We met Ryan at an International Living Conference in Las Vegas in 2016. Ryan was building a development of Villas in Tulum, Mexico. Originally we had not considered retiring in Mexico. We were considering other countries, but after meeting Ryan and viewing Ryan’s presentation on the first phase of a development called Riviera Tulum we decided to give it a look. Ryan invited us to come down and stay at his personal condo so we arranged a quick 3 day get away to go view the property, so we flew from our home in Austinburg, Ohio to Cancun. Ryan met us at the airport and we stayed with him in his condo. Ryan showed us around Tulum, introduced us to friends, made us feel welcome and we fell in love with Tulum.
We have 2 large dogs so a condo was not an option. Riviera Tulum is about 2.5 miles from the beach and the property was a great value for the location. When we viewed the development we picked out our lot that weekend. We made our offer and Ryan handled all the arrangements to purchase the lot. We also went over the basic design we wanted for our house. After a lovely visit we flew home and Ryan emailed us with the acceptance of our offer. All the paperwork was handled by email and we transferred funds directly through our bank. Ryan made the process easy. Our house was going to be the first one built in Riviera Tulum, Tulum Mexico. He sent us a model and we agreed on the design. He has since added some extra touches on the later homes built in Riviera Tulum. He kept us up to date on the entire process through photos on his web site so we could follow the progress even though we couldn’t be there. He also emailed us with any developments as we went along. At each stage of the process he would email us when we needed to transfer funds, and what the funds were for. It was very easy to do through our bank. It took about 6 months to complete our home. After it was completed we decided to add a palapa, straw structure for shade on the roof, and Ryan also handled that for us.
When it came time to do the paperwork for the title for the property, Ryan took us to the lawyer’s office and explained everything to us. Ryan took us to the electric company to set up our electric service, they took us to pay our taxes the first time and they even met us at the insurance agent office to set up home insurance. Ryan even spent a whole day with us shopping in Playa Del Carmen for all the necessities and furniture for our home. Even without us being able to speak any Spanish the process was made so simple.
During the process we visited during all four seasons and had a wonderful time. The people of Tulum are friendly and helpful, we have had to shop for things and been unable to speak the language but someone always offers to help and will explain what we need. Also many of the people speak English which is a great help. There are so many restaurants in Tulum that serve all types of cuisine.
The beaches are beautiful. We have been to the ruins in Tulum. There are cenotes (fresh water sink holes) and so many other things to explore. We look forward to our retirement and living in Mexico year round because there is still so much we have to see and explore. Until then we are renting our house. Ryan even helped us set that up.
