Buying property in Cuba

mesproductions wrote:

Good day to you!

As you are one of the few members with a permanent residence in Cuba on this forum, I have a question. You said that you can buy property in Cuba. Does this mean that you are the sole owner of the house? I have plans to marry my Cuban girlfriend, and would like to know what happens if something goes wrong (divorce, decease). In other words, do I remain owner of the property, or does it become hers (or her famies) when this tie with a Cuban national ceases to exist?
Looking foreward to your answer,
Philippe, from Belgium

I dont know in case of decease, what happens. But in case of divorce, everything you bought after mariage is divided 50%-50% between you and your wife. The only situation in which the property bought during the marriage is not divided , is in case of donation.
For example, the previous owner of house donate it to you (legally); in this case, even if you divorce, the house is yours 100%, and your wife dont get anything.
And of course, again, the condition to buy a property on your name as a foreigner is to have the permanent residence in Cuba.

johnson mike wrote:

can i buy a house legally in Cuba i have been married to a cuban i will not do that again she  cheated me out of the house i paid for there .I would like to buy a house in my name if it is posable thank you Mike

Only if you have the permanent residence in Cuba

caliniancu wrote:

mesproductions wrote:

Good day to you!

As you are one of the few members with a permanent residence in Cuba on this forum, I have a question. You said that you can buy property in Cuba. Does this mean that you are the sole owner of the house? I have plans to marry my Cuban girlfriend, and would like to know what happens if something goes wrong (divorce, decease). In other words, do I remain owner of the property, or does it become hers (or her famies) when this tie with a Cuban national ceases to exist?
Looking foreward to your answer,
Philippe, from Belgium

I dont know in case of decease, what happens. But in case of divorce, everything you bought after mariage is divided 50%-50% between you and your wife. The only situation in which the property bought during the marriage is not divided , is in case of donation.
For example, the previous owner of house donate it to you (legally); in this case, even if you divorce, the house is yours 100%, and your wife dont get anything.
And of course, again, the condition to buy a property on your name as a foreigner is to have the permanent residence in Cuba.

caliniancu wrote:

Hi everybody
I am Canadian citizen and I have the Cuban permanent residence, which allows me to buy, sell or trade a real estate property , or car, in CUba, as any Cuban citizen. I have almost all the rights a Cuban citizen has,(i cant vote,lol) and a few more advantages.

I have been looking at permanent residence for the last while because I'm retired with good pension and live there 6 months of the year anyways....My motivation is mostly so casa will be in my name..I have researched the requirements ( a whack of paperwork and translations) My question to you please what was the time frame to get your residence there and were you approved/accepted on the first submission?

Ricardo58 wrote:

Warning,,,, Ive seen the Canadian lose the resident status after failed marriage and then lose the house to wife because lose the resident status... My advice is always rent unless something changes down the road....

Cant lose the house because ''lose the resident status''; he lost the house (probably) because was in his wife's name (only). More than that, you have one year to get rid of a propoerty if you dont have the right to (anymore) to own that property. For example, you already have 2 propoerties and you inherrit another one, you have one year to get rid of one  (the law says you can have 2 properties, one in the city and one at country side)

Armando Ruiz wrote:

There have been several sales of property in Cuba in the past year, the first thing that you should make certain of is that the property title or papers of ownership by the current owners  are certified and verified by the proper authorities, they may not be the original owners from before 1959, you should be careful with this specially in the high end property market as many mansions and small palaces that were confiscated or abandoned by the original owners may go in to litigation if there is a radical change in politics in the future, I dont think there will be any legal problems  with medium size or small properties. I believe that most if not all sales have to be arranged through an attorneys office, the paperwork and procedure may be similar to that of the US??.  There are other countries that have relations with Cuba beside Canada such as Panama, Guatemala; Costa Rica Etc. which will open an account for you even if you are not a resident of that country using an attorneys address, the best procedure is to open a corporation in one of said countries, both, a corporation and an account start as low as $1000.00, if you want it to be anonymous or bare bonds be prepared to pay up to $5,000.00 or more but the positive side of this is that you can latter certify said corporation in Cuba if you plan to do business there as a foreigner and chances are that you may be able to obtain a mortgage from a Cuban bank, I believe they are now available in certain cases.  Property insurance and property inspections I suppose would apply if you decide to finance your purchase (this is a complicated route to take in Cuba) but as a rule it is not a condition to buy a home or car.  Loans are also available for the purchase of new cars if you have a foreign corporation certified in Cuba, I dont think they finance classic automobiles but there are thousands of those already restored for sale with proper transfer. I hope this helps.

I am interested in buying a home, renovating it myself, and setting it up as a casa particular. Are there any issues I would face as an Israeli citizen doing so?