How to Buy Property in Mexico Safely | Riviera Maya Real Estate Investing

Zergio Arano (00:00)
Don’t be afraid to ask.

Zergio Arano (00:02)
If they don’t give you the information, he’s not the right person. It’s the mark. If you other people, feel uncomfortable and doesn’t provide information, go away. Go away. think, and when you are buying something out of the country, buy without the emotion. I know we are very emotional.

A lot of times we buy with emotion. No, try to have zero emotion. I think it’s something that always I keep when I go out, is without emotions

Scott Bursey (00:00)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today we’re delighted to be joined by Zergio Arano, the founder and CEO of Arano Investment Group, with nearly three decades of experience as a real estate investor and lender here in the U.S.

Zergio is now bridging the gap for investors looking toward the Mexican Caribbean. We’re going to dive into how he applies his signature transparency and integrity to international markets. So get ready to learn how to diversify your portfolio with total confidence. Zergio, welcome to the show.

Zergio Arano (00:42)
Thank you so much Scott for this invitation. Basically, we are ready to share all this information because we are ready to basically, you are right in time to enjoy and to move to the paradise basically.

Scott Bursey (01:00)
Awesome. And Zergio, to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the ninety second highlight reel, if you will, of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Zergio Arano (01:12)
Well, this is a great story, Scott. We started this many years ago. How you mentioned, I had almost 30 years doing international real estate. I was doing real estate on Brazil, in DR, in Panama, Colombia, Mexico, and Roatán, Honduras. And I’m very passionate to basically to diversify a little bit to don’t put all the eggs in one basket.

I am investor over here in United States. I build houses. I build houses too. But always after the recession, I was thinking what I want to do. What I’m going to do to put my eggs in different baskets because I remember in 2011 we had only one basket. My God. Right. Was so crazy. And this is why I had properties around the world and I am helping people, the clients that right now they are my friends to create.

This is what I do right now. And why not in Mexico when Mexico is one of the most beautiful places in earth? And only that Riviera Maya is not only the beach. We have cenotes under the ground. We have rivers under the ground. We have lagoons. Always I say, we visit so many countries around the last 30 years. Each country they have their beauty, but nothing like Riviera Maya, basically.

It’s not only the beach.

We are ready to share all the memories that we are building right now with families, friends, and I know you can be part on this journey because we have properties around the Riviera Maya, Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, from one condo to one mansion, one villa. Basically, Mexico is waiting for you guys.

Scott Bursey (03:09)
Thanks for sharing that background, Zergio. It’s always inspiring to hear how seasoned investors evolve their focus. And also, listeners, we are very delighted to have with us today Chad Davis, who brings the investor perspective from US soil to the table. Chad, welcome to the show.

Chad Davis (03:26)
Thank you. I’ve known Zergio for probably twenty-four, twenty-five years now and we sort of lost connection. This is sort of a testimonial to networking. We both started out in the real estate business and you know, we’re trading business cards and starting our sphere of influence and we recently reconnected and once I found out everything that he was involved in, I was just so excited. I went and checked it out for myself and wanted to share as many of those details with everybody as we could.

Scott Bursey (04:02)
That is awesome. Thank you for joining us here today. And Zergio, what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to maintain such a high standard of transparency and efficiency while successfully scaling your operations across borders into the Mexican Caribbean. With that in mind, curious to know, what do you consider the biggest strength of the Arano Investment Group model today?

Zergio Arano (04:30)
I think one of the things they make us successful is to always do the right things in helping people, not only when they are buying, all

Zergio Arano (04:45)
Helping in the process when they are selling, all the process when they call me and they say, I need this from you because we have a team on Mexico, we have around 10 agents and actually we have a partner.

The management, the properties, we’re going to be for everybody. Is the time.

After you buy in the property four or five years, six years later, I think this is the most important thing because the most people they are buying right now, the 75% or 80%, they are referred for other people that they are already buying for us. This is the most important for us because a lot of people, they spend so much in advertisements, so much in Facebook and Instagram, and the most that we have, that we receive, they are referrals.

Scott Bursey (05:43)
That’s a solid point. And on that note, kinda interested to hear what’s a common misconception or weakness you see US investors having when they first look at the Mexican market?

Zergio Arano (05:58)
I think the most that we see, a lot of times they call us and they say, want this property for 125 and they are looking for the price, but they are not looking for the location. What is the strategy? They are buying for emotion. No, they are not buying that. They are not trying to do a smart buy. This is why it’s very important to see it and we can review it because remember over here in the United States, always they say, location, location is very important. And they repeat this because it’s very important, the location, right? And this is one of the things they don’t review. They go for the price, right?

Zergio Arano (06:42)
The other thing that they didn’t review and they didn’t check, they think they are leaving United States. In Mexico, we need to be careful. We need to review basically the builder. We need to review the permits that they have because a lot of people, are buying, they are putting their money, especially when they are in pre-constructions and they don’t have the permits. And sometimes they didn’t finish the projects. But let me tell you this example. We had a guy over here in

Zergio Arano (07:13)
In Georgia, one day he called me and he said, I have this property, I really want to represent it. When we review the project, they don’t have the permits. We are not a builder. We need to check the builder that they had experience. What’s happened? They had already five years and they didn’t deliver the property because the builder, they forgot to put the elevator and they don’t have the permits. And see cannot close. And thanks God we had in writing

Zergio Arano (07:53)
We didn’t show this property to her and nothing they can do. The only reason they do was because the other project that we have was in better location, but was $20,000 difference. And for this $20,000 different, she has $60,000 sitting over there and

Zergio Arano (08:16)
She’s not using the unit. We don’t know what is going to happen because the permits there are not approved. And this is why we need to find the right person to helping on this process because always I was talking with my kids. People that are saving this money, you never know if they are saving for 20 years, 30 years, and they put your investment in your hands to lose a few seconds.

I think that’s not true. But the other thing that they tell me a lot is the experience that we have over here in United States. I came to join and

Zergio Arano (08:56)
Learned to do business, how they do business over here in the United States. And I tried to review, no, I tried, I did. I had a

Zergio Arano (09:08)
A team, they are focused and reviewed all projects. And all our agents, because we have a lot of agents, they are certified agents. So they are going to help you in the process that you can do on the right way.

Scott Bursey (09:23)
Chad, let’s get your perspective on this. What do you feel is the easiest way to overcome that emotional buying hurdle if you’re in your shoes?

Chad Davis (09:30)
I mean, I think back to my experience when we reconnected and you know, the first thought I had as an American buyer was, is this legitimate? You know, is it hard to purchase real estate over there?

So I got on a plane to go see for myself. And after spending three days with him, meeting his team, seeing the product, seeing the care and the effort and everything that goes into, you know, showing me, I can only imagine what they do for, you know, a client that’s coming to purchase right away. But just knowing and having that sense of reality that that it is that easy and that you have someone there on your side that’s gonna, you know, work for you.

Scott Bursey (10:25)
Where do you see the biggest untapped opportunity in the Mexican Caribbean right now?

Zergio Arano (10:36)
Well, on the Riviera Maya, I think always we have

Zergio Arano (10:40)
Opportunities. But right now, it depends on the client. This is why it’s very important. What is the strategy? Because on

Zergio Arano (10:52)
Tulum right now, we have like 40% discounts basically on the use. Okay

Zergio Arano (11:01)
Basically, if a unit last year was 265, 267, we are going to get for 165, 170. What is the difference right now to lose? Playa del Carmen, Cancún, get ROI, the return is going to be between 2 and 3%, basically almost nothing. And Playa del Carmen.

The return is between 8 and 11%.

Zergio Arano (11:32)
Year, Playa del Carmen is full and Cancún

Zergio Arano (11:36)
Is the same. For example, we have a unit right now in Playa del Carmen. The project is Ilios.

Zergio Arano (11:47)
Is front to the beach. Three minutes walk to the beach.

Zergio Arano (11:53)
This unit, we are selling around $230,000. Okay. And.

Zergio Arano (12:04)
This is on the Quinta Avenida, the most famous avenue in Playa del Carmen. In that area, on the Quinta Avenida, we have 80%, 89% around the year, basically.

Zergio Arano (12:21)
In that units you don’t have nothing to lose because the unit is ready, furniture with returns between 9, 11, 12, 13%. I don’t want to say 14, 15. I really want it to be very,

Zergio Arano (12:38)
Average, right? Between 8 and 11%, okay?

Zergio Arano (12:44)
But I think that’s return over here in United States because I actually, I own houses on Gwinnett County, a return. This is the return they give it to us right now. But if you had a new mortgage over here in Atlanta, you don’t have more than 5%, 6% because houses there are very expensive and your return probably is going to be 6%, 7%. In Mexico, I want to be very clear on that. Only Playa del Carmen and Cancún, we had great returns, not in Tulum. But opportunities actually

We have excellent opportunity in Cancún too. We have our units on the canal, like beach.

30 minutes from Isla Mujeres, shopping center, malls,

Zergio Arano (13:35)
Golf community, two bedrooms and two baths, and they start on the six hundred. Over here in United States, in Miami, you cannot buy two bedrooms for 600K. Golf

Zergio Arano (13:49)
Communities, actually they have a marina, the biggest marina in Latin America. You can have your boat, you can have golf.

You have the beach over there, you have malls, and only that the airport is 20 minutes from the airport. For 600k, you can imagine.

Scott Bursey (14:10)
Is it primarily condos that’s catching your eye right now?

Zergio Arano (14:15)
Yes, this is condos and Tulum. Basically, we can talk about villas, but the villas in Cancún and very nice subdivision with a great location, they start in 2.5 millions. And the same in Playa del Carmen. We have villas, but it’s total different market. We can find great villas for 400, 600K. And Tulum villas for 700K, 800k and very nice subdivisions. They are total different market. This is why you need to come and visit us because when they are talking, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, they are total different markets that we had in

Zergio Arano (15:06)
Less than 200 miles on South Mexico.

Scott Bursey (15:13)
Zergio, what’s your take on the current economic threats specifically regarding cross border investments?

Zergio Arano (15:22)
Okay, well, the most important that we have right now over here and actually, you know, the world is changing a little bit. And this is why I insist to diversify because the trends on the Riviera Maya, I think is, if we’re going to Tulum, is the eco-chic to come back how we lived before.

You know, it’s like more contacts with the, with the nature to be like to live on the luxury, but on the middle of the jungle, you know, close, close to the beach, close to the city from Tulum to Cancún that you can visit this district places in one day, basically, because we are like 45 minutes, one hour and 30 minutes close from each.

Zergio Arano (16:23)
Each city, a lot of people when they mention Cancún, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, they are thinking about they are so far away, like 30 minutes, 45 minutes from each city.

Chad Davis (16:35)
It’s an average commute for Atlanta, huh?

Zergio Arano (16:38)
This is the average commute in Atlanta is right now one hours to each place.

Chad Davis (16:46)
And you have the addition of the Tren Maya, the Mayan train now too. So you can easily get back and forth.

Zergio Arano (16:54)
Yes, actually, that is one of the most important things right now. We have a train, how it’s on Europe. Then we can go from Spain to France, to Italy. This is what we are going to do. Basically, the Tren Maya is on the Riviera Maya from Chetumal to Cancún. And actually, passed the Tulum International Airport. But on the day, if you decide to go to Cancún, the only you need to go,

Go to the train, go to Cancún in one hour and 20 minutes, go to Playa del Carmen in 30 minutes. But if you go to a little bit north Mexico, Mérida, Campeche, actually the train, you can visit other states. But a lot of

Zergio Arano (17:40)
Times American people, they don’t really like to travel a lot. They really like more the inclusive. But I can see European people that they are visiting more.

These places because they really like to explore more. Go to Mérida, Campeche, they explore a little bit more. But the connections, the infrastructure that we have, the new airport, there is going to bring five million people. This is what are they expecting. And we have right now only seven, 10 flights every single day. And the Tren Maya.

And probably for us, it’s very simple. But right now, they say it’s coming to Tulum, Walmart, all these Costco,

Sam’s. It’s coming right now to this place. I really want to mention, it’s incredible, the Tulum airport. This is the biggest airport in Latin America.

They had hangars for private jets. What does it mean? You know, a lot of people are

Wealthy people, they are going to retire on Tulum. They are retiring in Tulum. They are coming to Tulum to live for at least six months, especially Canadian people, you know. But the infrastructure is changing a lot. The last two years, when

I saw Tulum, and actually, Chad, keep being like a few

Many years ago, like 10 years ago, I remember.

Chad Davis (19:20)
Probably been fifteen years since I was there, until I visited you a couple of months ago. But you could definitely see where the infrastructure’s in place and and the changes are, you know, headed for certain.

Zergio Arano (19:32)
And actually they’re building a new mall. Is going to be ready in the next six, seven months. It’s changing a lot. I think Tulum is amazing. And in Cancún, this is a huge city. They’ve grown up so much. I love it for four or five days, you know, because you have everything. When I miss Atlanta, I travel to Cancún and I stay for five days. Well, I come back to Tulum because it’s more like…

Chad Davis (19:59)
Right.

Zergio Arano (20:01)
And Playa del Carmen, when I really miss Mexico, the food, you know, because it’s real Mexico and party all the time on the streets. You can see the dog walking on the streets and everything. This is Playa del Carmen, right? But Tulum is like more, more, more, more eco-chic. Always I say, I was talking with my wife and I tell Chad, I think so, and in Tulum, everybody looks beautiful in the night.

You know,
I love it.

Scott Bursey (20:38)
Appreciate you walking us through your strategy there. You know, another thing that comes to mind is your international team of bilingual and trilingual professionals. How do they impact your daily efficiency?

Zergio Arano (20:54)
Well, I think right now, you know, we are multi-colors around the world, especially Riviera Maya. This is one of the parts I love it because you can be, we want people from USA, from Canada, from Europe, from England. And let me mention this.

One of my properties, we had the rooftop and I am the only Mexican from Mexico. I am the only Mexican in this project.

They live on my state. The other one is from Mexico City. Basically, they are like 36 units and two Mexicans only. We went to the rooftop and everybody start talking in English. I said,

Zergio Arano (21:34)
Hey, hey, stop. We are in Mexico, only Spanish, you know? And they started laughing because, and they say, well, this is the only way because this guy, he was Russian. The other one was from Vietnam. And the easy way is to communicate English.

The most people that we received are from the United States and this is why we have people that speak

Italian, French, actually speak Portuguese too, and English. Is the easy way to communicate with the world. But we have different language. Actually, if we had some peoples from Asia, have people that can translate to us, certified

Zergio Arano (22:21)
Translator.

So they can understand basically because to buy a property in other country, they need to understand, I think contracts very well

Because, and they need to read it, know, always when I bought a property from other country, I read all the contracts, you know, from the A to the Z. And we are going to be, we’re going to provide to our clients, you know, so they can understand because after they sign,

The contract, nothing we can do. I know it’s very exciting to buy a property on the beach. The most, at that moment, this is why investors, we need to be very calm when we are buying properties out of the country, review the builders, review when it’s going to be delivered, the terms, the payments, and everything, if they are going to buy. Long, you know, and always we do a stop with our clients when we send the contracts to them, we will send, could you please review? Do you need help to understand anything? Because the most contracts, they are in Spanish. Actually, they are in Spanish.

Chad Davis (23:43)
Yeah, you definitely want that extra layer of of protection and knowing that somebody’s working with you and you know has your has your back at hand.

Zergio Arano (23:52)
Yeah. And you know, we had the attorneys over there, they speak English. They can explain the contracts on English. One of the things, we’re going to help you on the process. They don’t need to close with our attorneys. They can find their own attorneys. But I already have two or three attorneys that are working in the last four, five years.

Zergio Arano (24:16)
And they can call them, you know? And it doesn’t matter.

With the attorney that are going to close, are

Zergio Arano (24:23)
Going to review the paperwork, everything. That one can be like an easy transaction.

Scott Bursey (23:40)
What what is you know the the secret, I don’t wanna say secret, but what is the strategy that you employ to keep that sort of communication across borders so you can operate effectively?

Zergio Arano (23:56)
Okay, well, I think one of the things that they’re using my
My team

Zergio Arano (24:02)
Is because I have 30 years in United States. My wife, she’s a real estate license for the last 16 years. We had an office on Lawrenceville and if somebody they ask me, we sold properties to attorneys, doctors. I can say, hey, call Steve Lewis.

Only with a name. He’s an attorney in Lawrenceville, find it in Google and call them. How was his experience?

Zergio Arano (24:33)
You know and they are using that this is why we close so many deals because if you they ask me who is Zergio Arano? Who is their company? I had my company for more than 25 24 30 years and you can find the Secretary of State and my company is for 30 years. There’s no a new company and I remember that question. They asked me a few guys from

Zergio Arano (25:01)
California last week
And I told, I can give it to you all the information. The only I cannot give it to you, my Social Security number. But I can give it to you my driver license, my article of incorporation.

Zergio Arano (25:17)
I’m very open to show you that we are like a trust company that you can trust to do your investments. But we are not a new company. We are doing this for so many years. And not only we have this company, we have several companies that we can show to

Zergio Arano (25:38)
Our clients when they need it.

Scott Bursey (25:42)
Zergio, given your international connections, what does your professional network look like currently?

Zergio Arano (25:49)
Okay. On network. How you say?

I am Latino, but we live in a country where people from the world. I do

Zergio Arano (26:01)
Around the… a lot of networking with Mexican Chamber of Commerce, with American Chamber of Commerce.

Zergio Arano (26:14)
We approach a lot of agents because my wife, worked for Keller Williams and she worked before in other companies.

We had a lot of connections with a lot of agents, but the major that we do is connecting with entrepreneurs

Zergio Arano (26:33)
In Georgia area, in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, because we travel around.

Zergio Arano (26:41)
To be in the family, connect each other. But I think the biggest connection that we have is the Mexican Chamber of Commerce.

Scott Bursey (26:53)
Thank you for highlighting that. That is a powerful circle. And Zergio, given your nearly three decades of experience, what is the most important piece of advice you would give an investor looking to diversify into a new country for the very first time?

Zergio Arano (27:11)
I think one of the most important when you are buying

Zergio Arano (27:18)
Everything. Don’t be afraid to ask.

Zergio Arano (27:22)
If they don’t give you the information, he’s not the right person. It’s the mark. If you other people, feel uncomfortable and doesn’t provide information, go away. Go away. I think, and when you are buying something out of the country, buy without the emotion. I know we are very emotional.

A lot of times we buy with emotion. No, try to have zero emotion. I think it’s something that always I keep when I go out, is without emotions because Riviera Maya

Zergio Arano (28:02)
Is very emotional when you see these cenotes, when these rivers on the grounds, these lagoons. But always I tell my clients, let’s go and do the business for two, three, four hours.

Without seeing the cenotes, the rivers under the ground, the lagoons, because after that you are going to buy for emotion.

Zergio Arano (28:23)
You need to review always. What is your strategy? And you need to tell your agent, you need to tell us what is your strategy? If you are going to retire, is for investment, if you need the money to make the payment for the loan, all the things, this is very important.

Because if somebody they come and say, I need the money every month to pay my investment, I know where I want to put this. I don’t need it. But it has to be a great deal. I know where I want to put it. But don’t buy with emotion. I know. And don’t accept to bring to you before today. I think the first thing you need to do it is

See all the units and the properties you want to see. After that, you can go to the cenotes and the rivers under the grounds, the blue lagoons, the beach, the jungle, because after you saw that, I know you’re going to sign without reviewing anything.

Chad Davis (29:31)
Yeah, it’s very much a an impulse buy. And I love that you’re so trustworthy that, you know, you want to make sure that the client’s buying for the right reason, not just because they fell in love with the location that afternoon, but you know, where’s their money gonna be best represented and you know, how’s that gonna be best handled? So knowing that you’re assisting them with a full purchase and not just, you know, feeding off of their desire for that particular location at that moment, I think really speaks a lot.

Scott Bursey (30:08)
Absolutely. Zergio, that was very candid. Thank you for sharing that with our listeners. And you have shared a lot of really good words of wisdom with our listeners here today. But is there any additional words of advice you can leave with our listeners?

Zergio Arano (30:18)
Well, I think if you didn’t visit the Riviera Maya, I think you have to make the plan to

Zergio Arano (30:29)
Visit us. I think it’s one of the most important things. I saw so many people every single day. They are moving to the Riviera Maya. Why? Because the quality life, the

Zergio Arano (30:42)
Style, the eco-chic.

Zergio Arano (30:46)
I don’t know what’s happening in the Riviera Maya, but when

Zergio Arano (30:50)
You visit, I know you’re going to start to wake up early because the energy, the vibe, the job, you know, you’re getting a little more sporty. I saw people that are retired, 70 years old or older, and they look very young, and they are living in Tulum for the last 20 years.

And I think this is why I love nice day. I love it, you know?

Zergio Arano (31:23)
Especially for these boomers that they are looking for a place. I think this is a place they need to visit because your money is worth more than any country’s. Actually, my mom, she’s retired over there.

Zergio Arano (31:40)
God, she has a great life and she’s so happy.

Zergio Arano (31:47)
But the best thing is go and visit us, contact us.

We are going to, we have a list, the things that you can do when you visit the Riviera Maya, because if you do it.

On the traditional way, the most American people they do like, all-inclusive, you are not going to know Mexico. If you want to know Mexico, you need to call us. You don’t need to buy from us. You need to buy only, hey, I’m going to Mexico. What do you recommend? Which places we need to go to? You really know the real Mexico. Because all-inclusive we have around the world, but this is not Mexico.

This is a little part of Mexico. And we need to be prepared. You know, times goes off fast. I

Zergio Arano (32:39)
Remember so many years when I went to Destin,

Zergio Arano (32:44)
Like probably 20 years. And I remember the places there was like 180, 160 small houses. And I told my wife, go and buy one. And

Zergio Arano (32:56)
She said, OK, probably next time when I come back, we can review.

And right now when we come back, these houses are like 1.7, 2 million little houses close from the beach. This is why if you are ready and you want to see and diversify, this is the time because we’ve had a lot of great opportunities.

Scott Bursey (33:20)
Well said. Chad, would you like to add something?

Chad Davis (33:24)
Yeah, I think, you know, I get calls from investors on a daily basis, 15, 20 calls a day almost, for people looking for the next fixer, fixer-upper or the next flip. And you can’t find those nowadays, at least not in Atlanta, like you used to could for you know the the prices that everybody’s looking for. So I think that

People looking over to Mexico or other locations to pick up, you know, some rental properties. I just think it’s a a great investment and I think now’s the time with the current pricing and you know don’t don’t miss out.

Scott Bursey (34:02)
Gentlemen, this has been an incredible conversation. And for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane or collaborate with you on future deals, what is the best way for them to plug into your pipeline and reach you directly? And Zergio, we can start with you.

Zergio Arano (34:17)
Okay,

Actually you can follow us

Zergio Arano (34:19)
On Instagram, Arano Investment Group. It’s A-R-A-N-O, Investment Group. I think this is the easy way. My phone number is 678-878-8230.

Chad Davis (34:36)
You can follow me on most of the socials. I can be identified as Chad Davis. My email address is [email protected]. And my cell phone number is 404-317-1896.

Scott Bursey (34:52)
Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros Podcast.

Chad Davis (34:56)
Thank you.

Zergio Arano (34:58)
Thank you. Thank you so much.

Scott Bursey (35:00)
And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with the lineup of elite guests, just like Zergio Arano and Chad Davis, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.