Karen
Closing on property…encroachments
Let me start by saying, buying a home here is the same process as buying one in the states. Oh wait, but it is not.
As far as I can remember, the lending institutions here need all the same information, they just go about collecting and organizing it differently. There are a few additional requirements (like hurricane insurance) that were not required in other states I have lived in. My customer and I have been under contract since February 14th, 2008 to purchase a lovely two unit home on St Thomas. Today is September 21st and we still do not have a closing date. Now it is not all the banks fault because there have been some changes and the seller has been slow (very slow) about some items, but I do believe if the banks here had more of an interest in doing things in a timely manner, this would not be taking quite so long.
The first problem was that the property had three encroachments. This means that a part of a structure (building, fence, driveway, etc) from one property is actually on another property. Every time a home or lot of land is purchased in the USVI, a surveyor must go to the property and map the boundries. According to the original builder of this house, everything was built two feet within the properties boundries, however the current surveyor has said that this is not true, so the present owner of the house has to “cure the encroachments” prior to closing. Normally a lending institution will not lend you money if someone else can lay a claim on part of the land they are funding. The present owner of this house was fully aware of the encroachments before listing the property. In the contract it states that the owner has 60 days from notification to cure encroachments or leins against the property. The encroachments were supposedly cured and resurveyed by August 15, 2008.
My buyer could have (in retrospect should have )backed out of the contract after the 60 days. The problem was that there was not a alot of choice in that price range, they really liked the house, and they could see a lot of potential for improving the property.
So, the next issue… the banks take on the appraisal.
