Quiet?
 

Is it me or has it got a bit quiet in here? Impact of the world recession?

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Hi 3aces
Been on holiday in St Lucia and have heaps of work to do this week to catch up, and been updating you know what with my photos and videos etc. Hope you visit now and again. I should pick my holidays more carefully as our financial year ended 28th. February and I have an audit next week, the tax year ends Sunday, and I had a VAT return to get in on Tuesday. As nobody does any of my work while I am away this has been a very hectic week. However, I am up to date now with the work for my auditor so can spend a bit more time now on British Expats. Will be great when the auditor has finished so I can relax over Easter.
Have posted another couple of replies today and should be back to normal viewing habits by the end of next week:thumbup:

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Maybe the quiet before the storm !!! Things will eventually get back on track, or maybe the recession is just biting harder than a vexed mosquito.

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HI Pgtips
Seems like I have certainly got your attention and perhaps 3aces was right and things have got rather quiet. I appreciate your comments, particularly regarding the Bayview Estate and will send a PM regarding this. You may be of some help in certain regards.

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My computer is currently somewhere on the atlantic ocean as we speak hence my difficulty in posting!
Lets keep all our fingers crossed that my container makes it over all safe and well:eek:

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I'm headed down for a visit in May, and then back again in June..:thumbsup:

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Good to hear from your Scottylad. I know what it is like when the auditors come to visit:ohmy:

I was hoping to be in SLU over the easter period but due to work commitments won't be out there until July now but I will be there for a whole month :D

I will email you nearer the time with my dates and if you want us to send updated pictures or videos of the progress made just let me know.

Anyone in SLU in July/early August fancy meeting up for a rum or two????

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One of the perks of being your own boss - a whole month on holiday:rofl: Good that you have been busy though.
Got rid of the auditors thankfully but our server melted in the heat last Wednesday so have been computerless for a while and had to submit my report to the FSA so did that at home, but even there had internet connection problems. All sorted now but a lot of catching up to do workwise.
Any photos or videos while you are there will be greatly appreciated as I think there is only one buyer going out in June I think.
We are planning our next holiday for November, but this will be to Florida with some family so don't expect to be back in St Lucia until next year, but if we need to sign any paperwork may get a week there. Will let you know if and when.

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Florida is a great holiday destination, one of my favourite places. Which part of are visiting?

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We have now booked the 13th November for two weeks at the Daytona Seabreeze at Daytona Beach (the quiet part) with daughter, partner and 3 children and our other daughter so it will be hectic. We went a few years ago, on our own, to Delray Beach and West Palm Beach, a week at each and we enjoyed it, although not the airport security. We've got our flights and car hire sorted so now we just have to wait. We usually organise holidays at the last minute so this will be a change for us.
Where are you staying in St Lucia?

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Interesting that you mentioned airport security. I had a nightmare with them a couple of years ago at Orlando airport. Been going there for years and on this occasion decided to search my hand luggage and ask a host of stupid questions! Probably because I was the only black face on the plane (yes, controversial but there was an article in the Times not long ago about the treatment of Black and Asian citizens by security in the US and Australia).

Okay, back in topic :), we are staying in the Cap Estate, rented a nice villa there :thumbsup:

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3Aces
Business must be doing well - a whole month renting at Cap Estate!!!:rofl:
Don't think colour matters to US immigration as we were well late at Atlanta and I had recently had a hip replacement but depite the lateness still had to take my shoes off even though I could hardly bend and with the lateness had to run/hobble to get our connection. (In the end our plane was cancelled and we had to wait hours for a replacement - and this threw our seating plan into disarray, but we won't talk here about Delta Airlines). Perhaps my Scottish attitude was more of a disadvantage to US immigration than my colour????
Whatever, I am dreading US immigration this time as we went in 2003 and it has got worse since I believe.
Gave you another mention in my latest post so hope you get some hits. Where are you based in UK?

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P.S.
Do you get a trade discount for rentals at Cap Estate?:cool:

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Scottylad,

I'm based in Leicester and no I don't get a trade discount on villas in the Cap Estate (wish I did...lol)

I know what you mean about security and immigration in Atlanta I know a couple of people who have had problems with them as well but I've never had any issues with them.

By the way, thanks for the post :thumbsup:

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Hi 3aces

Have you managed to fix your holiday dates yet? Our last member to visit hasn't really been able to post much in the way of progress as there hasn't been any of note and we have another going out on 23rd. July so hopefully he will be able to post some progress reports.

If you can find out anything on your visit or send some photos that would be great and if you don't mind trying to get some up to date sales details as I'm sure they are still giving out some slightly misleading rental projections.

How's business - still busy? I've been buying some more domain names and playing around with setting up my own rental website but it's early days yet, although I hope to publish it in a few months even though our villa won't be finished for another year at least. Just not quite sure how far in advance to start as I know it takes time to get the site noticed.

Hope you have a nice relaxing holiday.:cool:

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Hi Scottylad,

We fly out next Sunday. Business is good thanks but very tiring. I'm totally exhausted mentally at the moment. Starting to wonder if it is all worth it to be honest. Probably take a very early semi-retirement soon before I work myself into an early grave!

By the way, I've already promised someone else who has a villa there up to date pictures, so I will send some to you as well and get the sales information requested.

With regards to a website for your villa. I would suggest starting now as it may take up to a year to secure decent rankings in the search engines (depending on keyword selection). When the site is indexed and starts getting traffic, monetise it using Goolge Adsense - you probably won't receive a lot from it but it may be enough to pay for your domain registration and hosting fees. However, make sure to remove Adsense when you are ready to advertise your villa.

If you need help sourcing a good property rental script let me know, also email me at work if you need help with the search engine optimisation.

If you set the site up properly you may be able to charge other property owners for listings on there as well :D

How are things at your end?

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3aces

Bet you are really looking forward to your break by the sounds of things - hope you are able to relax and not worry about work while you are away. Look forward to seeing your photos, and thanks.

I have been designing my rentals website using the templates supplied but if you can point me in the direction of a bespoke template that would be great. The main problem I have is photographs as my villa won't be ready for at least another year, but I can use the showhome photos as examples I suppose. My plan was to offer advertising space when up and running to other owners and possibly start up a business offerring cleaning services etc. but that needs some research yet and we are still trying to clarify things with the rental management company who are wanting to charge for supervising cleaners etc who are not supplied (and charged) by them. This is causing a great deal of animosity at present.

My daughter has just done a short course at college in web design so I might let her help me but she is due to have a baby in the next two weeks so I'd better wait until after the birth as she won't feel up to it just now.

It's been a funny old time work wise as we are quite busy but not making much money as removals are few and far between, but we are branching out into records management which is quite expensive to set up but we have the cash so now's the time to get it going as it can be quite a lucrative business. More work for me though as I'll now be looking after 4 companies, but keeps me out of mischief.

Hope you have a great holiday.:cool:

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3aces

Managed to get Google adsense set up - took 3 attempts to put it in the right place as I'm still learning but that's another new skill for me.
Hope you are enjoying your holiday and look forward to hearing from you when you get back. We have been told of even further delays now but one of our members is out today and will try to dig out more information as he is in the building trade. Have asked the developer some searching questions but no reply yet so solicitors are involved. Good grounds for breach of contract but don't want to go down that route unless absolutely necessary.
Have a rum for me.:thumbsup:

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Hi Scottylad,

If I had known you were going to add Adsense to your site I would have recommended this website to help generate the code - http://www.adsense-generator.com/

Having a great time here. Managed to completely de-stress after a week and now two weeks into my holiday an element of boredom is creeping in (missing my hectic workaholic lifestyle....lol). Don't think I am ready for the Caribbean lifestyle yet.

The real purpose of this message is to ask if you still require pictures (or video)?

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3aces
Glad to hear you have de-stressed so quickly. Have you had any boat trips yet or gone on the aerial tramway or zipline if you are feeling adventurous?
I doubt if photos or video would be of much use as progress, if there is any, will be taking place inside so no visible signs will be there. If you are in the area though just let me know if there are workmen around the site as any time we visited there were few to be seen. One of our members is there now and he has Caribbean building trade experience so it will be useful to see what he has to say when he gets back next week.
We keep getting waffle about delays but never any valid reason for these so our solicitor is on the case now.
Hope the weather there is better than here - we have the Caribbean tropical rain but no heat when it stops:blink:
Enjoy the rest of your holiday - only another couple of weeks for you to miss work.

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Scottylad,

Just quick note to let you know that I was there today taking pictures for one of your forum members. Met the foreman/building supervisor, an American chap who showed us around the show house. Site seemed quite busy with quite a few workers around.

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Yes, I agree this forum is very quiet and quite frankly I only visit this site occasionally because there's nothing of interest to "grab" one's attention. I prefer the Trip Advisor forums relating to individual island but I suppose that's really a different interest.
Although we live in the Caribbean for a good part of the year because we are retired - you guys who subscribe to this forum are mostly young and seeking jobs.
Am I right?

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Ermm, I don't think so!

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A lot of entrepreneurs, not many seeking a job, though some do.
A lot of people although not quite ready to retire, take extended mini retirements in the Caribbean. All sorts frequent these boards, however with the current global financial mess, some will find it harder to finance or are just being extra cautious about that financial comitment which goes with living in the Caribbean. Trip advisor is more for advice on holidays, not living in the Caribbean.

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Tissan

Agree with pgtips about tripadvisor being more for holidaymakers.
As a 57 year old I am buying a property in St Lucia and come to this site for first hand knowledge of the procedures involved in moving there and the many hassles involved. I wouldn't say I'm young but I'm certainly young at heart and would jump at a job if at all possible. I've picked up many tips from this site and hope to continue to do so in the future.:thumbsup:

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If you came here more often it would be busier :);)