My husband and I are planning to buy a lot in Bonaire. We visit every summer for the past 6 years. We plan to move there in approximately 4 years when he retires. What advice would anyone give for those of us wanting to buy property?
Thanks for any help.
Teresa

Sunbelt Realty http://www.sunbelt.an/ has quite allot of information on there website. We are in the process of buying a place on Bonaire as well and used Bob at Remax - http://www.bonairehomes.com/ - he is great - helped us all the way and answered all our questions - I would strongly recommend him - he also has some info he can email you. Good luck.

Hello Teresa and Gregg -

We just purchased a lot in Santa Barbara through Harbourtown and with the help of Bob at RE/Max.

We can recommend a great architect who helped us
through the purchase and is designing the house for us. Let me know if you'd like his details.

Best of luck!

Carl

Thanks Greg and Carl for the info.

Carl,
Did you purchase a lot in Santa Barbara High, on the hill? I am having the lots and restrictions faxed to me. We are coming July 3rd and have an appointment with Sunbelt.

Greg,
Have you settled on a location? If so, what made you choose that location?

Thanks,
Teresa

Yes, Teresa, the lot is in Santa Barbara Heights, on the hill. There is something you should know, that I did not without asking several times to several people, and that is about the restrictions... the only restrictions you must follow are on the deed; I made sure to ask this of the selling realtor, the realtor I used as a representative and the notaris. There are community restrictions, but they vary and do not apply to all lots.

For instance, it was important to me not to have a time limit on building the house, either from the time I purchased the lot (as they do in Sabadeco) or from the time I started to build the house to the time I finished. Make sure you ask for the restrictions noted on the deed, they take precedence.

Carl

Oh Gee Carl, having built a house with my dad once, that might have been a mistake. Nothing like the government kicking your butt to help you finish a project ( they are so much more effective than your wife!)But that's a great tip I had not heard before.
Back to Concreterepairland for me.

Seb,

I haven't been to concreterepairland, is that a day trip? ;-) Due to lack of skills, there isn't much of the work I can do on my own, exterior or interior, except clear the lot of debris/weeds.

Teresa- if you are buying in Sabadeco, they have a whole other world when it comes to rules, and another BT'er wrote me a very interesting letter about his legal entanglements over their requirements.

Apparently some of the areas had to come up with the building time restrictions due to people laying the foundations and then running out of money, going bankrupt, etc. and as you may notice as you drive around the island, there are a lot of unfinished foundations covered in weeds. So actually, a requirement of 18 months from start to finish isn't a bad idea, but we could not afford to start the project within 18 months of purchase of the lot, which I believe is the Sabadeco requirement. Someone from over there can correct me if I'm wrong.

Carl

Oh - one more thing - I think an island wide building requirement is the space from the perimeter of the boundary you can build on - 5 meters from the front and 3 meters from the sides.

That's not on the deed, but the realtor told me that.

Carl

Thanks Carl!

I had not thought about the time limit on the lot. We don't plan on moving there until 2008.
Although, we will be visiting numerous times yearly. What is the time restriction for Santa Barbara heights?

Teresa

Greetings to all -

If you are buying a lot, you need to work with a good realtor, and make sure they explain to you what the restrictions are for building on the lot. Some of the building restrictions are island wide, (such as a height limit for the island (most of the time) of nine meters. There are exceptions, up to twelve meeters.

Other restrictions vary depending on the location of the lot and where it is located. certain lots in both Sabadeco and Santa Barbara have VERY specific heigt restrictions about how high you can build.

Using a real estate agent is oyur best bet, but make sure to aks questions. I would also suggest that you ask for an English translation of the deed (The original deed is usually in Dutch) and READ IT. As a genreal rule, all of the relevant and enforable restritions are in the deed.

In Sabadeco, they also have the rules of the development. Those rules are in English and you should also read those in the event that you pruchase a lot in Sabadeco.

There are only a FEW lots in Sabadeco that still have a requirement that you must start building within a certain period of time. Most of the remaining vacant lots no longer have a "must build" requirement. However, in both SAbdeco and Santa Barbara you are required to COMPLETE construction with 18 months (or so) after beginning to build.

I am happy to answer any questions people might have.

Bob at RE/MAX

Teresa,

We are buying a unit at Lighthouse Beach. The main things that came into our decision process were: our price range and what we could get for the money, since we will not be full time residents (at least not now) we wanted something safe and secure, rentable while we are not using it, quiet and not too over run by tourists(even though I guess I am one). Also, the property next to LBR is being developed into a new resort called Kings Beach which should add some services that will be available to LBR and this may even increase the values at LBR but who knows. We also really like the layout of the units,the ability to walk to the beach and pool, we met and spoke to other owners and really liked what we heard.

Gregg

Bob,
Thanks for the info. I am certainly concerned about time frames for building. I certainly will remember to ask for a copy of all info given in English, especially the deed.
Are there any affordable ocean front lots or with easy beach access?
Thanks for any info,
Teresa

Greg,
Where is Light house Beach located?
Thanks,
Teresa

Lighthouse Beach Resort is right on the water about 2 to 3 miles south of the airport. I believe the area is still considered Belnem.

Just beginning to think about buying property on Bonaire. We are wondering if there are particular complications for US citizens; whether taxes and mortgage are deductible in the US; how income is taxed if it is generated on rental property; and probably about a 150 other things that we haven't thought of.

We have been to Bonaire a couple of times and the real estate market looks interesting.

Hi Bob,
As a US citizen, no complications so far in buying property. We bought a lot in Sabal Palms and are currently working on house plans. The taxes and mortgage are not deductible in the US. We are planning on retiring in 2007 and living there most of the time. There is a lot of information available at the realty sites. Check out Sunbelt Realty and Bob at Remax.
Good luck,
Teresa

We are from the US and currently looking at lots in Bonaire. Corine at Sunbelt Realty has been very helpful and has answered all of our questions thus far. She has disclosed all of the restrictions in the deed for the lots we are considering and they do vary by development area.

Can anyone recommend an architect and builder that they have had good experiences with?

We are considering buying some property on Bonaire and will be working directly with the current owner verses a real estate agent. Can someone recommend an attorney that can assist and handle the Dutch documents translation to English?

Also is there such a document as a title policy in Bonaire or something similar like is issued in the States for property?

It's a shame you are not using a realtor. They are extremely helpful. At least look at the available information on the realty web sites, such as those for ReMax and Sunbelt.
Real estate purchases are handled by the Notary's office. They are civil attorneys, not notaries in the U.S. sense. Criminal law is a different profession here.
I trust you will be coming here while you are working on this purchase. You will need to spend time here and go around to various offices to receive answers to what by that time will be a large number of questions.
Don't know what you mean by "title policy," but you will receive a deed in Dutch and should ask for a written English translation.

We're contemplating lots in the Esmeralda Beach Resort in Belnem...anybody have any info, thoughts, feedback? Thanks

Have you visited the site yet? If I were looking for property on Bonaire I would want it to be less vulnerable in the event of a storm. That site appears to be a few inches above sea level and a very few feet from shore.

Esmerelda Beach was very tempting... beautiful view, diving right our your front door. I agree with Nathalie, though, your house and everything in it would be underwater in the chance that a storm did hit Bonaire. We looked at the pilot house, & it was very nice, but we ended up buying up in Santa Barbara.

The Esmeralda area is beautiful, but for the reasons mentioned above we opted to buy land slightly further inland and on higher ground. The lots at Crown Terrace in Sabadeco or any in Santa Barbara are higher in elevation. We bought in Crown Terrace because it is only 1/2 mile from the ocean.

I know a great local Bonairean architect if you want to get his advice on a lot. Contact me directly for his name.

Good Luck,

Jim Wagner

Tamor, All very good advice above. I agree. There are also a lot of other areas in Belnem very nice and higher above sea level. Buying a place is a big decision, maybe it is time to go back to Bonaire and look a little more before purchasing. We looked quite a long time before deciding on buying, don't just jump in without doing some research.

Tamar,
We rented a condo in Light House Beach Resort and stayed in our condo through hurricane Ivan which passed close to Bonaire a year and half ago. That night we saw waves reached the ocean-fronted units. After the storm we walked to the beach and saw coral and sand at the door steps of those units.
Esmeralda beach resort seems to me about the same height and distance from the ocean.

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments. We will most certainly take our time and research further before making a decision where to buy.