We are Canadians and have just purchased a house in Aruba. We intend spending quite a lot of time in our house in Aruba and maybe renting it out some of the time to hopefully get some tax benefit.
Unlike Canada, the closing date did not seem to have any real signifiance and after much pressure we did get our closing almost two weeks after the closing date. We bought a "regular" house, on a street (as opposed to a condo or in a complex). We did get a surprise to find that the house has no hot water so that's a question you may want to ask.
Send me an email if you have specific question.

I purchased last year, one recommedation would be to fiance through your bank at home as the rates are much better.There is plenty of info on the internet on buying/living in Aruba