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St. John’s Antigua- There is promise of yet another housing project on island as a construction and real estate company GeoTech partners with state-owned Social Security to build homes for low-income earners.
The multi-million dollar housing project will be launched next month and run for the next three years.
Undaunted by the global economic downturn, the investors said the project would make at least 40 people homeowners.
While the lands belong to Social Security, GeoTech Constructions Ltd will be responsible for the construction of the properties that will have either two or three bedrooms and either one or two bathrooms.
General Manager of GeoTech, Arthur Bostwic, told OBSERVER Media, “It is an exciting venture for us because we know in the end these homes would make many people comfortable. Even if you cannot purchase a house with cash and you have to incur a mortgage, in the end the house is yours.”
Bostwic said close to $15 million will be invested in putting up the properties to be built in Paynters, near Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
“We are hoping that in the next six weeks or thereabout we could get up and running with work as people are already signing on with our marketing and sales department. We haven’t yet settled on whether we would launch on August 15 or 16 but it’ll surely happen around mid-month,” he said.
The GeoTech official said the homes would be made using concrete blocks and gable roofing while the floors would have ceramic tiles. Additionally, a garage with cover would be installed and two concrete paths built from the road leaving to the driveway. Kitchen cupboards, electricity and water systems would be installed as well.
GeoTech said it has three architectural designs for the homes in mind and a fourth is likely.
The cost for the two bedroom homes with one bathroom would cost an estimated $255,000. The maximum cost per home, Bostwic said, would be about $300,000.
The company’s general manager praised the Construct Antigua project which has, according to him, made the investment cheaper hence buyers would be able to pay about 25 per cent less than they would pay elsewhere for a home matching GeoTech’s designs.
“We are working with most banks on island, credit unions and we would also take cash. Whether you are a citizen or non-citizen you can still buy a house. The only difference is, a non-citizen has to secure a land holder’s licence which is inexpensive,” sales and marketing manager of GeoTech, Carol Spencer, said.
Once the applicants wishing to purchase homes are approved for loans or show cash, GeoTech said construction would begin.
The homes will be built on plots ranging from 1,085 square feet to 1,485 square feet.
I followed the link to this article to be DISAPPOINTED yet again.
Instead of wading through the b.s., I started scanning the article to see what was the cost of ownership. I saw even crappier prices than those which have made me unqualified for every mortgage loan I’ve auditioned for within the last 4 years of my life. For all the people who want to construct housing projects in Antigua & Barbuda – ANYTHING PRICED OVER $100,000 DOES NOT CATER TO LOW-INCOME EARNERS! (And even this is too much already!)
Some civil servants are barely earning $2,500 a month and wondering how many other civil servants survive on the lower end of the scale. To get a house/land loan (for houses way cheaper than those mentioned in the article) on these pitiful salaries requires you to have at least $20,000 as a deposit. Where is a low-income earner who is trying to upgrade himself, pay house rent, feed a family,& pay off APUA to find TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM? That’s even more than some people work for in a year….. before tax!
Just give me a break! Did these businessmen do a feasible research on the real “almost-no-income-earners” before they jumped up and ran with their seemingly noble idea? Social Security – I expected better from an organization who sees and knows what the real “low-income” commonly known as POOR people earn. This project just looks like another example of ordinary houses being built on flood prone lands for an upper middle-class price. People are losing jobs left and right and no firm is going to accept $100 cash every month without a hefty down payment. People living hand to month cannot save these sizable sums in a short space of time.
It seems like to get ahead in this country you have to either rip off somebody or sell your body & soul to the highest bidder. Guess I better start selling….anybody wants a spleen to buy?
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