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Being a real estate agent in this part of the world frequently takes on interesting dimensions. One of my more satisfying tasks recently was to help a young family relocate to Cayman.

Find out a little more about James in this exclusive interview from Inside Out magazine.

After being dealt the hammer blow of a Category Five hurricane in September 2004, the real estate market in the Cayman Islands has enjoyed a full recovery.

I have been a part of the Cayman Islands real estate industry since 1991. Born in the Caribbean and raised in both the UK and the Cayman Islands, I have a great understanding of the intricacies of the Islands’ real estate industry. I provide my clients and customers with peace of mind by ensuring a personal, private and professional service.

Over the last 25 years the Cayman Islands market has been one of consistency. It has had its ups and downs, but its volatility had been predominately on individual properties versus the whole market. Foreign investors and purchasers of vacation homes are generally looking for longer term investments on one of the three islands.

When opportunity knockstime is of the essence and timing is everything, all these phrases epitomise the current timing of the real estate market in the Cayman Islands.

When we look back to 1930 and the period known as ldquoThe Great Depressionrdquo more than 1000 banks closed While we are in the midst of economic uncertainty only 14 US banks have been taken over in 2008 The current situation globally creates a time of ldquoopportunityrdquo for investors and at the same time is not an opportune time for sellers There are approximately 76 million households in the US that own their home 24 million of these homes are owned free and clear 52 million homes in the US are with mortgages – 972 of these are not in foreclosure and 938 of these homes are current on their payments However on a more sobering note over 20 of homeowners with a mortgage owe more than their home is worth and 40 of all foreclosures are non-owner occupied

It makes sense at the end of the day in invest in new construction. In a market that is still young by most standards our construction is newer and in a lot of cases our market is becoming newer as properties are being renovated or improved and redeveloped, taking into account all the added advantages of today’s construction methods.

How does a real estate agent operate in the Cayman Islands in comparison to systems in the US and UK? Agents in the Cayman Islands operate very similar to those in North American. As they also have a Multiple Listing System whereby all agents share all listing information from not only other agents, but also other companies. The fees are agreed upon before hand and are the same across the board.

There are many unknown’s in life. The trick to getting through them is understanding your options and acting before everyone else in the same predicament thinks your idea is a good one. The rollover issue is a very controversial one with many different emotions attached to it.