Real Reasons Why Real Estate is So Expensive in T&T

[Gencon Ltd]

main problem is:

Though zones are already developed, Town and country planning refuses to wake up to the reality that the area is already developed. Since they take huge - and I mean huge, gifts to grant approval its the simple law of supply and demand. small available amounts of approved lots = high prices

all sellers know that banks will not finance unapproved lots so basically unless you have cash in hand, your only other option is face the developers and banks

[subie_2NR]

The reality of the situation.

Example:

The cheapest new 3 bedroom flats in Central is around 1.4M after 10% down the monthly installment for 30 years with insurance is around $7700 based on the lowest possible interest rate right now which is 5%. Most families cannot afford to pay this.
The sad thing is these flats cost 1/3 of the price to build, people who can afford buying out of desperation and developers making the money.

I almost made the mistake and bought a similar property late 2013 out of desperation. But after some looking and thinking I acquired land in south and am going to build this year and I'm certain I'm not crossing $800K and my house will be complete.

[desifemlove]

Cos we small, and it costs a lot to import concrete, wood, metal piping, etc?

The US is huge and they still build dey houses from wood by and large. So a few less trees from Utah or Wyoming or wherever ent gonna missed. We have no tree species to my knowledge that can be used for housing, and if we did we cyah cut down the Caroni Swamp or Northern Range.

[nemisis]

^^^^ we Iive close to a hurricane zone wooden housed great once crime don't force god to migrate.

[5onDfloor]

the young professional dumfucks who are paying upwards of a mil for a flat box are the ones who have screwed the market for everyone else
just like the twats who pay 220+ for a corolla :-/

[noshownogo]

MG speaketh le truth

[wickedbreed]

In before TCL raise prices again....

[de_dougla_smurf]

the young professional dumfucks who are paying upwards of a mil for a flat box are the ones who have screwed the market for everyone else
just like the twats who pay 220+ for a corolla :-/

Indeed.

[wickedbreed]

But the problem is that so long as men willing to pay the prices that are called, the prices will always be called

[New_SPECIES]

The reality of the situation.

Example:

The cheapest new 3 bedroom flats in Central is around 1.4M after 10% down the monthly installment for 30 years with insurance is around $7700 based on the lowest possible interest rate right now which is 5%. Most families cannot afford to pay this.
The sad thing is these flats cost 1/3 of the price to build, people who can afford buying out of desperation and developers making the money.

I almost made the mistake and bought a similar property late 2013 out of desperation. But after some looking and thinking I acquired land in south and am going to build this year and I'm certain I'm not crossing $800K and my house will be complete.

Land in that area is approx $350k - $400k per lot on average (town & country approved)..
A house that size will cost approx $500k - $550k to completely build
(steel, cement, blocks, tiles, roof, legal fees, etc)..
So you averaging a total cost of $950k - $1M total
And with that money... we didn’t include the HEADACHE associated with the building process...

After yuh fight to qualify for a loan....
...yuh have to pay d Land Seller a 10% of the land price as a down payment from yuh cash... to hold the Land while you doing yuh legal business to get the rest of money...
Yuh then have to find ah next 10% of the House cost to present to the bank in the event of "cost over-runs",

Then the other headaches start before you get the actual money for the house...
Finding a “Quantity Surveyor” who not digging yuh eye out,
Finding a Certified Draughtsman who is capable of drawing the plan to town & country specs,
Getting the "Drawing" approved by Town & Country - (takes forever),
Getting the "Drawing" approved by the Regional Corporation - (takes forever),
Getting the Loan (for the house) approved after you submit the Final Completely Approved "Drawing" to the bank,

Other headaches... after you get the money and going to start building...
Getting the Regional Corporation approvals – after their periodic inspections (appointments given weeks after you make the request – each time),
Getting the final Town & Country approvals – after their endless periodic inspections (appointments given weeks after you make the request – each time),
Getting the Electrical Inspectorate approvals – after their inspections (appointments given weeks after you make the request – each time),
Incompetent lazy jackass contractors / workers that Trinidad has to choose from,
Contractors teefing material, bad-wok, escalating labour costs (over-runs) etc, etc.

Note the monies from the bank are only given "piece by piece"....
So only after "each phase" of the project is completed and approved by the respective organizations (above) then you will (eventually) get the money for the next phase and so on (process repeated until completion).

Oh yeah... some other points to note..
After they give you (the first part of) the money to start building the house... you have to pay a large sum of money to the bank every month until you complete the house and submit a "Completion Certificate" to them - this money does not reduce your loan amount, it is like an interest payment almost as high as the final mortgage payments (dead money!)...
After you submit the completion certificate to the bank, they will bridge the "Land Loan" with the "House Loan" into one mortgage amount. Then your payments will now be going to reduce your total mortgage.
You also have to keep in mind that Town & Country only allows you to build on 40% of your land and not a 1% more!
They also have specifications as to how far your house should be from your neighbour, the road etc.
Note: All banks only give loans (mortgages) for properties that are Town & Country Approved!

So hence the reason why many people prefer to pay the extra and just buy a house!

[AdamB]

T&C approved land is over $400k in central, well except maybe in the bush central.

3 bdrm flat should cost about $400-$450k.

Good move subie - but to avoid all that hassle if you have the $$$ to build or start, just make sure your house plan meets all the requirements and it will get approval. If you finish, you can still get final approval from the corporation - it will cost a structural engineer's report about $4-5k.

Lookout for contractors, YOU buy the material and DON'T pay their labour upfront. If foundation cost is $25k, pay according to % completion.

[DFC]

to decrease the real estate value of an area, invite some melanin enriched families to stay there.

[AdamB]

if ne1 doh want the headache, i will build a flat for $325 per sq ft. pm me if interested.

[RIPEBREDFRUIT]

All that's needed is proper legislation, allow people who own their ONLY house t pay the normal property taxes, HOWEVER those who are owners of 3 and 4 and 5 properties, impose HEFTY taxes on them PER property , watch and see how quickly ALL of those empty over priced townhouses will be put up for sale and at affordable prices too.

[TriniAutoMart]

All that's needed is proper legislation, allow people who own their ONLY house t pay the normal property taxes, HOWEVER those who are owners of 3 and 4 and 5 properties, impose HEFTY taxes on them PER property , watch and see how quickly ALL of those empty over priced townhouses will be put up for sale and at affordable prices too.

How can you propose such a thing?
How will the landlords make money?
How will the rich remain rich and the poor remain poor?
Are you mad?

[Preludeman1]

All that's needed is proper legislation, allow people who own their ONLY house t pay the normal property taxes, HOWEVER those who are owners of 3 and 4 and 5 properties, impose HEFTY taxes on them PER property , watch and see how quickly ALL of those empty over priced townhouses will be put up for sale and at affordable prices too.

You sir, are obviously a sufferer hahahahaha
If they apply hefty taxes to those exess
houses then tge rent prices will go up! There is a demand, prices will be high, only thing u cab do if u cant afford is to settle for less, ppl need to like within their means.

[kg494EJ-1]

If yuh cyar afford land where price is high, options available:
5. squat for long enough and you'll have more rights than the taxpayers who will pay for the land when you eventually "buy" for the land.

This pisses me off more than anything, my parents purchased a piece of property when they first got married, they were paying taxes etc on the property and low and behold when they were ready to build we met a squatter, with a concrete foundation on the property bawling he have certificate of comfort from the government for privately owned land in addition to his trucks and backhoes WTF!?!?!

[TriniAutoMart]

If yuh cyar afford land where price is high, options available:
5. squat for long enough and you'll have more rights than the taxpayers who will pay for the land when you eventually "buy" for the land.

This pisses me off more than anything, my parents purchased a piece of property when they first got married, they were paying taxes etc on the property and low and behold when they were ready to build we met a squatter, with a concrete foundation on the property bawling he have certificate of comfort from the government for privately owned land in addition to his trucks and backhoes WTF!?!?!

What did your parents do?

[AdamB]

If yuh cyar afford land where price is high, options available:
5. squat for long enough and you'll have more rights than the taxpayers who will pay for the land when you eventually "buy" for the land.

This pisses me off more than anything, my parents purchased a piece of property when they first got married, they were paying taxes etc on the property and low and behold when they were ready to build we met a squatter, with a concrete foundation on the property bawling he have certificate of comfort from the government for privately owned land in addition to his trucks and backhoes WTF!?!?!

Wayyy, that's real tuff boy! I guess it happens but when yuh own land yuh have to keep checking on it to evict those "squatters". Better yet, fence access to the land. ppl learn d hard way...life is tuff..

also, i guess they try to even the scores because ppl in the long past just paid a few cents/dollars for land to "own" it.

Technically, the queen of England should be the owner of all land here? see where i'm coming from, it unfair to those who don't own and want to acquire.

However, the tables turn in the opposite direction to oppress the landowner...

[kg494EJ-1]

We got him off the property it took some doing but when the appropriate lawyer is used its surprising how things happen. I'm still not sure if the certificate was false or not because he claimed it was for 5 acres as far as I am aware a certificate of comfort supposed to be for one lot, I could be wrong.

Also the property was purchased 26 years ago a year before I was born so there was no way he could be on it that long as we checked the property, however in the later years life became hectic so it took a backseat, it amazing how dishonest people could be.

[Advent]

40 thousand for a B14 wat allyuh expect houses to be ?

[teems1]

T&C approved land is over $400k in central, well except maybe in the bush central.

3 bdrm flat should cost about $400-$450k.

Good move subie - but to avoid all that hassle if you have the $$$ to build or start, just make sure your house plan meets all the requirements and it will get approval. If you finish, you can still get final approval from the corporation - it will cost a structural engineer's report about $4-5k.

Lookout for contractors, YOU buy the material and DON'T pay their labour upfront. If foundation cost is $25k, pay according to % completion.

400-450k in 2012.

It's 525k/600k in central.

Prices in south even higher. Don't even think about west.

[TriniAutoMart]

Certain areas in south and east are still cheaper

[pete]

How far east? Sangre Chicito or Toco?

[wickedbreed]

40 thousand for a B14 wat allyuh expect houses to be ?

1) das a good price for a B14
2) dis the wrong ched to express concerns about car prices
3)see my post above. If man willing to pay it, why not call it
4) why jump on ah 14 case? I have one to sell @ 40k...


If yuh cud cry down 40k fuh ah B14 ah wonder what kinda land if any you could afford and what kinda prices you will want man to sell for. smh sounds like a sufferer to me.

[Advent]

The point of my post is that in Trinidad things don't depreciate and as you said if man want to pay the price then why not capitalism all the way. Thats why the real estate sector bussing up we tail.
. I go stay a sufferer

[teems1]

All that's needed is proper legislation, allow people who own their ONLY house t pay the normal property taxes, HOWEVER those who are owners of 3 and 4 and 5 properties, impose HEFTY taxes on them PER property , watch and see how quickly ALL of those empty over priced townhouses will be put up for sale and at affordable prices too.

How can you propose such a thing?
How will the landlords make money?
How will the rich remain rich and the poor remain poor?
Are you mad?

Why does it make sense to punish the developer? He did nothing wrong and is justified to call whatever price he wants for his properties. If no one buys then the free market wins and the prices may lower eventually. Last I checked it was a capitalist society we lived in.

Also getting around that "legislation" is ridiculously easy. I'll just sell the extra houses I own to my children for $1.

What needs to be done, is fix town and country. Because they take so long to get anything done, the supply of approved land to build on will remains scarce, and thus keep the prices high.

[wickedbreed]

The point of my post is that in Trinidad things don't depreciate and as you said if man want to pay the price then why not capitalism all the way. Thats why the real estate sector bussing up we tail.
And mind you my monthly for my house is 10000tt but I have a pool with 4 bedrooms and gated . I go stay a sufferer

Nothing in Trinidad depreciates cause ah man always wants something more than you. sorry to hear das ur monthly installment, but seems like you supported the same thing that you were making your point against. willing to pay 10k a month so yuh cud have pool and 4 rooms. dont get me wrong, kudos for having some ambition and going for what you wanted and getting it. However that is exactly the point.
I have the apple you want and because i know you want it i will call $20 because i know you want it, and you will pay it, again because you want it.

Trinidad is just filled with good businessmen. cant get away from that. Thats why Im an accountant...businessmen make me money lol.

[TriniAutoMart]

Bomb scare in HDC today at 2:50PM

Placement exercise being done and people calling in bomb scares.

[Advent]

The point of my post is that in Trinidad things don't depreciate and as you said if man want to pay the price then why not capitalism all the way. Thats why the real estate sector bussing up we tail.
And mind you my monthly for my house is 10000tt but I have a pool with 4 bedrooms and gated . I go stay a sufferer

Nothing in Trinidad depreciates cause ah man always wants something more than you. sorry to hear das ur monthly installment, but seems like you supported the same thing that you were making your point against. willing to pay 10k a month so yuh cud have pool and 4 rooms. dont get me wrong, kudos for having some ambition and going for what you wanted and getting it. However that is exactly the point.
I have the apple you want and because i know you want it i will call $20 because i know you want it, and you will pay it, again because you want it.

Trinidad is just filled with good businessmen. cant get away from that. Thats why Im an accountant...businessmen make me money lol.

Lol somewhat true but family is money LOL Bess I come out of IT and go into accounting