Buddy,

I have always been told it is less costly to purchase on the Dutch side although I don’t know this firsthand. And on the other hand, I’ve always heard there are more protections to the owners on the French side. Again, no firsthand info from personal experience.

Once upon a time, many years ago, we very seriously contemplated purchasing a place on SXM after having visited annually for at least fifteen years every year, but we weighed so many scenarios and ‘what ifs’ and ultimately we decided not to do this. And as it turned out, it was a very good decision for US though others I know are very happy with theIr decisions to buy. And I also have known a few who seriously regretted having done so because of all the variables.

Don’t mean to be a nay-sayer but I hope you give purchasing on island a lot of very serious consideration before you take the plunge on EITHER side of the island. With all the things we did take into consideration - hurricanes, logistics, ever escalating expenses and repairs needed along with the possible future need for major health care facilities while there, and all the other minor inconveniences that can pop up, we still managed to miss a few. Who ever thought the island would be closed due to a pandemic? That one completely missed our list of ‘what ifs’ as something we never remotely considered.

A very wise friend of ours and coincidentally the same man whose home we were seriously considering buying, suggested to us we should only buy with expendable income we could easily afford to lose without being hurt financially, since with island ownership you just never know what might go wrong. We took his advice and passed on his property and for sure, every so often we have regrets at not having made the leap, but usually this is when we’re unable to book the dates we want at the places we most enjoy staying, but then we listen to the stories of some who did so and now have regrets and we realize our choice was the very best decision we could make for US. Not saying others might feel this way but we knew IF the worse were to happen, we would be very unhappy campers.

I know many who have owned there for years and are extremely happy with their decisions to purchase and if you do so, on either side, I truly hope it works well for you. Good luck, whatever your decision.