ASK ANY hypnotherapist. To relax a patient the image of choice is a desert
island. The waving palms, the lapping waves, the sense of privacy, peace and
safety. The internet means it’s easier than ever to buy islands, some of
which cost less than an average UK semi. But beware: island brokers are not
always licensed.
Cheap islands are cheap for a reason. Take Cupid Island, a snip at $75,000
(£38,000). Though the details state an area of 4½ acres, it looks smaller, a
bare sandbank just high enough to hold a shack out of the sea. The sales
details acknowledge its limitations. “What it needs are coconut trees (which
is actually not a problem since there are plenty to get from the town).”
There was worse to come. It’s off Palawan, a part of the Philippines. Farhan
Vladi, a leading island agent, says: “It’s not legal for foreigners to own
land in the Philippines.” This is a shame, because it puts me off the
rather lovely Lemon Island, 7½ lush-looking acres off Guiramas, a veritable
snip at $200,000. “You can form a consortium with a local partner owning 60
per cent and you owning 40 per cent,” he continues, “but you have to run it
as a business.” What happens when you want to sell, though? Cheyenne
Morrison, of Coldwell Banker Morrison, urges caution. “Titles can and have
been forged. If your island turns out to be owned by the Government, the
deal will be void.”
How about Fiji? Mel Gibson’s recent purchase of the 5,411acre Mago Island for
$15 million has been marred by legal challenges from the descendants of
Fijians who sold it in the 1850s for 2,000 palm trees. In Fiji there are two
native land Bills in front of parliament already. It’s also politically
unstable.
Would the waters be calmer across the Pacific in Tonga? Little Vavau Island, a
tiny 1½acre rocky mushroom sticking out from the ocean, seemed too good to
be true at $224,000. It was. No beach or anywhere to land on, and worse, on
a 50-year government lease. “Always buy freehold,” advises Farhan Vladi,
“and you’ll need space to put in a septic tank, as you won’t get a building
permit without a plan for the sewage.”
Assuming the Caribbean would be too expensive, I looked near by: Belize,
Honduras and Panama. “Costa Rica came up about 15 years ago,” said Renée
Redmond, of www.private-islandsonline.com
, the leading internet portal.
“Panama’s very hot just now. Two hours from Miami and a prime area for
retirement.” Isla Quiros looked good with 3½ acres at €450,000 but it was a
fair way out in mid-Pacific. “It’s important to be within 90 minutes of a
hospital” said Vladi, “not just for you but also your staff.”
Staff? I hadn’t factored them in. “It can get quite difficult for absentee
landlords to remove squatters,” Vladi informed me. “After a certain number
of years, title can revert. It is possible to buy an island with squatters
already some way into this process, and a couple of island-owners have lost
property this way off Panama.” I crossed the border south, to Nicaragua.
Thanks to a civil-war-shaped dent in their property market, Pigeon Island
was affordable at $285,000 and reared comfortably above the waterline: 7½
acres, including “two old wells and one wind turbine (no tower) . . . not to
mention tons of beautiful rock to use in concrete construction”. Vladi
wasn’t impressed. “You can tell these Central American properties aren’t
owned by island lovers: none are developed. They just switch around between
greedy businessmen. Real estate in the US is in crisis just now; in a year’s
time you’ll be able to buy these same islands for half the price.”
My stretched Spanish was stranding me in hot waters. Renée Redmond suggested I
might be more at home in Anglophone Belize. At $375,000, Lark Caye was four
acres, not all dry, but apparently the soggy bits could be filled with sand,
and interestingly laid out around a central lagoon. Ideal, I thought, for
sheltering a yacht. Then I found a mother-lode: the stable democracy of the
Bahamas. Kevin Cross, of Bahamas Realty, said “We haven’t been affected by
the US downturn: I think people see our islands as a refuge from the market.
I’ve got a 1½acre rock for $375,000 so close to Abaco Island that you could
throw a stone across, and houses on Abaco go for more than a million. It’s a
bit small though. I’d recommend two-acre Little Gaulding Cay for $600,000.
If you ran in services, you could definitely make money: there’s a much
bigger demand for developed islands.”
At last. An estate agent who spoke my language: profit and greed. The 2,250
islands and cays of the Bahamas shelter 400 international banks, but I
imagine they are more concerned with hiding money than lending it to me to
buy my dream island. But I had a plan. I’d spotted another ad, back in
Belize, for Cockroach Cay. Buy that, change its name – Bonefish Beach might
hook an angler – and flip it back on the market at a higher price. That
should raise the cash. Quickly, though. Undeveloped islands can take years
to shift, but if Vladi was right I wouldn’t have that long.
FACT FILE
- Hire a local lawyer, but make sure that he or she is competent and honest.
- Stay a week before you buy. You may find snakes, sandflies or squatters.
- Seek local advice on ownership disputes and prevailing winds.
- Survey structures, especially jetties, carefully (salt water causes rot).
- Fresh water is vital. Desalination plants are expensive, require maintenance
and use a lot of power. Test wells by draining them and seeing how long they
take to refill. Harvesting rainwater in tropical regions may see you through
the year.
- Most island brokers can be found on www.privateislandsonline.com
- www.vladi-private-islands.de
- www.bahamasrealty.bs
- Lark Cay is handled by www.caribbeanislandbrokers.com
- Tonga:
www.vavaurealestate.com
- Philippines: www.philippines-real-estate.com
