Recommendation for vacation home near great diving

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

I agree; however, I've owned other homes out of the country (Peru), so I'm familiar with what is involved.

My comment isn't about understanding what's involved with owning real estate outside the US, it's about committing to a place before you know if you like the location for the longer term. The way I interpreted your question was something like, "I want to buy a home outside the US in a dive destination and live there. Where should I go?" My suggestion is to approach it as, "Where are great places with great diving that I could visit and explore, where if it turned out I did really like it, I could think about buying a home there?" My suggested order of operations is to get to know it first, and only then think about buying something.

 

[Satrekker]

My comment isn't about understanding what's involved with owning real estate outside the US, it's about committing to a place before you know if you like the location for the longer term. The way I interpreted your question was something like, "I want to buy a home outside the US in a dive destination and live there. Where should I go?" My suggestion is to approach it as, "Where are great places with great diving that I could visit and explore, where if it turned out I did really like it, I could think about buying a home there?" My suggested order of operations is to get to know it first, and only then think about buying something.

I completely agree with you. I took it as a given that I would check out the area extensively before purchasing, but I realize that this isn't always the case, e.g. people who end up buying a timeshare after their first visit to tropical locale. SMH I have family members who have actually done this. :-O

 

[woodcarver]

My comment isn't about understanding what's involved with owning real estate outside the US, it's about committing to a place before you know if you like the location for the longer term. The way I interpreted your question was something like, "I want to buy a home outside the US in a dive destination and live there. Where should I go?" My suggestion is to approach it as, "Where are great places with great diving that I could visit and explore, where if it turned out I did really like it, I could think about buying a home there?" My suggested order of operations is to get to know it first, and only then think about buying something.

This is exactly what my brother suggested. He has lived in Bonaire for about 5 years now. His advice to me, even after he told me he thought I would like it there, is to make an extended vacation there and get a real feel for island life. Easier to do in Bonaire since you can stay for 6 months without a visa. Differs in other countries.
He knows quite a few people who thought they wanted to live there that ended up going home for a variety of reasons. It's an island and it's not the US. My guess is the same holds true for all the places that have been mentioned. They are islands and they aren't the US.

 

[Marie13]

Northern Michigan, around Alpena. Great wreck diving in Lake Huron.

 

[woodcarver]

A little chilly for a lot of us...I do like the desert, especially if it has an ocean next to it

 

[JamesBon92007]

This is exactly what my brother suggested. He has lived in Bonaire for about 5 years now. His advice to me, even after he told me he thought I would like it there, is to make an extended vacation there and get a real feel for island life. Easier to do in Bonaire since you can stay for 6 months without a visa. Differs in other countries.
He knows quite a few people who thought they wanted to live there that ended up going home for a variety of reasons. It's an island and it's not the US. My guess is the same holds true for all the places that have been mentioned. They are islands and they aren't the US.

It seems like the more I investigate the more questions I come up with so at some point I think I'll just have to make a decision. We were expecting to be going the the US Virgin Islands right about now but it turns out that one of the hurricanes took out the house that our friends were going to buy--just one more factor to consider when choosing a place to live. There seems to be a lot of turnover in Hawai'i and some of it is attributed to "island fever" where some people feel isolated or trapped. The way I look at it is that the Big Island is much larger than Orange County and I lived there for many years are hardly ever ventured into the next counties. On the plus side it's easy to find a house that comes completely furnished, and sometimes even with a car. Plus it's a big island and there are a lot of dive spots to explore, plus jungles and waterfalls and volcanoes. Being in our mid 60s we also need to consider health care. If we stay in the US we are covered. Some places such as Mexico seem to have very high quality health care but if something serious was to happen we might not be allowed to make our bi-annual trip back to the USA until we pay our bills. Anyone happen to know if MediCare works in places such as American Samoa, the USVI, and Puerto Rico?

 

[drbill]

I'm just glad my primary residence (at least until the cancer struck) is located close to good diving!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Northern Michigan, around Alpena. Great wreck diving in Lake Huron.

Great wreck diving, for sure ... but retirement generally means older people, and as you get old your tolerance for cold decreases. After 17 years of mostly cold water diving (including the Great Lakes), I'm ready for something warmer. I think most older folks would prefer warmer climes, particularly if scuba diving's going to be a part of your retirement plan ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[vann evans]

my wife and I bought a small studio condo in Bonaire 10 years ago. This was before we retired, so we were able to go down twice a year for 2 weeks each time. The local condo association rented, maintained and did the work for us for a fee. the rentals paid almost all of the expenses.
Now, we have been retired for the past 6 years and we go to Bonaire for months a year-Jan/Feb and March. this is the "high season", so we lose a lot of good rentals, but we still love it. I would make this purchase again.

Owning property in Bonaire can be relatively easy if you buy the right place in the right resort. The rentals can be easy, moderate or difficult depending on the situation. We use VRBO and the local, in house rentals to make our unit almost totally pay for itself. The property values are increasing, the american dollar is the official currency, most people speak English and the diving, snorkeling, windsurfing and kite boarding are all great sports there. Bonaire is below the hurricane area and has few weather extremes.

I would agree with an earlier post-Bonaire is not for everyone. If you are interested, you should take an extended vacation there in order to really get the feel of the island, get to know who/what/when/where type of logistics. It is certainly not a third world country, but we often joke that it is 2.5.

All in all, I think we made a great investment. I don't think we will make a lot of profits, but it will not be a losing investment and we will have enjoyed our time there to a great extent. We love going there and have made a lot of good friends there. The local people are very nice, appreciate Americans and the tourist dollars. The government is not overly oppressive and neither are the costs of living. they are not low, but slightly higher food, electricity and water than what we pay in NC.

I love Bonaire and am glad that we purchased a place there. We continue to discover new dive sites, new places to explore and new opportunities every time we go. We have been 13 times and we each have over 600 dives on Bonaire. We are not tired of it and don't feel constrained by"having to go to Bonaire".

 

[mi000ke]

my wife and I bought a small studio condo in Bonaire 10 years ago. This was before we retired, so we were able to go down twice a year for 2 weeks each time. The local condo association rented, maintained and did the work for us for a fee. the rentals paid almost all of the expenses.
Now, we have been retired for the past 6 years and we go to Bonaire for months a year-Jan/Feb and March. this is the "high season", so we lose a lot of good rentals, but we still love it. I would make this purchase again.

Owning property in Bonaire can be relatively easy if you buy the right place in the right resort. The rentals can be easy, moderate or difficult depending on the situation. We use VRBO and the local, in house rentals to make our unit almost totally pay for itself. The property values are increasing, the american dollar is the official currency, most people speak English and the diving, snorkeling, windsurfing and kite boarding are all great sports there. Bonaire is below the hurricane area and has few weather extremes.

I would agree with an earlier post-Bonaire is not for everyone. If you are interested, you should take an extended vacation there in order to really get the feel of the island, get to know who/what/when/where type of logistics. It is certainly not a third world country, but we often joke that it is 2.5.

All in all, I think we made a great investment. I don't think we will make a lot of profits, but it will not be a losing investment and we will have enjoyed our time there to a great extent. We love going there and have made a lot of good friends there. The local people are very nice, appreciate Americans and the tourist dollars. The government is not overly oppressive and neither are the costs of living. they are not low, but slightly higher food, electricity and water than what we pay in NC.

I love Bonaire and am glad that we purchased a place there. We continue to discover new dive sites, new places to explore and new opportunities every time we go. We have been 13 times and we each have over 600 dives on Bonaire. We are not tired of it and don't feel constrained by"having to go to Bonaire".

Very similar to our Grand Cayman experience, and I think owning a condo (if you are ok with that) generally addresses most of the issues people raise around foreign ownership. Our association handles all maintenance, cleaning whenever we want/need, building and appliance repairs, building insurance, pool, grills, beach furniture, fitness center, you name it. We use our condo Jan-April, plus a few other weeks of the year, and even though we use it the entire high season, we rent it the rest of the year and the off season rental covers all of our out of pocket costs . The association does all the marketing, billing, daily cleaning, and provides clean linens and all the other guest services. Appreciation has offset the opportunity cost of investing in the condo. English is the main language. The purchasing process is almost identical to (and maybe easier than) in the US. We vacationed here before buying, and we enjoy staying here more (and longer) every year. The diving is great, and I get resident rates (anywhere from $30 to $60 for a two-tank dive). We know all the good less expensive restaurants, can lease a car for half the cost of rental, and I am eligible for a work permit so I can start getting paid for sitting in with the bands I've met.

The key to making this work financially (at least on GC and specifically for condos) is that rents rise faster than the cost of the unit. The more you can afford to pay up front for a property, the easier it is to cover your costs through rental. Higher cost properties are in better locations, more attractive, have much higher demand, and can attract higher rents. We (so far anyway) have essentially had a free property to use 20 weeks per year on seven mile beach.

And we love being here more and visit a bit longer every year. I will say, though, that I do look forward to getting back north in the spring each year and could not live in paradise year round.

Oh, the biggest downside - we have been contacted by every relative we never knew we had. We are still learning how to manage to get a few weeks to ourselves each year.