A PLACE IN THE SUN COLUMNISTS: JONNIE IRWIN & JASMINE HARMAN
HAPPY HOUSE-HUNTERS, STINGRAYS & A BIG TEMPTATION IN TAMPA: THE HIGHLIGHTS OF JASMINE AND JONNIE’S LATEST TRAVELS
I JASMINE
was so excited when I discovered I was doing the Caribbean leg of A Place in the Sun. Nothing to do with the tropical weather and exotic locations
you understand, but an eagerness to fi nd out how the property market had changed in the 7 years since I was last house-hunting there. I was a bit dubious about fi lming in the tropical storm that greeted us when we touched down in Barbados, but as ever the sun soon came out and we struggled on through! A big high point was provided by house-hunters Kim & David France, who cried with happiness when their offer on a house was accepted.
The couple were planning a move to Barbados, along with their
two Old English sheepdogs, and a major-must was a mango tree in the garden for shade. Although we looked at fi ve really great options, it was obvious from
the start that one property stood head and shoulders above the rest – helped I’m sure by the enthusiastic welcome they received from the two resident Labradors. Another great moment was visiting the Barbados wildlife reserve
at feeding time. The green monkeys, peacocks and deer in a forest clearing resembled a scene from a tropical version of Snow White! But they couldn’t beat Stingray City in Antigua - my favourite moment of the whole trip. They call the rays “the puppy dogs of the sea” as they always want
a snack and a stroke. Swimming with them, holding them in my arms and meeting a pregnant mother was amazing. In Antigua, another one of our house-hunters also had an offer
accepted on her ideal home, a fabulous two-bed apartment. Kathy Hector, who had lived on the island until 14 years ago,
returned to buy a home for her son Tai, who’d been born in Antigua. Neither of them had been back since he was a small child, and Kathy
fell in love with the island all over again, so the whole thing was quite emotional. What a great 18th birthday gift - a new home in the Caribbean. What a mum! Overall though, I was really surprised to discover how far our
budgets stretched in this part of the world. The Caribbean is not exclusively for the very wealthy any more.
A
fter a recent fi lming trip to Florida I’ve now had the chance to refl ect on all that I saw and learned there. It’s been widely documented that the Floridian property
JONNIE
market has taken a massive nosedive from the heights of 2007. Facing the worst real estate crash in US history, the Florida housing market has seen homes drop at a pace that hasn’t been seen since before the Great Depression. Of course it doesn’t take a genius to work out there would be some real deals, but what I saw took my breath away. Where do I start? I’ve only got room here to focus on two
of my favourite areas. First off Orlando needs little introduction as over one million of us Brits visit there every year. One estate agent I met reckoned that over the last four years, property prices have fallen by up to 70 per cent, due to the recession but also huge over-supply. Transaction numbers are obviously down but buyers have
started to become interested in the area again with around 7 % of purchasers hailing from the UK - not surprising when you consider the average price of a three-bedroom house with its own pool stands at around £105K. For those looking at property for short-term rental I reckon
you should look at areas within 20 minutes of the theme parks: Davenport, Clermont and Kissimmee - although I never did work out how you pronounce the latter! If beaches are more your thing but you still want a bit of life
then you could do a lot worse than look at Tampa. Starting out as a native American fi shing village, Tampa has become the business hub of the West Coast and attracts similar numbers of Brits as Orlando who are perennially blown away by some of the best beaches you’ll fi nd stretching right across the Tampa Bay area and the Gulf of Mexico. For me, there seemed a lot more to the whole area with a sort of cities within cities feel to it, for example if you want culture there’s St Petersburg, for beaches and a more holiday vibe? Indian Rocks. Of course, with so much to offer, including its own international airport the market hasn’t been hit as hard, dropping overall about 40 per cent and the average sale price for a three- bedroom house in Tampa is £120,000, with waterfront properties starting at £200,000. Go inland however and there are still bargains to be had. My runaway favourite was a four-bedroom show home on
the market for just £120k. I was sorely tempted myself but what happened? My house-hunters snapped it up. Typical!
26
aplaceinthesun.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140