International Real Estate
Last year saw the completion of my first international real estate investment. After years of research and studying, I managed to narrow down my search to some land in Nicaragua. A lot of thought went into this, and I encourage anyone looking to make an international purchase to consider some of the following items:
1) Cost of living- My goal was to find a holiday home which is also to be used as a rental. If I were to spend significant amounts of time down there, I would prefer it not be to expensive to dine out/do activities/entertainment. Maintenance costs are another thing to consider as well as costs of hiring a management/cleaning company. This is one reason why Central America was so appealing.
2) Political Stability- Of course any investment has risk, but one would like to limit the amount. Having a stable government with an eye towards the future and promoting tourism is key. Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama are all appealing when considering this.
3) Accessability- If it is place you want to visit often, you must make sure it easy to get to. By staying within the western hemisphere, you can avoid significant time changes which helps ease the travel. As well, you should really track how long it will take you to get to your property from the international airport. It may only be a 6 hour flight….but if its another 8 hours of bus/taxi/car travel, it really adds to the trip.
4) Growth- Of course this is the most important factor me. Anywhere you invest you want to make sure there is room for your money to grow. You never want to be nicest or biggest place on the beach as it is unlikely there is much more room for your investment to grow. Start small and grow from there.
Right now, the building process has just begun for us in Nicaragua and Ill do a post in the future with an update on how things are going. Stay tuned!
