With Fifty Grand to Invest

This one is going to be quick and easy.
I get lots of e-mail very similar to the one below.
Joe writes…

I am a 36 years old and live in NYC. I am looking to find out about buying property (perhaps just land) in Nicaragua. Not sure about the rules for foreign nationals, etc... Was hoping to find out some of that information from you? Squatters rights, etc.. Anything and everything that I would need to know. I am looking for something that would be a good investment property and a bargain. The absolute ceiling for me at this point would be $50K just so you know that I am not wealthy. I worked in Panama and Ecuador and fell in love with central and South America and would love to buy some property that my French girlfriend (soon to be wife) can vacation in and watch our future children grow up in, and someday retire to. I recently had a conversation with a co-worker who just bought some land in the Costa Rican mountains for as little as $10k!! This is true. I thank you in advance.
Joe

Joe
Buying property in Nicaragua is just like buying property in NYC.
Yeah right!
It’s way different here. First of all you are treated just like a Nica. That is you have the same rights and your property title will not read any different than anyone else’s.
But in NYC you have a cadre of laws and agencies and enforcement protecting you. Here as Bob Dillon said.

“ The cops don’t need you and buddy they expect the same”

You need to do you homework or better yet buy from someone who has a stake in Nicaragua and a reputation to protect. They can do the heavy lifting.
I’ve lived here ten years now and my Nicaraguan partner and I have helped a hundred or so folks get started here in Nicaragua. We have property here and lives and no plans to leave.

There are no squatter’s rights like in Costa Rica. Nicaragua dealt with land reform in the 80’s through revolution. The new owners wrote a new constitution and they have written very strong private property laws to protect themselves. We new comers get a free ride. You do need to keep an eye on your land though.
I would not advise walking away for a year without some kind of vigilance.
Yes there are ten thousand dollar parcels

There are ten thousand dollar parcels to be bought but run the numbers if you will.
Just what could you possibly be buying? We sold some lots for $9,500 four years ago. Nice places just outside of SJDS (San Juan del Sur) and today they are probably worth $15K. At the same time your $50K would have bought you an A lot on the beach at Playa Iguana, which would sell in a New York minute today for $250K.



Today if I had $50K what would I buy?
The question is more like what could I buy?
Raw land has appreciated too much for $50K to buy anything with real potential. Partnered up with a few other folks and yes there are still great buys out there but they are bigger and 150K would be a minimal buy in.
Let’s try checking the surf? When in doubt surf out.
There is a guy with the nutty idea that he can go surfing all day everyday and get paid to do it. Lets check out his web site at NSR
www.nicaraguasurfreport.com
He has ads on the side to generate income. He sells tee shirts and has bigger plans for the future. Lets check the ads for real estate.
NicaDev
http://www.nicadev.com/
Nice idea. Sounds like the kind of stuff I write. I like the sound of it and it would be worth checking out. $50K might just get you into a place with ocean view.
Century 21
http://www.c21sanjuandelsur.com/farms.htm
Nothing under $180K
Steve Snyder
http://www.sniderrealty.com.ni/
Looks like mostly properties in the major developments on Tola.
Relatively risk free and lovely beaches.
No prices and I’m pretty sure if they knew you only had $50K to invest they would turn you around at the gate. But wait… I do know the golf course lots in Playa Iguana are still available for $60K, just ten K over the fifty thousand Joe has to invest. Maybe something in Gualito?

And now the Pitch.
I write these things for a reason. The reason is to attract the right kind of people to Nicaragua and make them part of our life down here.

There are still golf course lots available in Playa Iguana now for around $60K. Great investment and lots of infrastructure but you want to raise kids on a golf course? Minimal house to pass CC & R’s would be $125,000 I bet.

My favorite local in Nicaragua is Pie de Gigante.

Bahia Gigante is a pristine Nicaraguan fishing village, pristine in that it is still peopled by people of the sea. The locals are still in position on the beachfront properties and they work everyday at the fishing. You can move back in time in Gigante.
My partner and I have a dream of creating a community of like-minded people in Gigante. Like-minded in that we are looking for something we don’t find in the USA anymore, friends and camaraderie. A life filled with fishing, surfing swimming in the clear waters of the bay. Art and culture on a family and neighborhood level; in Nicaragua everyone is considered a poet until they prove themselves otherwise.
I want to live with my Nicaragua neighbors not apart from them. Gates to keep out the animals not the locals, gardeners instead of guards. A lending library at the public well where the local children can be exposed to books and learning while their Mothers wash the family’s clothes.
$50K would buy a lovely lot with ocean view and all the utilities.
We have one lot left in our first project called oddly enough Gigante Uno. It is about 1000 sq meters and sells for $27,500. That would be about $30K after utilities hook-ups. Most developers include the utilities. We do it differently. Because we are trying to develop a sense of community we install the utilities and then split the cost among the varied owners. It gets people used to the idea that we are in this thing together and together we can do wonderful things cheaply.


We still have a lot or two left in Las Delicious just outside of San Juan del Sur. You could buy in for $15K and build a garage with sleeping area and kitchen and bathroom for another $15 K. You’d have a place to vacation while you slowly built the rest of the house.

A short list I’m sure. Let me know if somebody out there finds something better or even equal.

Now in my last post I talked about two houses for sale in San Juan del Sur for $100K. Here’s what happened when I went to check the paperwork.
One house, the worst, went up in price to $150K.
The other we have been unable to obtain the paperwork. Even after two trips to the owner’s house in Masaya! Not easy money down here.

Weather has been much improved. The sky’s are clear and we are enjoying back to normal rainy season weather. Actually my favorite time of year for living the Vida Nica.
Ken Ross got me in the water four times his last week here and I got Ponga Drops one day last week when I went and visited the Hudson’s at the clubhouse in Playa Iguana.

If you surf don’t stop. If you don’t surf don’t
start

.