Roatan

Just a quick note to let you know that a new version of 'House Hunters International' on HGTV will be broadcast with RE/MAX Accredited Buyer's Representative, Andrew Storms.

A Dream Home on Roatan

Episode HHINT-3305H

Here is the link with the dates -
http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/a-dream-home-on-roatan/index.html

(NOTE - dates and times are subject to change)

For those who have not been here this will give you some great shots of what parts of the island look like. Those who have been here will have you booking flights :)

Best regards,
Larry

Labels: House Hunters International, Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world. The largest confirmed
visual sighting has been of one over 40 feet long, weighing 21 tons, (+/- 47,000 pounds). The Bay Islands are one of nine places in the world that whale sharks can be encountered on a regular basis. There is no guarantee that you will see or be able to interact with these gentle giants but the reality of it is that you have a chance at the experience of a lifetime.

There are some hotels on Roatan that do excursions to see the Whale Sharks and there is the 'Whale Shark & Oceanic Institute' on the island of Utila. If you are feeling adventurous,and want to do something that very few if any of your friends have done, this maybe something to consider on your next trip to the island.
You can learn more here. http://www.wsorc.org/

Labels: air travel Roatan Honduras, coral reefs, Life on Roatan, Roatan Bay Islands Honduras, Whale Sharks

In the past two months Roatan Bay Islands has really hit the radar screens of various publications.

Kiplingers.com has mentioned in as on of the 'Top Eight Places in the World' to retire

'Islands Magazine' has named Roatan as the 'Number One Island in the World' to retire on

And 'Ocean Home Magazine' has named 'Keyhole Bay' a great development here on Roatan as one of the 'Top 20 Developments in the World'.

If you are looking for that location that beats to a different drummer, democratic country, mostly English speaking, cool ocean breezes, white sand beaches and aqua waters you really should look into Roatan.

Labels: Caribbean Islands, Roatan Bay Islands Honduras, Roatan Honduras - retirement real estate

Here are the ‘Hot Deals’ as promised.

Please keep in mind that some of these deals are REALLY HUGE!. You have a home originally listed at $899,500 that is now $399,500. Yes not a misprint $500,000,00 OFF!. Similar deals on land, and even condos below what it costs to build per square foot.

I hope you find what you are looking for.


Home sites & land http://link.flexmls.com/u6c3444h1qq,2

Homes - http://link.flexmls.com/u6c33z145cm,2

Condos http://link.flexmls.com/u6c31z7o25s,2


Wondering about Roatan? – Get your questions answered here-

FAQ’s http://roatanbayisland.com/roatan/roatan-faqs.html

BUYER Info http://roatanbayisland.com/roatan-buyer-info.html

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

I also would like to mention that I know if you have been a reader for the past six months that you have read that I am a big fan of a development here called 'Keyhole Bay'

I mention this because it certainly seems that I am not the only one that thinks that Keyhole Bay is one of the best of the best. The below link is from 'Ocean Home' Magazine's latest edition listing Keyhole Bay as one of the Top 20 Developments in the World.

Nice my opinions are in good company.
Check out page 61 http://digital.oceanhomemag.com/issue/26137

Want a great property in 'Keyhole Bay'?

Drop me a line at larry-schl@roatan-realestate.com

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

New RE/MAX franchise opens in West Bay! Our company now has a second RE/MAX franchise located at Keyhole Bay in West End. Dan Taylor, the developer of Keyhole Bay, is the broker and Peggy Orange is now a RE/MAX associate based at the Keyhole Bay office. Both Peggy and Dan live in Keyhole so there is always someone available. This office makes it very convenient if you’re staying in or visiting West Bay, so stop in and say hello to Dan and Peggy!

Local Artist While you’re visiting Keyhole Bay, ask Kelly McLarnan about her new fundraising project, Made on Roatan Rock Sculptures. Sales benefit local public schools to buy much needed basic supplies, like books, paper, boards and art supplies, which are often scarce in public schools. The project celebrates the work of a local artisan, Naldo Amaya of Pollytilly Bight, who delicately sculpts jadeite into sculptures inspired by marine and island life. Priced from $22 to $80, these beautiful sculptures fit easily in your luggage to take home and wow your friends and family, while benefitting local children.

A Benefit Golf Tournament at the Black Pearl Golf Club will be held on February 27th. Hosted by Roatan Rotary International, this fun activity, a 4 ball scramble, is not to be missed if you’re on the island. All 84 playing slots have been filled and a waiting list started, but come and buy a spectator pass for $20 and watch the good players look great and the inexperienced players (like me) just enjoy the day! Your pass includes bocas at the cocktail presentation. The main benefiting project of this fund raiser is the PIER program and Sand Castle Library and Learning center. Come on down, it will be a fun day (and you might run into some old Dallas Cowboys on the course!).

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras, Roatan Cruise ships, Roatan Honduras Golf Black Pearl Pete Dye Course

Island Infrastructure Improvements, part 2. Last month the RE/MAX Newsletter in part was about some of the infrastructure improvements in place or planned for Roatan. This month I’ll talk about more improvements, which should be of interest to you. RECO: there is on-going improvement in the grid system as the power company upgrades the existing lines and replaces the old wooden poles with concrete ones. The company is actively pursuing alternate energy solutions and has bought a piece of property for a wind farm, which will provide supplemental power to the grid.

The roads on Roatan are in a maintenance-only situation at this time, which is always a big task!

In 2010, upgrades were completed to the electronic navigation systems at the airport and the entire runway was resurfaced. The tarmac area was re-designed to make space for the new airlines we now have; CAA, CM and LAHNSA at the current time. Charter flights are coming in each week from Milan, Toronto and Montreal.

Roatan has 2 cruise ship ports, Mahogany Bay and Port of Roatan. The latter has been approved for funding to expand once again.

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

Remax Bay Islands/Roatan Real Estate

One very HOT, HOT HOT Deal here- half priced beach front home.

Go here and take a look.........

http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=657

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

We are very happy to announce the opening of our second RE/MAX franchise in West Bay at Keyhole Bay. This office, though owned by RE/MAX Bay Islands will be called RE/MAX Western Sunsets.

We are also very happy to announce that we are adding several new Agents and one new Broker.

Developer and long time resident Dan Taylor will be joining our team as a new Broker at
RE/MAX Western Sunsets along with several new Agents for our companies. Joining us at the beginning of the year also-

-Jorge Chavez who left Honduras as a child, spent 20 years in the U.S. and has spent the last six months as my Broker Assistant on our Apprenticeship Program. Jorge was born in Puerto Cortez, Honduras and raised and educated in the U.S. After spending 20 years in California and Atlanta he is back to his roots. The housing industry/sales has been his passion and has been a been a part of since 1996, from building a foundation to choosing the perfect color of paint. Not only can he see the potential in a property, he also has the skills and knowledge to guide you in how to make your paradise dream
home a reality in Roatan.

-Peggy Orange, originally a Professional REALTOR for 20+ years in Charlotte NC and now the President of the Keyhole Bay Condo Association. She has lived on the island full time for five years and along with Dan Taylor are the Keyhole Bay experts.

-Keena Haylock, Notary and Attorney, originally from Guanaja who is furthering her specialization as a top real estate attorney in Honduras is joining RE/MAX as our Legal Counsel, therefore joining CANABIRH, (the Honduran National REALTORS Association).

These new additions to our company join Janine Goben and me as Broker/Owners of both companies, along with Agents Wendy McLaughlin, Andrew Storms, Bob Sirios, T.J. Lynch, Henrik Jensen, and Tom Campbell.

Besides our Mt. Pleasant and West Bay Offices if you come in on a cruise ship to the Royal Caribbean dock RE/MAX is also represented just 100 yards east of the exit at the Roatan Information Center at Main Street Mall.

Please visit our new web site at –
http://www.roatanbayisland.com

There you will be able to go to the Brokers/Agents link, scroll down and put a face to the name of any REALTOR with REMAX on the island and connect to them directly.

Our – FAQ page can address a lot of issues to ‘newbies’ here-
http://www.roatanbayisland.com/roatan/roatan-faqs.html

At the top of the page on the right is a RSS feed, Facebook link and very cool YOU Tube Video Library covering many subjects, projects, properties and island areas.

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

RE/MAX Bay Islands News
December 2010

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

• Island infrastructure improvements
• New Forum
• Cyber Realtor
• Restaurant of the Month
• Property Picks

Island Infrastructure improvements. There is a lot going on to improve the infrastructure of Roatan, but a lot of people don’t know it because you don’t see it. For example, there is a brand new desalination plant up and running in Coxen Hole, which runs 8 hours a day, 5 days a week to provide up to 374,000 gallons of water to the towns of Coxen Hole and towns east for several miles. The plant was donated by the Spanish government as part of their overseas program and augments our fresh water supply, which is becoming strained. It fills existing tanks and uses existing infrastructure to provide a much cleaner product. The Municipal plan is to connect 6 decentralized systems to one centralized system; the desalination plant becomes one source instead of 6. There is a plan to expand and efforts are under way to get international support for funding 2 more desalination plants in French Harbour and Oak Ridge.

The waste water treatment plant east of the airport is grossly underutilized. A lift station system is in place but only connected to 12% of the homes in Coxen Hole. The Municipal is considering a proposal to privatize this plant which will improve the situation immediately. Even more exciting is a big, new, multi-million dollar waste water treatment plant project for West End. This will be a collection system and treatment plant and is going out for bid mid-January with construction to start mid-March. The project should be completed in less than a year. It will be funded by Central Government and the funds are already parked on Roatan, so they are ready to go. The project will be self-sustaining, using seed money to create revolving funding over 10 years.

The landfill in Mud Hole has long been an eyesore and health concern with children and dogs climbing all over it as the pile gets higher and higher. There is a new landfill all ready to go in Diamond Rock, yet not in operation because there are no trained personnel to operate it correctly – no-one wants to be responsible for another mishandled landfill. The Municipal has received a proposal to privatize and assume operation of the landfills, including collection of garbage on a 30 year project. In the last two years, the Municipal has re-organized the solid waste staff, cancelled several leases of garbage trucks and purchased 2 rear-loading, compacting garbage trucks. This re-organization and cancellation of leases allowed for pay back of the Municipal funds used to purchase the new trucks in less than a year.

New Forum. There are several Yahoo chat groups on the topic of Roatan and now there is a new forum where you can ask questions, post information and all by category, so it’s easy to find information you’re curious about, or read threads on a certain topic. Want to know which ships will be in port? Or where to attend church? Where to shop or get medical attention? It’s all there and much more. Check it out: http://www.bayislandsforum.com.

Cyber Realtor is here! At RE/MAX we have expanded our service into the West Bay mall. Next time you’re in the area, or wondering about what property is available without having to go into a real estate office, check out the cyber realtor screen in the window of Mangiamo’s deli. This is a touch screen access to the internet to look for real estate, so you can look at any hour whether anyone is around or not. It’s the only one in the Bay Islands and is very cool!!

Restaurant of the Month is also a deli. Mangiamo is in West Bay mall, serving breakfast from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and lunch until 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Waffles, omelets, pancakes, even eggs benedict are available for breakfast, from $5.50 to $9.21. For lunch pick a classic or signature sandwich, such as Santa Fe chicken for $7.10, or Authentic Gyro for $8.68, or build your own sandwich with cold cuts and cheeses imported from the U.S. Salads more to your taste? Enjoy a side salad for $3.42, cranberry chicken for $8.75 or antipasto for $8.75. Plenty of choices!
Mangiamo is the place to find the “unfindable” on Roatan. I found plenty of Asian, Thai and Sushi products, as well as some of my favorite English memories: Rose’s marmalade, Heinz salad cream, Spotted Dick sponge pudding, many crackers and teas I haven’t seen since I left England. I also found Israeli, Italian, French and Irish products. And chocolates and truffles – oh my!!
West Bay has many rental homes and condos with full kitchen amenities so the deli is a popular spot for those items you may have missed in the grocery store 7 miles away. While you’re enjoying your breakfast or lunch, bring your laptop (if you simply can’t be away from it!) and take advantage of their free wireless internet. Whatever your needs, don’t miss Mangiamo’s deli and restaurant!

Property Picks For December
• Just a short note to those who may be looking for your own very little piece of paradise. I have a local gentleman looking to sell a small parcel he owns in First Bight. There is electric nearby and community water. The price? An astonishing $11,400!
You can download a PDF survey and obtain some additional details here -
http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=656
•
We also have received authorization to reduce the Tarvisio Building at Keyhole Bay an additional 10%. This is pre-completion pricing and will not last long. This building is pretty much the prime building of the development with unobstructed views to the deep blue Caribbean.
You can get some details here-
http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=390 along with the floor plans for the Building that you can download.

This, in my opinion, is the top development on the island. Absolutely top end quality, gorgeous infinity edge pool, private beach, a short walk to West Bay Beach's white sands, restaurants, etc. Anyone that has any interest in that great Keyhole Bay project you may wish to watch this short video clip that just came out on oceanhomeguru.com This will share with you a 'non 'REALTOR' point of view also http://oceanhomeguru.com/?p=2743

• Very motivated Seller for this 6+/- acre property on top of the world near West Bay and West End
http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=679
•
Over 8 acres of commercial property with 450 feet of deep water frontage. Great for a marina
http://roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=677
•
7,000 square foot commercial building right on the main road. http://roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=689
• Enjoy the sunrise and southeastern breezes on this half acre lot.
http://roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=658

To look at all listings go to our IDX link http://link.flexmls.com/oq9ggfooh53,2 and you will be able to search for property using your own parameters – it’s a cool tool!

I hope to see you on our next Investment Tour February 21 – 23rd, 2011!!

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

Just a short note to our readers................

We announced previously the VERY HOT prices at the top residential condo development on the island, Keyhole Bay. Three units at very deep discounts have since been sold or are in escrow. If you are looking to buy it is time to act. There are only four units in the Seville and Monaco Buildings left at these deep discounts. Check them out here, write with questions and price points - http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=390

Also a spectacular deal is a 3br/2ba Hotel/Condo at Mayan Princess. Originally listed at $499K now only $285K (firm). Professionally managed, 250' fresh water pool with the complex on the best beach on the island and one of the finest in the world!
http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=352

Large two level 3br/3ba Residential Condo $200,000 price reduction on West Bay Beach -
http://www.roatan-realestate.com/listing.php?id=307

High season is here in three weeks! Above discounted prices may not be available soon. Save Hundreds of thousands and have your own piece of paradise in a very friendly climate and location.

Tired of the cold & snow yet?

Reserve your place at our 'Discovery/Investment Tour' in February. Get a break from the winter and get all your questions answered at the same time -

http://www.roatan-realestate.com/roatan-investment-tours.php


Merry Christmas to All and a Happy and Healthy 2011.

Larry

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras

In tomorrow's issue of USA today is a nice article on Roatan with Andrew Storm's of RE/MAX Bay Islands.

See it here-
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/secondhomes/2010-10-07-roatan-honduras_N.htm

Labels: Roatan Bay Islands Honduras, Roatan Honduras, Tropical Caribbean - Roatan Bay Islands