All Forum Posts by: Mike Lambert

@Michael L.

It depends on many factors, including which country/ies, your current situation, what your goals are, ... There are no rules.

@Jessika Harris

I've been investing in Mexican STRs for years and answered hundreds of posts on the topic in the BiggerPockets forums. You can find those through my profile but I know they're not easy to navigate so feel free to send me a message as well.

@David To I don't think you'll find anyone since renting for less than 45 days is illegal there.

@Jon Martin Oh things have changed since 2005. Panama City has had huge growth and is now nicknamed the Miami of Latin America and, frankly, its skyline puts Miami's to shame. Good luck finding something for $15 - $20 a night. You'll have to pay many multiples of that.

@Junior Jaquet Hernandez

I love the Dominican Republic and its history and culture but, as far as I've seen, there's hardly any of it in Punta Cana or around. And, as everybody knows, people go there the beach, the weather, nightclubs,.... and, most importantly, the all-inclusive resorts. As for the gastronomy, you can find nice restaurants like anywhere in the world really but, out of personal experience, you can't beat the food of the better all-inclusive resorts there and that's precisely one of the reasons people go for that option.

To answer your question, as you know, Punta Cana accounts for 2/3 of the tourism in the Dominican Republic so, the first time I went, I was wondering about buying a short-term rental there. I emailed a poll to a large group of friends and acquaintances and I asked them the following question: "Would you ever rent a short-term rental in Punta Cana and would you ever go there if it wasn't for an all-inclusive" and not a single person answered yes to either of those questions! Many explained why and it made total sense to me. So no, I don't own property there.

Of course, this isn't necessarily a representative sample statistically speaking and my friends and acquaintances could be a bunch of weirdos so I could be wrong. Well, people needn't listen to you or me. They can just go to Airdna and check how much money the average short-term rental in Punta Cana makes and they'll have an objective answer.

Finally, I'm getting bombarded by messages from Dominican developers building short-term rentals in Punta Cana so, when looking at the statistics, bear in mind that the supply and therefore competition is going to increase significantly.

Hi Ron,

It makes total sense, especially if you have a good deal. Financially speaking, you could of course lose if the market drops, which it might do regardless of the current good economic performance of your country, although that performance reduces the risk. Mind you, you would face the same risk should you buy any existing property in your country.

You didn't mention the largest risks, which are linked to the developer and the deal. I outlined them in detail in this forum post I wrote: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/76/topics/965030-buying...

Hope this helps.

 Hi Silvia, I replied to you by DM so as to make sure that I don't breach the forum rules.

@Tim Watson

Michael Alexander gave you a great list of things to consider.

Regarding financing specifically, only Greek banks will finance you, assuming they finance non-residents. And, if they do, I'm not sure what terms and conditions you'll get. You can find out by doing some preliminary research or find out which bank is the main one and ask them.

@Noelle Geeting

I'm a fellow investor in Mexico and I own in Playa del Carmen as well. It's great that you have residency in Mexico and that you have a Mexican corporation. It's worth mentioning for other readers that, while it doesn't hurt, it's not necessary to be a resident or to own a Mexican corporation to buy real estate in Mexico and any non-resident can own a Mexican corporation anyway.

To answer your question, depending on your strategy, you have various options, depending on your objectives:
* Other beach resort towns whether in Q Roo, Baja California Sur, Puerto Vallarta - Riviera Nayarit, Mazatlan or the Oaxaca Coastline.
* Inland cities like Mexico City (the capital), Guadalajara and Monterrey (the 2nd and 3rd cities who are benefiting from the onshoring/reshoring/nearshoring boom and the rise of the middle classes), San Miguel de Allende or Merida.

Hope this helps otherwise feel free to reach out.

@Michael Baum

These are the "expensive" Caribbean, where people buy properties for lifestyle. As an investment, you need to buy in the "cheap" Caribbean like in Mexico or the Dominican Republic. The right property in the right place can be very profitable, as the cost of the property and expenses will be much lower.

What an interesting conversation with great contributions from everyone, especially for somebody who's passionate about investing in both real estate and the stock market like myself.

The reality is that I can write a phD thesis that will demonstrate that real estate is the better investment using a given set of data and arguments and I can write another phD thesis that will demonstrate that the stock market is the better investment using a different set of data and arguments.

I think it's fair to state that, in general:
- Stocks will give you a higher return on an unleveraged basis;
- If, like most people, you buy stocks on an unleveraged basis and real estate on a leveraged basis, real estate will give you a higher return unless interest rates are (very) high;
- If you leverage both, stocks will give you the highest return but leveraging stocks is very risky for most people, especially those who don't master real estate investing.

You don't necessarily have to choose between the two though. You can split your investment money between real estate and the stock market.

There is a way to turbocharge investment returns by mixing the two but I'd only consider doing this if and only if master both stock and real estate investing because it allows to invest in both with the same money. The idea is the following: buying stocks with cash, borrow against them to pay for the down payment for the real estate and basically get the real estate for free, assuming that it is cash flowing. Basically, this comes down to using double leverage.

Now the last thing I want to do is to encourage irresponsible and overly risky behaviour so I want to mention that borrowing against stocks is very risky, especially when buying the wrong stocks. Doing this properly can make one very wealthy over time but doing it wrong can lead to bankruptcy. It won't work with investing in the S&P 500, only with investing in the right individual stocks at the right time (it won't work with most stocks). Knowing about how to use options is optional but could further increase the return and decrease the risk.

I've been investing in the stock market since I graduated from college and I've mentored many friends and acquaintances so I figured out I have the necessary experience to do this. But, if I didn't, I'd stay away from this and would just spread my money between real estate and stocks and only leverage the real estate.