Pittsburgh PA to Aruba!

[M33P5]

Me and the husband are planning on purchasing property in Aruba within the next 12 months (I would like to it to be 5-6 months if possible). We own a house outright in PGH PA. So we plan on getting a home equity loan against our property so we can just purchase the house in Aruba no questions asked.

My question is for home owners that have recently gone through purchasing property on the island. Any surprises you encountered when purchasing property compared to the US process? Whom do you suggest for property insurance? Any advice on realtors or red flags are much appreciated.

We have contacted some Agents on the island via companies that are common in the states. That I am hoping to go further in detail with once the time to purchase is closer.

I just recently join this forumn and will contiue to read thru past threads and continue my research. BUT...any experiences you personally went thru is appreciated to hear about!

[Andrea J.]

Welcome to the aruba.com forum!

[cpjones]

Welcome to the forum.... I don't have any answers for you.... but I'm glad you're here!

[WaltVB]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your purchase!

[schexc]

Me and the husband are planning on purchasing property in Aruba within the next 12 months (I would like to it to be 5-6 months if possible). We own a house outright in PGH PA. So we plan on getting a home equity loan against our property so we can just purchase the house in Aruba no questions asked.

My question is for home owners that have recently gone through purchasing property on the island. Any surprises you encountered when purchasing property compared to the US process? Whom do you suggest for property insurance? Any advice on realtors or red flags are much appreciated.

We have contacted some Agents on the island via companies that are common in the states. That I am hoping to go further in detail with once the time to purchase is closer.

I just recently join this forumn and will contiue to read thru past threads and continue my research. BUT...any experiences you personally went thru is appreciated to hear about!

I would recommend starting here.

https://www.aruba.com/forum/f44/

There is a lot of good and personal information from individuals that have purchased on the island.

[robin]

We purchased a condo in 2017 and there are others on here who have purchased condos and homes after we did.

Things that are different in Aruba than the US:
1) No multiple listings
2) You pay a tax at closing and pay a notary fee. I can't remember how much, but it is 5-7% total I think. Maybe someone who went to settlement more recently can tell you the exact numbers.
3) Unless the property is in a corporation, it will take 3-4 months till you go to settlement.
4) All documents(deeds) are in Dutch. The Notary handles the sale vs. a settlement company. Your agent is your representative. No lawyers. Make sure you check to see if they are talking US $$ or Aruban florins.
5) You will need to prove where you got your $$$-ex. your home equity, bank accounts, etc.
6) Your property tax rate(yearly rate) is .6% as it is for all non Aruban no matter the value of the property.
7) Utilities are expensive.
8) Taxes, car registration, etc. -only florins are accepted and they prefer you have a bank account on the island so you can use your debit card-they only take cash in certain locations and only if you are older than 60. Our property manager pays all our condo associated bills.

I am sure there are things I am missing. We had several realtors, both located in the US and Aruba, but made our purchase through Prestige. We also use them to manage and take care of the condo. I can give you the name of our agent once you get closer to purchasing.

Are you looking at a home or condo?

[flpctc]

Yes Robin everything you said here is what I found to be the case when we closed at the end of March.
The tax fee and notary fees came to 7% of the price....ouch.
We definitely had to show a complete money trail of all 0ur funds and it was just about 4 months to close.
I remember that schexe told me everything here goes slow and be patient, good advice.
Best of Luck to you with your search.

[ArubaAngela]

I also agree with what Robin said. We purchased our condo at Azure in May 2020. We also took a cash out loan on our home here in Florida. I believe when we closed the Fee was 6%, looks like it went up 1%. They are very concerned about money laundering, so hence you have to have a lot of documentation on where all the funds are coming from and your assets. It can be challenging, as it seems like they would ask for the same info multiple times. It was very frustrating as it was during the peak of covid. I also have a great realtor I would recommend. If interested DM me. Good luck

[M33P5]

Thank you for all of this information I appreciate it! This makes me feel more comfortable going forward the more knowledge I get from everyone that has experience

[M33P5]

We are going to look at both homes and condos