What’s more, Earthships are now firmly on the green real estate map in Nicaragua.

Congratulations to Brooke Rundle, Tim Kelly, Matty Powell, Justin Lyon and Samuel Chally for pulling the festival together. The video is by David Kalani and there’s more to come. Enjoy it below and for anyone interested in Earthships, you can follow an account of the building process and check out our property information.

Pitaya Music Fest Teaser Trailer from david kalani larkins on Vimeo.

Well, 2008 has been an interesting year. The big headline is, of course, the global financial crisis. Things are looking very volatile out there. But, at the same time, we’re remembering that hard times can be the best times for creativity, opportunity and change.

We’re seeing this in our client base. More and more people are looking for a plan-B for their retirement and investments. They’re considering expanding their horizons beyond the US and looking hard at places like Nicaragua where they can live in luxury, but for far less than is possible at home – even during what could be a long global downturn.

For us, 2008 was a year filled with Choose Nicaragua property tours, a focus on affordable vacation homes and a strong upsurge in green real estate developments across the country. It was also the year the earthship was built on the rolling hills south of San Juan del Sur.

A flight to quality…

In 2009, we predict a flight to quality for Nicaragua real estate. Investment activity will trend towards well-planned developments with good locations, quality products and a master plan that delivers against end-user requirements. The real estate developments that have only done well in the past due to speculation rather than the quality of their product will likely suffer.

So, we’re bringing in the new year with a weekend event at one of the best quality developments in the country. On 17th-18th January there’s a chance to familiarize yourself with the in’s and out’s of buying property overseas, and savor the culture, activities and lifestyle here in Nicaragua. We’ll shine the light on a range of surprisingly affordable golf front, ocean view and beach front vacation offerings in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. Click here to learn more.

With very best wishes for 2009 from the Coldwell Banker Nicaragua team.

Brooke Rundle

Scoring another first for the region, she’s also been working hand-in-hand with developer Tim Kelly on building an Earthship – an innovative green home built almost entirely out of recycled materials.

A green real estate momentum is rapidly building here in Nicaragua. Just last month, the Association of Nicaraguan Investors and Developers (ANID) hosted its first green real estate seminar in Managua. The turnout was huge and the excitement contagious.

Reporter Blake Schmidt was at the event and wrote an article for the Nica Times on what he heard. It was there that he met Brooke Rundle and learned about our green real estate tours showcasing the very best in green investment opportunities in the country.

Lauren Stocker finds more than surfing waves on her trip to San Juan del Sur, a coastal town in Nicaragua earlier this year. Much more.

Her article featured in the Malibu lifestyle magazine takes us away from the tourist streets to the community of El Carizal. There she’s handed the keys to the Earthship…

“While getting on the plane to Nicaragua, I knew I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I liked that idea. I was ready to see what was waiting for me on the other side. I knew absolutely nothing of Earthships before I made my trip. It was just some “thing” I heard they were building down there.“

She was in good hands with developer Tim Kelly and Brooke Rundle, the first certified Eco-broker in Nicaragua. Brooke is also hosting the first dedicated green real estate tours to the country with Coldwell Banker. And, yes, the Earthship is featured.

Check out the article and Lauren’s mesmerizing photo journal. The photo of the bay of San Juan del Sur at the top of this post is one of them.

The green agenda is one of the most important issues or “waves” of the day. History tells us that it’s the truly great investors, in any field, who learn how to identify, respect and leverage waves such as this one.

Greg McAdoo, Partner at Sequoia Capital a venture capital firm that has invested in Cisco, Google, Apple, Yahoo, PayPal, YouTube and many others, uses a surfing metaphor: “A great surfer could not exist without a great wave.” Surfers realize that they can’t change the direction of the wave but the best ones pick the right surfboard, and the right moment to ride the wave somewhere special.

A tipping point

We’re reaching a tipping point – where a critical mass of people understand that green investing is the most competitive thing they can do. Here in Nicaragua, we’re still at the beginning of this green trend. But if you want to know where things are headed, just stand on the southern coast of Nicaragua and look south.

You’ll see Costa Rica pointing far out to sea – the text book example of investors putting their money into “eco-sensitive”, “earth friendly”, “low impact”, “green” real estate.

A special three day private tour with innovative insider access

We’ve designed a three day, dedicated green real estate tour where we showcase five remarkable projects painted in different shades of green and all offering the kind of investment and lifestyle opportunities smart buyers want to be a part of. Rock solid projects where you can invest in a way that helps produce a healthy, livable world for you and your family.

We think you’ll like what you see.

That’s why we’ll cover all in-country expenses over the three days, with no obligation whatsoever.

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The Earthship will be featured on our Green Real Estate tours planned for later this year. We’re going to focus exclusively on environmentally conscious and socially responsible real estate developments.

Tour participants will get an inside track on everything from sustainable housing communities constructed of all recycled materials to off-grid hacienda style home lots.

Click here for more information on our eco-tours.

Today we started compacting the floors.

It looks like we’ll be laying tiles, but we have received various ideas from local builders on the best method for laying them. Ideas range from concrete slabs to laying them into the clay earth to everything in between.

There’s no rush, so we’ll be moving on to other areas of the building as we investigate local methods.

The trusses are being reset to 2′, previously spaced for 4′, the second tire (formed) window has been set, and the site has received a preliminary cleaning as all of the surplus tires have been stacked and accounted for.

They will be used to build new Earthships as the passion for green real estate in Nicaragua grows.

New hands on the worksite today. Eric and Minya are on their way from the Panama Canal to the USA via the Pan American Highway…on bicycles.

We met them yesterday on the way to Managua when we stopped for Breakfast at Chepe Chu, a little truckstop café on the road between Rivas and Nandaime.

After some story swapping, they decided they would take a couple days down to view our green building project before continuing.

They are very welcome at the worksite.

Check out the form work for the round window in the photo above (the tire will be removed once the cement dries).

And people are blogging about Earthships and the logic of green building. Here are some of the best blogs and posts citing Earthships in Canada, throughout Europe, Australia and of course Taos, New Mexico where it all started.

• The first Earthship to be built in England was Earthship Brighton, on the south coast. The Guardian covered the story and it looks like more Earthships are to follow on a prime development site overlooking the Brighton Marina.
• We hear from treehugger how the Earthship concept crossed the English channel to Normandy, France.
• In September last year the CNN described Earthships as future-proof buildings in an article covering the Earthships of New Mexico.
• True to their strap-line “inspired people creating positive change,” EcoSpace Conscious Community are helping spread the word about these houses made out of tires.
• Over at off-grid-net we hear news of Earthships in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland.
• Another plug about the logic of recycling what is normally garbage and making it into a home courtesy of fudgeforbreakfast in the spirit of making a difference.
• Hat tip to Our Earthship for charting a journey towards sustainable living.
• Windmill power and Earthships just might be “the wave of the future” according to Windmills To Power your Home.
• And Paradoxes of Whole Living talks about the New Mexico Earthship work and links to photos of a Canadian example.
• A list like this wouldn’t be complete without a link out to Earthship Biotecture, the group who started it all and a resource for all things Earthship.

What about back here in Nicaragua?

Nicaragua real estate. Going green?

The logic of Earthships and green building is also catching on here in Nicaragua.

With the building of the first Nicaraguan Earthship well underway, we think we are witnessing the start of a green movement in Nicaragua real estate.