Realtors Association of Jamaica (RAJ) is confident that it will be able to do what the Government has not been able to accomplish in 12 years: efficiently dispose of approximately $2 billion worth of forfeited property, about 67 items in total.

Between 2012 and 2024, the Government only managed to sell three properties — valued at $108 million — and the RAJ’s First Vice-President Gabrielle Gilpin-Hudson has welcomed the move to have the association step in.

“The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) wouldn’t be in the business of selling or marketing real estate for sale. So it makes sense for them to contract professionals with the requisite experience and expertise to do it for them,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“Realtors know the nuances of the market; this is what we do for a living. Certain properties need different approaches in terms of how you go about finding a buyer for that property,” said a confident Gilpin-Hudson when asked if the association’s members will be able to move faster than the GOJ has done in the past.

During his March 12 speech to open debate on the 2024/25 budget, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke told the country that the Financial Investigations Division (FID) intends to “engage a private company of professional realtors, in keeping with the procurement rules, to market and sell forfeited properties valued at billions of dollars”. Discussions were subsequently held with the RAJ to discuss the issue.

The association is a private, non-profit group of industry practitioners that lobbies the GOJ on matters of public policy regarding real estate and the practice of real estate business in Jamaica. Its members have experience handling properties that have, for example, been put to public tender after the mortgagor has defaulted; but it has never had to deal with this scale of business from the GOJ. While she conceded that it will likely not be easy to handle the portfolio, Gilpin-Hudson said RAJ members will tap into skills honed from years in the industry.

“Realtors can sell anything that’s priced to sell; whether they are priced to sell will depend on the specific property. Sometimes the valuation process of [properties put to public tender] is prohibitive to investors, because they’re not seeing the value proposition. You also have potential titling issues with property. So it’s a seized property, yes, but the property could have breaches of its title that pose a challenge, or limit the amount of people that would be willing to buy it with those issues with the title,” she explained.

In addition to being a realtor, she is also a partner at the law firm Grant, Henry and Rhooms.

“You also have cases where some of these properties are occupied, and that poses challenges in terms of actually getting people to be able to come and look at the properties. Sometimes these properties are sold sight unseen, and it is after the sale is completed that the purchaser would now then have to go and get an order for the ejectment of any occupiers of the property. These properties may require a little extra work by the purchaser but sometimes they’re able to get them at better prices and deals, and that is why persons generally look at them as opportunities,” she added.

In fact, there are some experienced realtors who focus on this niche of the market. They know how, and have the time to prepare potential buyers for any challenges that may come their way; they know that there are some properties that you only view from the safety of your car and they know that it’s best to avoid unexpected visits to a property where the tenant refuses to vacate. The RAJ routinely offers members guidance on how to deal with these hurdles.

“It’s just occupational hazard, we’re used to it, and we just deal with it as best as possible,” said Gilpin-Hudson.

It is unclear why the GOJ did not enlist the RAJ’s help earlier in getting the proceeds from the 67 properties into its coffers.

“I am not sure why we wouldn’t have necessarily been approached before. But I’m made to understand that it could have something to do with the procurement process that some of these things have to go through,” Gilpin-Hudson told the Sunday Observer. “When we spoke with the ministry, they said that they are in the process of going through that procurement process. So the details of any potential arrangement to dispose of the properties on their behalf are yet to be seen.”

While there is a possibility that one realtor will be assigned the portfolio en bloc to ensure that it receives dedicated and personalised attention, the RAJ hopes the properties will be made available for everyone to market and sell via the multiple listing service (MLS).

“The MLS gives anybody who feels like they can take it on, the opportunity to market it. When you have a specific person that you list it through, everybody else can still have the opportunity to bring buyers for it but they have to go through that person and then there is a dedicated point person. There are pros and cons to both approaches,” explained Gilpin-Hudson.

“Either way, we would love to see those properties on the MLS because it gives properties the widest exposure. Anything that goes on MLS is in front of the eyes of our more than 1,000 realtors, plus it’s searchable online by members of the public,” she added.

Regardless of the approach taken to listing, proceeds from the sale of 27 of these properties will have to be shared with overseas interests as their seizure arose from matters beyond Jamaica’s borders. The GOJ has indicated that this batch is worth about $685 million. It will not have to split the roughly $1.2 billion that it estimates the remaining 41 properties will fetch as it came by those based on local cases that involved breaches of the domestic Proceeds of Crime Act.

Offloading the items will also save taxpayers money. According to Minister Clarke, over the last 12 years the FID’s Asset Recovery Board has had to shell out $150 million to maintain its portfolio of real properties.