The retirement plan was to be-bop around for a while until we found a place we liked enough to live that ticked off the important boxes- safe, stable, warm, easy access to SCUBA diving and close enough to fly to the US within a day. Our visit to Curacao was amazing. The quietness of where we stayed, the view of the ocean, SCUBA diving right from the house blew us away.
The location is relatively remote and so when we weren’t diving we spent a lot of time at the house. We cooked breakfast every morning and ate it on the patio looking at the ocean. We made a few dinners at the house and even got a dinner to go when dining out so we could have it the next night at the house. It felt oddly routine -and lovely. We enjoyed the stay so much that we asked the housekeeper (whom we shared e-mail addresses with) to ask the owner of the house to contact us about staying at his house again. The owner lives in the Netherlands and so communicating through e-mail was easiest.
As Danny and I communicate to him how much we enjoyed spending time at his house, he tells us that the lot of land next to his house is actually for sale! Of course we loved our stay on the island, but purchasing a retirement property in 2017 was not part of the plan. However, after much discussion between Danny and I and our financial adviser, we realized this part of our retirement plan may have just fallen into our lap- just a tad bit earlier than expected. There was no home on the property that was for sale, just gorgeous, flat ocean front property on a cliff above the gorgeous Caribbean Sea. Because there was no home, it was at a price point we decided to we could afford before actual retirement. So, we stayed on the island of Curacao in September 2017 and closed on our ocean front lot on November 17, 2017. 
We assumed real estate transactions occurred the same in the Netherlands as they did in the US. Not so! Similar, but not the same. We needed to pay for a government official to have power attorney for us, in order for them to sign the legal documents on our behalf. We also had several forms we needed to sign and have notarized. Initially we tried to use our own realtor for the transaction; however, she was not responsive and decided to work through the listing realtor- which worked out well. The official language of Curacao is Dutch. Thankfully for us, most also speak English. Portions of the deed of our property are in Dutch. Wiring the funds to Curacao was a bit annoying, as the funds needed to be in Antillean guilders. The annoying part was on our bank’s part with the fees associated with wiring and the conversion from dollars to guilders. I’m just speculating, but I do not think our bank does many international transfers. The realtor we worked with was responsive and at the beginning of the process indicated we would have a closing date of November 17, 2017. We did!
I have to say, I get a bit giddy when the owner of the house we stayed at e-mails us and calls us “neighbors”! He also speaks English. We are fortunate that most on the island speak English in addition to Dutch. Papiamento is the local language of the island and is mix of Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch. I have a fair grasp on the Spanish language and so will be focusing on learning Papiamento first. Danny will also be learning Papiamento. We will be in their country and look forward to being able to communicate with all.
When we started this journey in October 2017, our plan was to start building a house in 2020. However, after a lot of thought, we realized it would financially be a better decision to build sooner rather later. We will be building a single family home of approximately 1,400 square feet with a semi-attached 450 square foot apartment. We will be renting out the apartment when we are not at the home. We plan to use the Curacao house as our main base in retirement, as we will sell our house in Ohio and live in Curacao full time. Of course, we plan to explore other areas of the world for weeks to a month at a time.
The land that we purchased is located in a gated community; however, the construction of the homes and amenities have been a slow go. Currently, we are paying real estate taxes only. Once the amenities have been provided: swimming pool, guard at the gate, restaurant, etc., we will also be on the hook for homeowners association fees. Our hope now is to get the apartment and house built as soon as possible to start receiving rental income.
Danny reached out to approximately 10 architects and inquired about the process of building a home on the island. We sketched a plan of the house with the attached apartment and sent it off to some of the architects that were responsive to our requests. The process of building a home in a foreign country while still in the US is convoluted at best. Also, as much as we are looking forward to living the island life; while we are in the US and trying to organize a house build, the locals being on “island time” can be quite frustrating. We decided the best way to get answers to our questions would be face to face meetings. Because of our geriatric dogs we stopped traveling. In September, my dearest friend, Rachelle, and I will be going to Curacao to meet with architects face to face and try to get a better feel for the building process. Rachelle was my college room mate and is one smart cookie. She will point out things that I wouldn’t necessarily pick up on and having another set of ears will be helpful. 