“We had travelled to St. Croix on several occasions specifically to check out the island. It didn’t take long, within the first 24 hrs we knew this was the place!
Moving to an island is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, Chris Powers crossed our path by way of a requested profile of what we wanted in a realtor – someone who has been living on the island for an extended time, someone that does the job full time, someone that supports and is active in the community, someone with some life experience, and someone who will “tell it like it is!”
When Chris contacted us we needed to have a quick conversation. I had seen the house, or at least I thought I had. We spoke at length on the phone. Chris asked us all kinds of questions, even what kind of car we drove… Yes! That is important. We told him about the specific house we saw online and rather than have us travel for that one house he set up a walk thru tour (Skype in our case) for convenience and to see if we really were interested before we took the time and money for a trip down. This was huge for us! We liked the house even more after seeing it this way and made plans to travel.
Chris and Christie met me for dinner the night before the scheduled viewing to continue to get to know me and what we really wanted in a house and a lifestyle. The conversations were easy and honest…and full of important information on any and every subject.
Loved the house! Within the few days of arrival, we had accepted an offer on our home in the states, and were under contract for our new island home. We flew in on the day of our closing … suitcases, dogs, and nervous anticipation… And Chris met us and drove us up to the house… and opened all the windows, got our bags in, got us settled and left us to watch our first sunset from our patio. Chris and Christie have been and continue to be a tremendous source of information and networking. You need this on island! You will need people. And luckily, we have great people! And friends … including Chris and Christie.
The best advise Chris gave: “do a little maintenance all the time”. There’s always some work to do. “It’s the price you pay for paradise”’
Your monthly insight into the St. Croix, USVI real estate market! We have downloadable April Coldwell Banker real estate reports — available below for each category: All Properties, Condos, Single Family Homes, and Land! The sales data will be help you understand the number of listings sold, days on market, the median price listed and sold, and much more.
If you are not familiar with with the implications of the data, please give us a call or email us directly with any questions. We are Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) and Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) and have the experience and local knowledge to help you in every step of the process. We can help you narrow down neighborhoods based on your priorities. We can also advise you on the market trends in your desired neighborhoods.
Question: “Why are many condos sales cash sales only?”
Chris’ Answer:
After Hurricane Maria in 2017, insurance companies paid claims which were sometimes substantial. This is why you have insurance and why insurance premiums are usually included in HOA Fees. Many insurers decided to raise their premiums in subsequent years. Condo complexes handled those rate increases in different ways. Some passed them along as either increases in the monthly HOA fees or as special one time assessments. Some HOAs reduced their premiums by increasing their deductibles or by lowering the amount of their insurance coverage. This caused some unintended consequences.
Lenders want the properties they finance to have a certain amount of insurance coverage. Some lenders have become unwilling, in the short term, to lend on some complexes until these issues can be resolved by the insurers and individual HOAs. Condo Boards, and often special Condo Committees, are currently reviewing these issues, and working with the insurers to make adjustments to their coverage so that lenders are satisfied.
Contact us with any questions about home buying on St. Croix. We have worked with many Buyers on and off the island to purchase their dream home on St. Croix. We can help you with every step of the process.
Question: “I have concerns about the higher interest rates, and don’t know if I should buy now?”
Christie’s Answer:
Although interest rates are higher than a year ago, Buyers are understanding that if they see a property they really like, they should go ahead and buy it. Every property on St. Croix is truly unique. As we tell people, it may be your “forever home”, but it doesn’t have to be your “forever loan”. When interest rates go down, you can refinance, and you will have the property you love!
Contact us with any questions about home buying on St. Croix. We have worked with many Buyers on and off the island to purchase their dream home on St. Croix. We can help you with every step of the process.
We talked to a young friend from the states visiting family on St. Croix. He showed us this quarter. The night before he had gone with his family on the bioluminescence tour in the Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve and described his delight in the tour seeing the mangrove forests in person! He knew a lot about the mangroves and why they are important to the wildlife. It was wonderful to hear! Now he has his own connection to that amazing habitat through his coin.
Mangroves are very important to wildlife and marine life. According to the National Park Service, magnificent mangroves are flowering trees that live in saltwater or brackish water in mudflats near shorelines. Red Mangroves are the most distinctive, with their complex ariel prop roots. These root systems, when submerged, support a diverse community of sponges, ascidians, algae, corals and crabs.
If you thinking about taking a bioluminescence tour on St. Croix, we recommend you taking a look at Go To St. Croix’s article. It highlights two of the Caribbean’s rare bioluminescent bays at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve and Altona Lagoon.
