Caribbean Real Estate Opportunity: Vieques

Today's Financial News - Posted February 23, 2008

“Over the past 30 years, International Living has proven to its 420,000 subscribers that you can live better for less overseas. International Living’s Latin America editorial director, Suzan Haskins, is here to tell us about a red-hot real estate opportunity in the Caribbean.” — Krista Das

Baltimore – (TFN): The following was taken from a Special Market Insights with Krista Das featuring Suzan Haskins, editor for International Living. Watch this video.

Krista Das: Over the past 30 years, International Living has proven to its 420,000 subscribers that you can live better for less overseas. International Living’s Latin America editorial director, Suzan Haskins, is here to tell us about a red-hot real estate opportunity in the Caribbean.

Suzan, where in the Caribbean can we buy cheap, undervalued real estate right now?

Suzan Haskins: The place we think offers a lot of opportunity right now is a little island of Vieques. It’s part of the Puerto Rico island chain, and it’s about seven miles east of the main island of Puerto Rico.

Krista Das: Now, wasn’t that where the U.S. Navy had a base and did some testing?

Suzan Haskins: Yes, exactly. The U.S. Navy occupied Vieques until 2003 when they turned over about 18,000 acres to the U.S. Wildlife Department. So now there’s the biggest wildlife preserve in the Caribbean in Vieques. They’re cleaning up the old military ordinances and a lot of debris that the Navy left behind.

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Krista Das: So give us an idea of what the island is like right now. What would life be like, day to day?

Suzan Haskins: This is a very small and rustic island. Right now there aren’t high-rise condos. There aren’t a lot of big resorts. So it’s a place where you can find a slower pace of life. There’s really only one town of any size there. I mean, you’re going to still see horses roaming around on the streets and people walking by foot. It’s a very rustic, sort of old Caribbean style island.

Krista Das: Well, it’s certainly comforting to know that it’s a short flight from the States and that it’s a U.S. commonwealth. If you wanted to buy property and then lease it, is there a good rental market in Vieques?

Suzan Haskins: There’s a great rental market in Vieques right now, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that there are a lot of workers there right now cleaning up the debris and the military things that the U.S. Navy left behind, as I mentioned. All of those workers need housing, so yes, there’s a really good rental market on Vieques.

Krista Das: And do mortgages and titles work the same as they would in the continental U.S.?

Suzan Haskins: They do in some regard. On Vieques, you have titled property and untitled property. So yes, you can get a mortgage for a titled property. You can’t get a mortgage for untitled property. But you can oftentimes find sellers who are willing to self-finance that property.

Krista Das: And what types of property are we looking at here?

Suzan Haskins: Well, right now there are lots that you can buy and there are still acreages that you can buy. There are some homes that you can buy. The Starwood chain is bringing in their W Resort, and they will be building a resort and golf course community. So I assume that very soon there will also be condos that you can buy on Vieques.

Krista Das: And do you have any price ranges?

Suzan Haskins: Right now, anything from $40,000 for a lot to $200,000 for an existing home. Now, these are going to be older homes on Vieques. But you’ve got to keep in mind that this is probably half the price of what you’re going to find on an island like St. John, which has a similar make-up. So it’s still a great bargain.

Krista Das: Okay. So how long do we have to act on before the bargains go away?

Suzan Haskins: Oh, that’s always a question. I would say get there soon. In the four years since the U.S. military pulled out, prices have doubled. And I think with people like Starwood coming in and building new resorts, you’re going to see prices start to go up pretty dramatically. So if you’re interested in Vieques, now’s the time to move.

Suzan Haskins is International Living’s Latin America editorial director.