National Colony Realty

The Advisory Council of the islands, has met with members of TCInvest (”an independent agency within the Islands with a mandate to attract new off shore investments, encourage entrepreneurship amongst the residents and provide financing to the local population“) to assist in moving the Cooper Jack Marina development forward.

Cooper Jack is one of the popular areas of the Islands, with beautiful ocean view lots and good elevations. It would be excellent if the planned full service marina resort and residential community, with a depth of 8.5ft and 80ft wide entrance can be pushed forward. This is just one more development in my opinion to add value to properties in the Cooper Jack area.

Vernica

Provo Golf and Country club makes golf living so easy, as it is a residential and golf community in the popular Grace Bay area of Providenciales. It is central to banks, a supermarket, shopping and the beach. 

Let us focus a bit on the residential size of the Golf Club first; in the community you can find a desired vacant lot for roughly $250,000 and build your desirable home, or purchase an existing town home at nearly the same price. If you prefer a detach villa they are also available starting at $430,000 for a two bedroom. 

As for the amenities they include; a Challenging 18-hole championship golf course (which is popular for the many local and international tournaments, as well as members and charity events), the Fairways bar & Grill a casual dining restaurant, Tennis court and also a fully stocked pro shop that supplies all the golfing equipment etc that any golfer will need.  Doesn’t this sound easy to you?

Entertaining here is always informal and easy going, focusing on the fresh bounty from the seas and plenty of island style drinks with little umbrellas!

From conch to lobster all the way to desert can all be prepared outdoors while overlooking our magnificent miles of beaches that Turks and Caicos is noted for.

For easy entertaining recipes the way we do them here, look to Coastal Living’s newest Feb. issue.

Grab a chair, sunscreen and your favourite group of friends to enjoy your dinner at home island style!

Bon Appetit.

Karen Shaw

The National Cancer Society of the Turks and Caicos Islands, continues its endeavours in promoting awareness to the public about this life threatening disease of Cancer, as the primary focus of the society is about prevention and early detection. To this end, they are hosting a healthy lifestyle seminar on March 9th 2010, at the Edward Gartland youth centre, where every one is invited to attend. There is a cancer slogan that says ‘Cancer is everybody business’. See you there!

Clear your minds, I am not talking criminals here, I am talking food! There are some dishes that are in high demand and has become on the most wanted list among the local population. Just recently, I was on facebook and a friend’s wall post was “I feel like some fry cakes”.

Yes its, dishes like “fry cakes” “Cocoa Lump/dough” “Slam to the reef” “Slam bam” and ”Flour pap” that makes the most wanted lists. Some call them ‘poor people food’ because it is a combination of what ever you had like the basic ingredients of flour and sugar mixed together to form different dishes. This was before all of the development within the islands. 

Today the locals consider these dishes as delicacies and no longer poor people food. Now that we are in a position to choose what we eat, we think of Fry Cakes and the likes as a food of culture with historical meaning. To me, it reminds us of where we came from to where we are now. And every now and again we find ourselves having those cravings . . .  so do not be surprise if you drop in and find that the main course for the day’s table is Coco lumps; especially on a cold day. They are in want by everyone. You cannot find them in the restaurants you have to ‘go local’ for such delicacies.

We have the luxury of having one of the owners of our company that has been living here since 1967 (and I have a hard time remembering what it was like 14 years ago) and can only imagine the changes he has seen!  We often hear stories of the “good old days” from him and I thought it was about time to share some of them…especially this one. 

He had recently finished surveying a large section of land known as Blue Mountain and ended up with an odd shaped parcel that he thought might be difficult to sell.  Since there was very little commerce (or people for that matter) back then, he decided why not try and barter with the land for something that he really, really, really wanted and was hard to come by.  After some very quick deliberation, he came up with ice cream…yes…ice cream.  Can you imagine?  Well he did indeed make a deal with the owner of the ice cream shop (now long gone) for a year’s worth of free ice cream anytime he wanted in exchange for that parcel of land.  He even had a framed deed of the transaction in his old office (that was unfortunately destroyed by a fire) that no longer exists but his memory of that ice cream sure does!

Just a quick note in closing…property in Blue Mountain today is worth anywhere from $200K to $500K.  I wish I had an ice cream shop back then!        

Karen Shaw

At National Colony Realty we are always pleased to get feedback from our clients. Let us know what topics that you are interesting in knowing about and we will post them on our blog. The topic can range from real estate questions to just plain information about the Turks and Caicos Islands. i.e Providenciales, North Caicos, Middle Caicos, Grand Turk, Salt Cay etc. Put our knowledge to the test and let us learn together.

Vernica

After months of training and other preparations, the 911 emergency system is finally up and ready to serve the general public of the Turks and Caicos Islands. There was a swearing in ceremony of eight telecommunicators, on 5 February 2010 who have now taken over the responsibility of receiving calls through the 911 emergency line. This is a great mile stone within the islands, as the goal of the new 911 Call Center is to “enhance coordination and dissemination of information, in order to respond more quickly to the emergency situations that arise each and every day”, and this is something that we needed for a long time in the islands.

We are a tourism driven destination and a functional and efficient 911 system is a necessity.

Vernica

Meridian Financial group is holding a tax planning and investment seminar conference here in Turks and Caicos Islands next week.  This event is to introduce legitimate tax planning stategies for North Americans by qualified Canadain and US professionals willing to provide tax opinions. 

I am going to attend to further understand how investing in real estate with tax savings and finding the right type of ownership can benefit my clients who might wish to take advantage of what our tax free islands have to offer.  

The goal of course it to make sure they and I have the right tools to make sound investment decisions with the help of the folks at Meridian Trust.  

Check back next week so I can share the highlights of what I learn with you.

Karen Shaw

Cottage pond (courtesy of Caicos Caves project)

Cottage pond is yet another one of Turks and Caicos amazing natural wonders that you would want to visit on the island of North Caicos, measuring 165 feet in diameter.  It was believed for years that the pond had no end. However, a team of divers with the Caicos Cave project in 2001 put an end to that theory by performing a few days of strategic dive operations and concluding a dept of 225 ft, with many tiny fissures connecting the system to the ocean. They also discovered that the pond has an underwater cave system and believes that it was once above water.

Another major discovery made by the team was “a brand new species of the primitive crustacean class Remipedia … Kaloketos pilosus:” which is referred to as “the Beautiful Sea Monster”. I guess they are now only to rule out the legend of the mermaid who has been spotted in the pond.

Detailed information of the Caicos Cave findings and adventure of cottage pond can be found at the below links: http://www.caicoscaves.com/cottage_pond.htm , http://caicoscaves.com/sea_monster.htm.