Christie’s Answer: When listing a property for sale, we do a detailed walk through with you. We discuss your goals, and answer any questions you might have about the selling process. During that time, we may suggest simple things that you can do to help make your property more attractive to potential buyers. Then, we search for similar properties which have sold within the past year for comparisons so that we can recommend a listing price. Once a price is agreed upon, and we sign an Exclusive Right to Sell agreement, we create the listing. We include accurate and descriptive writing, photos, videos, maps, and documents. Your listing then appears in St. Croix’s MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Once your listing is in MLS it then is advertised and promoted on our website ChrisAndChristiePowers.com, Coldwell Banker St. Croix Realty’s web site, Zillow, Realtor.com, and literally hundreds of other syndicated real estate websites. Additionally, we market your property in our monthly newsletter, on all of our social media platforms, where we maintain a robust presence, and through paid on-line advertising including websites that focus on St. Croix like Go To St. Croix and Visit St. Croix.
Question: What are your favorite places on St. Croix?
Christie’s Answer: There’s a beach on the eastern end of St. Croix near Point Udall called Brown Bay. We call it “Straight 6 Beach” because there is an old straight 6 engine block rusting away in the brush half way down the path! Apparently, you could drive down to the beach many years ago. Now walking down the trail is the only way to the beach. It’s our favorite place to go with the dogs. We usually have that beach all to ourselves.
The St. George Village Botanical Garden is a delight! We love to go there just to walk around admiring plants, shop their garden area, and attend the different events. If you want more information about the garden, their website is https://sgvbg.org/.
Every Saturday we go to the Southgate Corner Farmers Market for local produce and plants. We love talking with the farmers! You can join the Market’s Facebook Group if you want, click here for the link.
Our home is our very favorite place. It’s half-way up a hill on a dead end road. The views are beautiful, it’s quiet and pastoral. We do love being home with our 2 dogs and 2 cats.
Chris’ Answer: St. Croix has moderate temperatures year ‘round. It doesn’t vary much more than 10 degrees from high to low on any given day. Currently, it’s between 72 – 82 degrees. As a holiday present to myself, I bought a weather station. We’ll be adding a weather page to our website in March and we’ll share the details with you next month. At any given time I can check the temperature, rainfall, wind speed and direction. As we watch the cold and snowy weather on TV, we realize that after 18 years in this moderate climate, we would be SO cold in the states! When the temperature dips into the low 70’s, we’re reaching for our light sweatshirts. We don’t even want to talk about what happens when it gets down into the high 60’s! Brrrrr!
Chris’s answer: Of course, we have the US Postal Service, and mail costs the same as in the states. There are FedX and DHL offices here. For larger shipments, there are several shipping companies: Paradise Freight, Fleming’s Transport, VI Cargo, Bob Lynch Trucking and Shipping, and Ferrell Trucking.
There are some companies in the states which either won’t ship to St. Croix, or incorrectly consider St. Croix an international shipping destination. This means a higher shipping rate. Purchases from these vendors can be shipped to friends or relatives in the states, who can then ship your items here. It can increase the cost of shipping, but it’s much less expensive, and you can get the items you want.
Question: We asked some of the people who bought homes with us what was their biggest surprise involved in remodeling? They were consistent in their answer…
Christie’s answer: The biggest surprise was the time involved in getting items to the island. They had expected things to take longer than in the states, but it sometimes took much longer than they’d anticipated. One couple waited 6 months for the custom windows they ordered to reach here.
Not everything needs to be a special order. There are well-established local businesses where items can be purchased. There is a Home Depot on-island. There’s also Gallows Bay Hardware, Quality Electric, and smaller places which might have what you need, like LC Plumbing. And, there are several furniture stores and fun shops where you can pick up all kinds of decorative items. We like shopping locally. It supports our local economy.
Question: What are some traditional holiday drinks?
Christie’s answer: This is the time of year for guavaberry. It’s the only time you see it. It’s so good that when they make guavaberry ice cream, people will stand in line until it’s all gone! Sorrel is used for making a bright red tea or jam. It has a strong tangy acidic flavor which goes well with holiday spices. And, of course, coquito. This is a traditional drink made by many Cruzans. Everyone has their own favorite recipe. Here is one from the Cruzan Foodie and one from The Novice Chef. There are usually coquito making contests. Each recipe contains coconut milk, rum, and cinnamon creating a coconut eggnog-like drink.
