Is it better to build your home?

Building can be a wonderful option, you can build it to your own specifications, however building costs can be very high compared to the mainland. You cant build a house on the cheap if it is to withstand hurricaines and the mountanous terrain. Hiring laborers and contractors can be costly. And you better have a lot of patience, nothing goes quickly in the Islands, especially the construction of houses. There is a house down the mountain a bit from me that in over a year has barely made it past getting the foundation done and the walls started. I see the workers there maybe two hours a day and even then their working slow.

Katy,

In April (last month), when we drove around St. Croix looking at neighborhoods in which we might want to live, we found one lovely one but were concerned because there were so many houses that were in the middle of being built and only one showed signed of recent activity (read: there was lone guy on a bulldozer moving some dirt around). One house on a hill scared us a bit when we read a little sign that listed all of the permits that had gotten for the project -- most were issued in 1995!

We asked if it took this long to get houses built and were told that while work does move slower than in the states, a lot of the delays were because the owners were paying as they went: They would save enough money for the next leg of work, get it done and paid for, then halt construction until they had saved enough money to go on to the next step. Given that the houses were all made of cement (not wood like they are in a lot of the main land), it is possible to do this style of biulding as there wasn't going to be any weather damage to frames, slabs, walls, etc while you were saving to do more. And it really enabled you to live within your current means and stick to a budget without accruing a huge amount of debt. Sounded lilke a neat idea to us. If I were someone looking to retire to the USVI and had the time, I think building my own home using the pay as I go model would be a terrific option.

Am not sure, however, that building works out as well for those who want to move soon. We were told to expect to pay a minimum of $150 per square foot of living space for a house built from scratch, plus the cost of land. When you add insurance to that, you're looking at a pretty big price tag for even 1000 sq. foot property -- $150k for the house itself, plus land, plus taxes and insurance, plus furnishing the place and the time it would take. We decided we'd be able to find a better deal by purchasing an existing home.

Best wishes with whatever option you choose!

HipCrip

Hello Katy,

Building cost on St. Thomas and St. Croix are around $150 per square foot roughly... and St. John more like $250 per square foot.

As for construction time, as Hip Crip said a lot of residents and locals build as they can and often times they or friends are working on the building themselves a few hours each day afterwork or on weekends. If you have the money to build the house all at once then there is no problem you pay a contractor and they have workers dedicated to your property daily. You will need patience though as noted more so with dealing with getting the permits, supplies ect and supervising the work. There are numerous architects here that can assist with drawing your plans in accordance with island style and construction requirements.

--Islander

I have been told by a St. Thomian that there is some kind of tax abatement when your home is under sonstruction...like, as long as your have a portion of your home under construction, you don't have to pay taxes....something like that. He said this is the reason why so many homes are "under construction" all the time.

To me, many of thhe homes resemble "bunkers" (for hurricanes). I owuld love to build because I want to design the home myself....and wouldn't like most of the homes on the island. A family friend lives on the hillside overlooking Megans Bay. Her home began as a small, two room deal - and she adds on one room each time she saves up enough $$$. After knowing her for 30 years..she now has 3 bedrooms, kitchen, LR, DR, HUGE deck and a second home on the propert y to hold guests. Patience is key.

Steff,
My husband and I heard the same thing about the (Property) tax abatement on StX. I'll have to research that more thoroughly.

Eve, my friend...

Please do let me know what you find out about abatements, and if it applies to modifications as well as additions. We'll need to remove a wall between two bedrooms and combine two baths into one to make our new home wheelchair accessible for me -- it would be terrific if we could get a tax abatement while we're doing that work.

HC