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Playa Realtors · Buyer representation, Quintana Roo

Buy with
someone on
your side.

One licensed, credentialed broker beside you from the first shortlist to the deed with your name on it, with access to every property for sale in Quintana Roo and every obligation to you in writing. The seller pays the commission, so representation costs you nothing and changes everything.

0
Cost to you as buyer
20+
Years on this coast
4
Languages we work in
14
Zones we cover

Credentials
CPACertified public accountant, so the numbers get read the way a numbers person reads them.
Licensed brokerAgency License #1917120B0FBGMR008000735, issued by SEDETUS, whose certification every agent in Quintana Roo is required to hold. Karina was in the first generation to earn it.
NAR REALTOR®ID 061430087, bound by the REALTOR® Code of Ethics.
AMPIMember of the Asociación Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios.

See all our credentials

01Why a buyer’s broker

Representation you can
point to in writing

There is no MLS the way you know it at home, no standard contract, and no title insurance company standing between you and the transaction. What protects a foreign buyer here is simple: a licensed, credentialed broker whose obligations to you are written down, and a file where every term you agreed to is on paper before any money moves.

What changes when you have representation

No MLS here, so we are your MLSMexico has no MLS, which is why one portal never shows you the market. We are plugged into the broker network across Quintana Roo: every agency’s listings, every developer’s inventory, resales, and the off market properties owners never advertise. We can show you all of it, not only what carries our sign.

Someone verifies the storyEvery claim about permits, rental income, HOA fees and land use gets checked against a document before you put money down.

You negotiate with informationWe know what comparable units actually closed at, not what they were listed at, and what the seller’s real timeline is.

The file gets runNotary, escrow, trust bank, translator, appraiser. Somebody has to chase all of them in Spanish, on Mexican timelines.

You get told noThe most valuable thing we do is tell you when a property is wrong, or when the paperwork will not survive a closing.

Your terms on paperWho is responsible for what, what you agreed to and what protects your deposit, in one document you can hold, in your language and in Spanish.

What we will not do

Push our own inventoryWe work across the whole market: other agencies, developer stock and off market. If the right property belongs to someone else, that is the one we show you.

Hide a numberYou get your all in cost, closing costs included, in writing on day one, and again from the notary before you sign.

Rush a deadlineDue diligence takes the time it takes. A seller who will not allow it is telling you something.
Karina D. Sayed, CPA, CEO and Broker at Playa Realtors
In a market with no MLS,
a license is the guarantee.
CPABroker license 1917120B0FBGMR008000735NAR REALTOR® ID 061430087AMPI memberSEDETUS certified

Verify every credential

Pool, timber deck and open air living room of a residence backed by jungle
Riviera Maya · Pool terrace
Rooftop infinity pool at sunset overlooking the Riviera Maya skyline
Rooftop · Infinity pool at sunset

02What we do

Six things, and we
do all six ourselves

This is not a referral desk. The same broker who takes your first call reads your deed draft, and you have one point of contact from search through the year after closing.

01
Search
We start from what the property is for, not from a price filter. Personal use, rental income and a five year resale lead to different buildings, different zones and different tax setups, and we shortlist accordingly.
02
Verify
Public Registry, liens, predial, HOA debt, land use, condominium regime, construction licenses and the beachfront concession. We read them, and we tell you what is missing.
03
Negotiate
Price, currency, what stays in the unit, who pays which closing line, and the deadlines that protect your deposit. All of it in writing, bilingual, with the Spanish version governing.
04
Structure
Fideicomiso or Mexican corporation, substitute beneficiaries, whether you need an RFC, and how the funds should move. Decided before the offer, not at the notary’s table.
05
Close
Notary, escrow, appraisal, the SRE permit and the wire timeline, coordinated to one signing date. Deed draft in your hands 48 hours before you sign it.
06
After
Utility transfers, the first predial, insurance, a property manager, a contractor, an accountant. The part most agents stop before, and the part that decides how the first year feels.

Buyer representation is paid by the seller out of the commission already built into the price. It does not increase what you pay, and there is no separate fee from us at any point.

03How it works

From first call to
keys in your hand

Four stages on our side, then a closing process with eight steps of its own. Nothing about it should ever be a surprise, which is why the whole closing sequence is written out with real timelines and real numbers.

01Consultation
02Shortlist and tour
03Offer and deposit
04Closing

Step four, in full Closing,
step by step
The fideicomiso, due diligence, the notary, acquisition tax by municipality, escrow, signing day and the boleta de registro. Read the closing guide

04Where we work

The whole coast, and
the guides to go with it

We are licensed across the whole state and we work all of it: Isla Mujeres, Costa Mujeres, Cancún, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras, Akumal, Xpu-Ha, Tulum, Sian Ka’an, Cozumel, Holbox, Mahahual and Bacalar. Fourteen zones, one broker, and access to everything for sale in each of them, listed and off market. For the communities buyers ask about most, there is a full guide: what is inside the gates, what the fees really cover, what the rental rules are and what it costs to own.

05What buyers get wrong

Three habits that cost
foreign buyers money

None of these come from carelessness. They come from doing what works at home in a market that does not run on the same rules.

Habit 01

Browsing portals first

Most of what you find online here is duplicated, expired or mispriced, and a good part of the people behind it are not registered agents. Weeks disappear into comparing listings that are not comparable and some of which are already sold.

Do this insteadStart with the broker, then the property. We pre select from the whole market and take the dead listings out of your week.
Habit 02

Going direct to the developer

The commission is already inside the price. Without your own broker the developer keeps it, and the person guiding you is their in house sales team, whose duty is to the project and not to you.

Do this insteadWe never represent developers. We negotiate on your side, point you to independent counsel and show you the resales a sales office will not mention.
Habit 03

Trusting the advertisement

Reserve now offers on social media can hide a project with no permits, a developer with no completion bond, or land that cannot legally be titled to you at all, ejido land above all.

Do this insteadTitle, land use and permits get checked before you send a single peso. If a property cannot survive that review, you never see it on your shortlist.

06The answers you want first

Can you own it, and
what does it really cost

Two questions come before any property, and most buyers are three conversations deep before anyone answers them plainly. Here they are.

Yes, a foreigner can own here

The coast sits inside the restricted zone, so you hold title through a fideicomiso, a bank trust in which you are the beneficiary with full rights to use, rent, remodel, sell and pass on the property. It runs 50 years and renews. Some inland land sits outside the zone and can be held directly, which we confirm lot by lot.

Budget 7 to 10 percent on top

Closing costs are paid by the buyer: the municipal acquisition tax at 2 to 4 percent depending on the city, notary fees around 2 percent, the registry, the appraisal and, for a foreign buyer, about USD 2,000 to set up the trust. You get your all in number in writing on day one.

Your money sits in escrow

Funds go to an escrow agent, never to us and never to the seller personally. They are released only once the deed has been executed and a disbursement letter is signed by both parties. Wires take one to three business days, so the calendar is built around that.

Holding it costs less than you think

Property tax in Quintana Roo is a fraction of what an equivalent home costs in the United States or Canada. Prices and rents are quoted in dollars while many operating costs are in pesos, which works in a foreign owner’s favour. See the full cost breakdown.

07Who you work with

Karina D. Sayed, CPA, CEO, Broker and Owner at Playa Realtors

We make it happen is not a slogan. It means the document gets read twice, the hard question gets asked early, and you are never the last person to know.

Signature of Karina D. Sayed, CEO, Playa Realtors

Karina D. Sayed, CPA
CEO, Broker and Owner · Playa Realtors
CPA and licensed broker, Agency License #1917120B0FBGMR008000735
NAR REALTOR® ID 061430087, and a member of AMPI
English, Español, Français and Deutsch across the team

08Questions

What buyers ask
before they start

What does a buyer’s broker cost me?

Nothing. The commission is paid by the seller out of the sale price, and it is the same whether or not you are represented. So the question is never what representation costs, it is what you get for it: licenses you can verify, obligations to you in writing and access to the whole market.

Can you show me properties that are not your listings?

Yes, and this is the point. Mexico has no MLS, so no single portal or agency shows you the market. We are plugged into the broker network across Quintana Roo, so we can show you every agency’s listings, every developer’s inventory, resales and the off market properties owners never advertise. We are not trying to move our own stock.

Do I need to be in Mexico to buy?

No. We run virtual tours and video walkthroughs, and we can close for you through a power of attorney signed at a Mexican consulate or apostilled at home. Some of our buyers first stand in the property as its owner.

How long does buying take?

A typical resale runs 45 to 75 days from accepted offer to signed deed, and due diligence is most of that. Pre construction is a payment schedule across the build, with the closing at delivery. The closing guide lays out the whole calendar.

What languages do you work in?

English, Español, Français and Deutsch. Every contract here is written in Spanish and the Spanish version governs, so we explain each document to you in your own language before you sign it.

Nothing in this process should ever be a surprise.

Signature of Karina D. Sayed, CEO, Playa Realtors

Buyer representation

Tell us what you
are looking at

Send us a listing, a building name or just a budget and a reason for buying. We will tell you what to verify first, and what it will actually cost you to own.

First callTwenty minutes, no obligation and no exclusivity agreement to talk to us.
Question oneWhat the property is for: living, renting or reselling. It decides everything after it.
Question twoYour all in number, closing costs and annual holding costs included, in writing.
ThenA shortlist from the whole market within a week, with the legal risks already filtered out.

Office
Calle 34 between 10 and 20 Av.
Local 3, Col. Centro
Playa del Carmen, Q.R. 77710
WhatsApp, Mexico

+52 984 186 5453

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