Eighteen years ago, I founded a group called Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA).
The idea was simple—bring together like-minded folks who see the incredible opportunities in overseas real estate. And then use our group-buying power to negotiate deals directly with developers…at pricing ordinary buyers never see.
This strategy is win-win.
RETA members get exclusive pricing on incredible properties in some of the world’s most attractive destinations. And developers get to sell a chunk of their inventory in one fell swoop…so they go out to the retail market with confidence.
Today, I wanted to share a video…one that spotlights what an off-market RETA deal looks like.
In 2021, I brought RETA members a deal in Yucalpetén, a beach-and-marina community close to the colonial city of Mérida.
In July 2021, members could get in at exclusive pricing from just $209,800 for a two-bed condo. By December 2025, similar condos were listing for $560,000. That’s $350,200 more.
In my new YouTube video, I tell the story behind how I found and negotiated this deal.
I share how I spotted a powerful “Path of Progress” rolling from Mérida toward the coast (a Path of Progress is anything that makes a place easier to get to or more desirable or valuable)…what made Yucalpetén the perfect way to play this Path of Progress …and how RETA’s group buying power got members pricing ordinary buyers never saw.
It’s a case study in exactly what I look for when putting a RETA deal together…and of what happens when all the pieces fall into place.
Click below to watch. And when you’re done, share your thoughts or questions in the comments. My team and I read them all.
In my new video, I reveal how my RETA group got ahead of the Path of Progress rolling toward Mexico’s Yucatán coast—and secured prices in a landmark community the wider market never saw.
The Yucalpetén deal began with a classic Path of Progress story.
Mérida is one of the most beautiful colonial cities in Latin America. Its historic heart is filled with grand mansions, leafy plazas, art galleries, and exceptional restaurants. It’s also a thriving business hub.
I’ve been tracking its transformation for decades.
I watched carefully as passenger numbers at its airport more than doubled between 2010 and 2019. And as more people moved to Mérida to live, work, do business and spend time.
I knew many of them would want something the inland city could not offer: the beach.
The closest beach town to Mérida is Progreso, about 30 minutes north along a modern four-lane highway.
Every summer, affluent families from Mérida head there to escape the city heat. Many own beach homes. Others rent for the season and commute back to the city during the week.
As Mérida became wealthier, demand on the coast grew. The people, money and demand were moving north from Mérida and hitting the coast at Progreso.
That told me where to look.
But finding the right trend is only the first part of what we do at RETA.
You also need to identify the real estate that buyers and renters will compete for—and that competitors cannot easily reproduce.
That was Yucalpetén.
Most of the existing properties around Progreso were traditional family beach homes.
They were tightly held. Families rarely sold them. And owning one meant taking on all the maintenance and management headaches that come with a standalone home beside the sea.
What this market lacked was a modern, best-in-class condo community built around the lifestyle Mérida’s increasingly affluent population wanted.
Yucalpetén was designed to fill that gap.
This wasn’t simply another condo building near the beach.
It was an entire community built around a state-of-the-art, 110-berth marina that was already operating.
The plans included ocean-view residential buildings, pools, spas and an upmarket commercial village with cafés, restaurants and a sailing academy.
An entire beach was being created for the community, complete with a beach club and a natural sea pool where residents could swim and snorkel in calm water.
Owners could wake up overlooking the marina, take the elevator downstairs and spend the morning sailing, fishing or relaxing on the beach…
Then drive into Mérida for dinner, a concert or an exhibition.
I had visited thousands of developments around the world. But I had never seen this combination before:
A beach…
A functioning marina…
And a city of Mérida’s caliber less than 30 minutes away.
Crucially, there was no other suitable parcel of land along this coast for another project of the same scale. Even if a competing developer found one, securing the necessary permits would be extraordinarily difficult.
That created a “moat” around the opportunity.
The first condos at Yucalpetén launched during the summer of 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
Despite the lockdowns and economic uncertainty, affluent regional buyers snapped them up.
They immediately understood what this community offered.
But RETA members had a major advantage…
I knew the development team behind Yucalpetén. I had worked with them on previous deals in Playa del Carmen, and their family had been developing in this part of Mexico for generations.
That relationship allowed me to go through the project, handpick the condos I believed offered the strongest potential and negotiate pricing from $209,800.
That was more than $50,000 below the price being offered to the wider market.
This put RETA members ahead from the beginning. Today, similar condos are $350,200 more than the RETA-only pricing.
Now, I’m about to apply this same playbook in Panama City…
In Panama City I’m tracking one of the most powerful Paths of Progress I’ve found anywhere in the world.
It’s seeing Panama City emerge as a “Singapore for the Americas”—a strategic trading hub using infrastructure, business-friendly policies, and its position at the crossroads of the world to attract companies, capital and people.
I’m about to bring RETA members a new deal here—one that sits directly in the path of that transformation.
This community will be a landmark piece of architecture…
On the last prime piece of waterfront land anywhere near the city’s core…
Beside the district where more than 50 multinational companies run their Latin American operations…
With the international airport about 15 minutes away.
This is what RETA does.
We follow the Paths of Progress…
Identify the real estate that stands apart…
And use the strength of the group to negotiate terms and pricing that ordinary buyers cannot get on their own.
I’m still finalizing the terms of the new Panama City deal. But I expect to be able to share full details very soon.
To learn more about RETA and how you can join, go here.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. Yucalpetén is a clear example of the RETA strategy in action. Watch my new video here to see how my group got ahead of a huge Path of Progress and secured pricing more than $50,000 below retail and where members are now sitting on six-figure uplifts.
