Has anyone bought a property in Mauritius before?

[terrifishpie]

Help! We are from the UK and are looking at buying a property in Mauritius as an investment with a view to finally moving there. We're looking at a property in this new development.

We have searched the internet and read as much as we can on Mauritius but everything we read obviously only promotes the island.

We're looking for people who have personal experiences of buying property in Mauritius and insider knowledge of the island.

We'd like to know things like the current political situation (is it stable?) and is it as easy for foreigners to buy as stated on the Emerald Heights website?

PS. Government officials need not respond.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Dietmar]

Hello terrifishpie,

welcome to the forums!

I spent some time on the emerald heights website and also watched the 3D video. It is not clear to me what kind of investment form this is except that you'll be buying an asset. Is it something that will be rented for you while you are away ? Are there some rules like, that you can stay in there for only 3 months a year and for the rest of the time it must be rented and you'll earn a percentage on that ? These are some forms of investement I have heard of in the IRS (Integrated Resort Schemes) thats suddenly become very popular over here.

We have searched the internet and read as much as we can on Mauritius but everything we read obviously only promotes the island.

Maybe this will help you out more:
Government of Mauritius

We're looking for people who have personal experiences of buying property in Mauritius and insider knowledge of the island.

I do not have personal experience in buying though. But I can say that I have some insider knowledge of the island as I live here I also run this forum and the main site www.isla-mauricia.com

A friend of mine runs this site: http://www.move2mauritius.com/
I just checked, it was down though, maybe it will be back up online later on.

We'd like to know things like the current political situation (is it stable?) and is it as easy for foreigners to buy as stated on the Emerald Heights website?

Yes it has been stable since the eighties.
If Emerald Heights does all the paper work for you, then maybe it gets a little easier. But I'm not well informed of all the requirements. But for sure the government does want to make it easy for foreigners to aquire such assets.
But if you'll be granted permanent residence will be another story. I read last year that there is a minimum investment that needs to be made in order to be eligible for a permanent residence. I guess it was at around EUR 500 000.
The company where you'll be buying should know that better.

Well, I hope those little bits of information might help you out. Feel free to ask more questions. Would be also nice to hear back from you, how you are progressing and how it went as this interests me as well.

[terrifishpie]

Hi Dietmar

Thanks for your response - really detailed and useful.

My partner and I are looking at it as an investment as a second home. They're freehold properties that cost between Euros 275,000 for apartments, and villas from Euros 895,000 (inclusive of furniture package, taxes and fees). We're looking at the Jasmin property.

Reading the website, it looks relatively easy to get residency.Below is also a snippet of information I found regarding residency according to Erna Low Property who are in charge of the development:

"Emerald Heights is approved by the Mauritius Board of Investment and designated as a Real Estate Scheme (RES). This makes the Island a serious choice for international investors. The RES allows purchase of freehold title to residential property. Mauritian residency for a purchaser and immediate dependents is available through a number of simple procedures enabling a qualifying purchaser to achieve resident status."

Thanks again for all the information.

[Dietmar]

Hello terrifishpie,

thanks for getting back with me on this which is a theme I am particularly interested to know more about.

Reading the website, it looks relatively easy to get residency.

You will get it if you fulfill certain requirements. I don't think that Jasmin does fulfill this but the government will allow for foreigners to buy such form of properties as an investment but will not give a permanent residence.

As I understand from the website, this is the type of investment you are looking at:

"...allow our professional Concierge service to take care of rentals and lettings, management and maintenance schedules, relieving you of every tiny detail."

So like many other IRS Projects you will benefit from the lettings and earn a percentage but you probably cannot stay for the full year in there. Also depends on your contract.

Look what it says on their website also:

"...By becoming a proud owner at Emerald Heights, the Mauritian government can process for you a residency application that can benefit you and your family with great tax advantages. Our sales team would be glad to discuss this with you...."

Yes, so the government will process your application and then grant you possibly a residence permit. They don't come that cheap. But first it would be good to know what exact requirements need to be fulfilled for you to get it. I was talking to a collegue this afternoon about RES and who just moved over here as an expat. He was telling me that with an RES investment below $500 000 you don't get the resident permit.

So since you dont get the residence permit with an RES investment that is below $500 000 (jasmin 275'000 Euro = 363'902 US Dollar), thus it means you wont be able to stay a full year in your apartment, and for the time you can't stay it will be rented for you and generate revenues.

Some links for you:
RES*-*Mauritius Properties
BOI Portal: Mauritius opens to the world

You might like to read this PDF for RES companies in Mauritius:
http://www.investmauritius.com/downl...%20Answers.pdf

RES PROJECT IN MAURITIUS
on this site it says in big: "

If you purchase a property under the Real Estate Scheme that is worth or above US$ 500,000, this qualifies you for permanent resident status in Mauritius

"

Now, I am just sharing with you some information, but you shouldn't rely on my data to make your decision: I'M NOT and Expert in this field. See it as an open discussion. I would be interested to know though what the Sales experts will tell you about this, about the resident permit, etc.

Another question I would like to ask you is what is your motivation to move to Mauritius ?

[pbrough]

The only property non-Mauritians can purchase legally is IRS and RES schemes. Before you buy a IRS or RES make sure it is fully registered. There are property developers that are taking advantage of foreigners who seek to buy property in Mauritius. There is a huge court case regarding a property developer who has stolen millions of dollars from foreign property investors. If it isn't RES or IRS it isn't yours. Please let us know if we can help more. My wife and I run a consulting practice to help people move to Mauritius.

[Dietmar]

Hi Paul,

nice to have you with us here in this forum. Thanks a lot for your valuable comments. Am sure this will interest many investors and that your company can be of good help and ressource to them. Looking forward at reading more of your experience and insights of this place! Catch up with you soon! Dietmar