B.Goodwill
Registered
I live in Cayman Like Drew and CJ, and love it here, i would reccomend comming over, but feel it is only fair to make you aware of a few changes post Ivan.
Basically these mainly relate to the cost of living and housing. We lived on Palm Heights Drive (on the Hyatt Canal,) up until Ivan, when five feet of sea water decided to move in. Since Ivan, we have moved a total of seven times, and were only able to move back to our newly built / fitted apartment a month ago(!) Things are improving with the housing side of things, however it still has a long way to go. Because of insurance hikes (and some greedy land lords,) the cost of rent has gone up SIGNIFICANTLY. What you will also find is that there are still alot of people out there looking for accomidation who have been "transient" like we were since the storm. This means if you go to property agencies, they have waiting lists of people looking for places, and you will find yourself on the bottom of a very long list (or at least from our experience.) The best way to find a place is actually by word of mouth, but this is tough when you are new to the island and do not know many folk.
Other costs have gone up alot too, the main one we have found is food, and electricity.
Do not get me wrong, it is still a great place to live (now we have a house to live in,) but i would hate for you to come over with a false impression about what you can get for your money. I would almost be inclined to hold off a little, for six to eight months, and let the housing market sort itself out a little, so you have something in the way of choice when you get here, rather than just having to take anything you can get.
From our lengthy - prolonged house / flat hunting expeditions, we found that Approx,) you will pay around CI$2500 for a two bedroomed apartment in a reasnably nice area like snug harbour / south sound and so on. For a one bedroomed apartment you will pay about CI$1500 in a reasnably nice area. We have a two bedroomed / two bathroom place on the Hyatt Canal (Palm Heights Drive again - great until the next hurricane!) and pay CI$1950, however i would suggest this is pretty cheap for what we have got, but it goes to show you may get lucky and get a deal.
You will probably have to pay a bit more for a car now, as basically you will not want to buy any car which was ont he island during the storm, because of salt water damage (if it ha snot already fallen to pieces, it will soon.) This means the old days of cheap second hand cars have gone, but on the plus side at least you will have a reasnably decent vehicle.
Anyway, good luck, like i say it is a great place to live, but at a price!
Basically these mainly relate to the cost of living and housing. We lived on Palm Heights Drive (on the Hyatt Canal,) up until Ivan, when five feet of sea water decided to move in. Since Ivan, we have moved a total of seven times, and were only able to move back to our newly built / fitted apartment a month ago(!) Things are improving with the housing side of things, however it still has a long way to go. Because of insurance hikes (and some greedy land lords,) the cost of rent has gone up SIGNIFICANTLY. What you will also find is that there are still alot of people out there looking for accomidation who have been "transient" like we were since the storm. This means if you go to property agencies, they have waiting lists of people looking for places, and you will find yourself on the bottom of a very long list (or at least from our experience.) The best way to find a place is actually by word of mouth, but this is tough when you are new to the island and do not know many folk.
Other costs have gone up alot too, the main one we have found is food, and electricity.
Do not get me wrong, it is still a great place to live (now we have a house to live in,) but i would hate for you to come over with a false impression about what you can get for your money. I would almost be inclined to hold off a little, for six to eight months, and let the housing market sort itself out a little, so you have something in the way of choice when you get here, rather than just having to take anything you can get.
From our lengthy - prolonged house / flat hunting expeditions, we found that Approx,) you will pay around CI$2500 for a two bedroomed apartment in a reasnably nice area like snug harbour / south sound and so on. For a one bedroomed apartment you will pay about CI$1500 in a reasnably nice area. We have a two bedroomed / two bathroom place on the Hyatt Canal (Palm Heights Drive again - great until the next hurricane!) and pay CI$1950, however i would suggest this is pretty cheap for what we have got, but it goes to show you may get lucky and get a deal.
You will probably have to pay a bit more for a car now, as basically you will not want to buy any car which was ont he island during the storm, because of salt water damage (if it ha snot already fallen to pieces, it will soon.) This means the old days of cheap second hand cars have gone, but on the plus side at least you will have a reasnably decent vehicle.
Anyway, good luck, like i say it is a great place to live, but at a price!
