appreciation of real estate

heheheheheh......St. John isnt going to yield a great bargain. The land has been sold and resold many times over.. On STJ, there are more agents than parcels of land to sell. Land can always be a little speculative unless you are also going to live there.
Hurricanes are our big wild card.
After a hurricane, there are always people who move away and present more opportunity off someone's misery.

Hi Chris:
I guess I wasn't specific enough in my post. I was thinking more about buying a condo in St. Thomas and renting it out for awhile. My husband and I bough land up here in Connecticut several years ago and built our dream house....and it is a dream house, but the building of it was more like a nightmare....I definitely don't have the stamina to think about doing it on an island. But my question was, has the market been appreciating or depreciating in the past few years. For instance here in New England house prices were extremely high in the late 80's and then crashed. People were kind of stuck where they were. But during the past few years prices are back way up again...great for us homeowners. Anyway, thanks for your post.
Theresa

They have been on their way up........
Arent you supposed to buy low and sell high?
that would suggest it is bad if the trend has been upward for the last few years, but i don't own any land....

I will be relocating to STX in September. I have been looking at houses there for the past six months and talking to realtors and alot of the houses that we are interested in have been on the market for a year to two years. These are all houses $250,000 and under. Is this normal or is there a slump in the market ? Any advise or help would be appreciated. Thank you 🙂

Theresa: You'll really want to do some homework, as the condo market is pretty variable. You will find that each association has different rules about renting out units- for example, some places allow you to do short-term or long-term rentals on your own, others require you to go through a property manager, etc. Look around, ask lots of questions and try to talk to some owners. Right now there seems to be a buying boom on St Thomas.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm working with a realtor now and soaking up internet information!! Think tropical thoughts for me!!
Theresa

wow, that seems really exciting for us potential buyers. Have you been househunting in person or via the internet? I also want to buy a house soon. I want to visit in nov., & depending on my life back in nyc, possibly move full time to the islands. What has been your experience with these houses? How many have you seen? Have you fallen in love with any? Why are they on the market so long??? What do the realtors say about the market? Here in ny the market has been so insane that you can be looking at a shell of a building and they price it at a million!

Real Estate on St. Thomas has been on the way up since 2000. During the last year many companies are moving here for EDC (tax) benefits and therefore moving their Management here. These people are buying condos and houses so it is definitely a seller's market. But a deal can be found if you look hard enough. Seems like there are lots of condos at Sapphire on the market right now. I heard (a rumor) that there were some construction problems and many owners are getting out now. Hence the glut on the market with condos at Sapphire.

Do your homework on condo fees. They can be very high here. Check out how much they are and what they include.

Hi Everyone

I am from NYC & have been shoping in all 3 VI physically & in the net. Prices are going up - so far - slow. Storms are the big factor for appreciation of property - mainly houses & condo. Land price is not fluctuating that much (SXJ is an exception)- that is my observation. I am a buyer for a large land to build later. I am going to STX on Aug 20th & then to STT. If any of you saw any good deal on land - let me know. Thaks.

So if I gave you a good tip on land in STJ, what would I get out of it other than a pat on the head? Good advice like that is worth 4 to 5 figures, maybe more.
I would be better off waiting and keeping it a secret until I can swing the deal myself, don't you think?