Earlier this month, my team and I hosted The Gathering XII—the annual meetup for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group—in Panama.
At the conclusion of the event, attendees got the chance to go on an exclusive tour of Playa Caracol—a stunning new beach town set on the nicest, closest stretch of coast to booming Panama City.
One of the RETA members on that trip to Caracol was Ryan Combs.
Ryan joined my RETA group five years ago. And in that time, he and his wife, Anja, have bought three condos in our exclusive, off-market deals.
While relaxing on the sands of Playa Caracol, Ryan chatted to my scout Oliver Lovett about why and where they’d bought…and what they plan to do with their condos.
Read on…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. Right now, I’m preparing to bring RETA members an exclusive, new opportunity in Playa Caracol. This is a RETA-only deal to own ocean-view condos in a true beachfront community…steps from the sand…for under $300,000! I expect gains of over $181,000 within five years of delivery. If you’re a RETA member, stay tuned. I’ll be sending you a full briefing on this opportunity at 1 p.m. ET this Friday.
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“Why I Bought Three Condos in Cabo”
By Oliver Lovett
Ryan Combs spent his life chasing the sun. Born in the Pacific Northwest, he moved to Oregon, then Los Angeles, then to Miami and Reno. Now he’s set on Cabo, where he’s bought three condos in RETA member-only deals.
Given Ryan’s love of warm, sunny climes, it feels appropriate that I met him on a beach.
Ryan and his wife, Anja, were at the RETA Lifetime members meetup, The Gathering XII, in Panama City. As part of the event, they joined the exclusive tour for attendees of Playa Caracol—a stretch of Pacific coastline west of the capital that’s being transformed into a thriving, modern beach town.
After the tour, Ryan and Anja decided to stay on in Caracol for a few days. That’s how we got chatting—the Pacific breaking just steps away, a warm sea breeze, rock music drifting from Ryan’s portable speaker…
Playa Caracol is a true beachfront community set on the nicest beach close to booming Panama City.
Ryan told me that his love of the ocean began with a trip in his youth.
“The first trip to Cabo was in the ’80s. A fishing trip with a high school friend and his dad. They had a condo down there and the three of us drove all the way down the coast in a big truck, towing the boat. I thought it was the most exciting thing I’d ever done,” he said.
“We cut the fish up right there in the hotel room. Lime, tomato, salsa, cold Mexican beers. I’d never tasted anything like it. You’re standing there looking at the Arch and the ocean and you think—this is it. I’ve made it.
“We kept going back through the ’90s. Cabo Wabo [the Cabo nightclub owned by rockstar Sammy Hagar], more fishing, more of that light. My friend never left. He’s still there. Still fishing,” Ryan said.
The Arch at Land’s End is an iconic landmark in Los Cabos, dividing the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. Ryan Combs has been coming back to this spot for 40 years.
In the Pacific Northwest, where Ryan grew up, the winters were the kind that settled in and stayed. Grey, misty days that never quite lifted, the sky clamped down like a lid.
As soon as he was old enough, he headed south to Los Angeles. There he found the sun—most days. But in the mornings, the marine layer rolled in off the coast, engulfing the city in a cool grey mist. To Ryan, the sky looked uncomfortably familiar.
He was a newly qualified pilot back then. He’d climb through the mists and break into clear blue sky above. It never got old.
His flights and trips to Cabo confirmed that sunshine wasn’t a luxury for him, it was a requirement. He needed a way to make it permanent.
Ryan (left) and his wife Anja chat with Alfredo Aleman, the visionary developer behind Playa Caracol, during the tour of this beachfront community. Ryan and Anja were among some 200 RETA members who joined the exclusive tour of Caracol for Gathering XII attendees.
Ryan joined RETA in 2021. Shortly after, Ronan began sharing details of a new members-only deal in Cabo.
It was like the stars aligned.
Ryan already knew the Cabo weather. He already knew the fishing. He was already sold on the destination. He just wanted to be able to buy with confidence…knowing due diligence was done on the developer and he would get off-market pricing.
That’s what RETA gave him—the confidence to push ahead.
The first RETA deal he bought in was in the Monte Rocella community, perched on the hill of El Tezal overlooking Cabo’s iconic Arch and the Sea of Cortez.
As Ronan first started telling members about the deal, Ryan knew he was interested. But he had one priority above all others: a terrace facing west, where he could watch the sun go down over the Pacific and the famous Cabo Arch every evening.
“Sunsets are a big deal to me,” he said.
Ryan spent 30 years as an airline pilot. He thinks in coordinates, orientation, and angle of approach.
In the weeks before the deal opened to RETA members, he bought a ticket to Cabo, rented a car, and drove out to the site. He still remembers the drive up from town. Past a Costco and Home Depot, and then the hill climbing toward the site. He got out of the car. Cicadas. Desert air. The Sea of Cortez below him. And at the very tip of it all, the Arch.
Ryan mapped out the orientation of the community, the same way a pilot plots a course, until he found the perfect condo for him. Then he bought when the deal opened to RETA members.
“I could picture myself on the balcony, watching the sun go down over the ocean. I could see it clearly. That was enough,” he said.
The Monte Rocella community in Cabo where Ryan bought in a RETA-only deal in May 2022. RETA members are now starting to take delivery here…and have already seen big uplifts. A two-bed ocean-view condo in Monte Rocella that had a RETA-only price of $262,800 is now listed at $429,000—that’s $166,200 more.
When Ronan brought RETA members another exclusive deal in Cabo in January 2023—this time in the best-in-class El Mirador community—Ryan jumped at the chance to own there.
He knew the location. He knew the orientation. He wanted penthouses and he got two—one facing east for the morning light over the Sea of Cortez, one facing west for the sunset over the Pacific.
“Two condos, two views. One for each end of the day,” he told me.
The plan now is to spend time in each of his penthouses—splitting his life between Los Angeles, Reno, and Cabo. In time, he said he’ll work out which penthouse suits him best and rent out the other, as well as his Monte Rocella condo, for income.
He sounds excited as he talks about his plan…
RETA members at Playa Caracol for their exclusive tour of Panama’s most exciting beach destination. Some 700 condos and homes have already been delivered here. Soon, they’ll be joined by Panama’s first Margaritaville resort, while two other major brands are set to announce new hotels in the coming months.
It’s late afternoon as Ryan and I chat in Playa Caracol.
We are at the pool bar of the Radisson Riviera hotel, steps from the sand. Around us guests move between the pool, the loungers, and the beach. Someone has fired up the BBQ and the smell of the first steaks drifts across on the breeze.
We both stop chatting for a few moments…take in the setting…
Seven miles of beach, stretching away in both directions. Rolling Pacific waves. Conch shells as big as your fist. Pelicans wheeling and dropping offshore. Parakeets chattering in the trees behind the sand.
Ryan tells me he’s impressed by Caracol.
“The Gathering was great. The hotel [in Panama City] was amazing. But I would love to see it hosted at Playa Caracol in the future,” he said.
“I feel spoiled to be sitting here surrounded by this. It’s raw nature. You don’t have to go looking for it—it’s just there.”
The sun is going down. Ryan and I watch it go. He is here as a guest. But I’m guessing he’s already worked out which way a condo would have to face to enjoy the best view of the sunset.
Ronan says: I had a chance to sit and chat with Ryan and Anja at The Gathering XII and it was such a pleasure catching up with them. We share a deep love of Cabo. As regular readers will know, I spend time in Cabo each winter. I also bought in the Monte Rocella community in Cabo in our members-only deal there alongside Ryan. I got two condos and am now taking delivery.
I’m also very happy to hear that Ryan and Anja stayed on in Caracol and had such a great time there.
Caracol is such a special place. A true beachfront community. Master-planned. Walkable. Amenity-rich. Here you can live right on the sand, with the beach club, pools, hotel amenities, restaurants, and the beginnings of a genuine beach-town ecosystem.
The opportunity to own in a true beachfront community like this is so rare globally. The opportunity to own in one that’s close to a world-class capital like Panama City is far, far rarer still. That’s why I’m so excited by the new deal here that I’m about to bring to RETA members…
Ocean-view condos…literally steps from the sand…for under $300,000!
I expect gains of over $181,000 within five years of delivery with this deal. If you’re a RETA member, stay tuned. I’ll be sending you a full briefing on this deal at 1 p.m. ET this Friday.
