In this week’s Your Overseas Dream Home Digest…
- My Upcoming Scouting
- Coming Soon: The RETA International Real Estate Index
- Check Out my New YouTube Channel
- Your Questions Answered: Should I buy in Playa del Carmen or San José del Cabo?
As you read this, I’ll be on my way to the booming Mexican city of Guadalajara.
From there, I’ve already made plans to scout the Pacific coast of Mexico around Ensenada, southwestern Nicaragua, Paraguay’s capital Asunción, and the Atlantic coast of Uruguay near the glamorous city of Punta del Este.
That’s all before the end of this year. And I plan to add other destinations too…
I’m also going to Costa Rica in January…
Of course, I’ll be savoring Cabo in winter in between all these travels…This is what I do. For more than two decades, I’ve been a full-time international real estate investor and scout. I put my boots on the ground all over the world…or toes in the sand, depending on where I am. And I don’t do it alone.
Here I am in the Spanish city of Ourense a week ago. Since then, I’ve been in Caminha and Madrid. The scouting never stops.
Over the years, I’ve recruited and trained a dedicated team of scouts. Every year, we fan out across the world to meet with brokers and developers…view listings and land…survey new infrastructure…talk with attorneys, agents, and other key market insiders…
Nobody does what we do. We spend more than $1 million per year on all this travel and research. And it’s all so we can answer one question: Where are the best opportunities in overseas real estate today?
Answering that question has never been easy. There’s so much opportunity out there…so many hidden gems, rising cities, and stunning new “Rivieras” on the cusp of transformation. That’s why some years ago, I created our International Real Estate Index.
Each year, in the final quarter, my team and I sit down to review all our research and intelligence—then distill it into a single, powerful resource: a ranked list of the 25 best places in the world to buy real estate for the coming year. Then I share this resource with members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.
My team and I have been scouring the globe for the “next places.” And we’ve found them…from an overlooked town in northern Portugal to an emerging city-state on a postcard-perfect stretch of white-sand beach in the Caribbean. We also have a new number one at the top of our Index…
As I write, our 2026 Index is almost complete. Read it to discover:
- Three destinations with immense potential in “the Portugal of South America”…
- The most livable beach town in the Algarve…
- Overlooked hill towns in Italy that are bursting back to life and where you can find some of the best value real estate on the planet…
- A “hidden” riviera in Eastern Europe that boasts some of the most stunning coastlines on the planet…
- A glamorous Caribbean enclave twice the size of Manhattan—where Elton John opened the amphitheater…
- And so much more, including a new winner at the top of the Index…
The RETA index is much more than simply a table with rankings. It’s a comprehensive report featuring photos, maps, videos, and detailed introductions and analysis of each of the 25 destinations. And within the report, I’ll also provide a downloadable spreadsheet with the full scores for all destinations. I share this raw data so you can customize the index to your needs and preferences
RETA members will get full access in the coming weeks…
Join Me On YouTube
On Wednesday, the latest RETA deal opened, with members able to lock down stunning ocean-view condos in the perfect location in San José del Cabo.
Access to exclusive, off-market deals like this is a core benefit of RETA membership.
Congratulations to those who got in on the deal!
I expect gains of around$186,600 just three yearsafter delivery.
And I conservatively expect gross rental yields of 15%—gross income of $44,825. And that’s leaving lots of time for personal use.
If you don’t know Cabo, at its heart are the twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, connected by a 20-mile stretch of coastline known as The Corridor.
This is the Baja Riviera—the epicenter of a luxury boom that has transformed the southern tip of the peninsula. Billions of dollars have poured into resorts, golf courses, and high-end residential communities. Today, Los Cabos boasts the highest concentration of luxury hospitality brands in Mexico.
Earlier in the week, I shared a video essay that my team prepared about Cabo on my YouTube channel. Let me know what you think!
Click to view. If you enjoy the video, then like, subscribe and most importantly, leave a comment to let me know your thoughts!
Your Questions Answered
Have a comment for me or my team? A question about owning overseas? Share it here. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a question I got from a reader recently…
Erik P. asks: Good morning, I’ll keep my question brief: If you were to purchase a 2 bed/2 bath condo right now, would you buy in Playa del Carmen or San Jose del Cabo?
Ronan says: Hi Erik and thanks for your question. As regular readers will know, Mexico’s Playa del Carmen and San Jose del Cabo both feature on my beat. Both are places I have scouted countless times. And both are places where I recently brought RETA members deals. But they are quite different…
San José del Cabo is a perfect-weather paradise where soaring desert mountains run down to glorious golden-sand beaches.
This world-class destination is easily accessible, with direct flight connections to more than 30 cities across North America. And it’s booming, with billions in new investment flowing in and more and more people coming to visit and live, driving huge demand for rentals and resales.
San José del Cabo is the refined heart of the Baja Riviera where homes sell for many millions, nightly hotel rates soar into the thousands, and the Michelin guide regularly awards stars.
But developable land is hugely scarce—most prime parcels have already been absorbed by branded resorts, suitable land is ever-more expensive, and new permits are tightly controlled.
Huge demand and big scarcity is driving prices higher. Yet I managed to get a stunning deal on ocean-view condos at exclusive pricing…
This is an all-but unrepeatable opportunity: two-bed, ocean-view condos in the Cabo Hills community from just $298,400. I believe they’ll be worth $485,000 just three years after delivery, with strong rental yields of around 15% gross ($44,825).
Deals like these are only open to RETA members.
The rooftop pools at Cabo Hills will have panoramic views of the Sea of Cortez and be majorly appealing to renters, in the ideal location just 10 minutes from San José’s international airport and close to all the action. (Developer renders like this give us a great idea what to expect but shouldn’t be considered final.)
Playa del Carmen, on the Riviera Maya, is different…
The Riviera Maya is an 80-mile stretch of Mexico’s Caribbean coast. The booming beach city of Playa del Carmen sits at its heart, just 40 minutes’ drive from Cancun airport.
It’s a mix of vibrant, cosmopolitan city and incredible beach destination.
Chic and cosmopolitan, it’s known for its trendy cafés, Michelin-level restaurants, and upmarket bars. Folks who come here want to live the Playa lifestyle…to be in the heart of the action, downtown, near the beach.
Playa del Carmen has one of the strongest rental markets on my RETA club’s beat.
And last month I brought RETA members the chance to own in the Residences at The Landmark.
The Landmark will feature a half-acre of resort-style luxury with an infinity pool, steam room, sauna, yoga deck, co-working space, private restaurant, and bar.
The pieds-à-terre—or residences—available to RETA members are lock-and-leave bases, engineered for comfort and status.
The rental income numbers show a projected $28,750 gross per year and a 16.1% gross yield.
A developer’s render of the rooftop Caribbean-view infinity pool in The Landmark. Renders shouldn’t be considered final but give you a great idea of what to expect of the half-acre of rooftop amenities in The Sky Club at The Landmark. No other community in Playa will compete when it comes to the scope of these amenities and this ideal location.
Having said that, let me tell you about a mistake I made here, because it goes some way towards answering your question…
It was around a decade ago. I was spending lots of time in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, both while scouting and on vacation. I had bought multiple properties there for investment. It seemed like the perfect place for me—white-sand Caribbean beaches, proximity to an international airport, top-class golf, amazing food…
A dream formed in my mind of spending extended periods of time there…making a base…somewhere I could escape to during the cold winter months. So, I bought another property and moved in.
Then the reality hit—hard.
The Caribbean is often hot and humid, which means you need air-conditioning. On vacation and scouting trips, that hadn’t been an issue. But for normal, day-to-day living, I don’t like air-con, especially at night when I’m sleeping. I found myself not feeling fresh or energized.
I’d quickly realized I’d made a mistake. I hadn’t ruthlessly profiled myself…
Luckily, buying this Caribbean property wasn’t a financially costly mistake. I’d gotten it in one an off-market, RETA-only deal, so I’d seen good capital appreciation. And I could rent the property for income.
The beaches in Playa del Carmen are breathtaking…glistening white sands next to warm, azure Caribbean waters.
My point here is that the answer to your question is deeply personal. Whether you should choose Playa or San José will depend on what your goals are. And if you intend to spend time in the condo yourself, then your personal preferences come into play…
Profiling yourself is the critical first step to building your overseas real estate blueprint.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
Ronan McMahon
P.S. If you have a question about buying real estate overseas or have suggestions for destinations my team and I should put on our scouting list, drop me a line here.
