Hopeton Morrison, ContributorINVESTMENT IN real estate, specifically residential housing is on the top of many person's agenda these days. All across Jamaica this interest is rising. And with World Cup Cricket next year there will be opportunities for many bed and breakfast facilities all across the Corporate Area, the North Coast and other
geographical locations that are within relatively easy reach of Sabina Park and Greenfield in Trelawny.
Jamaica is a prime tourist destination and remodelling your home to take advantage of the projected windfall from World
With Cricket World Cup less than a year away, properties such as Casitas on Deanery Road in Vineyard Town are ideally located to provide visitors with accomodation.
Cup cricket in the short term could lead to longer-term benefits. European tourists especially are particularly fond of bed and breakfast facilities as it offers them an opportunity to explore more than sand, sea and sun. They want to dine at the spots that locals frequent and enjoy the entertainment facilities that locals patronise.
But remodelling your home goes beyond offering bed and breakfast facilities to tourists. Persons often remodel simply to add value to their investment in their homes. Your decision to remodel should be driven by a number of factors including the following:
The return on your remodelling investment depends on the value of your home, the value of other homes in your immediate environs, and the degree to which house values are appreciating or depreciating in your community.
There is a difference between the value in your house and what you can sell it for. In markets like the Golden Triangle area in Kingston, buyers are prepared to pay a premium to gain entry into that location. The opposite situation occurs in other places faced with the dilemma of say Spanish Town where criminality is rampant.
It is often difficult to quantify completely the cost of your remodelling. After all, you are measuring that 'utility' in a family room for example that opens the opportunity for quality family time, or the installation of some gym space that has the overall effect of reducing stress while improving your physical state and your mental well-being.
It makes more sense to have a smaller home in an affluent neighbourhood than to have an elaborate home in a declining neighbourhood. Be careful then that your remodelling plans don't price you out of your neighbourhood, as you will not be able to recover your investment.
What is clear now is that the residential market in Jamaica outside of some places such as Spanish Town is now a sellers' market.
And lest we forget, there used to be several middle-class housing developments in and around Spanish Town including Green Acres, Sydenham, Ensom Acres, Ebony Park, Hampton Green, White Water Meadows and many others.
These 'middle-class' enclaves have now been made into a nightmare for owners, many of them hardworking professionals who cannot now find a willing buyer.
So remodeling in Jamaica must go beyond merely adding value to your home. Your investment must include a community security system to keep criminals away from your neighbourhood.
* Hopeton Morrison is general manager of St. Thomas Cooperative Credit Union Ltd. and lecturer in the School of Business Administra-tion at the University of Technology. Please send comments and questions to: hmorrison@stccu.com
