JNBS Empowerment Seminar Facilitates Buying Real Estate In Jamaica

TORONTO, Ontario – Whether you’re a Jamaican expatriate returning home to retire; a foreigner interested in relocating to Jamaica, attracted by the island’s year-round  sunshine, alluring beaches, friendly citizens and relatively low prices; or a shrewd business person interested in the profits generated by income-producing real estate, buying property in Jamaica can prove to be a sound investment.

Many returnees to Jamaica have built-up equity from owning a home abroad, while others may have accumulated money from working in the country they are returning from. These individuals will want the best they can afford in Jamaica and, experience shows, that they will want to live in an area that has all the comforts and conveniences of the homes they are leaving behind.

Increasingly, because of Jamaica’s well-developed real estate market, overseas buyers see the country as a place to invest, and with no restrictions on buying property, foreigners may purchase — or build — the property that they like.

Once a buyer has found a property, an offer is made and accepted by the vendor; or if self-building and an architect and contractor have been contracted, then financing the deal becomes paramount.

That’s where Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) can offer timely, valuable information and expertise.

The JNBS Canadian office, which was opened in 1991 in Toronto — following overwhelming requests from the Jamaican Diaspora living in Canada, for the establishment of a centre to facilitate a banking relationship with a Jamaican financial institution — is organizing and hosting a Real Estate and Financial Empowerment Seminar, this Saturday, September 27.

Jamaican expatriates’ desire to forge this relationship, according to JNBS’s website, was also fuelled by their need to own a piece of Jamaica where they hoped to retire, along with a desire to access funds when they vacationed on the island.

The JNBS seminar will offer Canadians, including returning Jamaican expats, information, insight and expertise into how to go about buying and financing property in Jamaica.

Jerrold Johnson, the Interim Chief Representative Officer for the Toronto Representative Office of JNBS, is spearheading the staging and hosting of the seminar, ably assisted by Harrington Stephenson, Operations Manager for the Toronto office.

Awarded as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America in 1992 by The Outstanding Young Americans Foundation, Johnson started his financial planning career in Vancouver, British Colombia, in 2003, with Sun Life Financial.

An alumni of Azusa Pacific University in California, USA, Johnson, who is a Financial Services Commission Licensed Dealer’s Representative in Jamaica, will present an introduction to JNBS on Saturday.

Stephenson will advise members of the audience on how to qualify for a JNBS mortgage.

Additional topics that will be presented at the seminar include:

> How to diversify and enhance your real estate portfolio with Jamaican real estate;

> Using equity from your home to purchase foreign property;

> Ways your automobile can assist, or hurt, you in qualifying for a mortgage;

> The legal process of acquiring foreign property;

> How to get pre-qualified for mortgage financing from JNBS;

> and lots more.

These topics will be presented by four experienced professionals — Camille Robotham, Jelani Daniel, and Attorneys Jerusha M. Stupart and Courtney Kazambe — steeped in legal and financing expertise and know-how.

With over 9 years of industry experience, Robotham has had the opportunity to work and develop cohesive relationships with various leaders in the mortgage industry. Her degree in Economics has equipped her to not only understand market fluctuations, it has also given her the ability to anticipate these uncertainties, and to confidently advise clients, based on the knowledge and experience that she has accumulated over the years.

Her areas of expertise include mortgage refinancing, commercial mortgages, foreclosures and second mortgages.

With over 14 years of auto credit and financing experience, Daniel, Vice President at Checklist Auto Sales, is experienced working with major banks and accredited private lenders to assist clients in a qualified fashion, and assisting clients who have bad credit to acquire auto loans.

Attorney Stupart is the Managing Partner of the law firm, Kazambe and Associates’, Caribbean office, situated in Kingston, Jamaica. She has practiced in the areas of Canadian Immigration Law, Family Law, Criminal Litigation, Civil Litigation and Real Estate, Estate Planning and Administration, and is a member of the Jamaican Bar Association.

Attorney Kazembe is the Managing Partner at Kazembe and Associates. He has a diverse litigation, estate and real estate practice that includes complex family law and commercial, civil and criminal litigation cases.

Kazembe has extensive experience appearing before all levels of courts and administrative tribunals, including appellate courts in Canada and Jamaica. He is also an expert in multi-jurisdictional law, human rights law, insurance law and Caribbean law.

The JNBS’ Real Estate and Financing Empowerment seminar, which runs from 1:00PM to 3:30PM on Saturday, September 27, is being held at Brampton’s Courtyard Marriott, 90 Biscayne Crescent.

For more information on the seminar, attendance of which is free of charge, contact Jerrold Johnson or Harrington Stephenson at (416) 784-9657.