Before anyone thinks about investing in Nicaragua one needs to ask themselves a few questions.

1. Am I looking at investing in real estate in Nicaragua simply because it is an under developed country with impressive potential for international tourism? A return on my investment is a risk, but foreign investment is gaining momentum in Nicaragua which makes the potential for profit more secure every day.

2. Do I want to invest in a getaway property that can be visited a few weeks out of the year for family vacations? What are the possibilities of having a property management company rent and manage the unit for the rest of the year to generate some income?

3. Do we want a beach front gated-community with a golf course? Or, do we want a location with a more local feel?

4. What about living in Nicaragua for six months of the year? One thing to consider is that life in a small colonial town would provide more social activities than a condo on a stretch of beach.

5. What if we wanted to start a business? Running a restaurant, a small hotel, or a bed and breakfast in a tropical setting is an idea that is really exciting.

All of these questions have become a realization for many foreign investors already in Nicaragua and though out Central America. And, there is still plenty of opportunity for those ready to get involved.

Over the next few posts, I will cover these five options and the reasons why which one might be the best for you. Comparing locations within Nicaragua will give you an idea what each area has to offer. Adding a little twist, I will compare the top investment locations in Nicaragua with some comparable destinations in Central America and Mexico.

For now, let’s start at the beginning of the list and revisit why one would want to invest in Nicaragua in the first place. Many articles have been written about the investment boom in Nicaragua and Nicaragua Real Estate: Navigating the Market is a must read.

Another informative article is the Top 5 Investment Opportunities In Nicaragua. This article gives some actual prices on properties located in the fastest growing areas in Nicaragua.

Next time, the most popular investment vacation spots in Nicaragua.

Why invest in Nicaragua real estate, especially now? Here in the U.S. gas prices are crowding four dollars a gallon, the housing market is stalled in many key areas, and fear of a prolonged recession is becoming a reality. The US economy is definitely rattled. In a recent New Yorker article by Ian Buruma titled After America the author puts into words the fears on a lot of investors’ minds, he writes regarding this year’s meeting of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland,

“The first time I visited this august assemblage, around the turn of the century, the received opinion was that the United States was so far ahead of the rest of the world that no one could ever catch up. This year in Davos, America’s fall was on everyone’s lips.”

What “fall” means is up for speculation. However, it could be that now is the perfect time for US investors to seek investments that have future global potential for growth. While real estate investment in the U.S. is a can of worms, real estate investment in Nicaragua is continuing to grow. In a recent post, Mike Cobb, CEO of Gran Pacifica and Barry Dufresne, President of Stealth Financial Services on their Nicaraguan real estate investment new letter write,

“Although the flow from the US has slowed down considerably, investments from other nations in the region, Europe and Asia continue to be strong and new ventures are springing up around the country.”

The development of millions of new middle class wage earners in countries such as India, China, and Russia, is and will create immense amounts of disposable income. Some of this new income will be earmarked for tropical vacations. Many investors see the potential of Nicaragua’s pristine coasts as poised to become major new tropical tourist destinations. Now is not the time for savvy U.S. investors to get caught up in domestic fear by thinking inside the box, perhaps it’s time to think about investing outside the country, in Nicaragua.