By Amanda Wilson

I have decided to fulfil a reader’s request to write about why people buy real estate and particularly condos in Cayman.

There are many people who buy condos in Cayman.

Why?

Well who wouldn’t want a piece of paradise to call their own?

Many foreigners own property here so they have a place to stay when they return to their favorite vacation destination. After all, it really does make financial sense to own a property if you intend on visiting that vacation spot once or twice per year.

What happens to the condo when the owners are back in their country… one reader tells me, “We have chosen to rent long term; usually for 9-10 months at a time. The professionals that work downtown are our primary market and we have had good luck so far. The past two years have produced so much more uncertainty that renters (potential tentants) are very slow to rent very long term because they are is uncertain about their work permits. The rollover policy has traumatized many people and affects all of us who try to rent”.

The person shared more of his viewpoint by saying, “Poor rentals lead to lower real estate prices for us all. Government needs to remember that a professional making 75-100,000 per year is a great contributor to the economy for car sales, food purchases, restaurants, gasoline, utilities, etc., and condo rentals. A true professional in the economy beats a construction worker any day because he (the construction worker) sends 50% of each week’s pay home to another country every Friday night at Kirk’s Supermarket. Hopefully, someone will see the light of how we are all affected!!”

I would like to thank this reader for his input, and say that I see where he is coming from. So many things affect the rental property market: the economy, government policy, crime and our expatriate population. For Caymanians to continue living in the lifestyle that we have been accustomed, there are a tremendous number of issues to keep our eye on. If even one of those issues changes, the effects on us all could be tremendous.

To conclude, I would just like to say to those investors in real estate here in our beautiful Islands, thank you!