A month to reflect and find the positives in the Turks and Caicos Islands

My son Tim and I were blessed in early December 2019 to have received an invitation from a friend to visit Verbier, Switzerland, and spend New Year’s with her and her family. We jumped so quickly at it we bought tickets that morning before having our breakfast. We had earlier in the year visited with her at her residence in France for Tim’s birthday in August. We found that the natural beauty of both countries had a profound effect on us that we wanted to go back again this summer to both jurisdictions. On our return to the Turks and Caicos in early January I read about the Corona Virus online and felt that this was something that I believe would affect my travel for the rest of this year. I had plans to go to Miami and attend a Real Estate Conference in Vegas but something influenced me to canceled those plans and adjust my thought process to being on the island for an unusually extended period for me. I had also planned to return to my homeland – Ireland and hope to make that trip later this year. I am one of those Irish people who, when I catch a cold I get it really bad. Given that January to May is high season for my real estate business I didn’t want any interruptions to my business by getting sick so I decided to simply avoid airline travel for a few months. At that time in January, I never imagined that in two month’s time we along with the rest of our friends and citizens would be under lockdown as of March 27th. I thought as many of you thought that this would be a two to three-week break and then we would go back to work.

I looked at the first three weeks as a gift, a complete break from work and a time to “be” and do small normal, routine things like make breakfast, lunch, and dinner and enjoy our lovely home. Believe it or not, I and many people like me who work full time, never really do spend significant time in our homes. With curfews in place, we exercised in the mornings and evenings and got to see people on our streets walking who we don’t normally see but weirdly enough we can’t chat because of social distancing. We here in the Turks and Caicos have been blessed with a very strong Governor Nigel Dakin and an amazing lady Sharlene Cartwright as our Premier and together with agencies like the Immigration Department, The Police Department, Our Health Department, and the Customs Department managed this pandemic so well that the numbers of citizens with the virus is the lowest in the Caribbean. We did sadly lose one of our citizens to it just a few weeks ago. The food stores that remained open were managed without incident and shelves were and are still fully stocked. For visitors who decided to stay in the Turks and Caicos and wait out a lockdown some of them really needed to get back home once they realized the lockdown would be extended and our Governor, our Government and the Private Air Centers assisted those people with charters back to Europe, Canada, and the US.

As of May 4th,2020 many of the restrictions imposed on us have been lifted and we can now go to the beach all while observing social distancing of course. Our borders remain closed until further notice and even if we open up our borders here we are not sure when the major airlines will fly in. The following article and the following article have given me a reason to pause. As I consider these articles and the comments made by Warren Buffet as he sold his entire holdings in Airline stocks this week will global travel ever return to what we were used to?. Hopping off one flight and connecting easily to another flight?. I currently have friends who came to visit for two weeks in March and when the lockdown was approaching they chose to stay here and one of them continues with her University studies online in my apartment.

In the last two weeks alone I and other Brokers have seen an increase in enquiries for real estate in the Turks and Caicos Islands not just from our closest countries the US and Canada but also Europe. Transactions are also happening and some at very significant price points. I believe people know that the ease and flexibility to travel that we have all enjoyed in the past will not return but one thing so many us have learned from this lockdown is that life doesn’t stop for many people. School and university doesn’t stop for people and selling real estate didn’t stop for us Brokers here in the Turks and Caicos. What has happened is that we have all learned to adjust to the changes. What I and many potential buyers have learned is that Turks and Caicos doesn’t have to be a place you just visit for a week or two here and there and then you run back to your office. As so many of you are now working from home I am sure you have realized that this allows you to work from anywhere in the world that has high-speed internet access.

The Turks and Caicos Islands is a place you can spend a significant amount of time here once to go through what may be the tedious exercise of dealing with airports. So many of my clients who have purchased here have said to me “Bernadette, we have been to every country in the Caribbean and this is the first one that spoke to us and that is why we are buying”. The Turks and Caicos has a natural beauty second to none and an infrastructure that is as advanced as the mainland. From my perspective, I feel that travel for the next few years will not be a smooth as it once was and so outside of the Turks and Caicos I believe I have found my happy places. I know many of my friends and clients who own here can’t wait for the borders to open to come back and settle into their condos and villas. I would encourage everyone who wants to and can improve the quality of your life by having a second home whether it is a 500 sq foot studio in one of our beachfront resorts or a large Villa on the beach like Mandalay contact me to discuss purchasing a property in the Turks and Caicos. There is no better time to research properties given that many villas and condo buildings are now vacant allowing us easy access to take you on a walkthrough on a live video. This is helping my many clients to narrow their list of properties to purchase before they even return to the island again. If you are contemplating purchasing a home to make the beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands your temporary or permanent home I would be delighted to discuss this with you which may help with your decision making process.

Without a shadow of a doubt, I believe The Turks and Caicos Islands will be your happy place for you and your family in times of uncertainty.

Bernadette Hunt
+1 649 941 3361

Bernadette’s article was recently published in one of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ leading magazines Times of the Islands.