I have been on island about five years now.  There are lots of different water related things to do such as snorkeling, SCUBA diving, night versions of both, jet skis, parasailing, boating…

One thing I hadn’t done before is go fishing.  We have different fishing tournaments here every year.  The US Virgin Islands is actually known for its great sport fishing off of the North Drop and the South Drop.  Some 21 world records in fishing have been set in recent years in the Virgin Islands. 

the fighting chair

The North Drop is part of the Puerto Rican Trench.  A 6 mile trench  a that runs east to west on the north side of St Thomas.  The ocean runs from where it touches the beaches and cliffs gradually out to a depth of about 300 feet -this happens over approximately 20 miles.  About 20 miles north/north east of St Thomas the bottom suddenly drops to a depth of about 28,000 feet.  (5.2 miles or 8,400 meters).  This is where the big fish hang out.  Some of the best Blue and White Marlin fishing is done here every year.

we caught one

The South Drop only goes to a depth of about 12,000 feet.  Shallow compared to the North Drop, but still deep enough to catch Yellowfin Tuna, Blackfin Tuna, Mahi Mahi, and Wahoo.

about 300lbs

Several boats can be rented  for 1/2 day or full day charters.  For our excursion we went out on a 65 foot fishing vessel with a galley and 2 heads (the lap of luxury) called Prime Time.  The captain and crew were wonderful.

Y’all common down n grab a bite o grub!  The annual Texas Chili Cookoff is held every August.  This year it was on the west end at beautiful Brewers Beach where you can watch the planes take off and land from your comfortable seat in the sand.

The location has changed over the years and so has the chili.  Not the stuff the judges try, that has very stringent rules.  Over the past few years a lot of the contestants have added vegetarian or white chili to their ‘menu’.  Individuals, restaurants, and companies all vie for the chance to be the chili king of St Thomas.

There is also a costume contest.  Whichever booth has the most chili spirit gets an award as well.  The contestants for this particular prize form a parade and try to get more votes using their sparkling personalities.

Each island in the Caribbean has it’s own feel, it’s own flavor, it’s own style!  St Thomas has the cruise ships, St Croix has some great golfing, St John has hiking and camping.  They all have shopping and great SCUBA diving!  But when you want to get a stamp in your passport, the easiest way to do that is to enjoy a day on Jost Van Dyke.

White Bay

Jost Van Dyke (pronounced yost) is one of the smallest of the British Virgin Islands.  Jost’s population is about 220 people.  However, it has some of the most popular bars on it.  Foxy’s, One Love, and of course Soggy Dollar.  Soggy Dollar even has a web cam http://soggydollarbar.com/ 

Renting a boat for the day is how you get there.  There are several different boating options from a ‘bare boat’ to a three cabin yacht.

However you get there, it’s always a great day!

St John Carnival time is here!  Fourth of July weekend every year is cause for double celebration here in the US Virgin Islands.

Each island has its own Carnival to celebrate celebrating!  Jouvert (pronounced joo-vay) means first night.  Jouvert kicks off Carnival weekend with a parade commencing at 4am.   Colorful costumes, local music and food means everyone has a good time.

Summer is coming!  The breeze dies down, the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea get warmer…and the weather conditions are ripe for hurricanes in Florida and the Caribbean.  There are a few simple precautions to take to help safeguard you and yours. 

First, get some approved containers to hold fresh water for washing but dont forget your bottled drinking water as well.  Stock up on canned foods and other types of foods that wont go bad if there is no refridgeration.  Keep in mind that if the power goes out, it could be weeks before it is restored.  If you have a gas stove or grill, make sure the tank is full or have an extra one ready.  Have your hurricane shutters ready to go.  Make sure they are in good repair and you have plenty of extra screws. 

Have a full first aid kit, flashlights, and plenty of batteries.  Candles too.  You can purchase radios and flashlights now that you simply wind up, some even have an extra outlet on them.  If you have a generator, check fuel levels and make sure it is in good working condition.

Another good idea is to get together with your neighbors.  Work on the buddy system.  If there is damage in your area, once you are safe, get to your assigned neighbor and check on them.

If you have pets, make sure you have a plan for them.  Have extra food (and cat litter) and have their cages and any medications ready if you need to evacuate.  Make sure they are wearing a collar with name tags and up to date rabies tags.

Keep your fingers crossed that the U.S. Virgin Islands do not experience any hurricanes this summer.  If we do, we are prepared.

Well, the last hike was so much fun, we went again.  This time my brother and his family are on island so it was a great way to spend the day together in the sun without just sitting on the beach all day drinking (which is ok too!).

For this hike, we took the car ferry from Red Hook on St Thomas to Franks Bay on St John.  The people ferry is now $12.20 per person round trip and the car ferry is $53 round trip.  Since there were five people going and we were headed to the east end of St John it made a lot more sense to ride the car ferry.

Our destination for this hike was Rams Head.  This is a part of the island on the east end that when viewed from the trails looks like a charging ram.  It is an easy to moderate hike.  There is a parking area at the top, a smooth downhill walk to a sandy beach (perfect for a picnic lunch after the hike), after the beach is the Salt Pond, then a moderate trail to the top of Rams Head.  The views from the top of the trail are fantastic!

Make sure to bring plenty of water.  We had a beautiful but overcast day and even I went through almost a gallon of water.  After the hike we went to the car to bring down our packed lunch and enjoyed the rest of the day on the beach.  My friend and my brother went for a long snorkel.  I took a nap on the beach

I will be heading to St John this morning.  St John is a short 20 minute ferry ride away from St Thomas.  The ferrys run every hour on the hour from both directions.  Going to St John is a great way to spend a few hours, an afternoon, or you can make a whole day of it.  Some just go for lunch or dinner and come back. 

It is looking to be another beautiful day in the Virgin Islands and a friend and I will be hiking so I can get some exercize!  (ooohhh boy, its been a while).  We are going to take the 8 am people ferry and start out on a 2 mile trail.

St John is 2/3 National Park.  The Rockafellers used to own the island.  The Rockafellers donated  most of the land to the Government for use as a national park.  This means that  most of the land on St John can never be built on and will remain as beautiful and untouched as when Columbus first discovered it in 1493. The park service has made many hiking trails and there are several maps to help you choose where you want to go.  There are old ruins and petroglyphs and beautiful beaches to see, just pick your trail.

We picked an easy one for my first time hiking in ummm, well, years.  The trail begins just outside of Mongoose Junction when you head toward the National Park entrance/info center so we can walk to it from the ferry.  Wish me luck!

I was reading the Virgin Island Daily News today and something struck me.  There were side by side articles about the $50 Billion Ponzi Scheme and the $700 Billion bailout.  I noticed similarities within the words written for the different articles.

If you look at the bailout article it says that the lending institutions were lending money they didnt really have to people who eventually would not be able to pay and the lenders were betting on housing prices to keep going up, thus funding the previous loans.

What is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme?  As defined by a Google search  “A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors out of the money paid by subsequent investors rather than from profit.”

Apparently the United States taxpayers are paying out on the biggest Ponzi Scheme ever.

Wow, what a project I took on.  The biggest projects in the house were…building a wall to turn the main unit into a three bedroom house, rebuilding the two shower pans, and rebuilding the kitchen.   Thank you to all of my friends that gave me a hand!  Your help and support is very appreciated. 

I had also hired some people who did some good work and some who did questionable work.  The most notable of the latter catagory was Caribbean Workshops on St John.  AKA K&S Caribbean, LLC.  A man by the name of Kent Scott found me in Home Depot writing down sizes and prices of the put together cabinets.  He said his prices were comparable to HD and his were custom made solid wood.  (the put together ones are particle board)  I had him come out to my house to take measurements.  He gave me a price that was a lot higher than the cabinets I was looking at, but he said he could have cabinets in before Dec 1st and the doors and drawers on by Dec 5th.  My tenant was moving in on Dec 3 and I was getting pressed for time with everything else that needed to be done.  I gave him the go ahead to make the cabinets.

To make the story short, today is Dec 22 and the kitchen is still not complete and now he will not answer his phone.   His cabinets are a kit he put together, the ends are particle board, the laminate is coming off already, he and his workers left sawdust in and outside the house and a saw in the living room.  The cabinets by the stove were not put in the correct spot and the counter has to be redone to fit the stove.  The drawer slides were supposed to be the self closing kind, but instead they were installed with 20 cent slides from Kmart.  He was unavailable the week of Thanksgiving even though he had set an appointment with a customer I had found for him and a meeting with myself about working for him.  So much for givng a new business a try. 

This has been a learning experience for me. 

UPDATE: AS OF 2/11/09 K&S CARIBBEAN aka CARIBBEAN WORKSHOPS HAS STILL NOT EVEN TRIED TO FINISH THE CONTRACTED WORK.

I am going to go a little off real estate info for a minute here.  On Tuesday this week the United States of America held presidential elections and on January 20, 2009 the newly elected president will take his oath of office.  Presidential elections mean more to me now that I live in the Virgin Islands because we are a territory and cannot vote for president.  I have missed two elections since I moved here.  They are really the first elections I have wanted to take part in.  I always thought that no matter what, I would not like what happens in the White House, so it would not matter who was sitting in the Oval Office.  I felt very differently about the 2004 and 2008 elections.

Here in the Virgin Islands, because we could not vote, many people became supporters both physically and monetarily.  We were the cheerleaders and bakesale fundraisers in a game we were not allowed to play in.  It seems there is a huge sense of pride in the Virgin Islanders as they have adopted President-elect Barack Obama as their own.

President-elect Barack Obama means a lot of things to a lot of people.  He is a minority.  He did not come from a privliged family.  He is a family man.  He is a father, a husband, and a grandson.  He has faith.  He was a Senator for Illinois.  On January 20, 2009 He will be President of the United States.  I have been reading articles in the paper and watching the news.  Many people are mentioning that he is the first black president.  This is a big step forward for a group of people who would not have even dreamed it possible just 40 years ago.  This step forward is not just for black peoople, but for any minority including women.  His message is that you can be whatever you envision yourself to be.  Wheather that is the best plumber in the area or President of the United States.  There are still people who would try to hurt the president and his family just because he is black.  I hope we can get past the color of his skin to just see what kind of president he is to be.  

Let us not focus on the color of his skin.  Focus on what he says, what he does, and how he handles situations.  Does he listen to the people?  Does he keep his promisses?  Does he conduct himself in a Presidential manner? 

It was his message and the sense of hope that I was attracted to.  It would seem that  George W. with his failures has actually set up President-elect Obama to succeed.  We will have an intelligent, articulate, and energetic soul in the White House who may actually remember that he works for We The People of the United States, not for his family and his cronies.

I am finally a homeowner myself here in the beautiful US Virgin Islands.  AAAHHHHHHH…the wonders of homeownership.  The cleaning, the spackleing, the painting, the renting…Oh, did I mention I now have apts to rent?  Well I do. 

There is a very nice 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment on the lower level.  It has a large kitchen and is about 1000sf.   It will be available to rent Nov 1.

I am fixing up the 3bedroom, 2.5 bathroom main unit now.  It will be ready mid to end of Nov.  It also has a large kitchen, wrap around porch on the main level and a balcony on two of the bedrooms.  It is about 2600 square feet. 

Both have beautiful views from Inner Brass off Magens Bay all the way to Tortola and St John.  Windows on all sides, so there are great cross breezes!!  The house is on 8/10 acre and is mostly fenced at the end of a dead end road.  Both come fully furnished.  I will accept pets, but if the pets are not taken care of, the owner has to go!

Contact me at islandrealestate@joimail.com for more info!

When a seller puts his home on the market, he signs a listing agreement with a Realtor.  This agreement spells out what is to be expected of the Realtor and states what the seller will pay for the Realtors services.  The amount paid to the Realtor is usually a percentage of the sale price if, during the time of the listing, a “ready, willing and able buyer” is brought to the table .  A “ready, willing and able” buyer is one who wants to purchase the property after all inspections, signs a contract of sale, and is able to pay cash or obtain financing in order to conclude the purchase.  The seller is obligated to sell the house and the buyer is obligated to purchase the house once the contract has been signed by both parties if all conditions are met within the timelines set in the contract. 

The seller puts up his house as collateral and gives the buyer the right to have it inspected.The buyer puts up an earnest money deposit usually (10% of the agreed upon price) that is held in the Realtors escrow account.  An escrow release form must be signed by both parties if the sale does not go through.   Once in a while either the seller or the buyer has a change of heart and decides they do not wish to go through with the contract. 

If the SELLER does not want to sell and the buyer is “ready, willing and able”,  the buyer may request his earnest money deposit returned or, if the buyer still wants to purchase the house, he can sue for specific performance.  Specific performacne is a legal action to compel a party to carry out the terms of a contract.   The seller will still have to pay the Realtors a commission because they performed as to the listing agreement.

If the BUYER decides he does not want to purchase the house after the deadlines in the contract have expired, the seller has the option of making him purchase the house (specific performance) or keeping part or all of the earnest money deposit (minus the Realtors share) for the time the house has been off the market.  He may then put the house back on the market to try to sell to someone else.

There are certain “outs” and time restrictions built into the contract.  These were mentioned in the previous post.

There are several ways the contract to purchase a house may be cancelled.  Certain deadlines must be met and several ways of determining value that may be negotiated.

The seller must have the bound posts marked to show where the property lies if requested to do so.  I recommend Brian Moseley & Assoc www.visurveyors.com A survey is standard in the US Virgin Islands and required by lending institutions and title companies because there were no building codes or zoning laws until the 70’s.  An owner could literally have built part of his house or fence on a neighboring property. 

The buyer must have a survey and “as built” performed within seven to ten days.  An “as built” shows where the house is in relation to the rest of the property.  This is done to show there are no encroachments (see previous post) and the buyer can have clear title.

A buyer, as an option, may have a home inspection performed within the first seven to ten days of an executed contract.  I recommend Adrian Bishop at The Home Inspector abishop@homeinspect.vi This would make the buyer aware of possible faults with the house.  The buyer then has the option of requesting the seller correct the faults, renegotiating the price, or backing out of the purchase and having his earnest money deposit returned.  The seller has the option of fixing, renegotiating the price, or saying take it as is.  This clause is in consideration to the condition of the house, it is not related to encroachments and clear title.   

Next is the appraiser.  Having your house appraised is always a good idea especially if you are not familiar with prices in the Virgin Islands.  I recommend Tripp Torcia at Appraisal Associates tripptorchia@gmail.com If you are in need of bank financing, an appraisal will be required.  If the appraisal comes in at the agreed upon price or higher, the bank will probably fund the loan if you qualify.  If the appraisal comes in significantly lower than the agreed upon price, the buyer may try to renegotiate the price to satisfy the bank.  If the buyer is unable to obtain financing within the specified time (usually 30-60 days), he will have to cancel the contract.

If the seller and buyer cannot come to an agreement and both are within the timelines set in the contract, the contract may be cancelled.  If either party is outside the timelines set in the contract, the parties each have their different recourse.