How Riviera Maya pre-construction schedules work
Most Riviera Maya developers structure pre-construction as follows: 5-10% reservation deposit at contract signing, 20-30% down payment 30-60 days later, 30-50% spread across monthly installments through construction, and 20-40% balance at delivery (entrega). The delivery balance is usually financed via a Mexican peso mortgage from one of the five lenders surfaced in the mortgage calculator, or paid in cash. The reservation deposit MUST be held in the developer's fideicomiso (escrow), NOT the developer's operating account, this is a key buyer-protection rule that separates legitimate Mexican developers from frauds.
The assignment-pre-close exit (the snowbird flip)
Many Riviera Maya developers permit assignment of the purchase contract to a third-party buyer before delivery. The exit play: deploy reservation + down + 12-24 months of installments (typically 30-50% of contract price), then assign for the appreciation differential minus a developer transfer fee (typically 5-15%). The assignor never takes title, never sets up a fideicomiso, never pays closing costs, never files Mexican income tax on a sale. For a Quebec snowbird who wants Mexican real estate exposure but does not want to manage a property year-round or hold title, this is a clean entry-and-exit. Verify: assignment must be written into your contrato de promesa; not all developers permit it; some impose a holding period (typically 6 months minimum) before assignment is allowed.
Developer fideicomiso escrow: the buyer-protection rule
Mexican law does not require pre-construction reservation deposits to be held in escrow. But every legitimate Riviera Maya developer will hold deposits in a fideicomiso (bank trust) separate from the developer's operating account. If a developer asks you to wire funds directly to a corporate account or to a personal account, walk away. Standard practice: the fideicomiso is at a major Mexican bank (BBVA, Banamex, Scotiabank, Santander, HSBC), the trust agreement names the buyer as fideicomisario, and funds release to the developer in tranches as construction milestones are verified by an independent supervisor.
Why this is a model, not an offer
Pre-construction schedules vary by developer. Reservation percentages, installment counts, delivery dates, and assignment policies are all developer-specific. Appreciation at delivery is a forward projection that depends on market conditions, developer execution, and macro factors (peso/USD, tourist demand, infrastructure development). Always read the contrato de promesa carefully, verify the fideicomiso escrow arrangement, and use this calculator as a working model, not a binding cost estimate.