{"id":18036,"date":"2018-03-27T10:54:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T14:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=18036"},"modified":"2020-07-06T13:09:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T17:09:59","slug":"considering-home-ownership-tropics-need-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/considering-home-ownership-tropics-need-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Considering Home Ownership in the Tropics? You Need to Know This"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was published in the Escape Artist Weekly Newsletter on March 27, 2018. If you would like to\u00a0subscribe\u00a0to the newsletter, please click here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The one senior high school class missing from our curriculum was \u201cHow to Be an Adult 101.\u201d You know, the practical course that would explain how to pay taxes, what student loans mean to your financial future, questions to ask when buying your first home, what it means to contribute to your 401k, etc. Essentially, those real-world topics that we never really seem prepared for. But I suppose when it comes to adulting, we\u2019re supposed to make mistakes and (hopefully) learn from them. (Except for taxes…never mess up your taxes!)<\/span><\/p>\n

My brother and I were going through the first-residential-home-buying process around the same time. He was in New Jersey and I was in Belize. During the buying process, my brother invited my much-more-experienced dad to provide his feedback and assist with asking the right questions. Questions that many first time home buyers tend to forget, such as when the roof was last replaced, how old the hot water heater is, what insurance is required for this location? <\/span><\/p>\n

From thousands of miles away, paralleling the tips he was giving my brother, my dad provided me with great questions to ask about the pre-construction condo and helpful guidelines for post-construction upkeep. But there was one consideration neither of us took into account – the difference in locations. While he has many years of experience in construction in New York, home maintenance south of the border is a tad different. Needless to say, these past 12 months of owning a home in Belize had me feeling like Homer Simpson. Many \u201cD\u2019OH!\u201d moments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Considering<\/p>\n

So that you don\u2019t have the same \u201cD\u2019OH!\u201d moments as me, I\u2019d like to share with you three considerations to prepare for if you\u2019re considering real estate in a tropical climate: <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Yes, it is warm in the tropics. It is also humid, very humid, especially during the rainy season. This means when you are not occupying your condo, your home is collecting moisture. In other words, mold and mildew.But don\u2019t be alarmed, this is to be expected. I learned this the hard way. Being environmentally conscious, I made sure all of the lights, fans, and AC were off before embarking on a 3-week work conference circuit. When returning home, upon taking the first step in and the first sniff of the condo, I immediately could tell that something smelled off. I turned on the lights to see that my shoes, all in a neat line against the wall, had turned another shade lighter. They were covered with a thin layer of mold. I took a step around the corner and saw my new wooden furniture also had the same light tint. My jaw dropped, as did my luggage right out of my hands. <\/span>What. The. HECK!!!!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I started going Google crazy to figure out what was going on, and I learned that this is normal in humid, tropic locations, especially when there is still air. The solution? There were a few that I have since implemented:<\/p>\n