St. Kitts and Nevis are two tiny islands located amid the Caribbean Sea. Buying property and houses are big investment decisions that people make. Many high-net-worth individuals have an eye for these exotic locations surrounded by blue waters and covered in magical white beaches.
If you are also looking forward to splurging on buying property or a house that you want to turn into your family’s second home or a vacation destination, then you should visit websites like https://imperiallegal.com/real-estate-in-st-kitts-nevis/.
9 Guidelines For Buying Property In The Islands Of St. Kitts And Nevis
1. Citizenship Requirements For Buying Property In St Kitts and Nevis
Many countries have restrictions on who can buy property in their country. These restrictions might stem from social, cultural, political, or economic reasons. St. Kitts and Nevis, too, have such restrictions. But if you are a foreigner, you can overcome the restriction in two ways:
- Get an Alien Landholding License
- Buy properties that are approved under the Citizenship by Investment program. In this program, you get citizenship by buying a property worth a minimum of $200,000 as a joint owner, liquidable only after seven years, or at least $400,000 as a single owner, liquidable after five years.
2. Tax Implications Of Buying A Property In These Islands
Since buying a house entails an investment of huge amounts of money, most people worry about the tax implications of the same. Usually, when a house is sold, the seller has to pay capital gains tax based on the difference between the cost price and the selling price of the house or the piece of land. Likewise, there could be concerns about paying wealth tax or inheritance tax.
St. Kitts and Nevis have no capital gains tax, inheritance, or wealth tax implications. However, there is a property tax that is levied in these countries. Nonetheless, the rate of the tax levied is quite less. For instance, property tax rates in Nevis are as low as 0.156% and 0.75% for building and land, respectively. For St. Kitts, it is 0.2% each for building and land.
3. Ease Of Buying
While making investments, people always look out for the ease of buying. Buying a house in these islands is a simple affair. One will have to get in touch with a local real estate agent to get good deals. In fact, the real estate prices are negotiable, and a good bargain can fetch you a great deal.
Once the deal has been finalized, it is advisable to get the papers made by a local legal practitioner. Typically, one will require an Alien landholding license to own real estate in St. Kitts and Nevis. Also, 10% of the property price is to be given for purchasing the license. In a nutshell, you have to incur the following expenses over and above the price of the real estate:
- 10% of the purchase price for the Alien landholding license fee. (waived on homes by the Nevis Island Administration until December 2023).
- 2.5% – 5% of purchase price as legal expenses.
- $3 registration fee
- 2% of the purchase price to the National Assurance Fund
4. Ease Of Selling
Most people buy a property to sell it later to gain from the rise in real estate prices over time; hence ease of selling is a key criterion for most people. Legal transactions cost around 5% of the property price in these places. Also, the cost of real estate registration is low and costs about $3.
5. Connectivity To Other Countries
If you plan to make these islands your holiday destination, you will want the place to be well connected to your place of usual residence or location of work. These Caribbean islands are constantly expanding and improving their channels of connectivity with other countries of the world.
The main airport at St. Kitts, the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw Airport, is continuously being modernized, and now the airport connectivity is enhanced to major cities like London, Manchester, Leeds, New York, and Miami.
6. Prospects Of Infrastructure Development
Infrastructure development like the building of roads, railway lines, warehouses, sewerage lines, and electricity connections are key indicators of a place’s economic development. Usually, with infrastructure development, the demand and real estate cost in an area increase.
Thus, infrastructure development is symbolic of the growth potential of a city or a nation. St. Kitts and Nevis are rapidly upgrading and increasing their infrastructure facilities. Hence, it makes sense to pour money into these locations because the prices of land and houses in these areas will increase in the near future.
7. Conditions Of Living
If you are planning to permanently reside in St. Kitts or Nevis, you will obviously want to know about the state of living conditions in these places. A host of factors determines living conditions.
Components of ease of living include the availability of a sustainable public transportation system, the available medical facilities, the level of education in the nation, etc. Both St. Kitts and Nevis are making steady advances in all these realms; hence ease of living is expected to rise in the near future.
8. Location Demographics
If people are planning to relocate or invest in a new country, they will obviously be curious about the composition of the local populations, their literacy rates, the languages they speak, and their levels of economic development.
These islands typically have a low population density; however, with rapid infrastructure and real estate development, the population is expected to increase rapidly. The population is predominantly African. However, language barriers should not be an issue in these islands as English is the only official language here.
9. Crime Rates In The Islands Of St. Kitts And Nevis
When people put money in a country, they are bound to worry about the crime rates and policing system. After all, the safe keeping of their real estate will depend on the general crime levels there.
These islands are safe in terms of travel and settlement. Even if some rogue criminal incident occurs, the Government is quick to act in such cases. Thus, one can safely park their surplus income or retirement corpus to buy their dream home on these islands without fearing robbery or arson.
Conclusion
St. Kitts and Nevis are turning out to be great investment hubs for individuals from all across the globe. The low tax incidence, the fast pace of infrastructure development, a growing network of connectivity, and low crime rates are grabbing the eyeballs of individuals and businesses worldwide.
