A question that is always asked in real estate –

What expenses can we plan for when buying a home in Antigua?

Antigua has several property taxes, as in any location in the world:

STAMP DUTY – applies for all buyers and is 2.5% of the property price.

NON CITIZEN HOLDING LICENCE (NCHL) – this tax is required of any buyer who does not hold a citizenship of Antigua & Barbuda.

It is valued at 7% of the property price.

One more expense to consider, is the legal fees charged by the lawyer that will represent you.

This is usually estimated at 1-2% of property price.

Stamp Duty –                                    2.5%

 Non-Citizens Holding Licence –             7%

Legal Fees –                                     1-2%

Total taxes –                            10.5-11.5%

You found your dream home – now what happens?

Once both sides agree on a price, RE/MAX 365 will draw up a purchase agreement for both sides to sign and we will pass it to your representing lawyer – we have several real estate lawyers we work with that we can recommend.

The lawyers will draw a sales contract that is agreeable by both sides.

Usually, a 10% deposit is asked at this time from the buyer, to be held via escrow by the lawyer.

After the contract is signed by both sides, your lawyer will submit all the paperwork for your NCHL – Non Citizen Holding Licence.

From this point it will take between 3-6 month to finalize the sale.

Antigua also offers a Citizenship by Investment program – CIP.

This program applies to curtain real estate developments in designated areas in Antigua.

When a property is approved by this program, we will highlight that option.

There is a government processing fee of $30,000 USD for a single applicant or up to 4 applicants from the same household.

In some cases, applying for the CIP will make better financial sense than paying the 7% NCHL.

Our agents will happily assist you in understanding what is involved and helping you decide which route will work best for you.

Once you purchased your dream home, we can recommend several property management companies, depending on your needs and can direct you to the one that will be most suiting when the time comes.