USVI-On-Line

thanks for the update...

I will definitely take some time to read those updates! We all need something on a lighter note - thanks!!

Thanks, Pia! I needed a lighter note right now!
Things are moving along!

Yeah!!

What an awesome labor of love Pia!

Thank-you so much for posting all the pictures and updates of your project! It is my dream to one day do the same in beautiful St. John. Do you currently live there? How did this come to be? Keep the pictures and updates coming, please!

I love your updates too! I am an armchair dreamer so I love reading about your adventure and dreaming it's mine!!

Thanks everyone

For Chicago08........We live here full time (I know we are very lucky) Les is a Real Estate Broker, I am a Realtor and also own an excursion booking company - St John Excursions (booking all activities on St John - boat rentals, sailing trips, fishing charters, parasailing, dinghy rentals etc)

Here is a little history on our home that I had posted (I think on the blog but maybe here as well)......

If you go to “About On A Whim” there is a little bit of info on us and how we arrived on St John.

As far as finding a home – in 2002/2003 we were actually looking for land (back when you could buy a fantastic lot for not a lot of money) and one day looked in a Real Estate magazine and noticed a full year ownership at Gallows and it sounded like a good plan (unfortunately Gallows does not allow people to live full time on property which we did not know – we were true “newbies” but it might have worked because we were not looking to live full time on island yet – someday in the future)

We had an appointment with a Realtor that had shown us land on a previous trip to look at more land and when we mentioned the unit at Gallows he said “I didn’t know you were interested in a house – there is an open house happening in 30 minutes if you want to join me we can go look at it but keep in mind I have not yet seen it so have no idea what it might be like” Well it was a Friday, second day of vacation and we were totally open to the idea so off we went to Coral Bay.

We pulled into the driveway (there was one other couple just leaving) and I was less than impressed to say the least (I will post pictures at the end of the remodel so everyone can see what I saw) and even less so when I walked into the house. There was NO WAY Les would buy this house – he must be crazy – it was soooo not “us” (keep in mind we were not married only engaged at the time) It was so bad – think mold on the ceiling, dirty, rusty pots and pans in the kitchen sink, a yellow toilet and sink that was not attached to the floor in the downstairs room, a deck that was yellow and purple, dog hair covering most surfaces, an upstairs bathroom that the faucets were so rusted out you couldn’t use them etc, etc – that I decided to stand out on the deck and patiently wait for Les……..2 hours later (yes 2 HOURS) after crawling under and around every inch of this home Les said we are putting in an offer !!!!

He had done the “math” and there was no way we could build this home for what they were asking – he calculated the cost of the lot and the cost of the concrete and figured it out. So there it was – totally bought this home on a whim – by standing on the deck, feeling the breeze and looking at the view thus the name “On A Whim” because that’s how the purchase was made – on a whim. Thank goodness Les had a vision – he knew it had “potential”

I always say, if you are looking at property on St John you can’t have a better Realtor than my husband (for many, many, many reasons) but if there is “potential” in a property he will be able to spot it – you just have to be open to the idea of a fixer (some are beyond fixing ) and have patience – lots and lots of patience

Thanks for following along - happy reading

Pia

What a great story, Pia! What a beautiful job you are doing!

Les sounds like St John's version of "Property Brothers" on HGTV