Stretch Your Real Estate Dollars on This Stunning Coast

Friday, April 29, 2011

Dear Reader,

Nicaragua gets a bad rap wherever you go. But when I crossed the border from Costa Rica to Nicaragua recently, I was quickly reminded why Nicaragua should be on your radar.

Nicaragua’s south Pacific Coast is one of the most dramatic, stunning and awesome stretches on earth. The natural beauty may not be news to you, but what might surprise you is the progress I saw on this visit.

Everywhere I went, I saw infrastructure improvements. Roads had been repaired following one of the wettest rainy seasons on record. The Pan American highway is now smooth, pothole-free, and filled with big, new, expensive SUVs. In the capital Managua, the roads are full of new mid-size saloons. I visited a new shopping mall here…full of high-end stores. We circled for about 10 minutes before finding a parking spot. The mall’s restaurants offered more choice than I found in the whole of Managua when I first came here seven years ago.

Tourism is also doing well. In 2009, tourist numbers grew by 8.9%. Visitors spent more, too–22.5% more than the previous year. In 2009, 60 cruise ships docked in Nicaragua, and 28 in the first four months of 2010 alone.

2010 was a bumper year with more than one million visitors for the first time ever. This year is expected to be even better as the “Survivor Effect” kicks in. For 14 weeks the hit TV show Survivor, Nicaragua, was beamed into the homes of an estimated 13 million Americans.

Quality rentals in premium locations are in demand.

Plus, folks in the know are making major investments. Carlos Pellas is the head of one of Central America’s most successful and oldest conglomerates. They have been in business for over a century…market leaders in banking, energy, sugar, booze (they own, make and distribute Flor de Cana rum) and automotive distribution. He is investing many tens of millions in his project on the south Pacific Coast close to Rancho Santana.

This project has been on-again-off-again for some time. I have watched plans come together only to be put to the back burner as the U.S. real estate market imploded and Nicaragua elected Sandinista Daniel Ortega to the office of President.

It’s interesting that this family and conglomerate are now pumping their cash into this project. They have businesses right across Central America…and another real estate project in Costa Rica. There are plenty of other places they could put their money. This is a huge display of confidence in Nicaragua and this stretch of coast.

Having spent time there earlier this year, I share this confidence. Infrastructure is improving. The malls and stores in Managua are bustling. It’s like they aren’t following the script the main stream media have played out for them. Don’t get me wrong. Nicaragua still has huge challenges. But my overriding sense is one of progress. And the country’s real estate values reflect an over-priced risk. Now is a great time to be shopping here.

Many projects have struggled, however. Buyers dried up as the US housing market imploded… and buyers became nervous about a Sandinista government in control. So you should focus on the best projects where you don’t have to rely on developers’ promises to deliver infrastructure and amenities.

Rancho Santana is the gold standard project in Nicaragua…and sits on one of the most breathtaking stretches of coast you’ll find anywhere. You can choose from five beaches dotted along her 2,700 acres and three kilometers of awesome Pacific coastline.

Read Margaret’s full report on the opportunity at Rancho Santana here including an invitation to visit. You’ll be amazed at how far your dollars stretch…even in a project as high-end as this.

Ronan McMahon

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