There are several legal concerns a prospective foreign buyer should keep in mind while buying property in St. Lucia. Some of these factors include:
- The process of purchasing real estate in St Lucia
- Financial Intelligence Authority rules on financing the acquisition and financing;
- Purchase-related taxes and fees,
- The advantages of traveling to St Lucia to buy the property compared to doing so remotely
The procedure for buying a home
There are three basic processes in the process of buying property in St Lucia Caribbean as follows:
- the preliminary contract discussions;
- the purchase agreement or agreement for sale; and
- the conveyance and conclusion.
The Preliminary Contract Discussions
The vendor and the buyer negotiate and agree upon the parameters of the sale and purchase during the pre-contract negotiations, including the purchase price, the amount of the required deposit, and the deadline for completion.
To avoid accidentally creating a contract at this point in the discussions, the buyer should mark any correspondence between the buyer and the vendor as “subject to contract.” The buyer should inform his or her attorney of all the details of the concluded talks if the buyer’s lawyer is not participating in the pre-contract negotiations.
The Purchase Agreement
Following the pre-contract conversations, the parties typically move forward with formal writing, known as an agreement for sale, to set forth the conditions of the sale and purchase. Typically, the vendor’s lawyer will draft this contract and send it to the buyer’s lawyer. The contract should include a thorough description of the asset being sold, any obligations placed on it, such as liens or restrictive covenants, and any unique conditions that the parties have agreed to.
The agreement for sale will be necessary in order for your Bank to transfer any large amount of funding to St. Lucia.
The agreement must be approved by the purchaser’s attorney, subject to any desired modifications. Once both parties are content with the terms of the contract, they sign it twice and the buyer gives the vendor’s lawyer the deposit. The deposit is typically held as a shareholder by the vendor’s attorney, allowing both parties to handle it differently. For instance, if the buyer breaches the contract, the vendor receives the deposit; if the seller breaches the contract, the Double the deposit is returned to the buyer.
NB: This agreement is registered as a caution at the St Lucia Land Registry.
Typically, one copy of the agreement is kept by the purchaser’s lawyer, and the other copy is kept by the vendor’s lawyer.
Conveyance an Closing
The purchaser’s attorney does a title research at the Land Registry as well as the High Court. Providing that there are no liens and cautions against the property, he will then proceed to prepare a Deed Of Sale.
The purchaser’s attorney will transmit drafts of the conveyance or transfer and copies of the preceding title deeds to the lender’s attorney for review if the buyer is seeking a mortgage. The lender’s lawyer does a title search, prepares the hypothec and makes requests to the buyer’s lawyer for a response. The purchaser’s attorney will transmit copies of the title deeds to the lender’s attorney for review if the buyer is seeking a mortgage. The lender’s lawyer does a title search, prepares the hypothec and makes requests to the buyer’s lawyer for a response.
An application for the transfer of the property must be submitted to the Financial Intelligence Authority if either the vendor or the buyer lives outside of St Lucia and are transferring large amounts of money. In line with the conditions of the agreement for sale, either the vendor’s attorney or the purchaser’s attorney submits this application.
When the conveyance or transfer is complete, both the vendor and the buyer signs the Deed in the presence of the attorney at law in St Lucia.
Power of Attorney (POA)
If the buyer or vendor is not present on the island at the time of execution, he or she may appoint a Power Of Attorney (POA).
What is a Power Of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney (POA) is all about giving the right to act on your behalf to a trusted friend or family member. A Power of Attorney allows the holder of the POA to take clearly defined actions and decisions on behalf of the donor in this case. This document is prepared and submitted by a lawyer. The process takes about 2 weeks.