We're thinking about buying a house or condo on Bonaire, but would appreciate some input from others who have done that.

We would probably spend a couple of months in the spring and a couple months in the fall in Bonaire, and might rent it out when we aren't there. I'm thinking it would be really nice to have a place that is outfitted with the appliances I feel are important (microwave, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer), and have our own dependable car. However, I realize there are a number of headaches to owning property, and some that might be unique to Bonaire. I'd appreciate input from anyone who has bought property in Bonaire for part-time personal use. Is it easy to rent the property? Any bad experiences? Is the property a good investment? Are there any problems with buying property in a foreign country (we live in the USA).

Marge:
If, and when, you get some useful responses here, I was wondering if you would elaborate on the type / price range you are thinking about. My wife and I are also entertaining the idea of owning in Bonaire, but not living there full time. Perhaps a pseudo time-share? You have 6 months, we have 6 months...

Hi John,

Two people have sent private e-mails in response to my question. They've provided a some good information, which I'll follow up on when we get there.

Regarding price range: from preliminary investigation of a couple of realtors' websites, it appears you can buy a decent 2 bedroom home inland for $100,000 and up, and a condo/townhouse/apartment (usually near the water) with a swimming pool on premises for $150,000 and up. A view of the water would be nice, but not if it doubles the price. Since we'd prefer to not borrow money, we'd like to spend less than $250,000 all together (real estate, furniture, car, closing expenses, etc.) Less would be nice. That should be fairly easy to do, especially if we share the cost with someone. We don't require luxury, but we don't want a dump, either.

It seems like an advantage of a condo/townhouse/apartment is that there would be a manager on site to keep an eye on things when the property is vacant (and perhaps handle renting the property when we aren't there).

I like your idea of sharing the cost, but we would probably only be there 3 or 4 months of the year. Perhaps there is someone who is also interested in 3 months a year??? You would own half, we would own 1/4, and someone else could own 1/4. Or perhaps we could rent it during the time we weren't using it.

Our reason for wanting to buy a place is primarily for comfort. Have a place that feels like home. I'd want a dishwasher, clothes washer (and maybe a dryer), microwave, computer with internet hookup (with stable electrical current like the internet shops have), telephone, a gear room with storage and rinse tank. A dependable car. Perhaps buy our own tanks and compressor??? One bedroom would do as long as there was a futon or hide-a-bed in the livingroom so we could invite dive buddies to come visit us in paradise.

If it sounds like we're interested in the same things, send me a private e-mail and I'll keep you posted on what I find.

Thanks,
Marge

Hi again, John--forgot to mention that we'll be leaving for Bonaire on Saturday (arrive late Sunday). We'll be there for 6 1/2 weeks, so will have plenty of time to look at property.

Hi Marge good question. We would like to rent that house for four weeks September of '05. There's some quality properties in Belnem. I think before I would buy I'd talk to as many people who own property there as you can. Play the Devil's advocate there are down sides to everything. I posted a thread with the question, "What's the perfect amount of time for a vacation on Bonaire?, 80% responded they moved there with no regrets. Good luck.

Over the years my husband and I have said that we would also love to live in Bonaire some of the winter months when we retire, in a few years.
We rent a friends villa along with our timeshare weeks.(the best of both).
I have met some Americans who own and rent too.
For our liking, I think renting will work especially in the begining. I understand you that you have someone to watch over your place when your gone. The villa I rent has a gardener too. The people open up the house , pick us up at the airport and give over the keys stocked the refrig, if I ask, and they are there for any problems.They are such dear people. We really love this arrangement. We love going back because it feels like "home", yet we don't have the hassels of the repairs or other problems.I do treat it as my own home bringing personal touches with me.Maybe not such a smart investment decision but I feel I think it will keep us more "care-free".
I have had many conversations with people and have listen to their sides and ideas. We are wondering how long we could stay in Bonaire without getting island fever. It is a challenge we hope to be taking in a few years.
Good luck with your search!

Just an update. We spent a couple hours yesterday looking a some properties. There is a two bedroom house we really liked. Lots of storage room, well maintained, etc. Will do more looking next week.

Diving is great (as always).

Will post again in a week or two if I have anything new to report.

Marge