Yes. Short-term rentals through Airbnb or Vrbo and long-term leases are both normal and legal in Tulum, for foreign and Mexican owners alike. What varies is the paperwork: an RFC for tax purposes, lodging registration at the state level, income tax on what you earn, and whatever your community's own rules allow.
I run commercial for Selvadentro, so treat the numbers below as market context rather than a projection of your return. Nobody can promise you an occupancy rate. What we can do is describe honestly how rental income behaves in this specific market — and where it disappoints people who arrived with the wrong model in their head.
What actually drives occupancy in Tulum?
Tulum's demand is experience-driven rather than business-driven. People come for cenotes, jungle, ruins, diving, wellness retreats, weddings — which means demand is seasonal in a way a city rental is not. High season runs roughly December through April, with holiday and Easter peaks; the slow stretch is late summer and early fall, overlapping the rainy months and hurricane season.
Three consequences follow. Your annual income concentrates in a handful of months, so a bad high season hurts disproportionately. Your property has to be genuinely good, because guests here are comparing you against design hotels, not against other apartments. And regional perception matters: sargassum seasons affect beaches from roughly May to September, and while a jungle-side property is physically unaffected, a bad sargassum year in the press can soften bookings for everyone.
The upside of the same dynamic is that a distinctive property in a jungle setting is not a commodity. Cenote access, preserved canopy and real quiet are exactly what this market's guests are searching for and cannot get from a standard condo.
Short-term or long-term: which one fits you?
| Short-term (Airbnb / Vrbo) | Long-term (annual lease) | |
|---|---|---|
| Effort | High — turnover, guest messaging, cleaning, restocking | Low — one contract, periodic inspections |
| Income pattern | Higher gross in high season, thin in low season | Flat, predictable, year-round |
| Vacancy risk | Constant, seasonal | Concentrated at contract end |
| Wear on the property | Faster; furniture and linens are consumables | Slower |
| Furnishing | Fully furnished and styled, non-negotiable | Often unfurnished or minimal |
| Tax treatment | Lodging service — registration and lodging tax apply | Residential lease — treated differently |
| Typical tenant | Travelers, remote workers on short stays | Residents, long-stay professionals |
| Who it suits | Owners who want upside and accept management | Owners who want simplicity and stability |
A third option sits between them: medium-term stays of one to three months, aimed at remote workers and seasonal residents. Less turnover than nightly rentals, better rates than an annual lease, and increasingly common in Tulum.
Property manager or self-manage?
If you do not live in Tulum, hire a manager. Remote self-management works for exactly as long as nothing goes wrong — and in a tropical climate, something goes wrong: a pump, a mold spot after a week of rain, a guest locked out at midnight, a storm to prepare for.
A full-service manager typically handles listings and pricing, guest communication, check-in, cleaning crews, maintenance and reporting. Expect a management fee as a percentage of rental revenue; the range in the Riviera Maya varies by scope, so compare two or three proposals rather than accepting the first. Ask what is included versus billed separately, who holds the funds, how often you are paid, and what happens to your listing if you switch managers.
Self-managing makes sense if you live here, or if you are renting long-term to a single tenant and simply want a local contact for repairs.
What taxes and registrations apply?
This is the part people skip, and the part an accountant should own. In general terms, and worth confirming for your own situation:
Income tax (ISR) applies to rental income earned in Mexico, whether you are resident or not. Foreign owners who rent need an RFC — a Mexican tax ID — to invoice and to file properly. Getting one as a non-resident is a normal procedure, and it is usually the first thing a local accountant sets up for you.
IVA (value-added tax) enters the picture for short-term lodging, which the system treats as a service, rather than for long-term residential leases. The distinction matters, and it is not one to guess at.
State lodging tax exists in Quintana Roo and is charged on short-stay accommodation. Registration as a lodging provider is part of operating legitimately.
Platform withholding: Airbnb and Vrbo withhold Mexican taxes on payouts, at different rates depending on whether you have provided an RFC. That withholding is not the end of your obligation — it is an advance against it.
Rules and rates change, and municipal requirements around short-term rentals have been tightening across the Riviera Maya. Retain a Mexican accountant before your first booking, not after your first tax notice.
Can my community stop me from renting?
Yes, and this is the single most under-asked question in the market. A community's regime and HOA rules can restrict short-term rentals, cap them, require registration with the administration, or ban them outright. Those rules bind you the moment you sign, and they are far easier to check than to change.
So ask, in writing, before you buy: are short-term rentals permitted? Are there minimum stay requirements? Do guests get amenity access, and is there a fee? Must managers be approved? Read it in the regime document rather than hearing it from a salesperson — the same discipline that applies to the building rules you inherit and to how HOA fees are structured.
What does it actually cost to run?
Budget these before you model any return: the management fee; cleaning per stay; utilities, which climb with air conditioning; internet; pool and garden maintenance, both aggressive line items in the jungle; HOA fees; property tax (predial, comparatively low in Mexico); insurance; furnishing and its replacement every few years; platform commissions; accounting; and vacancy — the cost nobody puts in the spreadsheet and everybody pays.
Net yield is what survives all of that, and it is materially lower than the gross figures in sales decks. Ask any seller who quotes you a return to show the assumptions behind it. If they cannot, the number is decoration.
What about renting at Selvadentro?
Selvadentro sells lots, so renting here means renting a home you build within the community's building rules. Rentals are permitted, and we work with property managers who operate in the area, so owners who want the property worked rather than just held have a path to do it. Amenities — the 12-plus experiences and clubhouse — are part of what makes a stay here distinctive, and residents have cenote and amenity access from the day of purchase.
The honest framing: buy land here because the land and the life it enables make sense to you. Rental income is a real possibility on top of that, not the reason to sign. If you want the appreciation side of the case with its actual figures, that is laid out in the investment breakdown, and what daily life here looks like is worth reading before you decide who the house is really for.