Cuba has always been a country my wife and I wanted to visit. It has such an interesting history and culture, an amazing location that is close to the U.S. yet so closed off to U.S. tourism. And the idea of a country somewhat locked in time to the 50’s, before the Castro led revolution in 1960 and subsequent U.S. embargo, really held a fascination for us. So in 2016 we decided to visit this mysterious country and see for ourselves what it is like.
In 2016, President Obama was trying to open up the U.S. relationship with Cuba. Diplomatic relations had already been re-established, and the economic embargo was being dismantled. It seemed like the U.S. and Cuba had entered a new stage in their relationship and we felt a part of that.
Getting into Cuba from the U.S. was much easier than we expected. We flew to Cancun on a round trip ticket. From Cancun, we bought our tickets to Havana with Aeromexico. We still had to fill out a U.S. state department document declaring why we were eligible to visit Cuba. At this time, it still was closed to tourism, and you could only travel to Cuba under 12 different criteria. We chose ‘Educational Activity’ and turned the forms in. No one seemed to care. It was just a formality. Then we boarded the plane and we were off!
We had arranged with airbnb to rent an apartment from a family living in Havana. We even were able to pay for it from the U.S. with our credit card. But once in Cuba, your credit cards won’t work. We simply brought enough cash to last our week. You don’t need a lot of money, Cuba is very inexpensive.
Driving through Havana from the airport, you soon realize how different Cuba is. The cars are all vintage 50’s cars, in excellent shape. Traffic is sparse, most people walk or take a bus. There are incredible turn-of-the-century buildings restored to their original beauty, but most buildings are in really bad shape and will need extensive renovations. Havana represents an incredible opportunity for government and investors to work together to rebuild Havana. It really could be a jewel of the world if all those amazing buildings could be rebuilt.
The Cuban government is really struggling to fund such a massive rebuilding effort. There have been many buildings restored, but it represents only a small fraction of the number of buildings still in disrepair. Tourism will likely be the main method that the Cuban government will rely on to get those funds, but with relations with the U.S. back to being close to non-existent, it will be slow going.
Can foreigners buy property in Cuba? Actually, you can! But it is extremely limited to only a handful of properties that have a certain designation making them available to foreigners. Most properties can only be owned by Cuban nationals. And the properties open to foreign investment were way over priced in my opinion, compared to what you could buy if you could own property in Cuba.
My take on Cuba is that if things ever change to where non-Cubans can buy and renovate property (and I think this will have to happen in order to fund a comprehensive rebuilding effort), then I would be first in line to buy a property here and renovate it. A project in Havana would be fun, it should provide a great income on the short term rental market, and it would help bring Havana back to being the beautiful city it once was.
Here’s a good link for the latest information on how to travel to Cuba.
