The search
Finding a place to rent in Nicaragua is not very difficult, since there is a lot of offer. While you should be fine searching for a place on your own, it might be wise for expats to hire a real estate company to help you, especially if you don’t speak Spanish.
Whichever method you decide, here are some tips to help you with your search:
- Establish direct contact with your prospective landlord, as this opens up the potential for negotiating the price.
- Try to avoid gringo prices - houses or apartments owned by foreigners with much higher rental charges than those let by Nicaraguans.
- Look at advertisements in local newspapers, such as El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa . Both are in Spanish but are very useful, as the listings are guaranteed to be local prices.
- Websites which are commonly used for finding accommodation in Nicaragua are Encuentra24 , Aurora Real Estate , GPS Nicaragua and Craigslist .
- Rental properties are also still found the traditional way: by walking through the neighbourhood and looking for a "se alquila" sign on the front of the house and by asking locals to keep an eye out for available accommodation in the neighbourhood.
Sealing the deal
After finding your accommodation, your landlord may or may not ask you to sign a rental contract and pay a deposit, since this is still not commonly practiced in Nicaragua. If your landlord does not say anything about a contract, ask for one anyway to avoid problems in the future. Landlords typically do not look for a specific type of tenant, most are already satisfied with tenants who pay their rent on time.
Most rental prices do not include electricity or water costs, so be careful when weighing your options, with electricity bills particularly expensive.