Professional couple looking to move - Questions galore

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Go OT!

I think it's everyone's dream who watches HGTV, which romanticizes the notion of living on a tropical Island. I wish they would do a followup after a 5 year period and see how many are still in love with the prospect after making the jump. My bet is there wouldn't be that many left to even do a show.

mike

If your husband is an IT code writer, chances are he can work remotely. We have excellent high speed broadband capabilities in the USVI. As far as sales and marketing opportunities, I see these types of positions pop up here and there with some degree of frequency. There are very few people who can truly sell and apparently not many of them come to the VI to live. Opportunities abound. Don't dream it...be it.

have you decided on an island. any kids. any health issues

resort work is not always the day at the beach people envision

there are a lot of scams on craigs list so be aware.

Are you bringing any pets? Hard to rent a condo with them. Some accept pets if buying, but, most have weight restrictions.
I suggest a pre-move visit (PMV) because all three VI islands are totally different in many, many ways.
Come here often to VIMC and read, read, read. Most questions have been asked and answered here many times over.
Island living is not the same as a vacation if you must work! It's not for everyone and most leave within a few years for one reason or another. I've said good-bye to many friends over the years.
But, hey, if you have a good sense of humor and have great patience, you should do fine. Bring lots of money as the islands tend to suck it away from you!

I think it's everyone's dream who watches HGTV, which romanticizes the notion of living on a tropical Island. I wish they would do a followup after a 5 year period and see how many are still in love with the prospect after making the jump. My bet is there wouldn't be that many left to even do a show.

mike

I hope my earlier post didn't discourage you or sound condescending. But since HGTV has been promoting the Islands life, it seems that there is numerous want to be Islanders popping up on the forums daily. If you have a minimum of 6 months financial backup money to lay on until jobs are found and you aren't one of the thousands who flood the Islands looking for waiter or waitress (service) jobs and have a skill set that would benefit the Islands then I say come on down. You will have your ups and downs, but a bad day on a tropical Island is better than a good day any where else. You will have an adventure of a life time and if adventure is what you are looking for, make it happen.

The best years of my life were spent on St. Thomas and as a 15 year old kid growing up on a tropical Island back in the late 60's and 70's was magical to me anyway. So if this is your dream, don't let anyone including me discourage you from obtaining it.

mike

There are answers galore under all the drop down menus. Use them.

If your husband is an IT code writer, chances are he can work remotely. We have excellent high speed broadband capabilities in the USVI. As far as sales and marketing opportunities, I see these types of positions pop up here and there with some degree of frequency. There are very few people who can truly sell and apparently not many of them come to the VI to live. Opportunities abound. Don't dream it...be it.

Wish I could use those high speed broadband capabilities to work remotely....

50 mps download is not bad.

Im getting 5mb

I think it's everyone's dream who watches HGTV, which romanticizes the notion of living on a tropical Island. I wish they would do a followup after a 5 year period and see how many are still in love with the prospect after making the jump. My bet is there wouldn't be that many left to even do a show.

mike

80% of those shows are totally staged. Houses they rent aren't even the same ones shown on the episode and half of them never even move to the island. It was hilarious to find this out.

I think it's everyone's dream who watches HGTV, which romanticizes the notion of living on a tropical Island. I wish they would do a followup after a 5 year period and see how many are still in love with the prospect after making the jump. My bet is there wouldn't be that many left to even do a show.

mike

80% of those shows are totally staged. Houses they rent aren't even the same ones shown on the episode and half of them never even move to the island. It was hilarious to find this out.

I would whole-heartedly agree. Since I have been watching house availability on Zillow and Realtor.com for almost a year and also watching the HGTV shows, I have noticed that at least half of the homes that were "supposedly" bought on the show are still on the market.

Things that make you go "Hmmmmmmmmm"! 😛

Who would buy a home after only looking at three options? We looked through at least 50 properties before we bought ours here on STX.

I doubt they looked at just 3. I figured that they just showed the 3 where they got the best footage for TV.

It's usually more than 3, as sometimes you can catch this when they don't edit out the comments from the people. Also it's usually the vacant home/condo that get's bought as I read they do the filming after the purchase in most cases. At least that's what the internet told me. 😉

That's true from my understanding about filming after the fact not during the process.

Thanks AandA I didn't realize that. But it's still enjoyable to watch though, especially when they show some of those really white people from the cold northern states sweating their @$$'$ off while filming their house hunting excursions. It reminds me of that movie with Matthew Perry, Fools Rush In, where Perry's says "The White People Are Melting Out here", while they were sitting on a boat on a Lake set in Arizona or one of those western states. hahahahahahhaa.

I saw one of those HGTV Caribbean Life shows and the Husbands shirt was literally sticking to him and was half soaked and he was trying to put on a brave face for the camera and I expect his wife as well. I took it that it was her dream more than his.

mike

Who would buy a home after only looking at three options?

Well obviously these locations are so popular that there are only 3 options available in their price range to go look at in every episode:D

I'm actually surprised in a few of the episodes where they admit at the end the deal fell through and the folks are still looking. Maybe there's a sequel in there.:P

House Hunters and similar shows are all filmed after the fact. The show is designed to recreate the "search" process . In all case the house had already been purchased. The other properties may or may not have been ones actually looked at by the purchasers during their original search. The show is a "recreation" not an actual depiction of the real selection process.

Unreality TV.

does not matter, i still love the show. but i do hate it when people say price point and cabinetry

i do hate it when people say price point and cabinetry

From my side, I dislike the terms "insular", "contingency", and when they repeat the word "location" three times in a row.

lol

The shows are still pretty entertaining. Favorite scenario: people who go shopping for beachfront/waterfront, with a pool and maybe a hot tub, close to a marina, with a view of both the sunrise and the sunset, with updated kitchen, 4-5 bedrooms, lots of space to entertain all of their new friends, close to town yet private and secluded but only want to spend like 13 cents and are shocked 😮 by what their 13 cents actually can buy. Love it!
"It's kinda small" "Oh those appliances are so dated" "Was hoping for a bigger kitchen" "THIS is the MASTER Bath???!" "There's no formal dining room !"
Hahahaha!;)