Hi there,
Political stability is an important factor in selecting a Caribbean
property, but I suggest that you also consider the local economic
climate as well as hurricanes and volcanoes - which could also affect
you as property owners. Although you can get insurance for property
damage, you should consider personal safety and the effect on the
economy of hurricanes and volcanoes. Martinique's Mt Pelee erupted in
1902 killing 29,000 people:
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_mt_pelee.html
Regarding colonial connections helping with political stability, there
are other islands which also meet this criteria:
"The islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and French Guyana on the
mainland are so-called "départements d'outre-mer" (and thus part of
France's sovereign territory and part of the EU; France's longest
land-border is with Brazil); Anguilla, the Virgin Islands, the Cayman
Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands are British crown
colonies; the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are dependencies of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands; Puerto Rico is associated with the USA."
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/infoservice/download/pdf/lateinamerika/karibik.pdf
I have found for you some reports on the relative political stability
of Caribbean islands, followed by web sites where you can browse
Martinique properties for sale (all in French unfortunately), and then
some links that you might find useful.
"Since the process of decolonisation got underway in 1962, there have
been several serious threats to the security of the small states of
the Caribbean. Here, national security is defined in a limited sense
to refer to a condition in which the state is protected from internal
insurrection or external aggression. The most grave threats have been
direct invasion, incursion, intervention or mercenary attack. Two
states - Belize and Guyana - have been threatened with invasion and
territorial seizure by Guatemala and Venezuela, respectively; one
state - Grenada - was actually invaded by the USA.
The second threat is secession, especially in multi-island states.
Anguilla successfully seceded from the colony of St.
Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla (1967). There has also been strong separatist
sentiment in Nevis, Barbuda and Tobago, serious enough to warrant
special constitutional measures for the devolution of power. A violent
rebellion broke out in the Rupununi region of Guyana (1969) with the
aim of secession and with the support of Venezuela.
...The fourth threat is that of insurrection carried out by local
bands of dissidents with the aim of replacing the government; such
actions include coups d'état, military mutinies and revolts. Grenada
was the scene of a successful coup d'état (1979); Dominica (1981),
Jamaica (1980) and Trinidad and Tobago (1970 and 1990) also were
threatened with conspiracies or unsuccessful attempts to overthrow
their governments."
Taken from "Security and stability in small states: the Caribbean
community's achilles' heel"
http://www.guyanareview.com/ppig/dag02.html
"The dependent territories also attract investment by virtue of the
absence of "Sovereign risk" ; and with it the fear of expropriation,
sudden changes in the treatment of foreign investors, inflation,
controls on capital and profit repatriation, etc.. This contributes to
a high comfort level for investors and tourists, who feel that they
can count on the protection of the metropolitan government should the
need arise.
...With small and fragile ecosystems, these entities are highly
vulnerable to the effects of the annual hurricane season, as well as
to intermittent earthquakes and volcanoes (7). The economic
implications of natural disasters are magnified by their dependence on
tourism and/or agriculture to sustain living standards. Another aspect
of vulnerability is the sensitivity of the dependent territories to
decisions taken by their respective metropolitan powers. The smaller
island states are also impacted by decisions taken by their large and
powerful trading partners, as the dispute over access to the EU banana
market so clearly demonstrates"
http://www.unesco.org/most/girvan.htm
"Most Caribbean countries differ from their Latin American neighbours
in terms of their relatively long histories of political stability.
Yet this stability could change quickly in the absence of several
important changes. Despite decades of relative political calm, the
economic security of the Caribbean’s population has not improved.
Poverty is ever-present, and nearly half the region’s inhabitants
currently live on less than one US dollar per day.
...Increasing poverty in a number of countries has become a source of
considerable tension, and rising social frustrations have been
directed towards political institutions in particular."
http://www.focal.ca/images/pdf/caribbean.pdf
These people selected the Bahamas based on similar criteria to your
own:
"For several years we researched the islands of the Caribbean with an
eye to relocating to a tropical location... requirements were: a
stable government, a predominantly English-speaking population, and
the facility for non-nationals to own property... Although not
technically part of the Caribbean, the Bahamas seemed to meet most of
our requirements with minimal culture shock. In particular, we liked
the outer island of Eleuthera."
Excerpt from "Four reasons why we retired to the Bahamas":
http://www.escapeartist.com/international/0700_actualities.html
Sites that list properties for sale in Martinique:
http://www.martinique-immobilier.com/prod01.htm
http://www.immoplisson.com/
http://www.vad-immobilier.com/html/index2.htm
http://www.horus-immobilier.com/
http://www.zantilles.com/annonce/annonce.asp?id_annonce_categorie=1
If you need to translate the websites from French to English, I
recommend these free services:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr
http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran.cgi
http://www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html
And a currency converter:
http://www.xe.net/ucc/full.shtml
Real Estate Agents in Martinique:
http://caribbean-connection.com/martinique/realestate.html
Here are some more links that you might find useful at Escape Artist:
Dominica Remains an Excellent Choice for Economic Citizenship
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam23/assets.html
Belize's New Residency Program
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam8/Belize_Residency.html
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Living, Retiring & Investing
In Belize
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam28/Adapter_Kit_Belize.html
List of articles ordered by country at Escape Artist
http://www.escapeartist.com/expatriate/countries.htm
Real Estate in the Caribbean:
http://www.caribpro.com/webclients/
http://www.internationalrealestatedirectory.com/
http://www.escapeartist.com/Exotic_Real_Estate/Caribbean.html
http://www.oceanfrontproperties.com/sales.html
http://www.caraibinvest.com/realestate/
Search keywords used:
"buying property" Caribbean
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&newwindow=1&q=%22buying+property%22+Caribbean
stability Caribbean governments Dominica Martinique Haiti
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&newwindow=1&q=stability+Caribbean+governments+Dominica+Martinique+Haiti
Martinique immobilier
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&q=martinique+immobilier
Good luck with such a big undertaking! As always, feel free to request
a clarification on any aspect of my answer.
Best wishes,
from robertskelton-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
salem-ga
on
09 Jun 2002 10:27 PDT
Thank you for your research, unfortunately as indicated in the
question and pursuant to the google critiera, in asking questions in
English, I must deny payment. May I add, again, that most
importantly, I would like to make use of the web to view properties in
Martinique on the web site meeting the 300,000 dollar price range and
the aforemention characteristics.
|
Clarification of Answer by
robertskelton-ga
on
09 Jun 2002 23:24 PDT
Hi again,
Different countries not only speak different languages, but they also
have different ways of doing things. While in the USA size of
apartments and number of bathrooms might be especially important, the
same might not apply for the folk of Martinique. Even for tourists the
level of amenities appear to be much lower:
"According to the locals, however, many Americans are disappointed
with the accommodations because they expect rooms to be similar to the
standards of a Hyatt or Marriott Hotel. Many hotels do not offer air
conditioning, but all are surrounded by gorgeous foliage and have a
distinct tropical ambiance. You may not find a TV, carpet, or the
usual conveniences expected at a hotel here in the States, but the
service is very good and your room is kept clean and is quite
comfortable. This is true of many Caribbean islands and we find this
to be part of their charm."
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-652F-44DFD37-391B6F67-prod6
"While Martinique is a busy island, it does not have high-rise hotel
strips. Instead, hotels are in keeping with the relaxed, low-key chic
that characterizes Martinique. There are tropical-style mid-range
beach-side hotels and remote auberges in the woods."
http://www.doitcaribbean.com/martinique/index.html.en-US
Other cultures may even bathe differently:
"During my stint in Paris, I discovered that most French homes did not
have a bathroom. Instead, they used a contraption called a bidet on
which they sat astride as on a horse and turned on a tap which shot a
shower of warm water into their bottoms and genitals. This, repeated
after soaping their private parts, did quite a thorough job. The
French sponged their armpits and liberally sprinkled them with talcum
powder. A proper body wash was a weekend ritual performed in a public
bath. Most Saturdays, girls from the office where I worked spent an
hour or more in these public baths and were ready for a prolonged
weekend with their boyfriends. When I rented a house in a suburb of
Paris I had to have a bathroom installed."
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010707/windows/above.htm
I have checked the listings at all the agency websites I found, and
have been unable to locate a single apartment with 1 bedroom and 2
baths. A few may exist, but it is apparent that they are not common.
Much larger apartments, with only one bath, can be found for less than
$300,000.
Very little English is spoken in Martinique - the main languages are
French, Creole and Patois. The majority of tourists are French, and
most of their trade is with France. If you intended to live there, or
even just investigate the possibility, knowing some French would be a
major advantage.
"It will make it MUCH easier if you know French when you go to
Martinique"
http://www.epinions.com/content_56152854148/show_~allcom
I have found a list of email addresses for real estate agencies in
Martinique, and have emailed them to ask if they understand English
well enough to be of assistance to you - I will let you know of their
responses.
http://www.zantilles.com/agence/
If you still intend to live in Martinique, here are some additional
resources I have found, all are also in French.
http://www.defiscalisation.com/regions/martinique/default.asp
http://www.solutionimmobiliere.com/
http://www.immo-97.com/
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/residence.caraibes/residence.htm
http://www.icidom.com/annonces/view3.asp?CatSubID=22
Additional phone numbers and addresses can be found using the French
Yellow Pages, by searching for immobilier in the Activité box, and
Martinique in the box labelled "Département ou région":
http://wf.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi
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