Most cross-border buyers arrive at Albany expecting a familiar Bahamian closing with a resort membership stapled to the end. That is not what the transaction is. An Albany purchase runs on three clocks at once: the conveyance itself, the residency filing, and the club membership. Each has its own paperwork, its own counterparty, and its own timeline. Sequenced well, they finish within weeks of each other. Sequenced poorly, a buyer holds keys to a residence months before the residency card arrives and years before the membership tier is settled.
The mistake is treating the three as one process. This is a walk through what each clock actually measures.
The conveyance clock
A Bahamian purchase begins with an Agreement for Sale executed by the buyer with a deposit paid to the seller's attorney, followed by title search and completion. Transactions typically take three to six months to complete, and for non-Bahamian purchasers there are regulatory applications to be made either before or after completion, monitored by the Bahamas Investment Authority.
Two line items dominate the buyer's ledger. The first is VAT on conveyance, formerly called stamp duty. Foreign buyers pay a flat 10% VAT on conveyance regardless of property value, typically split 50/50 between buyer and seller in a gross sale, making the buyer's effective share 5%. In a net sale the buyer may cover the full 10%. The split is negotiable and should be stated clearly in the Agreement for Sale. The second is legal work: attorney fees for closings are typically 2.5% of the conveyed price plus VAT, plus a small recording fee at the Public Registry, with buyer and seller each responsible for their own attorney.
One recent procedural change matters more than any of the numbers. The Conveyancing Amendment Act 2025 now requires a VAT invoice from the Department of Inland Revenue before deed execution. In practice, this inserts a government-issued invoicing step into what used to be a straight line from title search to signing. Counsel who work Albany transactions regularly build this into their timeline. Counsel who do not can lose a week or two learning the new choreography.
Two registrations sit alongside the deed. Non-Bahamians who buy land for which a permit is not required must register their purchase with the Foreign Investment Board, and should also register their investment with Exchange Control at the Central Bank of The Bahamas to ensure that upon resale they will be able to remit the net proceeds outside the Bahamas in the currency of the original investment. The Exchange Control registration is the one buyers most often overlook because it produces nothing they need on move-in day. It matters at exit, sometimes a decade later, when the proceeds of sale need to leave the country cleanly.
The residency clock
Nearly every Albany buyer will file for Economic Permanent Residency. The programme was rewritten at the start of 2025, and the terms are not the ones circulating on older sites.
The Bahamas government increased the minimum investment amount required for the Economic Certificate of Permanent Residence category to BSD 1,000,000, up from the previous minimum of BSD 750,000, effective January 1, 2025. Under this category, foreign nationals must invest the minimum amount in real estate in the Bahamas or in Zero-Coupon Bonds issued by the Central Bank. Effective January 1, 2025, certificate holders must keep their investment for at least 10 years; otherwise, the Immigration Board may revoke their residence status.
Albany's price floor makes the threshold question academic and turns the timing question into the real one.
| EPR route | Qualifying investment | Typical processing |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | USD $1M to $1.5M | 6 to 18 months |
| Priority | USD $1.5M and above | 3 to 6 months |
Purchases at $1,500,000 or above access the accelerated government processing track, with approvals typically issued more quickly. Purchases between $1M and $1.5M follow standard processing of 3 to 6 months. Because Albany villas, marina residences, and custom sites start well above the priority band, virtually every Albany buyer qualifies for the fast track. The advantage is real, but it is not automatic. Counsel has to file it that way, with the correct supporting proofs of the qualifying investment attached to the deed as recorded.
Two clarifications worth carrying into the conversation with counsel. The EPR grants the right to reside permanently in the Bahamas. It does not confer the right to work. Investors who intend to operate a business or take employment in the Bahamas must apply separately for the appropriate work permit. And residency is not tax residency. Tax residency is the jurisdiction in which you are considered resident for tax purposes. Holding an EPR certificate supports a claim to Bahamian tax residency, but genuine tax residency also requires physical presence and demonstrable connection to the jurisdiction. The two concepts are related but they are not the same thing.
The membership clock
The third clock is the one that surprises even experienced buyers, because it does not resemble anything they have closed on before. Albany's amenities sit inside NEXUS Club, and NEXUS membership is a separate contract from the residence.
That structure has consequences on both sides of the transaction. On the buy side, the residence price and the membership dues have to be read together. On the sell side, a departing owner cannot hand membership to the buyer as part of the deed. Membership terms and any transfer mechanics sit with the club, not with the seller. What a buyer inherits, and what they have to renegotiate from scratch, is a question that has to be answered in writing before the deed is signed.
Before closing, ask counsel to confirm in writing:
- Which NEXUS membership tier the household intends to hold, and the annual dues at that tier
- Which specific rights convey with the residence (slip assignment for marina residences, cart privileges, storage, staff access) and which do not
- Whether the current owner holds any founding-era benefits that will not transfer
- The timing between deed execution, membership application, and expected activation
The marina-resale pivot
There is a fourth piece of context that reshapes how a 2026 Albany purchase is negotiated, even though it is not strictly a closing item.
The marina residence market is in the middle of a structural shift this year. Ten buildings ring the harbour, designed by a rotating cast of firms including Morris Adjmi, HKS, Gwathmey Siegel, OOAK, Bjarke Ingels Group, and Squire & Partners. Squire & Partners describes Cirrus as the final piece of the Albany Marina residential masterplan, and Albany's own sales collateral is explicit that Cirrus is the tenth and final residential building to be developed around the marina. Coral by Bjarke Ingels Group handed over its first units at the end of 2024. Cirrus is scheduled to hand over its final units at the end of 2026.
When Cirrus closes out, the marina moves from a mixed developer-plus-resale market to a resale-only market. Pricing power shifts from a sales office trying to clear inventory by year-end to individual owners with individual reasons to list. For a buyer, that means the negotiating frame changes. The right comparable is no longer the sheet price of the next release. It is the last two or three private resales, adjusted for floor, orientation, and whatever slip rights the deed carries. Counsel and broker should be building that comparable file before the first offer goes in.
Sequencing the three clocks
The conveyance runs three to six months. Priority-track EPR runs three to six as well, sometimes faster. NEXUS membership runs on its own review cadence. A well-run Albany closing files EPR concurrently with the purchase rather than waiting until after the deed is recorded, and opens the membership conversation before contracts are signed rather than after keys change hands. The Bahamas Investments Board registration, the Central Bank Exchange Control filing, and the VAT invoice from Inland Revenue are handled inside the conveyance, not tacked on afterward.
None of this is exotic. It is the same set of moves any experienced Nassau counsel has run many times. What makes Albany specific is the density of moving parts inside a single transaction, and the fact that a small misordering shows up months later as a residency approval that does not line up with a school year, or a membership question that should have been settled before the offer.
A short FAQ
Is the 10% VAT on conveyance always split 50/50? It is the market convention on a gross sale, not a legal requirement. In a net sale, the buyer may cover the full 10%. The split is negotiable and should be stated clearly in the Agreement for Sale. The line to negotiate is in the agreement, not at closing.
Do I have to live in the Bahamas full-time to keep EPR? No. Full-time residency is not required. The expected minimum presence is approximately 90 days per year. Your certificate may be reviewed if you are absent from the Bahamas continuously for three or more years.
Can I sell the property before ten years? Not without putting the residency at risk. Effective January 1, 2025, certificate holders must keep their investment for at least 10 years; otherwise, the Immigration Board may revoke their residence status. Some buyers plan for a rolling qualifying asset rather than a fixed one; that is a conversation for counsel before the first purchase, not after.
Does the residence come with a marina slip? Sometimes. Slip assignments live with the deed on some marina residences and with the club on others. Ask specifically, in writing, before the offer.
The Hillier Team at Philip Hillier works Albany transactions inside the wider H.G. Christie network and coordinates counsel, residency filings, and membership conversations on a single timeline. If an Albany purchase is on the calendar for the next twelve months, a short scoping call now will save several weeks later. Get a free home valuation, or a buyer-side scoping conversation, at your convenience.
