2nd home is in SXM but where is your primary residence and has it changed since March 2020?

I moved to Vermont from Long Island and just got my Vermont drivers license today. Our second home is SXM and we had planned to escape the cold winters and spend January thru March in St. Maarten. It has already snowed here Halloween eve but the snow has melted since. Just wondering how many have moved from their first homes to different states and how many would think about owning a second home in St. Maarten/ St. Martin?

We still live here in CT with no intentions of moving but we did very seriously consider buying a Sint Maarten home once upon a time. A wise friend who already owned there pointed out many of the pitfalls we hadn’t considered and that was all it took to convince us it wasn’t the right move for us, much as we love the island.

It also didn’t help that on our way down that year we struck up a conversation at JFK with a couple who was making their third trip to the island in two years solely for the purpose of surveying the damage done by the latest break-in at their island home. We had already had a second home in SC and knew firsthand of some of the things that could go wrong and sadly, that ‘what if’ side of me decided there were more negatives than positives for us.

Second homes are usually a pain in the a##. We have one on the east side of state and live on west side. Just had to replace a picture window that was shot out. That home is only 200 miles away. Can't imagine having one thousands of miles away. Having our timeshare for 4 weeks in St Maartin is better for us.

Still living in the house we moved to 24 years ago. My husband passed away about 2 years ago and I often look around me now and wonder if I need this much space.

Some years back, when we went to SXM a couple of times each year, we looked into buying a property there. My husband worked for a bank and at one time was manager of a bank on Anguilla. He would have happily moved back to the islands. At the time we were looking, we were told (Not sure if this is true) that if you owned a home and employed 2 Sint Maartenians (could be a gardener and a house cleaner) you could get automatic citizenship.

We even went so far as to moving some funds to SXM so as to be able to make the purchase. Never did see it through. Used up the money there on some great vacations.

We also considered buying a place in SXM, but ruled it out. We did retire to Florida from Mass 11 years ago, so the urgency to escape the cold isn't there anymore. EVERY year we visit SXM though, the subject comes up over and over about it we could live on the island permanently. Then we leave, and the subject is put back to bed till the following year. Our motto has always been, ''never say never''....so who knows what the future may bring. It's hard enough for us to not be living near either kid since one is in Georgia, and the other with the grands out in California. Moving even further from them would be even tougher than it is now. Time will tell.

From where on Long Island? Loving my estate on high ground in Huntington right now. Yet we love the Vermont snow.

Only 45 so not thinking about snowbirding yet. That said, I’d probably either Airbnb or timeshare SXM. Still have a lot of earth to visit.

Town of Oyster Bay

purchased in Sint Maarten and feeling good with decision to stay here. i went back to Pennsylvania for 2 months and will every year but happy with choice to stay with all year outside dining, beautiful beaches and scenery and btw, and no crazy toilet paper/lysol wipe/meat shortages throughout covid here.

Our second home is a sailboat, based in the Caribbean. We usually decide to spend Jan-March in SXM, with a total of 6-7 months in the Eastern Caribbean during the winter. Being mobile on the boat allows us to pick and choose any island and not be tied to only one place for the winter. Variety suits us, especially if/when things change in the islands, like hurricane damage, crime, etc. for any specific island destination. We tried living on St. Maarten, on land, for 7 months but we got "island fever" after two months on such a small island but toughed it out anyway. Not again for us

It’s interesting. Living in a island my whole life.. not sure yet where I want to go when I grow up 😂

Welcome to Vermont! In my slightly biased opinion, no place better to live, except maybe SXM.

FYI, I sent you a PM.


MrTim

Coming up on thirteen years with only one home, located on SXM. Ain't easy sometimes but no regrets.

We have lived in Colorado for 40 years. Have always considered Maui for a second home, but probably won't pull the triger, but never say never.

Where in Colorado? Saw Telluride, Durango, Este Park and Glenwood Springs this summer and we loved Colorado. Can’t wait to see more of it. Actually come to think of it, we were at Glenwood Caverns when the Pine Gulch fire began!