We deal with all types of buyers, from those looking for an off the beach studio apartment to those looking for a high end oceanfront luxury villa. The guidelines are generally the same for both, but ironically we have more options for the more expensive home.
As the saying goes, they are not making any more oceanfront property, however when you have a large budget, there are only so many buyers competing for that space. These properties not only serve as a great place to vacation with the family, they are a ‘commercial venture’, which can be very lucrative on the short term rental market (assuming you choose to rent it out).
As with all real estate, location is key, but no more so on a high end ocean front villa where your clientele will be looking at your beach pics first, home second. The better the location, the better your nightly rate.
It is very important to know the market you are buying, as mistakes can be magnified when you over pay. Working with a quality realtor and seeing recent sales is key, asking prices are meaningless as homes often sell for much less than the ask in markets which are not as developed as the mainland.
As mentioned above, we have much better options for our high end properties, including a bank option (a good one, not local branch network). This option does require more down payment than the local branches, 50%, however they also know how to deal with high net worth individuals who don’t always have easy to understand financial statements.
Our other options are all private, meaning the rates and fees will be higher than what the bank offers. The benefit to these options however is the easy and quick qualification. These lenders aren’t overly interested in your income statements, if at all, they are more concerned with the equity you will have in the home. The equity required varies from 40-50%.
The locations we lend are not set in stone, however the more common locations we offer financing is the Turks and Caicos, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and the Virgin Islands. If you are looking at a high end property (over 1M, 2M for bank financing), contact us to discuss the options and what we can offer you.