Opinions - Hard Labor & St. Peter (Rainbow Gardens)

I don't know anything about St. Peter. I am building a house in Hard Labor. We chose that area for quite a few reasons. The view is the obvious one. The seclusion there is hard to find anywhere.The rain forest side of the island is good for gardening & vegetation. That comes with more bugs, so it's not for everyone. I guess the many reason is, it was in are price range.

I definitely would NOT buy anywhere without seeing the property and surrounding area.

Terry,

I agree. We looked at quite a few areas when we were there in October, and liked the St. George area quite a bit. When the Hard Labor plots showed up on the MLS, we were interested because the view reminded us of St. George. We like a good panoramic view more than being close to the water. We plan on visiting again in the next several months, and just want to zero in on what may be available when we get there.

Joe G.

aschultz,

We are looking at the same things: view & price. Its also not a problem for us being in the western half of the island since most of the shopping, etc is west of Christiansted. At this point its still an information gathering phase, but if the parcel that is "it" shows up, we hope to rapidly move to the next stage.

I have heard about the bug effect that is characteristic of the rain forest. Is the difference a huge one? I'm not sure a daily battle with ants, termites, mosquitoes, etc appeals to me much.

How is the building experience going? Is it as difficult to get going as it seems from the other posting?

Thanks for you input, BTW.

Joe G.

Well as far as the bugs go, I don't mind the noise at night. The sound of the jungle is kind of nice. I don't know how the every day bug problems are or how they compare to the east end. I don't live there yet. I do hope we will by this summer. The building started out fun, but trying to get a construction loan ended that. So we had a big delay. They made us change are plans so they would have resale value early. If I had the means we could have built in record time.

All,

This post is long overdue, but I did want to take a moment to say thanks for the input I received on this post as well as a couple of other I made asking questions about HOA's and insurance.

The reason this post is long overdue is that I finally did take the plunge. In the middle of Hurricane Omar last fall I staked my claim on a little piece of St Croix paradise and bought a quarter acre not far from Good Hope school. I had originally been looking for a high-up view lot, but I settled for one close to the water instead. (Not a bad compromise!:-)) The area I settled on has the advantage of being flat and easy to get to, so I am well satisfied with my purchase.

Also, special thanks to Alexandra for her great insights on island locations and information, as well as for her mini tours around the island searching high and low with us. Even a flat tire didn't stop her. I would recommend her to anyone seriously considering a property purchase (or even looking for a good rental) on St. Croix.

I can say its great to be an "islander" (even if I am still only a continental), and its great to take the first step towards that "some day" when a visit to St. Croix will last more than just a week.

Thanks again to all those who pitched in their 2 cents to my questions.

Joe G

Congratulations on your piece of the rock. Nice location!

(tu)