Procedures For Purchasing Property In Dominica

In order to safeguard against the many potential pitfalls, buyers are well advised to engage the services of a reputable Real Estate Company such as Blue Sky Realtors Ltd (The agent) even when seeking to purchase directly from a private owner. Kindly be guided by the following simple steps:

1. You, the buyer, must first provide the agent (us) with a written offer for the property that you are interested in purchasing.
2. This offer is presented to the Seller/Owner.
3. Once the owner accepts, the agent presents you with a ‘letter of acceptance’ and a ‘Statement of transaction’ –to include purchase price, transfer, legal & survey/valuation fees.
4. If you’ve accepted this ‘Statement of transaction’ a Lawyer is then employed to write up a corresponding Purchase & Sale Agreement.
5. A Valuation is made on the property by a license Surveyor. (Transfer & Legal fees must either be calculated on this Valuation or on the property’s Purchase price –whichever is higher).
6. You need also have a Surveyor (usually same) prepare new Survey Plans when applying for the changeover of Title.
7. As in most cases, you may be required to pay a 10% deposit on the purchase price in order to secure the property. This amount could be required upon signing the Purchase & Sale Agreement –which would also indicate the date for paying the balance of the purchase price.
8. This 10% deposit may either be made out to the owner where there is no encumbrance against the title or to the agent or the Lawyer who would hold such deposit in escrow. With this, a refund could be made to you if the owner is not able to pass good title.
9. To complete the sale you need to pay the balance of the purchase price and all fees to the Lawyer as per the Purchase & Sale Agreement.
10. The Lawyer prepares a Memorandum of Transfer (MOT) which is executed by the owner and after payment of the pre-requisite transfer fees at the Treasury, presents the MOT along with other relevant documents (title forms, survey plans, valuation and the original duplicate title obtained from the owner) to the Land Registry for the processing of a title in your name as the new owner.

Transfer Fees

• 2%    Stamp Duty
• 1% Judicial Fees
• 1%    Assurance Fund
• 2.5%    Legal Fees (+15% VAT)

    (Total: 6.50%)

Transfer Fees (for Foreign Nationals)

• 10%  Alien Landholders Fee
• 2%    Stamp Duty
• 1% Judicial Fees
• 1%    Assurance Fund
• 2.5%    Legal Fees (+15% VAT)
  

    (Total: 16.50%)

    Note:

• Not inclusive of ‘Valuation’ and ‘Survey Fees’, this is charged separately. See (e) and (f) above. If the Lawyer is registered for payment of Value added tax (VAT), the legal fees would also attract 15% VAT.

• The Seller pays 2.5% Stamp Duty on the market value of the property or the purchase price, whichever the greater.

Alien Land Holders License

According to a revision of our Aliens Land Holding Act in 2007, all foreigners purchasing land irrespective of the acreage, must pay an ‘Alien Landholding’ Fee of 10% of the property value or the purchase price, whichever the greater to The Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. However, purchasers of more than 1 acre of land for personal use, or more than 3 acres of land for business purposes would be required to apply for an ‘Alien Landholding’ License.

This License is issued for a specific piece of property to a specific owner and is non-transferable. An application for this License can only be made when a deposit has been placed on a property. The application should contain:

1. Particulars of the Ownership, location and current value of the property in question.
   
2. The purpose for which the property is to be utilized
3. The land Plan – prepared by a licensed surveyor.
4. Application Fee Receipt.
5. Any other information required by the Minister.

With the exception of Agricultural Development, the application must contain an approval from the Planning Division for any Development Project or the development of any Building Estate.