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Housing and You…The real estate market and the agents

May 25, 2014 News

By Leonard Gildarie

I am at critical point and facing a personal dilemma. I thought I should share it since many other home owners could face a similar situation which calls for urgent decisions, and tough ones at that.
Four years ago, I was renting and paying $30,000 every month for a two-bedroom home at Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara. I woke up one day and decided that it just does not make sense. Why pay that when I can pay a mortgage and own my home? A piece of real estate in Guyana.
The hard work, sacrifice, sleepless nights and monies expended were all worth it. There were never any intentions to do anything otherwise except work and pay off my mortgage.
In any case, there was not much choice…I was committed to honour the debt.
Today, like I said, I am faced with a maddening problem. My in-laws have migrated leaving a property for the kids. Now I am faced with what to do. It was a situation that I did not cater for. After careful consideration, and of course long talks with the wife and relatives, we decided that the best option is to sell our home. Renting is not an option as it would not be enough to pay the mortgage and then maintenance.
I decided to share this very personal information because of the experience faced with putting the property on the market.
The first real estate agent gladly took it on. It was placed on Facebook. After then, it was virtually impossible to get hold of her. Messages left at the office were not returned.
Cool, I thought…maybe she was busy. I got fed up after a while. I went to a real “real estate” office, one of the most prominent in town. A female employee there took all the information and was to come. It has been one month now. I am not sure she advertised it.
I was forced to turn to my Facebook page. It worked wonders. I got several offers, some promising. Several came from overseas and some even from my media colleagues. I love the internet and the social sites. I reunited with quite a number of my classmates on Facebook. There is an abundance of breaking news on the site.
I decided to share these very personal experiences and details, as the real estate market in Guyana is undergoing a tremendous change at the moment. Never has Guyana had so many homes. The fact is that many Guyanese, especially in the Berbice and Essequibo areas, have migrated. A visit to Berbice will find many homes, newly renovated, locked up. The new housing schemes have many homes also that are unoccupied. Many of these are on the market for sale or rental. Work for the real estate firms has tripled, I am told, in recent years.
Selling a property is a pretty complex transaction if you don’t have the experience. It will involve an agreement of sale, affidavits from both buyer and seller, copy of the transport or title, tax compliance, rates and taxes certificate and a valuation letter.
The experts say that a lawyer has to handle the transaction. The biggest problem for most sellers is their tax compliance. This little piece of paper from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) says that your taxes are up to date. Many, because they never thought it important, have stumbled into a brick wall, after finding out from GRA that their taxes are not up to date. It will throw the process of transferring ownership at the Deeds or Lands Registry back by weeks.
Your evaluation of the property is critical, as it helps determine what taxes are paid on the profit. You will also need a tax compliance certificate from the Neighbourhood Democratic Council or City Council to say all your rates and taxes are up to date.
The point is that for the transaction contact a lawyer who can guide you through the process.
As regards advertising your property, I am doing some more checks to determine whether there are problems with these real estate folks. We will talk to them, find out what are the problems and maybe some of the advice that they may want to offer.
In the meantime, my property is still on the market. Let us see how that one goes.
Please do enjoy the weekend and continue to drops those comments or complaints to [email protected] or call weekdays 225-8491 or 6821256.

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