One question I have when I watch my favorite home show on TV is “Why wait until you’re going to sell to increase the value of your home?”  Why not improve it and make it pleasing to you while you’re still living there?  Upgrading your home makes you feel good about living there.  Plus, it’s a lot less expensive to make small changes to your existing home than to buy a new one.

1.   Evaluate & Assess What Needs To Be Done

Before you can decide what to tackle first, you must take a walk around the inside and outside of your home and look at it with fresh eyes.  Take in details and think about the little things you can change that won’t take a ton of work or money, but can have an impact.

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If you really want the best deals in investment properties in the Caribbean, you have to increase your odds by finding more deals.  Here  are 8 easy ways to do just that.

1. Talk. Let people know you are looking and sometimes the properties will come to you. There are a lot of owners out there who want to sell, but haven’t yet listed their property.

2. Use the internet. Go to a search engine and enter the type of real estate you are looking for, along with the city you want to invest in. You never know what you might find.

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Step #1 - Set your plan: Figure out what your long term real estate goals are (aka retirement and wealth building) and figure out what your short term needs are with regard to making money in real estate. Then, set up the proper entities and put the plan in place.  

Step #2 - Determine what your target market will be: You cannot be all things to all real estate markets. If foreclosures appeal to you, start investing in the foreclosure market. If you want to be a landlord, look to out of state owners to focus your real estate marketing efforts.

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1.    Don’t sell too soon. One of the most common mistakes made by real estate investors is that they turn over properties too soon.  It is completely natural to want to take advantage of a hot market. However, in an area where the market goes through fairly regular cycles, investors often generate more cash at the time of sale when they hold onto the property for a year or two in order to take advantage of tax benefits while waiting for the market to hit its true high point.  This is particularly advantageous when the property was purchased with non-traditional financing that requires minimal payments for the first several years of the loans.

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Real estate investing is a topic that many people wonder about. The earning potential of a smart investor is extremely high, because unlike nearly every other type of investment, real estate does not typically decrease in value.  When you are looking for a way to ensure your security for the future, or to build a retirement portfolio, real estate is a good vehicle to use. Here are 6 things that you might want to know about real estate investing.

1.    Budget your time wisely. If your intention is to purchase a home and restore, repair or remodel it in a short period of time before re-selling the property, you need to pay attention to the time that the work on the property is taking.  The problem that many first time investors run into with house-flipping is that they did not expect the work to take so long.  When delays occur, and mortgage payments are accumulating in addition to the cost of materials and labor it can definitely make for a stressful situation.  Be realistic with estimates, and always have cash at the ready should you encounter an unexpected expense.

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If you are looking for a way to make some cash with a minimal investment, Caribbean real estate may be the answer you’ve been waiting for.

Caribbean real estate investments give you much more than just somewhere to ‘stash cash’; they give you the ability to continuously increase the value of your investments to an almost unlimited level. Before you get started, here are 3 things to keep in mind about Caribbean real estate investing:

Excellent Caribbean Real Estate Investment Opportunities

1.    Research potential properties before purchasing them. When buying a rental property, there are several key features that you should be looking for. The first is sustainability.  Is the property in solid condition and is it going to stay that way with minimal upkeep?  The second is the location.  Yes, location is extremely important for most rental properties.  You need to ensure that your tenants can get to where they need to go and that the property is near commonly used retailers and service providers.  The third is the average income of the area.  This is different from physical location, because you should keep in mind that a high rent area is definitely a better location than a low rent area. And, in high rent areas location is often less of a concern than in low rent areas.

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Pitfall Number 1: Don’t Overpay!

The whole point in investing is to find properties that are a great bargain. How does one find out what is undervalued versus overvalued? Without getting into technical details, the bottom line is you need experience and/or good advice. Yes much like shopping for anything else, real estate is essentially one of the highest ticket items in the shopping center of life. It’s advisable to stick with one market as a starting point, perhaps your favorite Caribbean vacation destination, since you may be most familiar with real estate and possibilities on that island. Through your experience and asking the right questions, you will eventually have a feel for the pulse of the market you are looking at, and of course identify what is considered a good buy.

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For anyone looking for dream homes in the sun and international luxury real estate , Curacao has emerged as a first rate alternative for fractional home ownership and exclusive luxury properties.  A very select group of investors and lifestyle enthusiasts are already  enjoying spectacular  views of the ocean and the championship golf courses —designed by Pete Dye and William “Rocky” Rocquemore of Atlanta.

Development projects and building plans for the next 5 years include single family homes, studio apartments, condominiums, condo hotels, town houses and luxury villas.  With the luxury real estate market in mind, these developments will be  created with a world of amenities around them, including spa facilities,  fine dining , championship golf courses,  exclusive beach clubs  and marina’s  and miles of sandy beaches with turquoise water. more…

Curacao is not (yet) as well-known as some of its neighboring Caribbean islands ( for  instance Aruba and Barbados), but with excellent predevelopment planning and thought Curacao now offers amazing real estate investment opportunities, vacation and second homes,  properties,   mixed community and residential resorts with all the amenities you can imagine – and then some. more…

Blue Bay is a beautiful resort with tropical grounds and all of the luxuries you’d expect from a five-star, world-class resort. Beaches, golf, diving,  and swimming can be found near the resort’s charming beach cottages. Vacation homes, condominiums and apartment ownership and rentals are available, as well as luxury villas and golf course homes for sale. more…