"5 o'clock . .. Somewhere"

Next Hot Spot? How About . . . Nicaragua

Pour me somethin' tall and strong
Make it a hurricane before I go insane
It's only half past twelve but I don't care
It's 5 o'clock somewhere

--Jimmy Buffett, "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" lyrics

It's always 5 o'clock somewhere -- and somewhere, it's a bull market for real estate development.

No, I'm not talking about China.

Coincidence or not, I've run into three local Realtor/developer types in the last two weeks who are involved in projects in . . . Mexico, Costa Rica, and -- would you believe -- Nicaragua(!).

Horace Greeley famously said, "Go West, young man!"

Maybe the equivalent now for real estate development is, "go south . . . to emerging markets in Latin America."

(And no, as an investor, I wouldn't sink your retirement money into one of these projects, just yet.)