Serendipidy

I have to agree that without a good network of people on the island then building your own place has a high chance of costing you your dreams. investment and your trust in people. I too like others have heard nightmare stories that are just too frequent to be unfortunate incidents. The other things to consider of course are the land as you would need to purchase that. Right now Barbados is suffering with plentiful stock of housing that no one wants to buy and has been that way for a while. These all sounds doom and gloom but I love your comment Vinnie about there not just being 1 paradise.

Happy Owner out of interest what were the costs and criteria at 50 for getting a 5 year Visa? Did the Visa allow you to run your own business or are their no working rights attached. Could you give the forum an indication of the criteria and cost for the life time one too as this will help a lot of people. Hopefully then like your other one we can set up a separate post for info for over 50s wanting to be long term in Barbados

Thanks ...Dips

Happyowner

Hi Dips, as I said before, when I was finally caught for exceeding 6months a year, I was first offered 5 years for $7000 BDS No permission to work at all. However, when I was sent the rules by a nice lady on TA it appeared that from the age of 50 you could pay $7000 BDS, for 5 years only , but once you reached 60, you could pay $10000. BDS for life. I was 60 ( shh don't tell anyone ) so having provided the history of my life , owning a home worth more than $150000. 00 US and having a clean Police Character Reference , plus adequate Health Insurance etc etc I now can come and go as I like or stay permanently . I have an ID card, but I am not allowed to work.

Happyowner

I have just found this website which appears to have superseded the one I was sent

Barbados Immigration for Retired Property Owners | Barbados Offshore Advisor

It now seems that the $7000 BDS will cover you from the age of 50 to 59 ( instead of 7 years ) then when you are 60, you must reapply for the $10000 BDS Indefinite Visa . I was lucky to have not been caught until I could apply for the " Rest of life " Visa.

Now you can also apply for a Special Entry Visa under 50 years of age for $10000 BDS but you must be retired. and I assume that runs out when you are 50 or maybe 60 ??? Who knows.

Serendipidy

Hi Happyowner Thanks for this it will be really useful - I hope at some point the government will offer something like this for those who can work remotely not just who are retired. Although I wonder how you prove you are retired at 50?

There are many people who are able to run their overseas business over the phone/online but want to live somewhere warm and contribute their income to the Barbados economy

vinnieboy

Happyowner

I wish you the best of luck Vinnie. I know what it is to have a dream. I achieved mine. I hope you do too.

vinnieboy

Sunniebgi

Personally I think it has less to do with our economy and more to do with what is happening in GB with Brexit and other economies around the world .

and. .prices are high in Barbados.. and in fact some properties are up for sale.. just to be up for sale . having a conversation on Tripadvisor about someone staying at a villa that has just recently gone up for sale.. should they still keep it booked at go??? what if it sales before their holiday.?? etc etc.. and the answers tend to be that others have had a similar situation.. the property is always up for sale but never sales.. (just to say that there is a multi-million dollar property on the west coast that I think it always "up for sale".. if that helps..)

ALSO.. you find that some estate agent don't "cleanup" their listing.. and that includes Cariblist.

AND yes.. our current economic state is not great.. but the change in government, even as bad as it's likely going to get in an effort to rebuild, there is a renewed sense of confidence in the island at least from a local perspective.

hope this helps..

vinnieboy

Sunniebgi

trust me.. it's confusing me as well. these are normal homes that will say they are up for sale. the ones you are seeing may not be in that category... and no. you wouldn't buy and then keep it up for sale. but people and economies are fickle. many people are wary about the economics of the world right now. not the average bajan.. they just want to sell there house.. but many times people thing the prices are to high.. (this isn't the US/UK/Canada where good and services for building are far less expensive) .. so they tend to stay on the market for a bit longer than in many countries.. I'm not in real estate. but I do watch what goes one.

the other issue is just the location.. 20 years ago we purchase our home (after a 5 year search and renting for that time) .. when the insurance person came to value the house he valued it lower because we were in the middle of the country and so many "Miles" from Bridgetown. silly if you ask me. but.. I would like to think, after 20 years the house still is in good worker order and would sell for much more than what we bought it for these days.. but we aren't planning on finding out anytime soon..

vinnieboy

Happyowner

Vinnie, I have never regretted buying here,and have no worries about re selling my home ( or for whoever has to after I'm dead ) . That is because my one bed condo is on the beach and would be very easy to let. So, my advice would be , if you intend to rent your home out before you live here, and , if necessary, sell it more easily, the nearer you can be to a beach, shops,and restaurants and bars , the better.

vinnieboy

Happyowner

No, absolutely not ,to an East coast Villa. A very few people love renting there for the Surfing, but that is it.

You have to go for the west or south west / south coast, to ensure lettings.

vinnieboy