Re: Quiet?
 

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?

Re: Quiet?
 

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:

Re: Quiet?
 

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:

Re: Quiet?
 

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)?

Re: Quiet?
 

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.

Re: Quiet?
 

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.

Re: Quiet?
 

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?

Re: Quiet?
 

Ermm, I don't think so!

Re: Quiet?
 

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.

Re: Quiet?
 

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:

Re: Quiet?
 

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