Chris Louisy

My husband & I are looking at buying a property in the Black Bay area. Initially we will rent it to family & friends with a view to perhaps moving there permanently. I've heard/read about the Ritz Carlton development & wondered if this will be a good/bad thing for the area?? I can only see it being a good thing but only if the area is not over-developed (which is why we like Black Bay). Does anyone have any thoughts on this?? Also, does anyone have any idea of property prices in that area?? Thanks

username 34

Ritz Carlton coming in is a great thing - it will mean expats and locals moving to the jobs, which will mean more infrastructure coming up around that area ... grocery stores, car repair shops, restaurants etc..

It wont get too overdeveloped - I'm not talking about Walmart style store, just more local business.

username 34

in terms of property - I'm not sure of house prices down that area

try www.cariblist.com to give you an idea.

Most expensive area is Gros Islet and up there you can get 3 bed houses with a pool for around the $400k USD price

you will have to pay alien landowners tax though - you need to speak with realtors down there to give you the costings. Also check out the services - if your water is on mains, where your sewage goes etc.

Chris Louisy

Thanks for your reply Islandmom.

I agree, I think the Ritz-Carlton development will be good for the area as, according to their website, they are planning bars, restaurants etc. of which there is a shortage there.

The house we are looking at is an 'old' property so all services are already there. It's in the process of being renovated & should be ready by the end of Jan. It's lovely & has character which is what we liked.

We were over in Dec & had a look at quite a few properties on the Island but most were way out of our price range (Rodney Bay, Gros Islet etc.). This we can afford (as we already have a mortgage here). We don't want to have to rely on rental income to pay for it although our friends can't wait to go. We've explained where it is on the island but they are not deterred.

My husband's parents were born in St Lucia although he was born here in the UK. We are already in the process of applying for citizenship but if we buy the house in the meantime, we can put it in his parents names (I think we might be able to avoid the Alien Landowners Tax by doing this but not sure).

I'm really excited about it but somewhat nervous which is why we won't be selling our UK house, at least, not yet.

We've been to St Lucia on a few occasions & absolutely love it. Also on the plus side, my husband has loads of family scattered all over the island so we won't be isolated.

pgtips

A word of advice, it is better for your husband to sort out his citizenship first, this is pretty straight forward. This will save you being charged twiced for legal fees and stamp duty. First when it is bought in his parents name and second when you have to have the deeds transferred from his parents to his name.

I see Black Bay as a long termer investment wise and it will be a bit of time before any action really starts happening. Property is generally very cheap down there.

I could get you a house and land in Beusejour, near the international cricket stadium for about 75K-80k uk pounds now because of the stength of sterling. 5-6000sqft plots and about 1500 sqft house newly built. When completed will be worth about 100k, thats the beauty of building.

Oh and only 10 min drive from Rodney Bay, so you see there are still one or two opportunities left up north, but not for much longer !!!

especially with the huge amounts of money being spent re-developing the marina by IGY http://www.igy-rodneybay.com who have taken over it and run some of the most up market marinas in the world. The Mega yachts will soon be catered for and property prices will go through the roof.

Chris Louisy

Many thanks for the advice PGTips.

We looked in that area when we were over in Dec but the only properties we found were around £142,000+ so if there are houses going around the £70,000 mark, we'd be very interested. We're hoping to be over again end Feb/early March so, if it's not too late, I'll contact you again nearer the time with a view to taking a look at what is left on offer if that's OK.

We're not in any rush so have plenty of time but understand the market is moving pretty quicky there. Our trouble is we have nothing to compare the prices in Black Bay with as there is not much property for sale there.

Of course, if we're going to rent it out whilst we're not using it, the Rodney Bay area is a far more attractive & rentable area.

pgtips

Chris, that price is presuming the pound stays strong against the dollar, you buy the land and have the builder build it for you brand new. Nearer 80k.
PM me your e mail and I will send you a couple of pictures of what you can have built. Bear in mind once built these will be worth at least 25% more.
The power of networking Eh. This is how I am doing it.

Mikecl

Hi Pgtips,

You mentioned in this thread about being able to Build for approx 80K do you have any details you could forward me, I sent my email address to you via PM

Thanks Mike

Islander Girl

Hello,
I agree with PGTips (again!) Black Bay and the south of the island has a lot of plans for developments, Ritz Carlton, Banyan Tree, Westin Le Paradis are all going to have an impact on the rest of the island but......in a few years to come. It will take time for the developments to go up and get established, however, any purchase in that area will increase in value but at a slower rate than anything in the north of the island. If you sent me a PM I can give you a few bits of information that may assist your search.

Aquamarine2602

Hi Pgtips, I've read your replies on this thread, very interesting. I have approx 5500 sq ft of land in Blackbay and have been given a quote to build a 1900 sq ft home for 84k (pounds) - which seems high to me. I realise that your comments were posted back in Jan and the market has probably changed a bit but I would be very interested to hear your views on this and to see the pictures of the house you mentioned in Beusejour for comparison please, thanks.

pgtips

Hi Aquamarine2602, the houses in Beasejour were 1500 sq ft and hence the difference. Building costy varies from about 180-250 ec per sq ft.
There are various factors involved including the finishing touches and design of your house, also the gradient of your land, it is more expensive to build on sloping land. The quote does not seem that excessive to me due to the size of the house you are having built.

Aquamarine2602

Hi Pgtips, thanks very much for the info, I got worried about this because the builder initially gave a very rough 'ballpark' figure of 310k (EC) but then came back with 425k (EC) after reviewing the plan in detail. But from your reply 425k sounds reasonable. The land on which it is going to be built is flat but the design may account for the higher costs. I did search around to see if the government published typical building costs for homes in St.Lucia but could not find this - this info would help anyone not normally resident on the island to determine if they are getting value for money or not.

pgtips

I am sure you will end up with a beautiful caribbean home, your own place in the sun. For the price you are paying the finishing should be very good.
I visited Black Bay earlier in the year and the residents seemed friendly enough. Good luck with the house build and remember to only pay in stages,
ie deposit, then staged payments as and when certain parts of the build are completed, foundations, structure, roof, finishes, etc. Get this agreement in writing by contractor.

linda_tee

Hi guys, forgive me if i get this all wrong, this is my first ever posting on any forum ever ! Was reading this thread with great interest. My husband and I are very interested in building a property in St Lucia. Husband is out there at the moment looking at land in the South. Can anyone point me in the right direction for reputable good builders? Also would need someone to project manage the build as we would not be on the Island. Might all be a bit early yet, but really interested to know how I can find out more info. Thanks to anyone who can help !

pgtips

Hi Linda, contact me nearer the time when you are ready to build. I can recommend 2 or 3 builders, but it will depend on their work load when you are ready to build.