1) In order to get a good handle on market value you’re going to have to see a lot of property.  Build a spreadsheet noting down the asking price of everything you see.  Yes it’s true that asking prices are just “starting prices” but in a world were reliable data is scares, it’s a good place to start.

2) The only way you will be confident that you are seeing all there is for sale is to book property viewings with every agent who has an active presence in your target market.

3) Triangulate the information you receive from as many sources as you can.  There are few truely independent sources of infroamtion in the country, and no official property statistis, so cast your new widely.

4) Only buy what you can actually see and touch.  Ignore those glossy renderings of the new clubhouse or the golf course.  Assume that the road won’t ever be paved and that new airport the developer keeps mentioning will never be build.  Then ask youself whether you still like the property and only close on the deal if the answer is “yes.”

5) Never use the sellers attorney for the closing process.  It is vital that you hire an independent attorney to represent your interests.  Remember that in Nicaragua the closing docuemtn and title deeds will be in Spanish to unelss you have a perfect grasp of legal Spanish, ensure your attorney is bi-lingual.

6) Some seller expect to receive a deposit to ‘reserve’ the property while you do your due dilligence.  This is a bad idea. Escrow the deposti with your reale state agent, an escrow firm or with your lawyer.

7) Always take out title insurance on your property purchase.  The process of applying for a policy will ensure that your lawyer follows a rigorous due diligence procedure and digs deeply into the title history.

1) Of course it’s vital to price the property competitively against similar options for sale.  In Nicaragua there are no official market statistics, so sellers should spend the time to research other offerings manually before deciding on a price.

2) Get a list of the top agents operating in your market.  Run a Google search and determine which firms have the highest ranking websites.   While in the country work out which firms have the best office presence and which are investing in for sale signs, magazine adverts and so on.

3) As real estate agents in Nicaragua act more like buyer agents than listing agent it makes sense to collect together photos of your property and write up a listing description yourself.  Take this round to the most active firms that you have identified and follow up with them to ensure that your property listed on their website.  As you have provided photos and a description, this should be a quick matter of copying and pasting.

4) Make sure the real estate agents you have listed with know how to get to the property.  Provide detailed maps, an access key, etc. – whatever it takes to make this process as simple as possible.

4) For reasons explained in our article on the implications of not having an MLS, you’ll probably be better off giving and open listing to all active agents rather than an exclusive listing agreement to one agent.  You’ll benefit from the marketing power of many agents rather than just the one.

5) As it is difficult for buyers to obtain financing from local financial institutions in Nicaragua, its a great idea to offer seller financing.

6) If you are selling property in a development, motivate the developer (and agents) to sell your property by offering a high commission percentage.  Remember also that you will be competing against developer-direct sales so you want to price yourself below these.

A feature of a non-MLS environment combined with the un-regulated nature of the market is that exclusive listings are rare.  It’s hard for an agent to “keep track” of their listings when the only way they can check on the status is by visiting the property registry and retrieving the information manually.  There are also few checks and balances to manage split commissions and referrals fees that normally would oil the workings of exclusive listing arrangements.

The result is that agents take a wholesale approach to listing, trying to add as many listings as possible to their database, but without spending a great deal of time and effort into marketing individual listings.  Often a new listing will receive a website entry (with vague location information to keep other agents guessing) and perhaps a paragraph in a newsletter, but little more.   This is because it doesn’t make much sense for an agent to spend a great deal of effort marketing a particular listing when another agent can easily sell it from under them.  Given the nature of the market it makes more sense to market the country on a general basis and act more like a buyers agent than a listing agent.

In this environment giving an agent an exclusive does not make sense for many buyers.  Even if the exclusive agent provides information to other active agents about the listing they may be less motivated to sell the listing for a split commission than an alternative listing for a full commission.  Open listings often work better from a seller’s point of view.

Sellers who have property for sale in a real estate development have another set of factors to contend with.  As there is no MLS, the only way buyers will learn about the property for sale is either from a real estate agent or from the real estate developer.  Each has a conflict of interest in situations where there are developer-direct listings for sale in the same development.  The developer will of course be more motivated to sell their own listings and may not advise buyers about any re-sales.  And the agent will want to keep a positive relationship with the developer to be able to continue to access their inventory.  Furthermore, in some development agents rarely are able to run property viewings without the developer or a representative of the development being present.

1) As there is no MLS, there is no single source of information on properties available for sale. So while in the US it’s possible to walk into a real estate agents office, or visit their website, and access a complete list of properties for sale that meet your criteria, this is not the case in Nicaragua.

2) Each real estate agent in Nicaragua effectively operates their own listing database. Sometimes even different agents within the same firm will have different listings. There will be some overlap of course but don’t expect to be able to build an understand of what is available for sale from just one agent or firm. Remember also that the market is unregulated with not all listings are held by a ‘formal’ real estate agent. Your taxi driver, hairdresser and hotel receptionist will likely have a set of pocket listings they will be delighted to show you.

3) In fact all listings in Nicaragua are effectively pocket listings. Very few are exclusives. You’ll often find agents playing hard to get with their listings – for example not providing any location information on online listings – for fear that another agent will be able to locate the property and list it themselves.

4) Although some real estate firms will collaborate with each-other, in practice this behavior is quite rare. Furthermore agents are more motivated to sell a property they have listed for a full commission than collaborate with another agent for a split commission (especially when there are no checks and balances in place to ensure they would get paid if a sale eventuated).
5) Without a central database of properties that all agents can access, and given the lack of collaboration between agents, it makes little sense for buyers to grant an exclusive to an individual real estate agent. This also has significant implications for sellers.

So the lessons for real estate bloggers:

• Don’t just blog your listings.  You need to add more value that that.
• Write about the lifestyle that your properties will deliver
• Become the center of your community by writing about local businesses and services, taking photos and keeping readers up to date with developments
• Encourage two-way communication – just like you would with a friend.

Check out the full post on bloggodown.