Q – We have been once – 25 years ago – to the Caribbean (friends house on Antigua) and fell totally in love with the island’s quietness, the vibrant and friendly people, the sound of the sea, and especially the steel drum music.
We are now approaching retirement age (58 and 53) and we want to re-discover the Caribbean and perhaps even scout out a place we might consider moving to when we are done working. But we sense that the “old Caribbean” that we visited many years ago, may have given way to crowds and cruise ships. We want to get away from the getaways …….would you have any suggestions? We have read wonderful things about Bequia (Grenadines) but have not yet visited. Is the Zika fear creating any notable bargains for travel and real estate? Many thanks. We have really enjoyed reading this site and listening to you on the Financial Sense show.
A – Generally speaking, purchasing before you retire is a good idea as you can build up equity while you are still working. We would suggest that you skip entirely any Caribbean island with a strong budget cruise ship presence.
You should be subscribing to International Living – a newsletter for future ex-pats. Be careful about books on the subject – they are notoriously out-of-date.
Look over the CIA Country Report for any island you are considering. It will give you a breakdown of the population as well as crime and cost of living statistics. Also read the British government foreign office reports on each island.
Some of the better retirement islands are St. John, Anguilla, The Turks & Caicos, and out islands in the Bahamas. We would suggest that you go for a month and spend a week on four islands with the best real estate agent on each island. Have a visitation schedule sent to you in advance with photos and pricing so you can rule out clunkers.
Buying commercial real estate can get very tricky, if you are not well versed in the real estate business. Do no t attempt to do it by yourself – seek the help of professionals who can help you through the process of finding the perfect property, taking care of the paperwork and closing the deal.
A professional commercial real estate brokers are specially trained to handle commercial real estate transactions that are very different from regular real estate deals. A professional commercial real estate broker can also inform you of prime commercial real estate that are for sale. Institutional and private investors often ‘secretly’ sell off parts of their commercial property portfolios, and a commercial property broker can let you in on this insider information. Click here if you want to get more about the commercial space for rent.
Because real estate prices have dropped quite a bit, the potential commissions that real estate agents and brokers could earn have also dropped. But the drop in commissions can be more than offset by the amount of properties that can be sold.
And getting quality real estate leads is one of the keys to making this a reality for real estate professionals. This is because there are so many more properties on the market now than there were before the bubble burst.
Thе rise іn thе number оf homeowners whо аrе underwater оn thеіr mortgages hаѕ increased ѕо muсh thаt a vеrу large number оf thеm hаvе decided thаt thеу саnnоt afford tо stay іn thеіr homes. Thе lender оf a mortgage wіll receive monthly іntеrеѕt payments аnd wіll kеер a lien оn thе property аѕ security thаt thе loan wіll bе repaid. Well this site will provide you better guidance for mortgage. Thе borrower wіll receive thе mortgage loan аnd uѕе thе money tо purchase thе property аnd receive ownership rights tо thе property. Whеn thе mortgage іѕ paid іn full, thе lien іѕ removed. If thе borrower fails tо repay thе mortgage thе lender mау tаkе possession оf thе property. we have a great selection of lending options for your home loan.
They would rather sell their home and buy a comparable home for a much lower price, and take the loss so that they can improve their cash flow situation by having a lower mortgage payment each month. And since there is no shortage of properties to buy, these people had no problem finding a suitable home for a good price.
And another result of the rise in available properties is that more and more people are becoming first-time homeowners. Since prices on homes are falling, more and more people are able to afford a home for the same amount they are currently paying in rent. So the logical choice for these people is to buy a house rather than continuing to rent.
Skip the guidebooks and get in on ex-pat chat rooms. Do detective work and keep a binder of the issues/problems on each island under consideration. Don’t be naive. On many of the islands there is resentment toward Americans who drive up real estate prices. Many Americans commit only to discover they have made a terrible mistake.
Generally speaking, you will get far more for your money in Central America than you will in the Caribbean. Try looking at both Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Oh, and one more thing. If you have to worry about finding a cheap airfare to the Caribbean, you may not have the income to retire there.
Finally, do choose your island carefully. The Caribbean is home to some of the highest overall crime rates in the world.
