By Muna Habash
Whether you have fallen in love with the island and want to spend a significant amount of time here, or you are looking for a good investment, buying a home in Aruba now could be the ideal move for you.
Aruba lies outside the hurricane belt and enjoys beautiful warm weather almost year round. It is a safe island, and the easy living and beautiful beaches beacon many.
As a resident of the USA, Canada or EU countries you are allowed to spend 180 days per calendar year on the island if you own a house here, without applying for any special permits. If you wish to stay longer resident permits are obtainable. Aruba remains a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is in a Dutch jurisdiction; as such your legal rights are protected all the way to the higher courts of the Hague.
If you wish to rent your house either as short-term rentals when you are not using it or as a long-term rental, there are many local companies that will handle the management, maintenance and rentals for you. And when you sell your house Aruba has no capital gains tax on houses registered in the names of individuals.
Since Aruba draws people from North and South America as well as Europe and beyond, the island is better protected from local economic downturns due to this diversity. And while the island is not immune to these downturns they have created an opportunity for people looking to buy, as some homes are now selling at a considerable discount compared to prices of a year or two ago. As the world economy strengthens, these discounts will become a thing of the past.
What are you waiting for?
