in the Costa del Sol. RETA members have seen huge gains from our deals here.
