Live in Barbados

We would like to welcome our newest BPL client and thank them for giving BPL this opportunity.

Alleyne Real Estate is a family owned and Barbados operated company specializing in property sales, long term rentals, property management and luxury villa rentals and is known for its diversely skilled and devoted staff.

The Company operates from offices set at Molyneux Plantation conveniently located in the middle of Sandy Lane Estate.

Alleyne Real Estate has 38 years experience in real estate and have a younger focused team to take the company forward.  Their realm of knowledge and experience will help you to meet all of your real estate requirements.

Check out some of their long term rentals we’ve uploaded so far ..

As a modern property listings service we track everything we possibly can, but once our leads have made their way to the agent, it’s much more difficult to know whether they have been successful or not.

However, this morning, we actually got a call from a BPL user telling us that they have just put an offer down on one of our listings with one of our agents!

It’s always really great to get feedback direct from our users. So, if you have any, please use the contact form above or submit your comments on this post.

We wish the BPL user every success with their purchase and thank them for using BPL!

I dug out an old article posted on August 28th that I found to be an interesting read.

It has some stats suggesting the property market has dropped by as much as 30% and also gives a short history of the first settlers to current homeowners detailing a little on the history of who has owned here and the effects on property prices!

What are your thoughts? Accurate?

The British make up at least 36% of buyers, and Richard Eames, of estate agents Savills, estimates an astonishing 95% of his clients are from the UK.

‘The market is like the South-East of England,’ he says. ‘The high end, which is for properties above £3.2m, is still active, though prices have come down by about 25-30%. That’s mainly because ours is a predominantly UK market, which has been affected by the drop in the pound against the dollar as well as the global downturn.’ Property abroad: Bet on Barbados | This is Money.

Just a quick note to introduce our newest member of BPL:

Cluttons Barbados is relatively new to the Caribbean and offers potential purchasers an opportunity to invest in property in Barbados as well as in other islands.

We have only listed a small set of their properties at this time, however Cluttons do offer properties for sale ranging in price anywhere from $ 250,000 US to over $ 10,000,000 US.

Click here to view a list of their properties on BPL ..

For those of you who didn’t know, the Terra Caribbean real estate company releases a monthly newsletter. In this month’s newsletter, Hayden Hutton, writes about Residential Capitalisation rates. Click here for a link to Wikepedia’s definition.

In a nutshell, Hayden reminds us that in the past, holiday home purchasers have invested in Barbados with the expectancy to benefit from double digit increases in the capital value of their home.  This is further highlighted by the low return experienced and projected from rental income versus the costs associated with owning a holiday home.  Some of these expenses are down to house management, full time staff, and maintenance.

The market capitalisation rate does not rely on the income from rent to determine the true return on one’s investment as it takes into consideration the capital increase in value.

With current market conditions considered, Hayden reports that recently perspective purchasers are looking much closer at the operational side of a purchase.

Important advice for developers and homewoners looking to sell up!

How long have you been a real estate agent and/or in the real estate business?

Our company has specialized in sales, rentals and estate management within Barbados for the last 3 years.

What are the top 3 things that separate you from your competitors?

1) Our experienced and dedicated client service.
2) Our vast range of property and land listings to meet all budgets.
3) Our team’s in-depth knowledge of the local legal and financial matters involved in buying and selling property.

Which countries are the majority of your purchasers from?

United Kingdom and Europe.

Have sale prices been affected by the global financial crisis in the last 6 months?

Barbados has an extremely strong property market. Some vendors have reduced prices to accommodate the UK purchaser due to the Sterling position and the lack of financing. Our office is still making sales as our clients enjoy this rare opportunity for a bit more flexibility within the Barbadian property market.

Do you have a presence on other islands in the region and/or outside of the region (affiliations)?

We represent many other islands through the Caribbean including St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, among many others.

Cluttons has been in business since 1765 and we have affiliations across the world including the Caribbean. Our affiliations and network is well rooted due to our experience and history with such clients as the Crown Estate.

www.cluttonsbarbados.com

How long have you been a real estate agent and/or in the real estate business?

Our business was started by my father G. A. Ramsay in 1966 and I worked with him on a part time basis. He died in 1970 and I continued the business and incorporated in 1986 as George A. Ramsay & Co. Ltd. We have therefore been in operation for 43 years.

What are the top 3 things that separate you from your competitors?

(a) Stability and Longevity- We are a family owned and operated business with my son Arthur, the Managing Director and my son Alain, a Director, the third generation. (b) Relationships –As a result of (a) We have established and maintained extremely good relationships with our colleagues in the profession, with Bankers and other mortgage and investment professionals and as a result can call on them to assist in sourcing, marketing or financing Client’s property. (c) Service -We offer a variety of services which include: valuations/appraisals (for over 25 years), sales, property management and our customer oriented staff is willing to assist at all times.

Which countries are the majority of your purchasers from?

Primarily local or non-resident Barbadians, but we also service Clients from Europe, USA and Canada.

Have sale prices been affected by the global financial crisis in the last 6 months?

I prefer to say that the market has stabilized. Within the last four decades we have seen periods where our market has been subject to external financial pressure and in each case there has been stabilization, in that prices have rolled back to realistic levels (the fat has been removed). The same is happening at this time. I would not want to suggest, however, that it is a “buyers market”. Traditionally, once stabilization has taken place, prices remain quite firm and only those persons in distressed circumstances may discount heavily, the others will wait and see.

Do you have a presence on other islands in the region and/or outside of the region (affiliations)?

Our primary market is Barbados but we have contacts within the region, the USA, Canada and Europe, particularly Norway (through one of my daughters-in-law who is Norwegian).

www.ramsayrealestate.com 

How long have you been a real estate agent and/or in the real estate business?

I have been in the Real Estate business for 22 years and in that time I have managed Villa Rentals and Property Management as well as being a Real Estate Agent. I have recently taken over the management of the Real Estate Department whilst still being an agent.

What are the top 3 things that separate you from your competitors?

We at Realtors Limited pride ourselves on being one of the most longstanding full Real Estate businesses on the island as we are 54 years old and therefore have broad knowledge of all areas of Real Estate. We have probably the largest selection of Villas for rent and for sale on the Sandy Lane Estate. Our warm personal touch ensures that we continue to have a great many repeat clients both for rentals and for sales.

Which countries are the majority of your purchasers from?

Most of our purchasers are from England/Europe.

Have sale prices been affected by the global financial crisis in the last 6 months?

Prices have been affected by the global financial crisis with some owners who are keen to sell reducing their prices up to about 20% and others, although not altering the listed selling price, negotiating anywhere between 10% – 40% with an average of around 20%.

Do you have a presence on other islands in the region and/or outside of the region (affiliations)?

Apart from Barbados, we also have a few properties in St. Lucia, Grenada, and the Grenadines. We have also recently become affiliated with Mayfair International Realty, based in London, England and through this affiliation have been getting great international coverage.

www.barbadosrealtorslimited.com

The Apes Hill Club’s July news letter was released recently.

Main highligths were

• Apes Hill Club polo team winning the Queen’ Cup in its 3rd year of competing
• The remaining golf holes are near completion for a Winter opening
• Golf club house to move to Spring House, currently used as a sales office

Apes Hill has some of the finest Barbados property available, set within an incredible golf course. If your interested in touring Apes Hill, feel free to contact them on +1 (246) 432 4500