Since I don't now what property(ies) you are contemplating if any at all yet, let me share with you a generic array of concerns you may need to evaluate:
I think that some of the questions you will need to ask yourself may include:
- Location / price ratio. And there you need to calculate based on what ya can find realistically. This does not just go to the purchase price but obviously to a realistic attractive rental price. Don't let yourself be fooled by what others ASK here, whether it is selling or rental prices, but try to find out what HAS indeed been SOLD and to how much it really did and the same goes to rentals. Check out the places in a similar location that ARE rented out and how much they rake in. As you may already have seen, most EVERYTHING is for SALE here. But most are just kites flying... very high... based on what the guy next door or down the road is ASKING also... then you find out that all they've been doing, was that... for years! Finally it is easier to do business if you manage to buy way under the price so you can also rent lower than most.
- How are you going to let the world know you are renting. Certainly, some agents (many of them actually SELL places) will try to list your rental... for a hefty commission... and rightfully so... at the end, one or two monthly rents as a commission is not all that much for showing a place to several people plus the cost of advertising and so forth. But in your calculation, losing 10 or 20% or your rental income may be part of what could turn a potential winning business into a loosing one. An other way can be for you to advertise here, and in other public places. I know people who have been very successful at that and others who have done no business while choosing that route. May God forbid you fall victim of one of the guys that will rent the place and not tell you about it, until one day you show up by surprise and find your empty place full of people which will not give you a warm welcome... a not untypical scheme, we've had the questionable privilege to read about several times here on this very Forum.
- Who will handle your lessees? Pick them up, handle deposits and so forth and attend to their problems and issues with the property? How much will that chip off your gross incomes. And can you trust them.
- How about repairs? Most likely, the person or company who handles the leases will just call some "technician" to "fix" the problem and hand over the bill to you... discounting it from any income you had or have... maybe even taking a "small" commission on the way form the "technician"(?). Who is to say you are not paying for repairs and maintenance that was not necessary.
All in all, most absentee landlords, not just in this country are the ones that will more or less soon but eventually try to sell you their super income generating property... why? because, while it CAN be done and profitably, as you will understand from all the above, it is NOT that easy a business.
Most of the landlords which do well here, are locally present and able to handle most aspects of their BUSINESS (because that's what it is, a business!) themselves! They can also handle many minor repairs themselves and know who to call if they happen to have a tenant who suddenly decides that paying rent is not part of his newly discovered Caribbean life style anymore.
Most of those I know to get excellent returns on their investments and ongoing costs, have built for rent or just waited living here until they could pick up here and there a property for very little money.
I hope not to have shattered your dreams and interest in this country's Real Estate opportunities, because there are plenty... but it's a business that needs to be approached very critically, IMHO.
... J-D.