Subsitance Farming

There are people who do that. A lot of them also have chickens and or goats. Some have a cow or two and maybe even pigs. It is said that the north side of St.Thomas gets the most rainfall thus being more conducive to planting. Don't know much about the type of soil or availability of land. Going through a realtor might help or maybe just driving around looking for 'for sale by owner' signs.

Haven't been to St.Croix so really can't help you there. As for St.John, I don't think there is cheap land. Then again what would you consider to be cheap?

St. Croix's economy is partially based on agriculture. St. Thomas has several farmers (many are of French descent on the north side and also there are persons of the Rastafarian group that farm on far west end of the island.)

You could live a low key life here yes, many people do it. Cheaply - not sure about that. USVI is an expensive place to buy land. But it is certainly worth looking into if it is a dream of yours. Perhaps contact some realators. Search this board there is a post with a list of some. Also get a hold of the Real Estate mag for the islands, you can have one sent to you from www.vitraders.com look under Vacation Planning, you can add it onto the planning material.

Look into the realestate market in the USVI a bit more.

--Islander

Thanks for the input- what do the "poor" people who live there already do? I mean surely they are not spending 90,000 on a half acre of land. Do they rent or what? Cheap is a subjective term- but all the real estate I have seen listed is really expensive- I can't spend 90,000 on a half acre- but then I am not greatly attached to ocean views or "walk to the beach" type places. Do you know anyone who is doing this I could get in touch with? We are planning on coming to the VI sometime soon- since I know scoping it out in person is probably the best idea- I just wanted to know if it was worth my while or if everything is as expensive as it seems on the net.
Thanks alot.
Emma

Hello Emma,

People who can not afford to purchase land or pay for homes based on the income they have or don't have... live in government housing or government substidized living arrangements. The waiting list for these are very long, and some times take years to get into. The people who spend $$ on land are the people who can pay that. There are from time to time land owners that develop and sell land for less money, that has not happened in a while and I only know of two cases come to think of it. Most people that move to the USVI either have money and buy property OR for those that don't they rent apartments.

Yes, most real estate in the USVI is expensive. St. John is very expensive and St. Thomas/St. Croix/Water Island follow suit in terms of cost. There are some parcels of land that will be less but this is affected by the area the land is in.

Coming and looking is the best. However you need to keep in mind that it comes with a price tag, and not a small one. You might want to rent an apartment and look into property.

--Islander