1 bed, 1 bath ground floor apartment near the beach and amenities with great rental potential
US $200,000 (furnished)
FOR SALE
St. Peter’s Bay 309 - St. Peter
3 bed, 3 bath residence in a world class beachfront development with breathtaking views
US $1,600,000 (furnished)
FOR RENT
Coral Beach 301 - St. Peter
2 bed, 2 bath charming, fully air-conditioned apartment conveniently located near Mullins Beach US $3,750 per month (furnished)
FOR SALE
Frangipani 8 - Sunset Crest, St. James
3 bed, 2 bath villa in a prime Holetown location, walking distance to the beach and amenities
US $650,000
FOR SALE
Mount Pleasant Plantation - St. Philip
3 bed, 3.5 bath bungalow and 2 apartments on an acre of land with ocean views
US $910,000
FOR RENT
Atlantic Rising 5 - Bottom Bay, St. Peter
3 bed, 2 bath villa with private pool, just a 3-minute walk to stunning Bottom Bay Beach.
US $3,000 per month (furnished)
FOR SALE
Sweet Song - Inch Marlow, Christ Church
5 bed, 4.5 bath picturesque home with cottage, walking distance to Silver Sands Beach
US $700,000 (furnished)
FOR SALE
Hope Park 6 - St. George
5 bed, 3.5 bath split level country home set on 4 acres of prime agricultural land
US $695,000
FOR RENT
Courtyard Villa 15 - Apes Hill, St. James
3 bed, 3.5 bath townhouse in a top golf community with pool and golf course and sea views
US $7,500 per month (furnished)
Editor’s Comments
The season is nearly upon us and Bajans are gearing towards sprucing up their homes! In the north many do ‘spring cleaning’ at the turn of the seasons in April, we in Barbados do this from October until Christmas. The whole house gets a once over in preparation for the festive season. In this edition of BPN, we have highlighted many companies that offer a great range of new furnishings and accessories, upholstery and of course ,decorating essentials including paint. Whether it’s just a quick fix like painting a room or adding some modern accessories to a more drastic change, we have it covered. So get ready to be inspired and enjoy the hopefully cooler weather ahead.
The hurricane season still has a way to go so don’t forget to be cautious. We have all seen the havoc that Helene has wrought in the USA. Barbados has mostly recovered from the slight hit we took from Hurricane Beryl, mainly on the South Coast but it was a wake up call that we are not exempt. Keep those preparations ongoing and be prepared.
Congrats to Tapas on their re-opening and no better place to have a sunset cocktail or a beautiful meal. A huge thanks to David Speiler for his insightful article. It gives us a lot to think about.
As always, BPN is filled with amazing properties for sale and rent. We are on line at www.barbadospropertynews.com and on social media. The island is filled with beautiful homes to suit all pockets – so have fun exploring! It’s a brilliant place to live!
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The Material and editorial contained in this publication have been deemed accurate at the time of going to print. The views expressed as editorial are those of the Editor unless stated otherwise. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the permission of Hiltop Publications Ltd.
On the cover: One Caribbean Estates
salesinfo@eldbarbados.com
Transforming the Real Estate Landscape in Barbados: BEAVA’s Roadmap for the Future
The Barbados Estate Agents and Valuers Association (BEAVA), a longstanding organization with over 150 members, is proposing a comprehensive roadmap to transform the real estate sales process in Barbados. This plan focuses on increased efficiency, transparency, and professionalism, aiming to benefit all stakeholders in the market.
Benefits of a Transformed Sales Process
BEAVA envisions a future where real estate transactions are:
Faster and More Efficient: Reduced holding costs for sellers and lower interest payments for buyers lead to quicker sales cycles and a more streamlined process.
More Cost-Effective: Reduced viewing, marketing, and compliance expenses for agents translate to lower overall transaction costs for everyone involved.
More Competitive: A streamlined system attracts foreign investment and strengthens Barbados’ position compared to other regional markets.
Less Risky: Quicker transactions minimize the risk of loan approvals expiring and protects buyers and sellers from market fluctuations.
More Transparent: Access to accurate sales data facilitates informed decision-making, fair negotiations, and accurate valuations.
BEAVA’s
Proposed Action Plan
To achieve these goals, BEAVA proposes a multi-pronged approach:
Professionalization: Collaboration with the government to establish training and certification programs for real estate professionals, raising competency standards.
Self-Regulation: Establishment of self-regulatory mechanisms to monitor members’ activities and ensure adherence to ethical standards.
Policy Advocacy: Providing input on regulations, zoning laws, and land-use policies, advocating for uniform industry standards that promote transparency and professionalism.
Market Monitoring and Data Sharing: Providing data and insights on market trends, property values, and areas of growth or decline to inform government policies.
Foreign Investment Facilitation: Simplifying transactions for foreign buyers, promoting Barbados as a prime investment destination, and attracting international investment.
Dispute Resolution and Legal Support: Offering mediation services for property disputes and expertise on legal reforms to support a healthy real estate market.
Benefits for All Stakeholders
A transformed real estate sales process will benefit everyone involved:
Customers: Improved satisfaction due to faster closings, better information, and streamlined interactions across different stakeholders.
Agents: Reduced costs and increased efficiency lead to improved profitability and competitiveness.
Government: Increased tax revenue from property transfers, improved market reputation, and access to data for informed economic planning.
Investors: Increased confidence due to a transparent and wellregulated system, attracting foreign investment and boosting the economy.
BEAVA’s Commitment
BEAVA is committed to working with the government and all stakeholders to implement this roadmap. We possess initial draft legislation and are eager to collaborate with government on creating a more efficient, transparent, and professional real estate sector in Barbados. Ultimately, we believe a well-regulated industry with high ethical standards benefits everyone.
The ‘Right Thing to do’
By David Spieler
In 1985 I awoke one morning with a terrifying thought that human survival on planet Earth would likely end in about 50 years. Maybe it was an epiphany, but it felt more like a nightmare. I was in my third stint of teaching at local high school, Harrison College. While teaching biology I was imparting environmental attitudes and good practice to the young minds who would run the future Barbados. I did not share my night’s thoughts with the students but continued to teach them that global warming was real, that temperatures were steadily rising, that unless we changed the way we consumed and lived, we would pay for it somewhere in the future. That seemed the right thing to do.
Today, almost 40 years later, resources are becoming limited. Global demand is creating competition for supplies of various materials, and for food and water. We are still burning fossil fuels like oil and coal at an alarming rate; and it appears that we collectively seem unable to generate any consensus on how to manage our affairs without continuing to cause global temperature rise. Larger countries point fingers at each other, justifying their continued emissions by saying that other countries have historically emitted more so they are owed catch up. Smaller countries lobby that they are being marginalised, that their environmental problems are beyond them and due to financial deprivation demand relief, while many continue contributing proportionately to global warming equally and more, based on their size.
The coming decades will be interesting environmentally, with temperatures passing all historical highs. Sadly, the solution is not buying air conditioners for individual comfort. It is achieving actual consensus and concerted global action for human survival. Will our descendants prefer to fight wars or find solutions? Will they choose the right thing to do?
In the mid 1980s global warming was a university theory, and climate change was (and for some still is) a conspiracy theory to prevent economic development. David Attenborough in 1977 was filming his taxonomic documentaries entitled ‘Life on Earth’. Punk Rock and Bob Marley were in their heyday, and we were lively-ing up ourselves to consumerism as if tomorrow would never come.
In recent years Sir David Attenborough, a globally respected voice, has called our present trajectory the road to a mass global extinction event, including Homo sapiens. He documents losses of species at an accelerating and truly alarming rate. Our global response has been to develop, deforest, to continue to waste food while innovating, advertising, selling; and consuming; in efforts to grow our economic way out and ignore the changes that are necessary. It will not work.
Rather than reduce and re-use, many are living as large
as ever, trying to “develop” our way out of economic inflation, and to parallel it with green energy, believing that we can continue to exist without diminishing expectations. Increasingly, the poor cannot afford to live at acceptable standards. Our children are aware that that the cost of living is too high but most of us are yet to realise that the cost of our collective footprint may well end up being far more serious than numbers, a challenge to our actual collective existence as a species on planet Earth.
In Barbados, the electric grid seems to be deteriorating. The shares in the power company we once owned were foolishly divested to a foreign entity so any remaining profits are not ours to invest in clean, green energy in an island where the sun shines all year round. With diminishing options in renewable energy, we may have to more quickly transition to off-grid, green energy to reduce oil consumption.
Sustainable agricultural projects that produce food must become a priority to Barbados and all developing countries. As temperatures rise, and prices rise, diminishing availability of almost everything is going to become a focal
point. We must all come to this realisation very soon. The sooner we add valuable crop producing projects back to our idle sugar cane fields, the more stable our highly densely populated island’s future will be.
Turning as always to the land and making at least a meaningful percentage of local food is essential. Choosing to swipe our credit cards and rely on imported food at supermarkets is choosing the wrong fork in the road. We must act expeditiously, knowing that climate change is not going away, it is accelerating. We cannot afford to look at ourselves as polarised groups, as land owners or disenfranchised landless descendants, as rich or poor; but rather as united custodians of our collective Bajan future. Whether using container gardening or forking up a small area around our homes, every Barbadian can work at home, in the villages and in the heights and terraces in every parish to grow some food. Start today. It’s the right thing to do.
David Spieler runs a local sustainable garden and agricultural project at the Flower Forest
