TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Help with purchase Dutch side

Thinking about buying on the Dutch side and had few questions. It sounds like the purchase is handled thru a notary and will have to pay 5-6%closing cost? Do I need to get real estate attorney from the states to help handle to make sure everything is handled correctly and get good title? It sounds like everyone is comfortable with just using the local notary and real estate company? Are there different titles- free simple and government long lease? I guess the free simple is what I would get on condo? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

A US attorney would be of ZERO assistance to you. I don't know the answers to the rest of your questions, but suggest you do a lot more research into things before you get much further. The term is "fee simple", not free simple, but not sure that term really applies in SXM. Government long lease also would have nothing to do with you, purchasing a condo. I know some of the companies do a presentation of a couple hours to give out more info, which you should look into.

My real estate agent handled everything and yes there is a notary involved.

It's a very simple process. Just follow your broker. They handle everything. The notary handles both sides of the transaction so nothing weird there.
We used Dieter Schade at SXM Properties. His son runs it now.
Good luck.
irina

Do your own due diligence about the property developer and the HOA. Don't leave it up to the notary or broker.

You couldn't be more right about that Elaine.

Buddyhog- If your condo is on the edge of a beach it is a land lease. We are on a cliff next to a beach and our condos are owned by the owners. We used a local company on Island to help us with our purchase. The notary and government fees run about 5% of the purchase price. Please make sure you check the the credibility of the developer and also speak to other owners as to their feelings about the property. As the old saying goes "BUYER BEWARE" which means you should do a lot of due dilegence as Bill and Elaine wrote above.
I can say we are very happy with our purchase as well as every aspect of our experience.

We are looking at 2 properties on Simpson Bay beach Las Arenas and La Papillion. Is anyone familiar with these properties? Thanks

Do your homework.
Condos can be located on titled (fee simple) or Long lease. On the Island, the local perception is that they are generally interchangeable. Not sue I am in total agreement but that seems to be the case.
When comparing Condo fees be sure to understand what is included. Some don't include insurance and handled that with a separate levy. Some include it. I have even run into a Condo building that does not have insurance. Not sure how Buyers get a mortgage if they are honest and up front with their Bank about not having insurance, but they seem to figure it out.
We have been carefully trying to learn the market and understand pricing for the past 3 years. Having sold Real Estate for 30 years and owned a Brokerage for 20 years I thought I new something about Real Estate. Well, when it come to St Maarten I am still learning. Just about every local you meet sells Real Estate. There is no regulation or MLS system contrary to what some may tell you. Not saying don't do, just do your home work. We still hope to purchase on the Island and feel more comfortable in doing so now, but it took us 3 years to get there.

Good luck!

Oh where do I start! if I could do a do over probably the only thing I would have done is not bought first floor!!! Our property is only two stories and I so wish I bought the upper level, lots of noise and if they have a leak - well guess whose unit gets destroyed!!! If its owner fault, you have to deal with the owner. We did a mortgage on the property through RBC in town and a notary did the closing. We rushed ourselves and that was another of our issues (I had to get home for cancer treatment and flew in and flew out to make the closing). We never did a walk through prior to closing, another huge mistake!!! Very naive on our part and our realtor never suggested. I would have never closed if we did as there was water damage. Then 3 months later Irma hit!!!! You must remember you're dealing with an association. Be ready for assessments if needed. But please do a walk through prior to your closing!!!!! Also remember, if something happens you need to get there. Have a good manager over seeing the property while you are away. Another cost. Depending on where you live it could be hard to get there on a drop of a dime. We can almost always find a non stop from NY so it works. Good Luck!!

Well generally speaking , my Wife has been in Real Estate for over 25 years and she just sold the Owner of Sale and Pepe a very nice home right on one side of our street i.e White Sands Rd . Hence if you need additional help , you can pm . Good luck .

And we bought our first home on Fan Coral Beacon in 1990 for $ 85,000.00 and sold in 2006 for $ 325,000.00 . And now have our current home that's valued at $ 1 million 7.

1,000,000 valuation is nice. Where I live it just means higher property taxes. Business must be good.

Thanks but this not just about business but about investment and business wise we are trying our best.

Kim seemed very naive when she bought her condo. Before we bought , we checked out the builders reputation. Once satisfied , location is very important and what security measures are there for your safety. Checking to meet some of the other owners may be very helpful in making your decision and asking a lot of questions as to the association etc. The places you are looking at to buy are 1st class properties but knowing who will be your neighbors are is important Etc Etc . All of these are legitimate questions
. Do they have dogs? do they have children, etc. is important. A noisy neighbor or barking dogs or cranky neighbor can make you think twice as to the unit you would buy. How many assessments have they had and how much insurance coverage does the association have on the property are important questions. Does planes taking off or landing bother you day and evenings.
Once you have done your DD and are happy with the results ; then buy.

Naive kind of, but not in the due diligence, just when I was diagnosed with cancer before we were closing it kind of rushed things. I had to start radiation, had a kid planning a wedding and another doing the college tours, so in hindsite should have walked away at the time, but the only true mistake was not doing a walk through prior to closing - biggest mistake we made. I spoke to many owners, stayed there multiple times, it had been open since 1979 and since I had been visiting the island since 1983 knew exactly what I was getting into. It was just bad luck that Irma hit 3 months after purchase and I was dealing with medical issues and and our upstairs neighbor had just purchased down the road at Shore Pointe and was now renting out his unit. Im fortunate, I made 8-9 trips down in 2019, 2020, not so much. Hoping for a better 2021!!!!!!

benni--Your points are well taken with regard to your neighbors, but what's to keep people from selling their unit the next month, or renting it out? Are there any rules within various condos that you are aware of that prohibit people from renting out their units?? I know that there is at least one unit in the complex that you live in that rents out units, as I have seen the unit online.

Purchasing a condo has advantages in terms of exterior maintenance, etc., but problems with neighbors may be beyond your control.

You are correct that most places allow renting of their condo. You do have leverage though as you can contact the property manager, rental agent or owner as to their renters behavior if need be. In the 13 years we have owned here we have not had any serious complaints as to renters.
A bad owner neighbor is a different problem as they can cause problems for everyone. We fortunatelyy have great neighbors and all are thoughtful . But we are a small complex 14 units.
Any new buyer needs to do a lot of research so they don't regret their decision. That's the case anywhere you buy.