The "A Lesson on Buying an Island Home" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just got finished watching a re-run of a HGTV International House Hunters show. This one had some interest for me since it was filmed in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. A couple from the states named Dan and Casey from Jonesboro, Arkansas decided to buy a vacation home on Sint Maarten. They were shown three homes on the island by Arun Jagtiani, a local real estate agent, which is the general outline of the show. They are to choose one of them to purchase. The first home was brand new, but lacked the view and beach access they wanted. Really nice place with plenty of outdoor living. The second place was on the beach, but in a very crowded neighborhood and would need remodeling inside the house. The third home was up on a hill with a beautiful view of both the French side and the Dutch side of the island. It was an ugly green color and had a pool that was in terrible shape. The ground floor had renting tenants using it with a fierce dog. After reviewing their choices, which were all poor in my estimation, they chose the final house and paid $600,000 for the property. Didn't get the beach front they wanted or get anywhere near the beach. What they did get was a pack of trouble in having a tenant that they cannot get rid of. They purchased the home in December of 2009. The show aired a few months later and as of this posting, they are still not in the house. Almost 2 years later. Dan Johnson, the buyer, wrote a letter to the island edition of the Miami Herald asking for help from anyone. After purchasing the home the tenants were told they had 4 months to vacate the property. They requested more time and he granted it to them. After several weeks the tenant told Dan he wasn't moving out. In May of 2010, Dan contacted the island rental committee for advice. They said they would review the case and call both parties together the end of June. When June rolled around, the committee said that some of the board members were on vacation and they didn't get a chance to look at the case. Island Time! In August they informed Dan that they had no meeting space because of the upcoming elections in September. It seems that in Sint Maarten, as well as many other islands, the renter has squatters rights. As long as they don't fall more than 3 months behind in payments, you can't evict them. Can't even raise the rent. I just finished watching a re-run of the show about 2 years after Dan and Casey purchased it. I did some inquiry and a resident of the island told me that the renters are still in the house. Some say the real estate agent is to blame for not informing Dan about the rights of tenants on the island while others blame Dan for not asking about the tenant before he bought the house. Moral of the story I guess is to have a lawyer review your sale and don't rely on the real estate agent. Since I don't even have the money to hire the lawyer, I will never have the problem that Dan and Casey now have. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - I just had to include the great shot of a French Corsair landing at the Sint Maarten Princesss Juliana Airport. The runway starts right at the end of a beach and must start to land immediately since the runway isn't very long.