Monday, December 9, 2013

Do's and dont's of Commercial Lease


The Cayman is already enlisted amongst the best places in the world for finances to grow. Off late, it is also becoming an ideal place for businesses of all sorts to thrive and flourish. Well, not apparently noticeable, but this fact is having a heavy positive impact on the Cayman Commercial Property market. The demand for leasable commercial property has increased specifically in the buzzy corners of the county. The Commercial properties in Grand Cayman are the ones that take up customers like hot cakes. If you identify yourself with the class of people who are wishful of starting their businesses from Cayman Islands, here are a few things you must keep in mind and stay alert to. Attaining Commercial Property on the basis of lease is way different from doing the same with residential properties.

  •  Commercial land leases entail far less buyers protection when you compare it with that received by residential tenants. As such anything that you sign on, would be strictly binding on you. Read your lease documents carefully before putting down your signatures. Check out whether you would like to agree with the terms and conditions specified, or if you would like to go for negotiations. 

  •  If your business is in its infant stages, it is better you opt for taking a commercial property on rental basis rather than going for lease. The condition of lease is that you agree to pay the lease amount for a decided period of time. Here, we take an example of 10 years. If you take a land on lease for 10 years. And your business dwindles after 4 years, you would still have to pay the lease amount for 6 more years! So, beware

  •  Business land leases are generally, 'Full Repairing and Insurance'. If you decide to take up a Cayman Commercial property on lease, better inspect the land before you decide to take it. If the land already needs repair and working upon, it is way better to go for some other option or ask for the land to be repaired and then put on lease. 

  •  Commercial lands are way more subject to market trends that are residential properties. As such, business friendly locations like Grand Cayman could be the deal stealer. Commercial properties in grand Cayman are expensive are the rates fluctuate on a fair basis. Taking up a commercial property in a place like Grand Cayman, needs a lot of strength financially, so that if things go wrong somehow in the future, you don't need to break your back under financial obligations.

  •  There is a term named break clause while you are taking a commercial land on lease. It entitles you to the right of terminating the lease if your business does not do very well. You can however, still carry on your business from the same place without having to stay bound withing the limits of the lease. 

  •  The lease term is a prominent factor while deciding on how successful your lease would be. Normally, the terms and conditions for lease become a liability even if the payment amounts are less for long lease terms. The catch here, is to maturely bang down upon an equilibrium wherein you have your land for an ample amount of time, yet having to pay a decent lease installment.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

What are vacation homes and why should you possess one?

Vacation time, family time! And we all deserve a good relaxing vacation for ourselves atleast once a year, ain't it? An island vacation is just the one thing you can dream of when you imaging some special time with your special one. Cayman Islands is the King of Islands. Once you come here, you would want to keep coming back. There are many vacationers who just don't want to go back once they are in Cayman Islands. Here is where vacation homes come into picture. Vacation homes are the most useful of all property in Grand Cayman for vacationers. Here are the top three why you should fetch yourself a vacation home in Cayman Islands:

  • First and foremost, you plan to come back here again and again. So no point getting into some resort and hotel, every time you land in. That practice would pressurize your resources in a graver way. Booking of rooms in advance, finding out whether you have the right hotel to park yourself in, at the right place and many other such factors. Owning a home altogether to yourself, no matter whenever in the year you wish to refresh your senses in the Cayman Islands, is a more logical option. Ain't it?

  • Second, when you are not celebrating life on the Cayman Islands, your vacation home would not just keep standing there, unused. There are professional property management companies in the Cayman, that take care of your vacated properties when you are not there. Grand Cayman is a place that thrives with all this business. You can utilize your luxury vacation property in Grand Cayman to earn quite a few bucks. Just hand it over to some vacationer like you on rent when you are not using it!
 
  • When you are buying a vacation home for yourself, obviously you would do enough research in advance to ensure that your home is located at the right corner of the country! And more than often, you would love to walk to the nearby joints for whiling away your time. With hotels and resorts, that is not the case. Until and unless you have made your rooms in some good place well in advance, with some complementary touring service, your life could be hellish. Because last minute bookings on a place like Cayman Islands is a tough nut to crack. That is no the case with your vacation home. You can tell your property manager, exactly when you are planning a trip to the islands and your vacation home will be dressed up in no less graceful a manner than a hotel.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Home maintenance tips for quickly selling Cayman property

With a market as competitive as the Cayman Real estate, keeping homes at tipping tidiness is not an option at all! A maintained and managed home is an asset. It becomes easier for visitors to finalize the purchase of a home that is in a healthy state, without stains on the carpet and eroding plaster on walls. Attics, basements, kitchen tanks, appliances, every corner of your house needs to be in the best maintained state in order to get sold. Here are a few tips to keep your Cayman property well maintained so that it just sells itself off at the first glance.

  •  Keep your appliances sparkling clean. When your Cayman property would be up for sale during the peak times, possibilities are, your agent would ask you to keep some appliances to be included in the sale. It is necessary that all these appliances are completely functional. For that purpose, we recommend you to regularly clean and lubricate your appliances.
  • Carpets need a wash regularly. By regularly, we definitely do not mean once every week! Put your floor carpet in the laundry at least twice a year. If you possess a pet at home, either take care that your pet does not soil the carpet or else, put in for wash once every two months. This is all the more important if you have a feline at home.
  • Change furniture arrangement once in a while. This gives your home a fresh look. Practice it in accordance to seasons. Falls, springs, summers and monsoons definitely need different retouches. This apart, it gives a chance to your floors to be cleaned occasionally from all nooks and corners. 
  • Call a house inspector annually to perform a detailed scan of your roofs, walls, energy leakage quotient and other such hugely neglected factors. These things, once pile up, could result in extremely highly maintenance costs.
  • Keep a trimmed garden in your possession. Level the grass seasonally and keep the area free of dried fallen leaves. If you have a small place reserved for the greens comparatively, consider using creepers and climbers. They make walls look really beautiful.
  • Last but no the least, the swimming pools. Yes, they are damn important. If you have one, consider changing water periodically and get the pool floor scraped for traces of algae and microscopic water fauna.

More tips and advises on Cayman Property maintenance to follow in our blog! Keep reading.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Cayman Real Estate - Be A Part Of It

Cayman Islands is heaven as far as Real Estate is concerned. No tax to be payed on income tax and capital gains, a grand network of estate agents to manage properties and a friendly culture that is interesting to adopt! All these features make Cayman a hot destination for investing in real estate.

Both buying and selling are active parts of the real estate system here. Demand is usually high throughout the year, more so after the commencement of SEZ concept on the Cayman Islands. Brands are entering at a pleasant pace and with them, are increasing the number of people streaming in. The buyers' market here, is growing at an amazing rate. Homes for rent also crowd the area and it is specifically beneficial to people who have come here for a long term stay, possibly till the point you have your work permit here! For those who intend to stay on for shorter periods or may be just come around for vacations and stay for a few days, only to come back the next year, options are numerous. They have a privilege to buy a part of a condominium property for a specific time of the year. This ais also referred to as fractional ownership! In a nutshell, affordable, posh and variable housing options are available here, so that the buyer can consider his options freely and adequately.

For sellers, Cayman is again a gorgeous place! The freedom from capital gains, entitles them to immense amount of profitability. Being a seller, you just have to maintain your house in a conditions, that it can be staged well in front of your prospective buyers. You have to maintain it well and pay a commission amount to a RealEstate agent and then you are set free of the concern about how your property is going to be sold out or rented out! With such a wonderful reals estate broker and agent network and such a regulated system, as CIREBA is, there are nil chances that your property would not meet a justified and desired end!

Whether you are buying a piece of property or selling it, you are definite to stand in the gains part. There is nothing to compromise on or lose on! It is always the best deal of investment that you can have!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Most common over-looked problems during the sale of a home

Buying a home is possibly the most vital investment that one can make in his life. As such, it should be well-thought of, well planned and well-presided over. Especially, when it is about Cayman Property, chances that you get bedazzled, are extremely high. It is however, always a good bet to know perfectly what you want out of your investment. And better yet, to know whether what you are investing in, is worth your investment. Here is a list of certain thing which prospective buyers often overlook while going for a visit to a particular house.
  • Leaking roofs - Yes, you won't understand it at the first site, obviously, roofs would not be dripping apparently at the time you visit! But there are certain cues that would tell you that the ceiling could get drenchy at a future point in time. Look out for damp blobs on the walls and the ceilings, or just look out for erupted paints. Such things would mean that the house is not very resistant to water outbursts.
  • Kitchen - A cabinetwork open kitchen look the most elegant and yet is the most dangerous of all kinds, Open the cabinet doors to see whether the wood is a a good state or is just getting eaten away. Laminate counter would soil easily and would be tough to maintain. See what kinds of light fittings are there and most importantly, look out for jammed kitchen chimneys and exhausts. Kitchen repair could be extremely costly, so keep a special eye on the kitchen.
  • Bathrooms - Bathrooms could be extremely costly to repairs because of the network of water pipes and vents that run through their walls. Checking out for leaking pipes and chocked up sewage is important. More than often, home visitors do not pay such a minute eye to such small things. But things as small as these can amount up hugely.
  • Heating and cooling systems - Most Cayman Properties would showcase heating and cooling systems in their salables. A better deal is to check manually whether they are properly working or not. If the whole residence is centrally air-conditioned, costs of repairs could be huge since even a small goof-up would make the entire arrangement go down
  • Basements - Basements and attics are another set of dwindy places that must never be overlooked. Go to the basement and check out for yourself whether everything is right or repairs need to be made. 

Cayman Real estate is an extremely lucrative market and it is easy to just fall for any property you come across. Better to make things clear from your side before bumping into any property with your family for a long stay.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Things you must expect from your Cayman Real Estate Agent

When it is about the Cayman real estate industry, agents are comparable to encyclopedias. They have an extremely important position in the Cayman Real Estate market. This fact however gives them the upper hand of supremacy and experience. It is upon you to test the depth of this experience. There are certain mandatory questions that you must ask an agent before declaring that you are ready to work with them.

  • Experience tenure - Ask the agent how old he is in the market. The Cayman Property market is a highly active one and agents have to be agile while dealing in it. The best way to learn about this market is through experience and that is gained first hand on field.
  • Area - Ask him whether he is familiar with your area. Cayman real estate scenarios differ according to the area where the property is being bought or sold. Rates differ a lot as do amenities. It is important that the agent is fluent with the area that you intend to do business at.
  • Number of successful deals - Ask the agent how many houses he has sold till date. The number has to be visibly relative with the number of years he has worked for. Here, it would be better if you yourself do a bit of homework regarding what is the closing rate in the area where you are planning to sell or buy a house.
  •  Is he a CIREBA certified member? - This is extremely important. Being a CIREBA member would need the agent to follow certain standards for work and ethics. This ensures a better reliability.
  • Is he there in the MLS? - That would expose you to a higher number of properties and keep your agent bias-less. This would apply more applicable to the buyers.
  • Would he show you properties that are listed under other companies? - This again is an extremely important point. If the agent is bent upon getting properties listed under his company sold, that would hamper your search arena. Clarify in advance whether or not your agent would be lenient with property listed under another company.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Why Are Photographs And Videos So Important In Listings?



Since the concept of listing on the web has come into being, searching for property and participating in the Cayman Real Estate sellers market has become a lot easier. How convenient it has become to show people how exactly a property looks. The listing system has made things plain, simple and precise. It is possible to point out all the potent features that tenants and buyers look for in a property. Why then is it necessary to concentrate to much on the visual part? Why are photographs and videos, describing the appearance of any Cayman property so much favored and asked for by real estate agents? Let's find out the answer.
  • Research says that pictorial representation has more effect on the psychology of the buyer than does literature.
  • When you have the photographs of your staged up room on the listing, people who come over to see you house tend to relate your home to the photographs they had seen on the web. Even if your home is currently not looking that attractive right now, the buyer would naturally give more weightage to what he had viewed on the web.
  • Giving a pictorial representation clears off any misunderstanding or mis-expectation that your literature might have created in the mind of the viewer. It further gives a clear impression of the structure of things. It is a lot of saving on time because people know what exactly they should be expecting when they are visiting your place.
  • Videos seem to give life to a dumb internet representation. Make it a point to speak something that you feel is outstanding about your home. It helps the viewer notice things which he might not have noticed it only if there were literature or photographs.
  • According to experienced Cayman real estate agents, homes that have beautiful pictures and videos uploaded on listing, sell quickly and at great prices. That happens, even if the real home is not so very enticing or catchy. The vice-versa is however not true.
If your Cayman property is out for sale, use the web well and upload as good pictorial resources as you can. Your agent could guide you on how to go about it. The outcome would definitely be splendid.