15.09.06, the house hunt continues.. very slowly.
i've learned a huge difference between the antiguan real estate system & canada's. canada enjoys MLS (mulitple listing system), which alerts every agent to every available place. in antigua, each agent has their own places they are trying to sell. its like there are only listing agents, but they typically don't put a sign on the lawn, don't share info & generally don't deal with lower valued homes. that's because native antiguans don't move very often. they don't have to. their incomes don't change drastically, they're never too far from a new job to move & i'll bet they don't shift from job to job every couple years like so many north americans.
anyhow, i digress...
i'm the type of guy who doesn't test drive a car he can't afford. i got a tip of some lots for sale & went to visit this gentleman, mr. knowles, to see the lots he had for sale. after driving up this long, narrow cement road up a huge hill, with bush brushing both sides of the car, i came to the top of a hill. not just any hill, but the hill that overlooks the antigua international airport.
these 2 lots were next to mr. knowles home which he is selling for $1.5m EC ($610k CDN). the lots were approx 1 acre each ontop of this huge hill (think just short of blue mtn). the prices of these lots: $174k & $180k CDN.
for a closer view from this hilltop click here.
i can't tell you how beautiful this location is.
its the sports car i wish i never test drove.
calling all rich relatives who'd like a permanent room in a new home on this hilltop, we are taking applications.
Hodges Bay, teddy santos' mother's place.
as i look at places, i realize the $650k EC is going to be too tough to find a place we'll be satisfied with. so i am exceeding that budget range into the $700's.
teddy santos, a very busy & by far the most helpful agent on the island, showed me this home which happens to be owned by his mother. yes, i was suspicious at first, too. but take a look & check out the spec's...
4 bdrms (shown below), 3.5 baths, study (far right, 2nd row from bottom), large kitchen ( upper right), dining room (right 1 down) which has a bar off to the left not shown, living rm (right next, 2 shots from opposite sides of the room) & laundry room.
each bedroom has a walk-in closet w/ air conditioning units in some rooms & ceiling fans in all.
the interior could use a bit of sprucing up. the living room & a couple bedrooms have wall-to-wall carpeting that needs replacing with ceramic tiles. a fresh coat of paint, a few new light fixtures, but overall in great shape. and this place is large: over 3000 sq ft.
one unknown gem to this place could definitely help our situation: since teddy's mother is now residing in canada, some of the furniture could be available for us. looking at the size of this place, we would need some to keep it from looking empty.
the exterior is 0.3 acres at the end of a broken up, windy road, not unlike many roads in antigua, in fact, since many of the nicest places are removed up on hills etc., the roads are only for them. and as nice as a house is, roads are expensive to maintain, so people spend their money on all-wheel drive vehicles & not their driveways.
the lot has bush & mature trees on 2 sides. one side is a lot owned by one of teddy's brother. the lot itself is covered in palms, mature coconuts trees, a lemon tree hanging with fruit, a massive wall of ficus as a border & many other flower bushes & trees all over the property. all looks like it was all planted about 20 years ago. for landscaping, it is the place that the yellow house previously viewed will look like in 20 years, if landscaped now.
the house has a large carport bay which holds 3 cars. i think there were 5 vehicles on the cement pad in front & in the carport. one would almost consider breaking up some of the cement to increase the green space in the front of the lot. but there is plenty of green already.
the property also has a very large shed; big enough to almost fit a car itself, (though there isn't a door for such a thing).
2 sides of the lot have a plant obscured concrete wall. the rest is fence, but it is really the flora that is the perimeter of the other 2 sides.
i should also mention it is a 5 minute walk to jabberwock beach. apparently, if a bit of bush was cut down, we'd be enjoying the view from the patio.
the bottom row of pictures shows much - but not all - of the backyard. i'm not a pool guy, but somehow it screams: 'put in a pool'. the lower right shot shows the long patio that runs almost the length of the house, coming out from the living room.
the price: asking $850k EC, BUT...
they accepted an offer of $750k EC from another man who couldn't get financing. it seems every place you want to buy was already sold but the guy couldn't get financing.
my thoughts: without a doubt, the nicest place so far. it is big, it is solid, it is in a nice part of the island, its got an office. it would do nicely. i really like it. whadda you think?
