
Elephant In The Room? What Elephant?
“I do not see a major negative impact on property values. In other words, people will have a shock… people will probably stay away from places that look like they have a cave but generally speaking I believe that prices would remain fairly steady.”
… Real Estate Agent George “Mellow” Ramsay commenting on whether apartment buildings falling into caves in the middle of the night just might change the real estate and homebuilding business in Barbados.
How Does A Person Identify Which Homes “Look like they have a cave”?
The spin doctors are trying desperately to calm down the masses with assurances that the cave-in problem is only in one very teensy-weensy area – but according to two real estate agents we’ve spoken with, folks are walking from already-written deals across the island unless tests are now done. As one chap put, “After Brittons Hill, who in their right mind would close a deal anywhere in Barbados without tests and assurances.”
Meanwhile, those special connected people who have access to government cave maps and data are scrambling to try and determine if their homes are worth what they hope they are. The vast majority of Bajan homeowners are also quickly waking up to the fact that the government cave maps are now the key to land values – but they are being denied access to the information by a corrupt government. (See Dear Prime Minister: Publish All Cave Maps And Data Now!)
The Nation News avoided talking about the subject for a week, but in the end they had to write something about the Barbados real estate meltdown express train that everyone hears coming down the track…
Property values ‘down the drain’
Properties near the ill-fated apartment complex at Arch Cot Terrace, Brittons X Road, St Michael, are valueless, says a realtor.
In addition, managing director of Big Mac Realty, Reverend Dr Gordon Matthews, said he believed the tragic incident, in which the complex plunged at least 50 feet into a cave last week Sunday, would usher in a new dispensation in “building and valuing”.
“In the immediate area, it is my opinion from what I have been reading in the papers from the experts that those properties along the fault line would be valueless because they are on a cave.
“This also brings about a new dispensation in building and valuing. Perhaps, we never thought about caves until this happened. We never thought about testing the ground before any development takes place, so I believe that this is now going to be introduced before any building or passing of land for development takes place to ensure that it is solid and the foundation would not present a danger in the future,” he told THE DAILY NATION.
… continue reading this article at The Nation News (link here)