We build in Tulum, so we have an obvious interest in you saying yes. Read the parts below where we tell you to be careful with that in mind — they are the ones worth your attention.
The airport changed access, and access changes markets. More direct arrivals mean a longer season and a broader guest base than Tulum had when everything came through Cancun. That is real. What followed it was a construction wave, and a lot of it was condo product aimed at exactly the same short-term rental buyer, marketed with occupancy and rate projections that were written to sell units rather than to describe the market.
Small condo units in dense developments, sold on projected rental yield, are the most crowded segment. When many identical units compete for the same guest, the adjustment does not show up as falling prices first — it shows up as falling occupancy, discounting, and management fees eating what is left. If you are being sold a unit on a yield projection, ask what occupancy assumption it uses and compare that with what comparable listings actually achieve now.
Larger private villas with real outdoor space, privacy and a pool are a different product with different competition. They are harder to build, harder to replicate at scale, and they serve guests who are not choosing between forty identical listings. That is the segment we build most in Tulum, which is a bias you should weigh — but it is also why the supply picture there looks different from the condo picture.
| Annual cost | What drives it | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | Air conditioning, pool pump | $35,000 – $120,000 MXN |
| Pool and garden service | Weekly maintenance | $30,000 – $90,000 MXN |
| Property tax (predial) | Low by North American standards | Modest |
| Rental management | Share of gross revenue | 15% – 30% of gross |
| Maintenance reserve | Salt, humidity, rain | 1% – 2% of value/year |
Property tax is low. Everything else is not: electricity with air conditioning through a Caribbean summer, pool service, garden, insurance, HOA fees where they apply, management at a meaningful share of gross, cleaning between stays, and maintenance that this climate makes non-optional. A yield projection that omits these is not conservative — it is wrong. Model them before you commit, using the ranges below.
Buying pre-sale is faster and puts you in the crowded segment, with the developer's specification and the developer's margin. Building takes twelve to twenty-four months, needs land that clears the environmental and land-use checks, and gives you a property that is not identical to forty others. Tulum's permit process is the strictest in the region, which is a genuine barrier — and barriers to entry are what protect the value of what is already built.
Related pages: Building houses in Tulum · Furnishing a vacation rental · Build or buy? · Buying land: due diligence
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