Whew, what a wild few weeks! In case you missed it, after years of searching we finally purchased a home on the island of Eleuthera and we just got back from a whirlwind 2.5 week renovation. But, before I get too far into the details of the renovation, I thought I would share a little bit about this crazy journey we’ve been on, and how we got to this point.

Owning an island home has been a goal of ours for as long as I can remember, but it was about 5 years ago when we really started trying to put the pieces in place to make our pipe dream a reality. Between Tom and I, we own three companies and while being your own boss has its perks, it also means you’re always working. We were both getting pretty worn out and really wanted a place that would force us to step away, relax and spend quality time with our kids. We had absolutely NO idea what island we wanted to be on, or what the process would entail, but one thing we did know is we love a good challenge and we would figure it all out as we went.

Our main criteria for selecting an island was pretty straight forward. We were looking for somewhere safe with access to medical care. We also wanted somewhere relatively easy to get to, but somewhere that still felt remote, simple and adventurous.

We considered the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Roatan and Barbados, but ultimately kept feeling pulled back to the out islands of the Bahamas; specifically Eleuthera (although we also considered Andros, Abaco and Bimini). So, we decided to trust our gut, and in March of 2019, we booked a trip to Eleuthera. Eleuthera felt remote, without feeling too remote. The island is about 110 miles long and the population is around 11,000. The lifestyle there is laid back and void of major grocery store chains and fast food restaurants - something that might be a negative for many travelers, but a welcomed change of pace for us. The island is only a couple miles wide at most points, so you can enjoy the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean with a super quick drive (sometimes walk) - not something you find everywhere.

I’m not going to lie, when we first arrived we definitely felt like fish out of water, but then again, if we wanted to be comfortable, we wouldn’t have been looking there in the first place. There is something so energizing and humbling about being a bit uncomfortable. I personally find it’s when I grow the most, and we’ve found the same is definitely true for our kids. As parents, something that has always been important to us is exposing our kids to cultures and lifestyles that are different than what they’re used to. Even though we were on the island during “busy” season, almost every beach was completely empty. Our kids didn’t have any other kids or toys to play with, but after a day or so, their boredom led to incredible creativity. In a place where there was absolutely nothing to entertain them, their imaginations took off and they were truly thriving.

It was on this same trip that I took the photo I posted on IG a few weeks ago. We had already looked at several homes on our visit, but none of them felt quite right. After owning 6 homes, and selling real estate for 5 years, I am a firm believer that when you find your home, you’ll know. And, when we walked out on Ten Bay beach for the first time, I just knew the house I was gazing at was supposed to be ours. However, I had no idea it was actually for sale (and had been for 3 years at that point).

The next day we walked through the house (called Bahama Villa) in about 2 minutes flat. Our tour was quick mainly because there were renters staying there at the time and we didn’t want to be intrusive, but also because 2 minutes is about all it takes to view the entire house, ha! When we walked down to the water there was the most beautiful sea turtle that swam right up to our kids; it truly felt magical. The water was calm, clear and filled with sea-life, and Ten Bay beach is about 200 yards away. Tom really wanted an elevated property in a protected location, so that ruled out a lot of homes that sit directly on the beach. Our house sits on a cove about 20 feet above sea level and also has a small pier that will allow us to eventually have a boat, so not being directly on the beach when there is one just a few steps away felt like an easy compromise.

Despite the amazing location and my gut telling me this was our house, there was also a lot about the home that wasn’t exactly perfect, regardless of how drawn we felt to it. As I mentioned, it’s small - I mean really REALLY small. Like 800 square feet, small. We were concerned whether we could adjust to a home that was so much smaller than what we are used to. I wanted something simple, but could the home actually function for our family of 4? Ultimately, we were looking for a 3-4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with a decent size kitchen since my food allergies force me to cook quite a bit when we travel. Instead, we were now considering a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home with a kitchen two people could barely fit in at the same time.

As you can see, the house also needed a good bit of work, and given this was supposed to be a place for us to relax, we originally fooled ourselves into thinking we wanted a home that had already been updated. The reality is, we’re never drawn to renovated homes. Visualizing and improving properties is pretty engrained in both of us, so while finding a newly renovated home sounded appealing, the truth is, it was never going to happen. We have yet to buy a property whether residential or commercial that doesn’t need a ton of work, so why would we start now!? What’s funny is, we both viewed Bahama Villa online and neither one of us ever gave it a second glance, but once we were there, the charming grounds and amazing location sold us.

We also thought we wanted a home on the Atlantic/ easterly side (Tom still loves the Atlantic), but when we saw how calm and clear the Caribbean water is, we quickly changed our minds. Not only is it stunning, but the calm water felt like the safer choice with young kids and for boating and water sports.

We decided to wait on making an offer until after we returned to the states to evaluate all the pros and cons with a clear head and make sure we weren’t making a rash decision. We decided to go for it and in April of 2019, we made an offer. However, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by our closing date of May 2021, the process didn’t go quite like we envisioned. Despite the home being on the market for 3 years without any strong offers, the sellers didn’t accept our offer, so we went back to the drawing board.

Then COVID hit and we pressed the pause button since it didn’t make a ton of sense to buy a property we might never be able to visit. In July of 2020, when things started to open up a bit more, we decided to go back to the sellers and see if they would reconsider our revised offer - surely they would, right? After all, the home had been on the market another 1+ years and we were now in the middle of a global pandemic. Well - they did! We were so excited, but now we had to figure out how we were going to actually get there to inspect the property. So, in October 2020 after receiving negative PCR tests and approved health visas, we packed up all our masks, sanitizer and Clorox wipes and went to inspect the home.

Turns out, there were a few points of discrepancy on the house stats and we discovered quite a bit of deferred maintenance. None of this really scared us, but it did change our valuation of the property so we went back to negotiating. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come to agreed terms with the sellers, so we walked away (again) and continued to search.

In January of 2021 we put an offer in on another home, but the sellers had just accepted an offer hours before ours. In hindsight, it was for the best. The home was much larger than I really wanted and it sat on almost 5 acres which was amazing, but the upkeep would have been daunting.

So the search continued, and while we searched, we evaluated ALL the options…larger properties, vacant land with the plan to build, land with an old structure that we would renovate into a guest house and then build another home on…if it was an option, we considered it. However, the entire time I couldn’t shake the feeling that Bahama Villa felt like our home. So, one morning I asked Tom what he thought about going back to the sellers one last time. After all, we already knew the property and exactly what we were getting into - and from a location standpoint, nothing else came close. Searching for a home thousands of miles away isn’t quick or easy and from my perspective, we were losing quality years of the life we envisioned for our kids searching for the “perfect” property when really, with our skillsets, we could make Bahama Villa perfect enough for us. He agreed it was worth another shot, so we went back to our most patient real estate agent, Jonathan (who also represented the sellers and was amazing at the tricky dynamics associated with a limited agency transaction) and told him if the sellers would reconsider our final offer, we would close ASAP. Well, it turns out they accepted and off we went to the closing.

HA, just kidding! Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple…

As most of you know, in the US when you buy a property (I’m speaking to the midwest, it’s done different on the coasts), your agent submits a purchase agreement, the sellers counter or accept, you inspect, appraise and secure a loan (if needed), get clear title from the title company and close. From a timing standpoint, that can happen in 30-40 days (less if a cash deal). Well, the process in the Bahamas is much different and for us went something like this…

-Days to weeks of verbal negotiations followed by a Letter of Intent (LOI) which may or may not have more back and forth between the buyer and seller

-Then an attorney drafts up a contract (add at least another month)

-Buyer and seller (who by the way is actually referred to as the “vendor”) make more changes to the contract, add a few more weeks

-Wait! It’s COVID - don’t forget to add in more time to figure out contingency language for that

-Finally, about 1.5 months (if you’re lucky) after an agreed LOI, you sign the contract and from there you start to countdown to your closing date. Keep in mind, the home isn’t locked down until you get to a signed contract, so there’s a lot of stressful waiting and time for things to fall apart.

-Oh, and you also need to provide police records, personal references, and LOTS of other documentation you might never think of (I love that they do this, by the way)

**please know, I am not critiquing the Bahamian real estate process, just pointing out the differences with an international purchase that we weren’t expecting.

When we finally got through all the hoops, I booked flights for me and Tom to head down and close on the home. There was one problem though, after weeks of trying to figure out where the closing documents were, we finally figured out FedEx had put them completely hidden underneath our front door mat. Turns out, they had been there for 2+ weeks and they were sopping wet by the time we found them. At this point, it was 3 days before we were leaving for the closing which meant there was no way the signed documents would be back to the Bahamas in time for the sellers to close while they were still on the island. This also meant we had about a day before we left to get the funds wired, and the funds can take almost a week to clear, so if something went wrong, we wouldn’t be in the states to address it. We also had no idea if a few tax questions had been addressed and “clear” title was still a bit uncertain. Sound like a mess? Well, it was and I’m actually simplifying how things really went down quite a bit. Needless to say, the process was so long, complicated and stressful (and remember we both have substantial real estate experience), at times I was sure God was trying to tell us to RUN.

But, despite all the red flags, once we made up our minds to go back to Bahama Villa for the THIRD time, we never wavered. We joked that international real estate is not for the faint of heart, but continued along while reminding ourselves constantly that nothing worthwhile is easy. We also had to remind ourselves that part of why we love the Bahamas is for their laid back way of life and we had to respect their way of doing all things, including real estate transactions.

So, after an insanely intense few days leading up to closing (I was literally emailing documents from the airport), on May 3rd, 2021 our dream finally became a reality and along with that came ALL the emotions and ALL the planning for the home renovation (which I will start to share this week).

I really can’t put into words how incredibly grateful and excited we are for this next chapter. We will forever cherish the many lessons learned and memories gained on the long and windy road to get here, and are excited for all the adventures that lie ahead.