Cuba announcement- Real Estate Brokers are now allowed in Cuba
For over 50 years it has been illegal to sell real estate in Cuba. 
Most real estate transactions in the past have been under the table, a sort of black market. The government also kept a super tight grip on any construction. That is one of the reasons that homes, apartment buildings and business building turned into ghettos and shacks. Just the transaction of buying a bag of cement looks like a big drug deal in Cuba. If you got caught working on fixing your house without proof of how you came by the materials to do so, the government would confiscate your home.
As we know, whenever you dissalow a selling of any commondity, property or item if people still want it they will find a way to get it. This is how black markets get created and thrive.
Real estate became legal to trade about a year ago in Cuba. But you can only trade it with one party.
Since Raul Castro has taken over as the leader of Cuba he has been loosening up the total government control and allowing little by little some independent workers and small business owners. Most people work for the government in heavily controlled environments. For many of the 50 years, people each earned $20 per month working for the government. Doctors get paid $300 to $400 per month and are not allowed to moonlight.
But on December 14th, the economic czar announced that they are now going to allow:
- Real estate brokers
- Delivery persons
- Antique dealers
- Produce vendors
To be among the new independent worker force which has been rising in Cuba.
The first thing that comes to my mind is how in the world does the government come up with the work that is allowed? I mean, do they have meetings where they discuss which ones will pay more taxes or which ones will be less of a threat to freedom? It really makes no sense, does it?
There are now 180 approved independent worker jobs. The number has grown to 400,000 people working in these jobs which has already doubled since 2010 when more independent worker categories opened up.
Real Estate in Cuba is totally buyer beware, caveat emptor. There is little sense of property values and a lot of education about the buying and selling process needs to take place in Cuba.
The government is hoping for more taxes from real estate transactions but the people of Cuba have learned to live in underground style of a world where they do what they have to do in order to survive. Many people who are selling their properties are telling the buyers to put money in the sellers bank account in Spain.
Many people want to sell their homes to move to the United States to live with their relatives here. But unless you live in Cuba and have made your money through under the table ways the average family can not even buy a $3,000 apartment in Cuba. The people who are going to make money in real estate in Cuba are the ones who already know how to work the system or are involved with corruption and those who are married to foreigners who have money.
While it is no where near where the country needs to be, sometimes a small spark like this can create big change we certainly hope for- for the sake of our relatives still stuck in Cuba.
Welcome new real estate brokers in Cuba!
Authored by Katerina Gasset
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