Adventures of a Property Advisor in Dominica Part One

nospam@example.com () — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:24:00 -0500

Nail varnish, high heels and skirts are out! Bring on a sharp machete, trousers, water bottle, walking boots and sandwiches. You are now set to be an aspiring real estate agent in Dominica!

With adventurism like this, fitness is a pre-requisite; certainly no spare inches on this job, in fact it's a great way to lose weight. A far cry from the situation in many countries where selling and buying real estate is a job requiring one to be well turned out and not having to travel too far from the office. Whilst in Dominica, you dedicate the whole day to show your prospective client various properties.

The island of Dominica is 291 square miles with 365 rivers and much of the countryside is full of forest or banana plantations. Land that comes on the market for sale is often deep in the interior. Cars are not the optimum transport, more often than not one needs to use a four-wheel-drive to get down the rutted, pitted, unpaved, sometimes muddy roads, leading onto the land in question. A jeep is a must otherwise negotiating out of the way places becomes impossible.

My first day taking a client out to look for properties was an adventure in itself. We met up with a broker from another company who is helping me to locate the land that they have for sale to show our clients. First stop was for Paul, the broker, to buy a Vita-malt to drink and some fish to eat. We were shortly to see why he needed this sustenance. Driving about three miles deep into the countryside Paul parked his brand new RUV adjacent to a leafy ravine. We proceeded to walk at least a mile before exploring 10 acres of land for sale. Imagine it is really hot a bit of a breeze blowing, the grass on the land has been allowed to grow chest high and there is a river at the bottom of the hill. How to get to the river, one way only, take that machete and cut the path all the way, on reaching the river the guys stripped off and went for a swim, me being more modest dipped my feet into the clear cool water ready for the climb back to the top of the hill. Note to self don't forget bathing suit on the job!

We visited four more properties with similar locations, lots of walking and hacking with the machete. The views of the ocean and the mountains are stunning many of our properties for sale enjoy this vista. This is one of the unique things Dominica has to offer besides the rivers, spectacular waterfalls, hot sulphur pools and beaches. By the end of my first full day I was ready for what is locally called a sundowner, old fashioned Rum Punch, kick the shoes off lie back and watch the sunset.

The Editor

Caribbean Living Lifestyle Blog - Agents Adventures

Adventures of a Property Advisor in Dominica Part One