All Forum Posts by: Luke Wolmer

@Andrew Powers  I have decided not to pursue an investment in Nica at this time and will focus my efforts stateside as I am a complete noobie. The issue I ran into with investing in Nica was twofold:

1) Buy land with a sturucture already on it — this would be my preferred method given I live in the US nand have a full-time job here. However the issue with doing this is that there is no financing/mortgages in Nica. So you would need to obtain financing in the US, or have ~$100k liquid to buy the property with a structure on it.

2) Buy raw land and build — you can certainly find good deals on raw land. When I was looking I saw some plots for $15-30k. So you could buy one of these and build your own structure. However after talking to some expats, I would highly recommend being in Nica during the construction phase. I heard some horror stories of people trying to manage the construction from the US. As previously mentioned, I have a full-time job in the US so this was not really an option for me. To @Jason Anthony’s point, you could buy the land now and then figure out the building phase at a later date.

Happy to have a chat if you want more details on any of the above.

@Ivan Barratt no I am  new to real estate and do not have any land experience, so in your analogy i would be lowly pawn :/

If I am giving off the "get rich quick" vibe then I apologize as that is certainly not by design. As mentioned above, my preferred method would be owning a long distance rental property that I could rent out and also enjoy myself from time to time. The only reason I mentioned the other methods was to give a full picture of the different angles I am currently considering. 

Essentially I believe the market here is slightly depressed at the moment and I am trying to get an overview of what (if any) real estate strategies could work well in this type of situation. Given my experience level, the answer very well could be none. However drawing on other's experiences and eliciting feedback on methods/strategies/deals is what BP forums are all about right?

Not sure why that was coming off sounding like "shortcut to big money" but I hope I was able to clarify myself.

@Julie McCoy thanks for the detailed response!

Agreed about the political instability, but I would only buy if the discount I was getting was enough to cover a few years of holding costs. The concerns you raise about building the structure are valid. There is a strong expat community in place here, so finding people who have gone through the experience should be possible. Nonetheless, it still may be biting a bit more off than I can chew being that I am new to real estate investing. 

Maybe finding a discounted lot with a solid structure in place would be preferred. I would still be curious if you have any other ideas for monetizing this type of property? If I were buying a plot with a unit already built what options would you see for monetizing it. I can think of the following:

• Buy and Flip - buy it and sell once things stabilize and the market hardens
• Buy and rent to short term vacation rentals - Daily or weekly rentals via AirBnB or VRBO
• Buy and rent long-term - renters looking to live abroad for 4-6 months, etc.

Curious to hear any other methods people have used in this type of situation!

I'm currently traveling in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua and I have came across some nice plots of raw land. At this stage I am looking at plots that are between 0.5-1.5 acres and I am wondering what investment strategies would be available to me:

Flip Raw Land: wait and hope that the land appreciates and sell it for profit at some point in the future. 

Build and Rent: build a unit or two on the land and rent it out via AirBnB or other vacation rental sites. This would be my preferred method.

Build and Flip: build a unit or two on the land and sell it

I would love to discuss:

• Experiences people have had with any of these methods abroad (Central America)
• Additional strategies people have used to turn cheap raw land into a solid real estate investment abroad (Central America)

My goal is to find a house hack with a reasonable commute into Manhattan. I have been doing my homework and learning as much as possible the past 6 months via books, forums and podcasts. Now I am in the process of trying to find a deal. From what I learned thus far, it seems finding a "good" deal in a hot market like NYC requires creativity:

"One cannot simply work with a good agent and find a good deal on the MLS because the deals get snatched up too fast or never even reach the MLS. Therefore in a hot market, most listings on the MLS will be bad deals."

However as a new investor finding deals in a more creative way seems a bit daunting. So my question is simple, in the NYC metro area (Queens, Harlem, Bronx, Brooklyn, Jersey City, etc.) does the MLS still have potential? If anyone has found good deals via the MLS can you please share any tips or advice? 

@Allan Szlafrok yes in a perfect world the househack would break even or even cash flow. But I understand this may be a bit of a dream scenario in the NY market. But even if I still am paying some out of pocket, it will certainly beat continuing to shell out rent each month in Manhattan.

@Mala S. I spent last weekend walking around some of the neighborhoods in Jersey City and noticed some pockets in Bergen-Lafayette that seemed to be turning around. 

Are you familiar with the Communipaw area at all? If so Id be curious to hear your thoughts on the potential to house hack there. 

@Charles Mitchell I am also a first time investor looking to house hack in the NYC Metro area. Lets connect!