Long term Rental Cozumel: where to start?
Cozumel is a wonderful island with many beautiful properties that you can rent while visiting on vacation. There is also a nice selection of homes continuously coming up for sale. What is a bit harder to find, however, is a long-term rental.
With the increasing popularity of vacation rental sites like Airbnb and VRBO, it is often more profitable for property owners to rent their places on a short-term basis. Plus owners want to enjoy their properties they have bought in paradise with their own family and friends of course!
Further, Cozumel is growing in popularity with new islanders coming all the time, creating a good market for sales.
As a result, long-term rentals are few and far-between, particularly during the high season (December to May) and in the last months leading up to it.
But don’t lose all hope!
With the right people on your side, you can still find some great potential options.
For all those dreaming of moving to the paradise of Cozumel and renting long-term, I want to share a story from one of my clients.
“My husband, son, and I are from California but have been living abroad since April of 2013. We work online so decided to pack up and hit the road! Our journey started in Costa Rica where we spent two years, was followed by one year traveling around Europe, and now we have lived in the Riviera Maya for a little over a year.
We started in Akumal first, then moved to Playa del Carmen, but neither of them were quite what we were looking for. Too isolated, too hectic. We were considering leaving the area when our lease was up.
In the meantime, we took a trip to Cozumel for a few nights with some family that was visiting. We snorkeled, hung out around town, bought groceries, went out for live music, and that was all it took for us to catch the Cozumel fever! I couldn’t believe how different the vibe in Cozumel was, being such a short ferry ride away from Playa del Carmen. After finding out we could get a good internet connection, we started looking at rentals and schools while still on that trip! It really is a great place for us to work online, have access to everything we need, and enjoy our free time.
Over the next few weeks, we found a great school that our son loved and contacted many realtors on the island to get help finding a place to rent for six months to a year. Unfortunately, we hit many dead-ends. Most realtors weren’t returning our calls or would tell us nothing was available. I should add it was September at the time so high season was right around the corner.
We were getting discouraged and started considering other locations. Then, we got a glimmer of hope.
A realtor named Karen Bloemhoff posted a beautiful condo in a Cozumel Facebook group for Real estate and long-term rentals!
We messaged her right away and were able to arrange a time to see it that week.
Karen met us in the lobby with a warm smile and showed us around the place and the grounds.
It was perfect; a wonderful fit for us that ticked all the boxes and then some.
Later that afternoon we met another realtor who showed us a few places, however many were nowhere close to what we wanted. Further, several were for sale which meant we would have to move within 30 days if the house sold. The second realtor actually encouraged us to get the condo Karen showed us!
Although Karen specializes in helping people to buy and sell properties, she was able to help us find our perfect long-term rental home on the island. Now, four months later, we have begun to meet many people in the community and are considering basing our travels from here. We may just be homebuyers sometime in the future!
In closing, I’d like to say Karen does everything to a high standard. She is by the book, reliable, and has a passion for her work.
So whether you need to buy, sell, or even rent long-term, her and the team are a great resource you can
For anyone who is considering a move to Cozumel but isn’t quite ready to buy, my team and I can help! We know the properties around town and have a wide network of connections on the island. Although short-term rentals and sales are the bigger business, the low season can hit some property owners hard, making a long-term renter more attractive.
Let us know what you are looking for and we will tap into our resources to find opportunities that aren’t posted anywhere else!
We know not everyone is ready to buy, and renting first can help you learn more about the island.
It will give you time to decide if, when, and where you want to buy, without pressure.