Thanksgiving Holiday Specials: Save Up to $195,345

Date: 11/24/2006

International Living Postcards-- Saturday Edition

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006
Paris, France

No matter where you're spending your Thanksgiving weekend, I promise: It's about to get a whole lot better.

I've negotiated on your behalf savings of up to $195,345 (and more) on real estate in Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, and Belize. In addition to cash discounts, you can also get free pools, complimentary VIP trips, free flights, and percentage discounts on your total purchases.

We've told you about the developments offering these discounts, savings, and perks before, so my notes below only briefly review each one. The point here is the discounts on offer, worth as much as $60,000 on a single deal.

Frankly, I never knew real estate developers could be so generous. But when I put out the call for special Thanksgiving discounts for International Living readers, these guys delivered the goods.

Yes, some conditions apply, notably the deadlines by which you must act--in one case, the deadline expires in one week from today.

Here's the Thanksgiving Holiday Special line-up:

In Nicaragua:

Las Fincas, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:10% discount off all lots

Situated about five miles south of the town of San Juan del Sur, once a sleepy fishing village and now the only hub for tourism on Nicaragua's Pacific Riviera coast, Las Fincas is a 450-acre private reserve with a planned solar-powered community. Ocean-view lots range from just under an acre to 4 acres, and prices start at $50,000…meaning your 10% discount is worth at least $5,000.

Villas de Palermo, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:$20,000 off villas (only three available)

Close enough to town to be convenient, far enough away to be quiet and peaceful, and set high enough on the hills overlooking the bay to command breathtaking views of San Juan del Sur's gorgeous bay, Villas de Palermo matches the beauty of its setting with the quality and affordability of its large, free-standing, two-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot villas. The regular price of a villa is $239,900…with your $20,000 discount, the International Living reader cost is reduced to $219,900. Plus: You get a $12,800 furniture package.

Gran Pacifica, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:$20,000 off ocean-view lots (only three available) or get a free pool worth $24,000

A huge property of 2,200 acres with a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of beautiful sand beach. Everything needed to build a first-class community: paved streets, sidewalks, stores, right down to the fire hydrants and the fiber-optic cables running to the planned homes. The regular price of these ocean-view lots is $207,000. But with this Thanksgiving special offer, you can choose to take a $20,000 cash discount or to add on a free 330-square-foot pool worth $24,000.

Santa Rosa, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:15% discount off all lots

On Nicaragua's beautiful Pacific coast near Managua, sits Playa Santa Rosa, 875 acres stretched along 1.75 miles of coast. Lots start at $44,900 and go up to $199,000, so your 15% discount is worth $6,735 to $29,850.

Rancho Santana, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:$8,000 off selected lots, plus free VIP weekend

If you enjoy ocean breezes, magnificent views, plenty of sunshine, and friendly people, all enveloped in an exclusive sanctuary of privacy and value, this premier private residential community will appeal to you. This stunning 1,700-acre reserve known as Rancho Santana (St. Ann's Ranch) boasts two miles of coastline and three distinct beaches, one with pink sand. It stretches along the southern Pacific Riviera coast of Nicaragua, just 50 miles from the Costa Rican border. This Thanksgiving offer is a double whammy. First: You get a free VIP weekend vacation at Rancho Santana with all its amenities…plus a few surprises. (It doesn't have to be a weekend--any two nights you want; and you don't have to buy a lot, as long as you're a reader of these Postcards and one of the first one hundred to make a reservation before the deadline.) Second: You get $8,000 off all "Bella Vista" and "The Estates" home sites.

Apanas Lakes Estate, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:Four lots for $99,000

Details: Apanas Lake Estates is an idyllic mountain getaway in the lush coffee country outside the town of Jinotega in Nicaragua's High Sierras. This is some of the most impressive property on Lago de Apanas, the expansive, sky blue mountain lake directly in front of this project. The community here enjoys fishing, horseback riding, hiking, and re-energizing tranquility in an extraordinary natural setting of rolling, wooded hills, open pasture land, and calm waters. The Thanksgiving discount on offer is for four contiguous mountain lots--more than 2 acres of prime land--for only $99,000. Depending on the block of lots you select, that discount is worth $20,000 to $25,000 to you.

Montecristo, Nicaragua
Thanksgiving Special:$60,000 off a villa (only three available)

Ninety minutes from downtown Managua, this wide, long, black-sand beach is among the nicest in Nicaragua. Montecristo is a whopping 550 acres of rolling hills and oceanfront. Here no one will be encroaching on your view or the community's space. The regular price of an Altos villa is $255,000, but the first three sold will cost you $195,000--that's a $60,000 discount. Plus, you can get a 10% discount off the Costa Azul condos. You should note that the Montecristo discounts expire earlier than the others I've mentioned. In this case, you have only until Nov. 30 to act.

In Panama:

Istana, Chiriqui Province, Panama
Thanksgiving Special:5% discount off selected villas (only six available)

The Istana estates is a private, gated, oceanfront community with over three miles of Pacific coastline, rolling hills with panoramic views, luxurious yet eco-friendly infrastructure, and custom home sites where you can construct the house of your dreams or choose from several different turnkey villa designs located either directly on or just steps away from the beach. The regular price of the six villas on offer is between $189,900 and $249,900, so your 5% discount is worth $9,495 to $12,495, depending which villa you buy.

In Belize:

Orchid Bay, Belize
Thanksgiving Special:5% discount for Lifetime Society members, 10% discount for Publisher's Roundtable members

The all-new Orchid Bay resort community offers you the rare opportunity to immerse yourself in a beachfront, bayside lifestyle most others can only envy. If you have ever dreamed of sitting back on the beach, soaking up the Caribbean sun, and enjoying the quiet ambiance of your own exquisite resort home, this is your chance to make those dreams come true--at a fraction the price you might expect to pay. The resort plan at Orchid Bay will include restaurants, boutique retail shops, and other services all within the town center grand plaza. Plus, you'll be within walking distance of pools, beach clubs, equestrian stables, a space-age observatory, and first-rate conference facilities. When you decide to take a break from the beach, you're only minutes from miles of trails, parks, and paths for jogging, hiking, and horseback riding through gardens and citrus groves. With lots running from $50,000 to $150,000, total construction costs for an elegant resort home range from less than $100,000 to $300,000, depending on the modifications you choose. Re: the Thanksgiving discount…this is one of those times when membership has its privileges. Lifetime Society members receive a 5% discount off all lots, Publisher's Roundtable members receive a 10% discount, again off all lots. So, depending on your status, you could save between $2,500 and $15,000.

In Honduras:

Keyhole Bay, Roatan, Honduras
Thanksgiving Special:Free airfare for two

Keyhole Bay sits on a choice property in Roatan's prime sector. The "keyhole" from which the project takes its name is a small inlet carved into the rock--about 50 feet wide--that ends onshore at the property's small private beach. (This unique and spectacular beach was a "date spot" on the TV series Temptation Island.) Plans call for a swimming pool near the keyhole bay, as well as a restaurant, clubhouse, and bar. Also in the works are high-speed Internet service, satellite TV, and landline phones. All utilities are underground, something you can't take for granted on Roatan. The condos come in one-, two-, or three-bedroom models, starting from $315,000. Come see for yourself. The airfare's on Keyhole Bay if you buy.

All these Thanksgiving Specials are good until Dec. 15, except in the case of Montecristo, where the discount expires Nov. 30. Learn more here.

Lief Simon
Real Estate Editor, International Living

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