If you decide to acquire property in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Island News can be of further help to you. Island News subscribers are offered membership in the Virgin Islands Property Owners Association(VIPA) at the time that they actually acquire property in the U.S. Virgin Islands. There is no extra charge to you, this is simply an extension of your Island News connection. VIPA will use Island News to communicate with you to appraise you of those things that you will need to know on an ongoing basis if you own property.
. VIPA discovered that, like many processes of the territorial government, the property registration process in the Virgin Islands was flawed to the point that there were actually people who were paying taxes on property that they did not own. This happened because when they went through the property transfer process the Office of Register of Deeds never actually transferred ownership of their partial, but the Tax Assessors Office, who are supposed to get their information from the Register of Deeds, did get notified that there was a change of owner and they changed their records accordingly. This resulted in the supposedly new owner being issued tax bills on a regular basis so naturally the supposed new owner felt that everything was proper. VIPA discovered this during a routine inspection of records and realized this was a potential problem for many people who thought they had proper ownership. This is but one example of how VIPA can help you after you acquire property. We are a watchdog for the rights of property owners.
Hurricanes are a fact of life for VI Property owners. In 1989 the islands experienced Hurricane Hugo with 200 mile per hour winds. This hurricane was a direct hit to St Croix and a glancing blow to St Thomas and St John. The impact of this hurricane was a complete disaster to St Croix and a stark lesson in the power of nature to the other islands. As a result of Hurricane Hugo and the milder Hurricane Marilyn several years later, building codes in the islands have been improved to accommodate hurricane force winds and as a result the islands are not nearly as much at risk. The subscriber kit you receive as part of your Island News subscription will show you how to quantify this risk for your particular location. However, not withstanding the giant improvement in building codes and resistance to hurricane damage, communications to the islands can be affected after one of these world class storms. As a VIPA member our network of contacts may be of considerable value to you should you find a communication blackout resulting from one of these big storms.
As a member of VIPA and as a subscriber to Island News you will receive reports with each issue that detail the real estate transactions on your island of interest. These reports show transactions in which mainland buyers acquire island real estate, either lots, condos or homes. These reports give you an excellent insight as to what the value is of property in your area of interest on each island. Included in each report, in addition to the actual real estate sale information, are bar graphs which allow you to quickly see any trends in real estate activity. For example, the bar chart shown below illustrates what has happened on St Croix over the 164 month period beginning in January of 1987. You can easily see on the graphic how real estate sales were affected by Hurricane Hugo in September of 1989. In the post Hurricane Hugo era real estate has never regained the strength of the pre hurricane period. We believe this is due to the fact that Hurricane Hugo first uncovered the depth to which the territorial government is unable to manage its affairs and therefore island real estate became a much less sought after commodity. Currently there is a build up of people on the mainland nearing retirement years and these people are seeking warm weather second home locations. Given the striking desirability of the islands and the close proximity to the huge northeastern population centers, it is our belief that with the slightest change in governmental effectiveness the island will be overrun with new buyers. The graphic illustrates quite clearly what was happening before this governmental shortfall became so apparent.
VIPA has special arrangements with island groups which will
prove hugely beneficial to you as a property owner. As a member of
VIPA you will be issued an annual membership ID card. This ID card
will provide you with several special benefits that your Island News
ID card do not cover.
1. As a property owner, you will undoubtedly find yourself in
the situation that you will want to ship a vehicle, household goods,
or building materials to the USVI from the mainland. VIPA has a
special relationship with Tropical Shipping Lines under which you
will be granted very significant discounts on your shipping rates to
St Thomas, St John or St Croix from the mainland. VIPA will provide
you with specific instructions on how you will obtain quotes and book
your shipments.
2. Emergency medical care in the USVI is something to avoid if
at all possible, since the hospitals are run by the territorial government
and are correspondingly endowed with the same model of inefficiency
as the other arms of the government. The alternative of emergency medical
evacuation back to the mainland has been a cost that is prohibitive to mostof us.
But VIPA has made a special arrangement with Medical Air Services Association (MASA)
o provide VIPA members with emergency air evacuation flights back to your home town
medical care facility at costs that are easily affordable for you and your family.
3. Seaborne airlines flies amphibious airplanes into Christiansted Harbor and
Charlotte Amalie Harbor. These Seaplanes are a hugely practical way to visit one island
from the other. OR if you are concerned about high prices of airfare to the Virgin
Islands, it is usually very easy to find discount fares from most places on the mainland
to Puerto Rico. By transfering from the Puerto Rico airport to the San Juan harbor you
can then take Seabornes seaplane directly to Charlotte Amalie or to Christiansted. This
routing is likely to be many times cheaper than direct flights to St Croix or St
Thomas, and it is a true adventure experience coming directly into the downtown area on
a seaplane. Seaborne Airlines gives our Virgin Islands Property Owners Association members
discounts equal to their commercial rates between St Thomas and St Croix or between either
island and Puerto Rico.
In return for the benefits you obtain from VIPA, we expect you to support our petitions for better government in the USVI. While we are supportive of the people in the islands, we are vocal about our complete disappointment in the dysfunctional nature of the territorys' government. Public Safety, public education, public health and the agencies that manage the infrastructure of the islands are hopelessly ineffective. As a result of the monumental debt burden of the territory there is no progress at all in solving this anchor which inhibits progress on all problems facing the residents. We therefore call for a federal control board to bring financial stability to the USVI. As a VIPA member we expect your voice to join us in a call for economic sanity for the USVI.
© 2001 ISLAND NEWS