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Five years ago my fabulous friend Colleen told me that both her and her Mom had bought a lot of property in Nicaragua. Considering that I didn’t even own a car yet, this seemed like a pretty impressive investment.

Who would have thought that all these years later we would be meeting up in Nicaragua, and I would get to see all the finishing touches being put on their gorgeous casita.

I’m so happy that Rose and Colleen have agreed to share their story, and offer some advice to those who may be thinking of building a house in Nicaragua, or other foreign countries. So without further ado…take it away ladies.

Construction of Casa Rose, San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua.

Building a house in a foreign country is no small task, language barriers, differences in building styles and recognizing cultural differences, all play a large factor in success. Our project is a small, one bedroom casita with a large deck and a view right in the small town of San Juan del Sur.

Nicaragua has had a terbulant past. Government corruption

Part of the interior- bathroom, and bedroom around the corner

and natural disasters has made property ownership in this country an issue. This is all in the past the future is looking great with stronger government, international support and awareness we felt this was a great place to invest. Since we purchased our property 5 years ago we have learnt a lot but we’ve narrowed it down to the following five tips. These are the most important points for anyone considering building in this country:

1) Don’t Expect Anything to Happen Quickly: This is not a quick process, we started the building process a year and a half ago and still have a couple large obstacles to overcome.

2)Be Flexible. Things may not go as planned. There are always options available but they might not be clear right away.

3) Find Someone you Trust as your General Contractor: Ours was from the states and understood our expectations, he also had a good understanding of the local area and was realistic with us. Ours has worked closely with the locals, we have found that this has helped to find solutions to obstacles, Same goes for the city!

4)Network: Read and post on local forums and blogs. There are usually expats doing the

The huge deck! Railings were going in next

same thing as you that will have lots of advise. In fact – do this BEFORE you buy so you can learn more about the area and pitfalls to building there. Then once you purchase the land, plan on spending some time there to hang out and meet people.

5) Plan on Being There as Much as Possible During the Building Process: Yes, if you have a good contractor you can do a lot remotely. We have. Our contractor sends us updates and pictures as new work is completed. But nothing beats being there to check in on what is going on and nip any unforeseen problems in the bud.

6)Be Vigilant: Don’t think the real estate/legal system will protect you in the same way as in the US. Be extra vigilant to get a references and a good lawyer to handle the land purchase transaction to ensure your title is safe and clear.

This has been an amazing experience with some stressful moments and some successful ones. As long as your expectations are in line and you have done your homework the reward will be worth it!