Less than most owners expect. Budget predial (Mexico's property tax, municipality-set and famously low), an HOA fee if you are in a private community — ours is about 5 MXN per m² per month — a fideicomiso annuity of typically $500–700 USD for foreign owners, plus insurance and utilities once you build. Vacant land carries almost nothing.
I run the commercial side of Selvadentro, and the annual question is the one buyers ask least and should ask first. The purchase price is a decision you make once; carrying costs are the ones you live with. Below is every recurring line I know of, with our own figures labelled as ours and market ranges labelled as ranges. The one-time costs at purchase are a separate conversation, covered in what it costs to own in a Tulum private community.
What is predial, and why is it so low?
Predial is the municipal property tax, assessed on the valor catastral — the assessed value the municipality assigns your property, which is typically well below market value. That combination, low assessment and low rate, is why property tax in Mexico is famously modest by US and Canadian standards: owners arriving from those markets routinely budget for a number ten times what they end up paying.
Three practical notes. It is set and collected by the municipality, so it varies from one to the next. Undeveloped land is assessed lower than a built house, so the bill rises when you build. And most municipalities give a discount for paying the whole year early, usually in the first weeks of January — worth asking about at the municipal office, because it is one of the few real estate discounts nobody has to negotiate.
We deliberately do not publish a predial figure. It depends on your municipality and your assessed value, and a number invented on a website is worse than no number. Your notario can estimate it at closing from the assessed value on the escritura.
How much is the HOA in a private community?
At Selvadentro the maintenance fee is approximately 5 MXN per m² per month, billed on lot size — which means you can calculate it yourself before you speak to anyone.
| Item | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee, 600 m² lot | 600 m² × ~5 MXN | ~3,000 MXN/month |
| Annual fee, 600 m² lot | ~3,000 MXN × 12 | ~36,000 MXN/year |
| Monthly fee, 1,000 m² lot | 1,000 m² × ~5 MXN | ~5,000 MXN/month |
Two things worth noticing. First, the fee is denominated in pesos, so a dollar-based owner sees the dollar cost move with the exchange rate — historically a tailwind for USD earners, but it cuts both ways and honesty requires saying so. Second, the fee is charged on the land, not on what you build, so it does not jump the day your house is finished.
What it funds in our case: 24/7 security and controlled access, upkeep of the amenities and common areas — cenotes, trails, the clubhouse — and the community's shared infrastructure. Our structure also includes a homeowners-association reserve for long-term maintenance, which is the difference between a community that ages well and one that lives on special assessments. When you compare developments, ask all three questions everywhere: how much per m², what exactly it covers, and whether a formal long-term reserve exists.
What does the fideicomiso cost each year?
If you are a foreign buyer inside the restricted zone — within 50 km of the coast, which includes all of Tulum — you hold title through a bank trust. The fideicomiso has a one-time setup cost at closing and then a bank annuity of typically $500–700 USD per year, paid to the trustee bank for as long as you own.
It is fixed, predictable, and the price of a structure that has given foreign owners full rights to use, rent, sell and inherit since Mexico's 1973 foreign investment law, updated in 1993. Mexican nationals do not pay it: they take direct title and skip this line entirely.
Do you need insurance on vacant land?
Rarely, and that is one of the quiet advantages of buying land first. There is very little to insure on an empty lot, so most owners carry nothing beyond what their community already maintains.
A built home is different. This is the Caribbean, hurricane season runs June to November region-wide, and property insurance here is normal, available and priced on construction value. An inland jungle site is less exposed than beachfront — there is no storm surge to worry about, though wind is real everywhere — and the regional building standard is reinforced concrete, which is why insurers treat these homes the way they do. Nobody in this market should sell you immunity; what exists is a favourable exposure profile, solid construction norms and ordinary insurance.
What does a full year actually look like?
Illustrative only — a 600 m² lot in a private community, held by a foreign owner. Your municipality, your bank and your build will change every line.
| Annual cost | Vacant 600 m² lot | Same lot with a house |
|---|---|---|
| Predial | Low; assessed on land only | Higher; assessment includes construction, still modest |
| HOA (~5 MXN/m²/month) | ~36,000 MXN | ~36,000 MXN — the fee follows the land, not the build |
| Fideicomiso annuity | $500–700 USD typical | $500–700 USD typical |
| Insurance | Minimal; little to insure | Standard; quoted on construction value |
| Utilities | Effectively none | Electricity, water, gas, internet, scaling with use |
| Upkeep | Occasional clearing | Garden, pool service, caretaker or property manager |
Read the left column as the actual answer for most buyers today: an HOA fee in pesos, a modest predial and a bank annuity. That is the whole carrying cost of holding land in a serviced private community — which is precisely why land is the low-friction way into this market while a build waits for the right moment.
What changes when you build?
Everything on the right column starts, plus one-time items your architect quotes: construction permits and licences, utility hookups to your lot, and the build itself under the rules that bind every owner here — 35% maximum lot coverage, 70% floor-area ratio, two levels plus roof deck. At Selvadentro there is no deadline to start building, and once you do start you have a two-year window to finish.
One last piece of housekeeping that pays for itself years later: keep receipts for everything. Facturas for construction and improvements, closing documents, annuity receipts. They are deductible when you sell, as the capital gains guide explains, and lost paperwork is the most expensive filing error in Mexican real estate.
If you want these lines run against a specific lot — size, price, payment plan and the peso figures at today's rate — current availability is public at Tulum land for sale, and an advisor will hand you the full cost sheet before asking anything of you.