Published on 02 January 2006 at 03:57 pm
Filed under: South/Central America:- Caribbean Property Guides » Caribbean Real Estate Buying Guide
The region known as ‘the Caribbean’ comprises circa 7,000 islands and countries that are organized into twenty five territories and which either lie in or border the Caribbean Sea.
The real estate buying process for a property investor will depend on which Caribbean country or island they are specifically interested in examining and this guide looks at some of the common characteristics of purchase processes throughout the Caribbean region as well as some interesting and important anomalies that a real estate investor should be aware of.
A large percentage of the Caribbean territories have a requirement that real estate agency practices are regulated and a real estate investor should check out the specifics of the regulatory guidelines realtors have to abide by in the Caribbean nation they are interested in investing in before employing the services of an agency.
Notable exceptions include countries like Haiti for example, which is actually the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere according to CIA World Factbook statistics and which has a real estate market plagued by corruption. Basically a rule of thumb for a real estate investor looking to the Caribbean region for property opportunities, the poorer and less well developed the island or nation the less well regulated the entire purchase process.
Certain countries in the Caribbean disallow foreign freehold ownership of immovable property - Cuba is one such Caribbean country. There are often ways around these rulings with black market property deals being done quite regularly. Any real estate investor considering working outside of a country’s constitutional laws should be aware that his subsequent assumed legal rights to own the property assets purchased will not be enforceable in a court of law.
Caribbean countries such as Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have active policies to encourage foreign direct investment and have regulations in place to not only allow for foreign freehold ownership of real estate but they have regulations in place granting foreign owners the same legal rights as their domestic citizens when it comes to their property assets.
It goes without saying that a property investor in the Caribbean should employ good legal representation to assist with every single aspect of the real estate purchase process - many good Caribbean based lawyers will also be able to advise a potential investor on the best areas of their particular country to look at for solid investment returns and also give guidance on which real estate agents can be trusted to give a complete and satisfactory service.
A further consideration that should be borne in mind when it comes to purchasing real estate in the Caribbean is the exchange rate between the property investor’s domestic currency and the currency of the particular island of nation where the investment is to be made. Many Caribbean countries have dollar linked their currency, but of those who have not dollar linked their currencies the majority still price real estate in US dollars anyway - but an investor should always check to ensure currency conversions and foreign exchange transactions will not adversely affect the profitability and affordability of an investment.
The laws on which property ownership rights are based throughout the Caribbean region have a lot to do with which nations have at one time ruled the particular island or country. For example the United Kingdom once ruled large swathes of the Caribbean region and this is why in countries like Belize and Anguilla the laws are based on English common law. In other counties there are similarities between the legal systems of the Netherlands or France for example and it is up to a real estate investor to make himself aware of the laws governing his favoured Caribbean country.
Finally, because the real estate buying process differs from country to country throughout the world, a property investor should ensure he is aware of the specifics of the purchase process in whichever country he is preparing to commit to before signing any binding contracts or parting with funds.
Hidden and additional costs, complex legal wranglings, complicated and potentially unfavourable property ownership laws etc., are all factors better off known and accepted before an investment decision is made rather than discovered half way through the buying process when it is too late to withdraw without the loss of funds.
South/Central America:- Caribbean Property Reports
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