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February 2007

The following information is compiled to help you, the expat and overseas property buyer, get the best value out of the Real Estate Agent with whom you are dealing.

1 > Why Should You Buy Through a Caribbean Estate Agent?
Because….Estate Agents have a professional interest in keeping local real estate prices to an equitable and reasonable level.

Unfortunately private owners have wonderfully imaginative ideas of what the value of their land should be! A sniff of a foreign buyer just drives a local seller into a frenzy of hopeful cupidity. The realtor knows the local and international market and will limit the seller's expectations. You, as the overseas buyer, cannot exert the same influence on the banana farmer (for example) trying to sell his land to you. He sees only one thing; a wealthy expat.

Most importantly, without a professional estate agent you cannot know whether the land you want to purchase is legally owned by the seller. And, even if the seller shows you a piece of paper, you cannot be sure it's legal without a great deal of expensive research on your part. The sale of land with illegal title happens all too often, and is not discovered until it's too late.

A private seller will tell you whatever you want to hear. He only has one piece of land to sell you and he really wants you to buy it - at his price! A realtor has lots of real estate to show you, and it's in his interest to make sure you find the right one - at the right price. It may take two years, but he will stay the course and remain a solid ally.


2 > Many Caribbean Estate Agents are neither operating nor protected by North American or European Standards and Regulations
Estate Agents in the Caribbean are very different animals from their counterparts in the industrial nations. They operate in a vacuum with one or two competitors in a country, and its tough to be self-regulatory! Ultimately they do a very valuable job generating foreign exchange for their countries.

They are forced to set and maintain their own set of standards and these can be lower, but are just as often higher, than the hard-edged business environment that the expat is used to. A local West Indian's work ethics and manner can be charming reflections of a timeless world. He will, for example, take time to meet and greet you, when all you want is to 'do the biz'! You are in their country and on their time, so try to rein in the impatience.


3 > Estate Agents or Realtors are Not Tour Operators
Recently an estate agent in Dominica had a British client who wished to view a large number of diverse properties during his two week holiday to the island. The agent, quite correctly, asked for a fee to cover his fuel for eight hours of driving.

The visitor turned to his wife complaining, "We didnt have to pay a fee in the European countries, did we Gladys?" So is this just a habitual modus operandi employed by those too cheap to pay for a tour guide?

A very wise and experienced Agent in Grenada (a Brit by birth), responds to eager tourists wishing to view property in the north, west, south and east of the country, by pointing out the Tour Buses parked across the road. "Book that yellow bus there to tour the north of the country tomorrow," he says with a firm and knowing smile. "The following day, book the green bus to tour the east, and so on. Then come back and see me!"

Tours Operators will give you a thorough tourists overview of the island. Then, if you are serious about investing and looking at real estate, go ahead and book time with your particular real estate agent. Estate agents in the Caribbean have learnt the hard way that they are probably going to be used as tour operators, so be prepared to pay your Agent for his time driving long distances around his country. If you explain that you have already done your research, and are seriously interested in a particular area, he will probably not charge you.

4 > Agents Make 3-10% on each Sale
Latest figures tell us that the average house in the UK sells for $320,000 (US), and by deduction the average estate agent makes a nice commission on every sale. But if you are spending only $35,000 on a quarter acre in St. Kitts, then your Kittitian estate agent is going to have a very hard time making that same percentage commission stretch to cover even his overheads. Why would you expect the same service on a sale that is going to make the agent 10 times less in revenue? And if you imagine his overheads are 10 times less, then you are sorely mistaken.

5 > Your West Indies Estate Agent is a Valuable Future Asset
In a small country where everyone knows everyone else, Estate Agents are well regarded. They work closely with government and other local professionals such as lawyers and accountants.

Agents want to do business with you for many years to come, sell you home and medical insurance, manage your property in your absence, advise you on security, help you find staff etc, so he is going to look after you every step of the way.

Recently an agent had a prospective client who liked the piece of land she was shown, but decided to save a few pennies by tracking down the owner of the land and making a direct offer, pretending that the agent had never been involved. The owner of the land was so excited and overcome by being approached by a 'rich' overseas buyer that he instantly added 20% onto the price! The agent was brought back in and re-brokered the deal, but all trust has gone. This is very negative to a new relationship in a small community.

Unfortunately this type of incident happens all too often in many countries, with extremely damaging effects on the whole industry.

Your Agent knows the weather microsystems, the social microsystems and the future government plans for the different geographical areas in his small country. He/she will do his best to find you the dream piece of real estate, however long it takes. He has nothing to lose if he has your loyalty.

6 > One of The Heaviest (and still growing) Costs a Realtor faces is Transportation
Amongst the smaller island countries of the Caribbean, agents list properties from the whole country and often off-lying islands.

Real estate agents in Europe and North America rarely cover more than a five miles radius on well maintained roads on their property viewings. Agents in the Caribbean deal with hundreds of miles of mountainous tracks and badly maintained roads, making it almost impossible to see more than three country properties in a morning.

The wear and tear on 4x4 vehicles, with anything from 20-150% import duty and the cost of expensive imported fuel puts a huge strain on the overheads of any Caribbean estate agent.

8 > Real Estate Agents Fees and Services in the West Indies
Caribbean Estate agents earn their Fees as a percentage of sales exactly as all real estate agents do throughout the universe! But things are a little different here.

Agents in small countries simply don’t make enough selling real estate to cover the costs of a shop front, 4x4 vehicles, a receptionist and supporting staff, which they need in order to offer a really professional service.

They also run supporting businesses such as insurance and general legal and business services to pay the overheads.

Added to which, they find themselves being called out by tourists on a Sunday morning, leaving on the BA flight from Antigua tomorrow at 5pm; but demanding an 'emergency' viewing of a property they ‘must’ see, which they don’t realise is a four hour, pot-holed drive into an isolated part of the island.

If your estate agent looks exhausted, be gentle with him/her....now you understand why!


9 > Estate Agents are not Holiday Planners
It goes something like this.... an agent will spend months in correspondence with you as a prospective buyer; building a relationship, getting to understand your needs, lining up the type of real estate that you are looking for.

Closer to the time of your visit you want to know where to stay; where to hire a car; where to go for the best restaurants; where to bank, etc. Your agent provides all this information, but earns nothing from it. Most agents do not have business deals with car rentals, hotels, rental villas, etc.; they just make recommendations because in the long term it’s more business for their home country, their island.

Be aware, your estate agent is not a holiday planner, and makes little or no money from all of this. Most of them will bend over backwards to help you, realizing that you often don’t know the country and need support. If you do ask your agent to act as your holiday planner, at least treat him/her to lunch as a thank-you!

10 > Look After your Caribbean Realtor - He is the best local Resource you have!
Your professional Caribbean Estate Agent has high expectations of you; he will not gazump you, or let the owner renege on his agreement to sell, or let you pay over the odds. You will find that Caribbean estate agents are as international as the buyers, with agents from Germany, Britain, the US, Spain and all over the West Indies, but the commitment is the same.

You will get solid value, integrity and loyalty. And, during your absence, you will know for sure that all your material interests are in good hands; during your presence you have a powerful ally at your side.

Living and working in the Caribbean is really a dream come true for most of us who have done it. Other than a few exceptions, it’s a gentler, kinder, slower world down here and that’s why we came.

Good luck in your hunt for your perfect Caribbean property!

Stewart Andrews is the principal of Design Management Group Ltd, which wholly owns Caribbean Land and Property.com. Stewart sailed across the Atlantic on a steel yacht which he built himself with his wife, and two children, twenty years ago. He has project managed large capital construction projects in the Caribbean including a HM prison and a state of the art Theatre and Learning Centre. His engineering and architectural background and long experience in the Eastern Caribbean give him a deep understanding of how to advise expats which country in the Caribbean best suits their particular needs.

He can be contacted at stewart@caribbeanlandproperty.com, or on 1 767 449 0599.

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