Buying or selling a home involves a lot of things, it also raises questions. In this column ‘Ask Bob’, real estate expert/broker Bob Bartikoski of RE/MAX Paradise Homes Bonaire answers a real estate question from a reader. This time:
Question: I want to purchase a property on Bonaire and I know how much I can spend to buy it, what are my next steps?
Once you have decided how much you can spend on purchasing a property you need to remember that when you buy property on Bonaire, it is the buyer who pays the transfer cost, (in Dutch, it is kosten koper or just k. k.). Your estimated buyers costs are around 7% of the purchase price for a used house and about 10% if you are buying a new built house that’s never been lived in.
Once you look at properties and find something you want to buy, it’s time to make an offer to buy that property. When you make an offer to buy a property there are more things to consider than just the purchase price. In order to make a good offer there are a number of important considerations:
- What do you want to offer for the purchase price? For most properties the price can be negotiable, depending on the property and how long it has been on the market.
- Offers are almost always made as buyers costs (kosten koper), so you will also need to have 7% (or 10% if new) of the purchase price to put the property
- If you need to arrange financing from a bank, your offer should be made contingent on financing.
- You may want to make your offer contingent on an technical inspection of the property to make sure there are no unseen or hidden problems with the house such as leaks in the roof, or plumbing leaks.
- If the property you're buying has tenants, you'll need to decide whether to keep the tenants once you become the owner. You can work out with the seller if you want the existing tenants to remain, or if you want to buy the house without tenants.
- The last item will be to agree with the seller on a transfer date, which is the day you go to the Notaris to transfer the deed and get the keys to your new home, or investment property.
Read also: Ask Bob: I’m interested in buying property on Bonaire. Can you tell me what the process is and how to get started?
Do you want to buy or sell a house in Bonaire, or do have a real estate question for Bob? email him at: [email protected]. Call for free from the US: 1-866-611-7362 or Bonaire: +599-717-7362. See all our listings here.