2010 February » Nicaragua Vacation Guide

Cost of Building

Feb 202010

I discuss what kind of a house I can build on M25 with Marc, and other people. A rough guideline number for building cost is 85$ per square meter. This number is a rough estimate for a house build at high quality with good finishes and modern appliances. The number can move anywhere between 75$ and 100$ depending on the soil of the ground, level of finishes etc’. When calculating the number it’s reasonable to multiply this number with the total area, regardless if it’s enclosed (air conditioned) area or open area such as the lounge that has no walls. Considering the build-able part of the lot, and what most people are looking for when they get to the development, it seems that I should plan for a house around 2,000 square feet. From his experience Marc says that it should provide for a reasonable 3bedroom, two bathroom house.

One of the things the development offers is a building services program. The program basically means that the development provides an on-site point person to manage the complete process of the build. For some percentages of the cost of building, they will help in all of the design process, finding the right local construction company, monitoring the daily progress of the construction etc. It’s clear to me that without it there is no way I could build this house from afar.

Building Services Program

I meet with Roy, from the Building Services Program, and we discuss the different options of construction over the lot, and the estimated cost. Roy says that it’s very important to get soil samples of the ground to ensure that the lot sits on solid rock, like most of the development lots, and also to create a topography map to get a better idea of the of how we want to level the ground.

Basically, there are two options for ground leveling, cutting down the higher points down, of feeling up the lower areas up. Roy, as all others before him, claims that in Nicaragua feeling is very expensive while cutting is cheap. Even more so, since the development just purchased a lot of mechanical equipment so they can do all of the road maintenance themselves, now they have the needed equipment on hand right at the development. They might do the leveling themselves, for a small fee, so the construction company will be able to start working on leveled ground.

Some Calculations

Using a a small excel file I take from Marc I make a calculation of the project cost. Here are the items I have and some info about each cost:

Cost of the land – varies
Legal costs of land purchase – lawyer fees and mandatory taxes – about 4% of land cost
construction cost – $65 to $110 per sq feet
Architect – roughly $2 to $4 per sq feet
Land leveling – can be part of the construction, but in my case it might be a separate payment to the developer.
Topography map and Soil test – not mandatory, but worth doing – around $1500
Building permit – another $1000
Appliances – good quality (usually US made) – around $2,500
Infinity pool – depends on size – $15,000 was the thumb number I got
Building Services Program – usually costs about 10% of the project

To this I add the financing fees and try to figure out whether it’s a project I want to go for.

Setting Plans

Feb 202010

I’m starting to think about my options to invest in the Rancho Santana development.

My initial motive to arrive to Rancho Santana came from a personal believe regarding the terrible economic state that the US and the rest of the modern world face. I believe Central and South Americas as well as the far east will improve financially while the “modern” world will suffer under the weight of it’s debt.

Buying a condominium seems a bit more expensive than I planned, but the ability to rent it is a plus. Buying a lot can be a good investment over time, but the lot I’m interested in, M-25 on the cliff above the Pacific, is also not that cheap.
The developer offers a financing plan that provides a loan for the purchase of a lot or the cost of building a house. I’m starting to think about the possibility to buy the lot and building a house on it.

The lot is one of the last available ocean front lots in the development, and their is only one house that is built to sell on Rancho Santana. If I’ll build it I will have the only house available on the market, and it would be on a prime lot with amazing views to the Pacific Ocean.

M-25 and M-27 are the last lots available on the Alta Vista area. Originally there were 22 lots for sale on the cliff, but they were all sold. Than the developer added 5 more lots on the cliff towards the south, and three of them already been sold. Now the developer adds three more lots in the area – bigger but they are a bit behind the first 27 lots, so they don’t enjoy the “ocean front” title, and the exceptional views that comes with it. M-25 is smaller than M-27 and most of it is have a significant drop towards the ocean so there is a limited area to build on.

The next time I’m on the lot with Marc we discuss what kind of a house can be built there. Marc says that a 2,000 sq feet house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms should be a good size to sell or rent. He draws a rough diagram on the ground – the area that can accommodate the house stretches from north to south so Marc draws the rooms in that direction pointing out that this way all of them can share the views to the west. This would provide a great view to the ocean and since Nicaragua is close to the equator the sun sets around the same place throughout the year.

When I try to figure out where is the connecting corridor between the rooms, Marc says that I can let all the rooms open towards a corridor to to west. It will have a roof above it but no walls, so nothing will block the views to the west. It takes me few seconds to wrap my mind around the idea, but I begin to realize that since were in a tropical area, there is never a cold season, so the houses can be much more open to the elements. I recall that in the house I’m staying in I walked through the entry door and actually found myself “outside” – in a lounge that has no walls. Most houses in Rancho Santana has pools, and I realize that an infinity pool would have an amazing effect on the cliff.

We walk around the lot to figure out how big the house can be. Marc and Alan, the engineer of the development who joined us for the tour, agree that since the lots sits high above the road we might be able to cut the lot in height, thus providing us more place to build. It seems that the lot is wide enough for the rooms but the external corridor might have to be cantilevered over the cliff.

Here is a picture of the lot from the road. The lot starts higher than the road and than drops toward the ocean. We are thinking of cutting the lot down to the height of the road, about the place below where we parked the car.

M25 – view from the road

M25 – view from the road – 21-Feb-2010

The Five Bandits

Feb 192010

There are about 15 people in the group that I arrived this week to the Rancho Santana development. Most are accommodated in the cassitas near the club house while few, including me, are located in one of the hoses in the development. The house, called Cinco Banditos (Five Bandits) by it’s owner, is located on one of the hills watching the ocean.
The doors of the house open to a wide open lounge with amazing ocean view. The lounge is covered with a local natural roof, but besides the door leading to the kitchen and a corridor leading to the rooms there are no walls and the great wind passes through it.

Rancho Santana, Nicaragua

Rancho Santana, Nicaragua – 19-Feb-2010

The house has 5 large bedrooms, each with it’s own bathroom, but I prefer to use the nice infinity pool just below the lounge.

Infinity pool and view to the ocean

Infinity pool and view to the ocean – 19-Feb-2010

Reaching Rancho Santana

Feb 182010

From Granada we drive to the city of Rivas, the capital of the Rivas department. There are about 150,000 people living in Rivas. After a short pit stop we head towards Rancho Santana.

Rancho Santana is one of several developments on the pacific coast of Nicaragua, and probably the most advanced from all of the other developments. The developers of Rancho Santana bought the 1,700 Acres around 1999 and ever since they invest in it while selling properties in it.

Reaching Ranco Santana takes about 20 minutes ride on a decant dirt road from Rivas that leads west towards the Pacific. When me and the group I’m with reach the gates of the development we enter the welcome center and get a short brief about Rancho Santana. Marc, the salesman of the development, promises that this would be the last sales pitch we would hear and that the development would do the rest of the “selling”.

The welcome center has a nice maquette of the development where we can see the different “neighborhoods”, main club house, the surfing beaches, diving beaches, and the “natural reserve” area.

– 21-Feb-2010

From the welcome center we drive down to the club house down at the beach. The club house serves as a hub for the people who live at Rancho Santana. It has a restaurant, a pool, lounge, bar and some guest rooms. Near it is the SPA, stables and local convenience store.

I’m eager to see the available lots and sign to join the first tour around the development.

I drive around the development with Marc. We stop here and there to get some views of the place. It’s stunning! The whole area is hilltops and Pacific beaches. Few houses are build here and there, but there is tons of open land in between. The views are breath taking.

– 19-Feb-2010

One of the lots we see catches my attention immediately. Lot M25 is a 1.7 dunam (about half an acre) lot on top of a high cliff. Most of it is sloped sharply towards the ocean and doesn’t allow much space for the house but the location is absolutely stunning. Full panoramic view to the west offers an unobstructed view of the Pacific ocean, with an amazing sunset just in front.

M25 – Look to south-south-west – 22-Feb-2010

After that Marc shows me the small condominiums project they built. It’s 6 buildings, each with two 3 bedroom and two4 bedrooms apartments located literally on the beach. They are on last stages of construction and some of them are already populated by owners and renters.

– 19-Feb-2010	– 19-Feb-2010
– 19-Feb-2010	– 19-Feb-2010

The beach right outside of these windows is Santana beach – a world class surfing beach. Marc, a self proclaimed surf fanatic, can hardly take his eyes of the waves. I begin to understand what he meant by that… The apartments are well build in top class utilities including central propane, electricity and water. The kitchens are well equipped to US standards and the whole feeling is of a great comfortable place to stay.

In the evening we enjoy cocktails with some of the local owners. Later I retire to sleep in one of the houses in the development.

Landing in Nicaragua

Feb 172010

I’ve landed in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua two days ago after 25 hours of air travel. I took off from Israel, flown through the Netherlands to Panama, and from there to Nicaragua.

A driver took me straight to Granada, an almost 500 years old city, for a night’s rest.

I spent one day in the beautiful city. It’s quiet and relaxed and there seem to be a an international poet convention in town.

– 17-Feb-2010

I’ve stayed in Granada for another day to take a boat trip on Lake Nicaragua. It was a great tour between some of the 365 little islands in the lake. We had a chance to see many types of fish and some local monkeys.

Tour on Lake Nicaragua Tour on Lake Nicaragua – 18-Feb-2010	– 18-Feb-2010
– 18-Feb-2010	– 18-Feb-2010

Heading back to Granada we stumbled upon a local parade. I’m not sure what the was the celebration about but the costumes were amazing and the music great!