Moving to St. Croix

Welcome to paradise. You will find a wealth of information in the search box at the top right of the screen, next to 'new topics'. Great place to start and get quick answers. After you have finished check back with unanswered questions.

Suggest doing a PMV, Pre Move Visit for several weeks. Don't come as a tourist but as someone looking to move. Food stores, banks, schools, etc. Rent a car and remember to keep left.

Good luck!

There will be lots of different opinions on a good neighborhood for a family. Everyone has different tastes. You'll truly have to investigate on your own when you make your PMV. I may get some flack on this one but IMO the East end of the island is akin to an expat community in foreign countries. Mid island is a good location just to be centrally located to everything. The island isn't that big in the grand scheme so living mid island to me makes you feel "close" to everything. The West end is where the rain forest area is located. There are less restaurants if you're into eating out a lot but again, it's all relative as the island isn't that big. The better beaches IMO are in the west. Calmer waters for swimming and snorkeling. Reading someone's opinions on the internet about something like this really shouldn't sway you too much overall. You really need to come down and check things out a bit on your own and you'll get a feel for where you and your family will fit in.

Good Luck!

Stone House School

http://www.viphonebook.com/WebProject.asp?CodeId=7.4.4.1&Search=stone%20house&from=2#

USVI MLS realty

http://www.virginislandsmls.com/

Best of luck

judiths fancy is a nice neighborhood close to the beach.

it is overwhelming, no doubt, but any big change is. just relax and enjoy the ride

https://www.coldwellbankervi.com/page-pam-mcfadden-34.html

i always recommend Pam.

any other questions, just ask

Welcome, clbean!

I suggest that one or both parents do a PMV to find a long-term rental so you can move the family straight into your new home, rather than moving here and spending the first week in a temporary place while you look for housing. Don't rent a place here long-term site-unseen.

And I think 1 week is enough for any PMV, as long as you treat it more as a research trip, and less as a vacation. You're not going to learn much in the second or third week that you didn't figure out in the first week.

Good luck its SLIM picking over here. Trust me I'm looking.

Thanks everyone for your responses!! I have so much to think about and figure out. I don't think we are going to ship our car- seems like it might be cheaper to buy a used one. I'm getting nervous hearing about lack of rentals available??? Is this the same for all USVI?

Seems there are plenty on craigslist amongst the usual scams; on STT there are plenty still advertised in the newspaper and I still see signs out on the roadside - no different than any other time of the year. A friend in St John says the board(s) at Connections are as active as usual with rentals.

The Craig's List scams seem to offer the moon, plus "heat" for $700
these days. Saw about 7-8 posted just yesterday. I liked the one with covered, heated parking. They don't generally post pics with these. Just be careful.

Hi everyone- thanks again for the tips. I've been doing a lot of research this weekend. Question- how do you know if a craigs list ad is a scam? Do people rent without seeing the place first? We are trying to pin down our PMV and need to maximize our time there- so should we avoid any craigs list ads? Thanks so much

No need to avoid, just don't give personal or financial info out or rent anything sight unseen. If you're curious about something, post it and see what we think as to scam or not.

Most of the scams as mentioned were in $700 range and no pics, included utilities plus heat. A dead giveaway as we are on a tropical island and don't require heaters.

It may be cheaper to ship your car than buy a " beater" down here.
Good luck.

For ads that have pictures I always look at the appliances. You can tell right away by the euro design. Another giveaway for me is electrical outlets. Euro outlets in the pics = scam

Ultra modern decor with no windows in pics or tropical foliage in exterior views for low prices. Includes elevator.

You can inquire on places to rent through craigslist as long as you DO NOT RENT ANYTHING SIGHT UNSEEN! The scammers aren't available to show you the place but will tell you to send some money, after receipt of which they'll send you the keys ... they're not hard to sift out.

It's all moot if you just do the sensible thing. When you're ready to come down here, find a short term place to stay for a week, reply to ads, narrow down your choices and then make an appointment to see them in person when you arrive.