Investment Properties for Sale Havana
Investment Properties for Sale Havana
For over 50 years, the US embargo business with Cuba excluded Americans and discouraged people from other nations from participating in real estate transactions on the island nation. In fact, since the embargo was passed by the US Congress in 1961, conducting business in Cuba, which is only a short flight from Miami, has been virtually impossible.
Even today, many types of business transaction are considered illegal for US citizens under the Trading with the Enemy Act, but with US President Barack Obama easing diplomatic tensions with Cuba’s leaders – achieved with support and encouragement from many Cuban-Americans – the freeze on purchasing properties in Havana and beyond has quickly started to thaw.
As is the case in any emerging market, investors have long used so-called “under the table” methods to purchase property in Cuba. Foreigners often funnel funds to a Havana resident friend or relative to buy property, holding the title under the Cuban national’s name. Such approaches will doubtless continue, at least until President Raul Castro’s government totally ease restrictions on purchasing property.
Cuban-Americans can also send up to $8,000 annually to relatives or dependents in Cuba, and they can take up to $10,000 cash with them on each trip to the island. This can add up to substantial sums for purchasing properties for sale in Havana, but, again, they would have to be held in a Cuban national’s name.
Recently, however, new laws have opened up Cuba’s property markets to other forms of international investment. Non-resident foreigners can now purchase properties through a totally owned foreign capital Cuban company, via an international economic association agreement, or they can create a joint venture company with a Cuban national to buy real estate assets.
Another new policy is further boosting interest from non-Cuban buyers. One-year, renewable residence visas are also now available for foreigners who purchase properties. This positive change has clearly charged up Cuban nationals with Havana properties for sale, and they are swiftly renovating many of the capital’s dilapidated properties in the hope of attracting investors from around the world.
