Can a community be self-sustaining if it is dependent on real estate inflation?
I have thought long and hard about this while developing the economic model for Harmonia in Nicaragua. Originally, Harmonia was envisioned as a bilingual ecological education center that would sustain itself through tuition. The community would come later, growing organically from students and teachers who resonated with the land.
However, personal, national, and global economic conditions necessitated a change in plans. I know Harmonia is meant to exist, but it was never my desire to create an eco-community without an educational foundation. I lost my socially and environmentally friendly bookstore/coffeehouse to an influx of foreign buyers seeking a beach lifestyle at rock-bottom prices, a trend that eventually drove local commercial rents higher than those in the U.S. and Europe.
The last page of my menu at El Gato Negro featured the lyrics of The Last Resort by The Eagles, a song about how industry and commerce have altered pristine places. Ironically, a real estate firm later occupied part of my former business space, which had been subdivided into four units—each paying the same rent I once paid for the entire space. The Universe has a sense of humor.
Overcoming obstacles and gaining the knowledge to create something viable in the Nicaraguan jungle has been a long journey. After exploring countless funding models for a self-sustaining project that attracts self-reliant people eager to leave consumerism behind, I designed a plan for an agricultural farm community. This model ensures that all community expenses—worker salaries, taxes, infrastructure and equipment maintenance, and all costs associated with living in Harmonia—are covered by farm revenue. Residents will live among the gardens that sustain both them and the local wildlife, a little Eden in Nicaragua.
Harmonia has an abundant, year-round spring water supply from the rainforest, as well as lakefront property with access to pumped irrigation water. Combined with rainwater capture systems and agricultural water storage, this is sufficient to support 600+ seedless lime trees, which will generate 75% of the community’s expenses. We will also cultivate passion fruit, red dragon fruit (pitaya), and Hawaiian papaya for domestic and export markets. My financial projections account for a 65% crop failure rate to ensure realistic expectations.
A Different Financial Model
Harmonia is structured for long-term stability, not speculation:
- There are 25 shareholders.
- Members selling their shares can do so only at 75% of their value, with the remaining 25% reinvested into Harmonia.
- Homes cannot be flipped for profit; they may only be sold at construction cost (adjusted for building material inflation).
- Homes cannot be rented or used for Airbnb.
- Owners may host educational, nature, and wellness workshops, students, and work-study volunteers.
- Owners must reside on the property for at least seven months per year.
Harmonia is located in a rural area, about 40-45 minutes from the nearest gas station, large grocery store, and ATM. However, it is self-sustaining, with livestock, dairy, plantains, citrus, coconuts, rice, corn, beans, papaya, mangoes, and fish from the lake. It is also less than a kilometer from the Costa Rican border.
I share this not only to introduce Harmonia’s concept but also to spark dialogue about what we truly seek when joining an intentional community. Eco-communities are not immune to global economic shifts, but how many are actively preparing for them?
