Diving enthusiast Peter Juanpere buys 2 homes on the Cayman Islands - hear their story..

When avid diver Peter Juanpere and his sun-loving wife Snow were looking for a holiday home, the Cayman Islands were an obvious choice. Here Peter talks to Caribbean World about their purchase of not one but two homes on the islands Peter Juanpere, an architect with his own architecture and Interior design business in Virginia near Washington DC in the USA, had dreamed of buying a home in the sun. In his professional capacity, Peter has worked on a project for a home in Montserrat. Of Cuban background, Peter was drawn to the Caribbean region and he and his wife, Snow, had travelled extensively around the different islands, assessing accessibility, facilities, political stability and affordability of the area. A keen diver, Peter is a qualified diving instructor and owns a dive shop in Virginia with two partners. Diving was always going to be a key factor in choosing a location. Although not a diver herself, Snow loved the tropical sunshine and natural beauty of the Caribbean islands. ‘In our travels we found the Cayman Islands to have many of the qualities we considered of high importance: the diving is great, the islands are stable politically, they are in close proximity to the USA with readily available flights and the financial situation is good.’ says Peter.

The Cayman Islands are situated in the Caribbean, 290km (180 miles) northwest of Jamaica, and comprise Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Cayman’s beaches are renowned to be among the best in the world, in particular Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. The abundance of fish, marine life and spectacular coral reefs which can be found in the surrounding waters makes the Cayman Islands an ideal destination for diving enthusiasts.
But on one trip - what was a bad day’s diving turned out to be a momentous day for Peter and Snow.
‘On one of our trips to the Caymans, my dive trip was ruined one day when our boat broke down. With the day then free, we found ourselves with the time to look at properties’ he says.

Peter and Snow ran into local agent Kerri Kannuga coming out of a parking lot and she suggested they view a property on Seven Mile Beach which she thought might be of interest.‘We saw the place and came to a decision very quickly,’ recalls Peter. The property on Seven Mile Beach was in the right vicinity, the price was right. The place was on the water in an attractive resort-style development with swimming pool and had other facilities the Juanperes were looking for.
Not a couple to deliberate, Peter and Snow said ‘Let’s do it’ and started the process to become the owners of a two-bedroom condominium on the romantically named Treasure Island. Development.

‘The purchase went smoothly,’ says Peter, adding that he was fortunate to have the services of a good attorney and the process was facilitated by his real estate agent.
‘The difference between buying real estate in the US and in the Caribbean is there more protection for the buyer in the USA, so it is a case of ‘Buyer beware’. There are fewer disclosures.’ He advises.
Peter and Snow have spent a lot of time over the last few years visiting their new home and Peter has led a number of dive trips to the islands. They also took the decision to put their unit in the ‘rental pool’, an on-site rental facility which managed the servicing and maintenance of the property.
‘The rental income helped offset the cost of buying the property and having someone to manage the rental made it a relatively easy option’

However, Hurricane Ivan ‘put a dampener on it’ and Peter and Snow realised that although there was no tourism on the Caymans, there was a lot of homeless people, and they rented the unit to a long-term renter who has now lived in the Treasure Island property for one year.

‘This provides a steady income which has softened the mortgage repayment, although we have not had the opportunity to stay there for some time now. ‘It was then that Peter viewed another property, Compass Point – a condo at the east End of Grand Cayman which had a dive centre, but otherwise was not developed commercially. The second two bedroom unit was on the top floor of the building so had suffered no hurricane damage. Peter saw an an investment opportunity
‘I took the decision to ‘get in early’ while the area was still developing and now used by Peter for frequent dive trips, this second property is. referred to by Snow as his’ Dive Locker’
‘The area has the best diving ever. The hurricanes didn’t damage the reefs and the waters are still as great as ever.’As the proud owner of two Caribbean properties, Peter’s advice to anyone about to step onto the Caribbean property ladder is to ‘Check out the stamp tax. That was a big surprise to us, that w realised quite early on. In addition, if you are not a cash buyer, check the interest rtes offered by local banks and the timescale they are offering. These can vary and it is wise to do your homework!’
Dive Locker, investment or just a fabulous home in the sun. Buying a home in the Caribbean opens up a wealth of opportunities.