YOU CANNOT LOOSE.
Caldwell Banker are certainly stepping up to the plate to encourage people to invest in a home and I would urge you to visit their presentation,you will learn a lot, at least you will come away much enriched. You can not loose.

GOLD MINE.
Home ownership especially in Bermuda is the life long goal of many people, however along with home ownership there comes responsibility and obligations.

The word real estate means just that, VERY REAL ESTATE it is some thing you can touch and feel with out- stretched hands and loose in a minute.

A car is for present delight alone and is not real estate.

In Bermuda real estate is the one valuable investment that has kept us going all these years ,it is our gold mine.

So what is it that make Bermuda real estate so valuable ? well! it is the same thing as what makes gold and diamonds so valuable “SHORTAGE” . The shortage of land which many people would love to own, is a question of supply and demand.

There are some pit falls, allow me to guide you down the road to home ownership which can be a dream come true or a night mare of your own creation.

There is no golden rule which will apply to everyone or every situation when choosing a home it is all about affordability today and in the future.

Some of you will say it is harder today than it ever was , I have news for you, it was just as hard back them.

SACRIFICE.
There are hundreds of people today who own their own home, some through inheritance and some through their own Blood Sweat and Tears, they got out and built their own home the hard way they made the ultimate sacrifice, unfortunately the building boom is over caused by the shortage of desirable building land. That is another story.

PICK AND CHOOSE
This is all about making conscious decisions knowing what will work today and most certainly will work for you and yours in the future.

FAMILY HOME or a CONDOMINIUM.
You need to ask yourself how much house do you want or how much house do you really need.

Be honest with yourself.

The want come from an endless supply of your money, the need comes from

How much mortgage you can manage.
How much house you want to paint in an out including the roof.
How much house you want to clean.
How much lawn you want to cut.
How much land tax you can afford.
How much house you want to insure.

As people get older and the children leave to start their own lives the tendency is to down size, be careful not to up size in the first place.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES.
How two people manage 5 bed 4 bath house is beyond me i guess they will eventually sell it and go house hunting all over again for a condominium.

CONDOMINIUM.
They have their advantages and disadvantages it is apartment living 101 without the maintenance responsibilities, however, you will be subject to maintenance fees. Many people presently live in apartments for them this experiance is nothing new.

DOWN SIDE
Recession, it could not happen but it did.
Our Neighbor to our West has just gone through the worst recession in history caused by banks lending mortgages which exceeded the value of the properties and we are still feeling their crunch.

KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES.
Be very careful how deep you go in, know your boundaries and limitations owning real estate is not a free ride .

THE WHAT IF GAME.
What if, you get sick the tenant does not pay the rent or we have another recession and you loose your job because your employer went bust.

Become the Prudent man of your own personal business.

See you on the bright side.

Good Luck.

Buying a Real Estate is a very serious business and should not be taken lightly it is not the same as buying a washing machine or a lawn mower over the counter.

What is fair market value, well, that depends on who is doing the valuing.

Is it YOUR banker , YOUR insurance company , the fire department ,the estate executor ,the vendor, the estate agent or what the prudent man of business is willing to pay . It is all a matter of opinion.

Every one in the loop will come up with different separate values for the land and the improvements .

YOU are the most important link in the chain, YOU could be the one ending up with the white elephant, YOU had better know how to play the game and keep YOUR emotions out of the equation, this is Business .

YOU need to go into the project with both eyes open after all, YOU are about to buy into the second hand real estate market.

YOU should know that not all houses are the same quality or standard ,YOU need to know the difference.

Each person or group will apply a different criteria to the project, some will use the tape measure, others will use the comparison method as it relates to similar real- estate, this system unfortunately does not work here in Bermuda because no two building or properties are alike, you have to know the difference between the Swan and the Vulture.

Because Bermuda is our paradise YOU will be buying a little piece of heaven, so it does not matter where you buy ,BUT, do not be mistaken, LOCATION MATTERS for that has a dramatic effect on value as does the size of the land.

What has the greater value ? A mansion in the city dump or a cottage in a nice garden, well ! that depends.

YOUR AFFORDABILITY has a great bearing on what property YOU will end up with, now we are talking about YOUR money and borrowed mortgage money and YOUR relative carrying costs.

Age, Insurance and taxes plus annual maintenance ,or lack of, need to be taken into consideration.

Is the building run down or had a cosmetic flip job ?

YOU, have to do all the numbers accounting for the HIT and sales commission , insurance costs, bank fees ,lawyer fees and Government stamp duty.

Everyone get a piece of the pie.

The recession and the down turn in our economy has not helped the market value of Bermuda real estate knowing WHEN and WHAT to buy is very important do you require a condo a cottage or an apartment building.

There are houses out there where the owner has invested more money in, than they will ever get out.

But before all this can happen YOU need to set a realistic goals for YOU and YOUR family.

YOU are on your own !