Friday, May 25, 2018
Northern Nicaragua is what I consider the last great frontier opportunity in Central America, but tourism and development are coming fast. This could be the last chance for savvy investors to make big gains.
Thanks to a rare convergence of crisis events, done right this opportunity could turn one million dollars into 10 million dollars—fast.
Tourism first came to Nicaragua’s south because it was an easy hop over the border from Costa Rica. Surfers led the way and the jet-set shortly followed. The south Pacific locales like San Juan del Sur quickly developed as tourism destinations and real estate prices soared.
With already high real estate prices in Nicaragua’s south, value-minded investors are switching their focus to the north—act fast, and you can get in before the coming money flood.
Bargain-hunting investors are starting to look north… It has a lot to attract them:
- Natural beauty: Beaches and ocean views that are just as nice (if not better) than those found in the south.
- Commerce: The northern region is home to León, Nicaragua’s second city. León is a colonial, university, and government city. The city of Chinandega is 35 minutes north. This is the center of commerce of the north. Nicaragua’s only Pacific port is located there. Foreign goods are imported, and the region’s cotton and food produce are exported.
- Access: A new highway means the northern region is just 75 minutes away from the capital, Managua.
For all these reasons, I’ve spent a lot of time in Northern Nicaragua, looking for opportunities to front run the Path of Progress and invest before values start to rise.
As I always say, we make our money buying—and we do that by identifying the right investments early, and patiently waiting for unstoppable trends like the Path of Progress to supercharge our profits.
In Northern Nicaragua, a situation like this is unfolding right now, and one of the smartest ways to play it is investing in land.
I discovered the opportunity I’m writing to you about now, two-and-a-half years ago when I took a scouting trip there.
Me (right), on the scouting trip, with contact Jordan Clark (left) and Will Bonner (middle) looking excited to find real estate profit opportunities!
That trip took me from the beaches just west of capital city Managua, the whole way along the coast to the border, where you can see the volcanoes of Honduras.
The point of that trip was to find land for International Living founder Bill Bonner. Northern Nicaragua is a place where he was interested in buying. Bill is already invested in a huge resort in the south of Nicaragua. But like I said, savvy investors like him are now turning their attention to the north—which is still cheap—for now.
I looked at a lot of land on that trip. One piece of land that really caught my eye wasn’t quite right for Bill, but it crossed my desk again recently and I think it could be an incredible opportunity for one lucky RETA member. Let me explain what’s happening…
Right now, the current owner is going through a divorce and needs cash. On top of this, Nicaraguans have taken to the streets to protest President Ortega’s social security cuts. As I have told you in past alerts, sooner or later Ortega’s power will be challenged. And Nicaragua will have to figure out its next move. This it appears, is happening sooner rather than later. I’m optimistic for Nicaragua. The new middle-class have a taste for modern comforts, and progress. They don’t want to go back. While I expect things will get back on track, this type of situation frightens away many would be real estate buyers… it’s a classic “blood in the streets” investment opportunity with high risk and high reward.
All this has forced the current landowner into a bad spot and he’s listing his massive parcel of land at a deep discount. It comprises 132 acres of land in what is one of the prettiest coastal settings close to Nicaragua major cities. It sits by a stunning beach, that’s popular with surfers. The land gently slopes to the water, so the ocean views are maximized. There are coconut trees marking the border lines and a fully irrigated fruit orchard with over 300 types of native fruit trees. The land also includes a fully operational well and power infrastructure.
This 132-acre land parcel was on sale for $2.2 million,
but you won’t pay anywhere near that now…
Perhaps surprisingly, this private beach paradise is in in a convenient location—just one hour from Nicaragua’s capital city of Managua and 40 minutes from the commercial-hub of Léon. Perfect if you want to target vacationers or second-home buyers.
Best of all, because of the personal and political reasons I mentioned earlier, you can buy this land at a huge discount.
When I looked at this piece of land two-and-a-half years ago, it had a sticker price of $2.2 million. Now I hear the owner would take $1.2 million (a massive 50% discount). But I’d recommend offering even less—I’d offer $850,000 as a starting price and negotiate with the seller from there.
I think you could make a quick and sizeable return on that investment in two ways…
First, you could landbank. The play here would be to buy the land, simply sit on it for five to 10 years, and wait for more development to come to Northern Nicaragua.
Alternatively, you could subdivide the land into lots. It’s perfect for a simple subdivision of about 300 ocean-view lots you could sell for $50,000 each. That’s a potential $15 million in gross sales. This place would make an ideal little community—easy and inexpensive to install additional infrastructure and an oceanfront clubhouse, nice ocean views, and extremely accessible to capital city Managua and its airport.
I figure you could build those roads, oceanfront clubhouse and other amenities here for $5 million, leaving potential net sales of $10 million. (Of course, to do this successfully, you would need to have strong sales and marketing capacity.)
Whatever you choose to do, I think this is an incredible deal. A rare opportunity to buy 132 acres of oceanfront land in Nicaragua’s quickly developing northern coast.
Like I said, the political situation in Nicaragua right now means this opportunity comes with more risk than normal, which also lets braver investors lock-in a massive discount.
If you’re interested, my contact Jordan Clark can help you with the details. Speak to him here to put in your starting offer.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. Jordan put together a short video of this piece of land. You can watch it on YouTube here.