For buyers
What the island does differently.
Bonaire is part of the Netherlands, priced in dollars, and sold through a notary. Almost nothing about the transaction works the way it does where you are from.
IWhere you stand
Representation that belongs to you.
A buyer arriving on Bonaire will usually deal with the broker instructed by the seller. That broker knows the work — and is doing it for the other side.
There is no central listing service
What you can see online is a fraction of what is available. A meaningful share of property changes hands before it is ever published. We assemble the field by hand, and that includes knocking on doors that are not for sale.
Owned land or erfpacht
Land is held either outright, or on a long lease from the island government against an annual ground rent. Erfpacht is not a defect; it is a different asset, priced differently. Ask how many years remain, and how high the canon is.
Anyone may buy; living here is another matter
Buying property and having the right to live on Bonaire are separate matters, decided by different authorities. Anyone may buy. Whether you may stay, and on what terms, depends on your nationality and your immigration position. Settle that before you rely on the first.
Transfer costs sit with the buyer by custom — kosten koper. Budget for them from the beginning rather than discovering them at the settlement statement.
IIWhat it costs to hold
The tax position is simpler than it sounds.
Bonaire is a special municipality of the Netherlands with a tax system of its own, and it is far shorter than the Dutch one. For most owners it comes down to two numbers: one paid once, at the notary, and one paid each year — or, if you live here, not paid at all.
Your own home is not taxed yearly
If you are resident on Bonaire and the property is your principal residence, it is exempt from the annual real estate tax. Not reduced — exempt. This is the single largest difference from owning the same house in the Netherlands.
A second home: 0.91% a year, after an exemption
The island taxes a deemed yield of 4% of the value at 17.5%, and adds a 30% island surcharge: 0.91% a year. The first $70,000 of value is exempt, so a property valued at $500,000 is taxed on $430,000 — about $3,900 a year. There is no separate annual wealth tax on top of it.
Once, at the notary: 5%
Transfer tax is five per cent of the purchase price on an existing property. New build is different: 8% ABB applies instead of the transfer tax. Either way, allow roughly two per cent more for the notary and registration, so the usual total is six to seven per cent. It is paid at transfer and never again, and the calculator above puts your own figures through it.
The dollar, not the euro
Bonaire prices, lends and settles in US dollars, while sitting inside the Dutch legal system. For a buyer earning in dollars that removes a currency risk the rest of the Dutch Caribbean does not.
Where it gets particular
Renting the property out, holding it through a company, or keeping tax residence elsewhere each change the answer, and your home country may tax what Bonaire does not. Those are questions for a tax adviser, and worth asking before you offer rather than after.
Rates current for 2026 and quoted as published by the Belastingdienst Caribisch Nederland. Oasis is a brokerage, not a tax adviser; nothing here is tax advice, and your own circumstances decide the answer.
IIIWhat it actually costs
The purchase, with the numbers on it.
Transfer costs sit with the buyer here — kosten koper — and they are the figure most people discover too late. Move the inputs and watch the cash you need at completion move with them.
The property
Assumptions you can change
Five per cent transfer tax and roughly two per cent for the notary and registration are the customary figures for an existing property on Bonaire. New build carries 8% ABB instead of the transfer tax. The notary's fee follows a scale set by the Common Court of Justice, with office costs and ABB on top, and registration is capped at about $2,500 — so the notary will quote you exactly. Mortgage terms for non-residents are typically shorter and require more deposit than you would expect at home.
Cash needed at completion
- Deposit
- $135,000
- Transfer tax
- $22,500
- Notary & registration
- $9,000
- Amount borrowed
- $315,000
- Monthly mortgage
- $2,226
- Monthly canon
- $150
- Total each month
- $2,226
An estimate on the figures you entered, not an offer of finance and not advice. Oasis does not arrange mortgages and holds no client money. The notary will give you the binding settlement statement.
IVThe handbook
The Buyer’s Handbook.
Fifteen pages on buying here: what a purchase actually costs, how it is paid for, what matters in a house on this island, and the due diligence that is done before you commit. Leave your email and it will be sent to you.
VContact
An hour, and no obligation.
We walk the property, give you a written opinion of value with the evidence behind it, and you decide.
Telephone
Languages
English and Dutch
Broker
Madison Gentry
Where we work
The whole of Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands
