Lake Atitlán Villages
Twelve distinct villages, each with its own character, community, and property market. Explore the ones that match your lifestyle.
Featured Properties
The Team
International development expertise meets lifelong local knowledge and operational discipline. Three perspectives, one brokerage.
Stefan Bird
Principal Broker & Founder
Stefan's background is international real estate development. He began his career at Moss & Associates in Fort Lauderdale, responsible for winning over $2 billion in multifamily, hotel, and commercial projects across Florida, then joined ZOM Living as Development Manager — overseeing the siting, design, entitlement, construction, and lease-up of over 2,000 apartment units across six properties, including Seazen at Rocky Point in Tampa and Baldwin Harbor in Orlando.
Stefan holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from MIT, where he received the Gerald Blakeley Fellowship, and cross-registered into courses at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His capstone won 2nd Prize in the Plimpton-Poorvu Design Competition. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from the University of Florida and a Certificate for Financing and Deploying Clean Energy from Yale.
Stefan relocated to Lake Atitlán and has since acquired and developed multiple properties in the region — including a renovation in San Pedro La Laguna, a 14-key wellness retreat center in Tzununá, and advisory roles for WuWei Village and Nido Atitlán. He founded Atitlán Properties to bring international standards of transparency, due diligence, and professional conduct to the Lake Atitlán market.
Antonio Semaj
Senior Associate
Antonio was born and raised in Tzununá, the third youngest of six siblings in a family whose roots run deep across the western shore of Lake Atitlán. Where Stefan brings international development standards, Antonio brings something no credential can replicate: an intimate, lifelong understanding of these communities — who owns what, what land is worth, and how deals get done with integrity on the ground.
His professional background spans construction, land sales, land development, and hospitality management — the exact property types Atitlán Properties specializes in. He has worked across multiple villages on the lake and understands the nuances of each community's land market.
Beyond real estate, Antonio is an active civic voice in Tzununá. He supports the mayor's office on new transportation and infrastructure projects and volunteers with Estufa Familiar, a community initiative working to replace wood-burning cooking fires in local homes with clean gas stoves — reducing chronic smoke exposure that disproportionately affects women and children.
Fluent in his native Kaqchikel, Spanish, and English, Antonio bridges worlds that rarely speak to each other in a real estate context — international buyers, local landowners, municipal offices, and indigenous communities.
Helen Rohrs
North American Project Manager
Helen brings a practical, hands-on approach to supporting both clients and operations within the Lake Atitlán market. Based in Canada, she has built and managed multiple businesses with a strong focus on operations, client experience, and execution. Her work is grounded in clear communication, organization, and the ability to move projects forward without unnecessary friction.
She also has direct working experience in Guatemala, where she has been involved in managing operations, coordinating teams, and supporting the day-to-day realities of running projects in a dynamic and relationship-driven environment. This firsthand exposure gives her a clear understanding of how things actually function on the ground — not just how they appear from the outside.
Helen works closely with clients from the initial conversation through to acquisition, helping them stay aligned, informed, and confident in their decisions. At the same time, she actively supports the team on the ground in Guatemala — keeping communication aligned so nothing is lost between vision and execution.
Stefan's involvement with WuWei Village began with identifying the need for a master plan to give our financial model structure and phasing — a framework that transformed how investors are able to understand the opportunity. Beyond the planning work, he sourced an off-market parcel with two waterfalls on a single clean deed, within a thirty minute walk of our community, an amenity that has become a unique legacy preservation asset for fundraising and our community.
Silvère Joly
WuWei Village — Tzununá, Lake Atitlán
Co-Founder
Start Your Lake Atitlán Property Search
30 minutes with Stefan. No commitment. Talk through your vision, your budget, and whether Lake Atitlán is the right market for you.
Monday – Friday · 3–7 PM Guatemala Time
Free consultation · No obligation
Latest Field Notes
Buying Property in Guatemala as a Foreigner: A Complete Guide for Lake Atitlán
What the national rules are, how they apply at Lake Atitlán, and what the process actually looks like from offer to close — for foreign buyers who want to get it right the first time.