| We bought a house in paradise. We have been looking
while we traveled and we finally found it. Admittedly we were in a better position
to buy it after selling our house in Marin to our tenant. We got a very good deal and there is the opportunity for others to get in
on this. There are some draw backs to Vanuatu, particularly for an American.
The main problem is that it is difficult to get to. The only airport capable of
receiving jets is in the capital of Port Vila. From there it is a short flight to
Luganville. Port Vila has no direct flights to the US so you have to come through
Fiji with an overnight layover or through New Zealand which is out of the way.
Needless to say it is costly and time consuming. They are upgrading the airport at
Luganville to accept jets with the idea of receiving charter flights from Australia but
hopefully this will lead to flights directly from Fiji, Hawaii or maybe even Los Angeles
in the future. The other problem is that you can't own the land. You get a 75 year
lease with the lease fee set by the government. It works out to about US$320 for our
land each year. Edson, our custom landwoner, is very pleased with our purchase as he
was only receiving $1.50 per year for our land when it was zoned agricultural. We
actually feel this system is a good thing because the locals don't feel that their land is
being sold out from under them so it should make for a better long term relationship.
There is no property tax or income tax in Vanuatu though they are Currently only Australia and New Zealand have direct flights to Port Vila
so probably 90% of the visitors to the Santo area are Australian divers or their travel
companions. Vanuatu is viewed as a very desirable tourist destination by
Australians. Divers return often to Santo to dive the world's most accessible wreck,
the SS Coolidge. Vanuatu is an amazing combination of the modern world and traditional
island culture. The natives or "Ni-Vanuatu" have retained their customs
even as they have transitioned to Christian beliefs and they combine the two in amazing
ways. They are intelligent, proud and friendly people. It is their country and
if you lose sight of that they will remind you but they value expatriates and they
encourage immigrants that can help their country. The Luganville area was a huge US base during W.W.II. 600,000 troops
came through on their way to the major battles in the Pacific. They left behind all
manner of ruin and wreck but the star attraction is the 650 ft. luxury liner/troop ship,
SS President Coolidge. It sank after striking friendly mines and lies on its side in
almost perfect condition. It is truly amazing. The area is a divers
heaven with all manner of wreck and also beautiful coral walls and a heart pumping shark
dive. Santo is caught in a trap. It doesn't have enough visitors because
of the underdeveloped accomodations and lack of developed attractions beyond diving.
Development of accomodations, activities like golf, and transportation need to
occur together but until recently there was little progress. It appears that things
are changing rapidly and the future may be very bright for the area. Check out these recent articles. Our house is about 800 sq. ft with a large front porch under roof and we got it complete with solar power system and landscaping for under US$100,000. The property is 140 ft of waterfront which goes back 250 ft so it is big enough to build another house in the future. In our travels we have learned that there is only a limited amount of land like this in the South Pacific and we have been on the look out for an opportunity like this. Our house is in a development which is just beginning. We can put you in touch with the developers if you think you might be interested. E-mail us at gowestsf@yahoo.com . We won't receive a commission as we will pass you on as a commission free buyer but we are considering the possibility of investing in future work in the development and we now own a home there so we can't say we don't have an interest. |
implementing a 12.5% Value Added Tax. They do not require the collection of the tax
for businesses and individuals with a revenue under US$32,000 so we won't pay it on rental
income. 
They often combine a visit to Santo
with travel in other parts of Vanuatu.
There
are also amazing land excursions to see both geological wonders and W.W.II relics.
The beaches are gorgeous and unspoiled. There is a lot more to do than most people
realize because it is underdeveloped due to the transportation problems. Most
visitors are divers and they just want to dive.