Harry Manning Associates

In Depth

Harry Manning Associates was established in 1995 by Harry Manning, a qualified Land Surveyor, and his then future wife, Natalie Williams. HMA might be a fledgling when placed next to the old established Barbados Real Estate companies, but if you are looking for a superb one-to-one service when looking for Barbados properties for sale, the age of the company has no significance.

Another difference between HMA and most other Real Estate companies on the island is that he will only take on properties for management or rentals for those that have used HMA as project managers for new builds. In addition to Land Surveying, Property Valuations and Real Estate the company does offer an excellent project management service as well as bespoke interior design - this is where Natalie's keen eye and expertise comes into play.

As with all the best Real Estate companies on Barbados, HMA is family owned and run. Harry and Natalie Manning are the company, although they have a valuable supporting team. Harry's strength, apart from his skills on the polo field - he is a long-standing member of the Barbados Polo Team - is the personal service he gives and the excellent contacts he can call upon on your behalf when looking after your building or house. Harry will act as a location agent (for no extra charge) and find the parcel of land or the perfect property for you.

Of his motivation, Harry says 'I like putting together the sale of the property primarily. Secondly, as a Barbadian I feel a sense of pride when foreigners come here, invest in Barbados and are happy with their new property. Thirdly, I enjoy meeting people and showing them around properties and getting to know them. And in the case of visitors to the island, telling them about Barbados. My strengths against the competition are that I can respond quicker, and that I can offer a more personal service. We can also offer basically a one stop shop, where we can put everything together for you through our extensive network of contacts.'

Harry's contacts are significant in all of this - he comes from good stock in terms of knowing the land - his father was a sugar planter for 40 years of his life; his 'Uncle Cow' (Sir Charles Williams) is one of the biggest landowners and entrepreneurs on Barbados; and his wife is the daughter of the award winning developer, Bizzy Williams, one of the developers at Port St Charles. In fact Natalie's father won the award for Caribbean Entrepreneur in 2001 and also won the Development Category in the World Entrepreneur Awards sponsored by Ernst & Young that same year in Monaco. He is the only Barbadian to have done so. It is not hard to see that Harry can genuinely call upon help from every quarter, and he can usually buy in at prices you would never get for yourself.

'Real Estate has changed since I started 10 years ago', says Harry. 'Property prices have shot up, especially along the West Coast. I remember one particular property selling for just over US$3 million in the early 90's, just when the recession was ending. That was considered a lot of money at that time. Today it would probably sell for over US$10 million. I remember land selling for Bds$5.00 per sq. ft. in residential developments. Nowadays, if you see something for Bds$12.00 to Bds$15.00 per sq. ft. that is virtually a bargain. In really nice areas you are looking at upwards of Bds$20.00.' Needless to say for beachfront land, if you can find it, you’ll need to pay between US$100-200 per square foot.

Being the son of a sugar planter, Harry is very knowledgeable about old plantation estates and houses. Twenty years ago, you could buy a plantation of about 200 acres with a livable Great House for US$140,000 in the parishes of St. Thomas, St. George, St. John. These would be quite a bit inland where today the beautiful unspoiled countryside areas of Barbados still exists but nowadays you might need to add as much as another zero to buy one of these pieces of Barbadian history!

If you want to find one of these fine old homes, a piece of land, an investment property or simply the villa of your dreams and you want someone whom you can trust to take care of every aspect of your
project, give Harry a call.

Polo

We can't end this review without telling you about Harry's other passion in life - aside from his wife and children - polo. We have mentioned 'Uncle Cow' - Sir Charles Williams - a famed polo player amongst other accomplishments, who at the age of 72 still played the game and has been a great influence in Harry's life from an early age. At the age of thirteen Harry made 'the good mistake' of riding by the Polo Field at Holders one afternoon. His Uncle Cow stuck a helmet on the young boy's head, shoved a mallet in his hand, slapped the mare on her ass and before he could utter a protest, Harry found himself in the middle of his first chukka. He was instantly hooked and more than 25 years later, still able to make the Barbados polo team, Harry remains as hooked as ever.

Project Management

As an absentee owner of a property in Barbados, it is crucial that you have someone you can trust to take care of refurbishment or building works. The beauty about the good real estate agents on Barbados is that they can generally be relied upon to deal with all aspects of your purchase from the initial property search through to the completion of the project. Harry's one-to-one service is probably unmatched on Barbados.

If you are looking for land upon which to build, Harry will help you with the purchase (find a good lawyer), and then put you with a good architect as well as get your plans through Town Planning. He will source a reputable builder and landscaper etc and he'll take good care of your property when it is complete.

Interior Design

Having seen three important examples of Natalie Manning's work, we can testify to her flair for interior design. Natalie has always had a love for interior decorating and an artistic eye but her commercial introduction as a designer was a baptism of fire.

As their business grew they relocated their office in 1996 from home to Warrens in St Michael. At that time the Port St Charles development started construction. Natalie's father bought a three bedroom apartment in Phase 1. He arrived one day at HMA's offices and told her that she had to furnish it in three month's time and have it ready to be a show unit for the official opening of the development. Apparently the 'competition' came in the form of the ex-wife designer of the famed architect, Ian Morrison, who had been asked to furnish the other show apartment and was being flown in from California at the developer's expense.

Somewhat overawed but not to be outdone, Natalie put herself on a plane to Florida, bought everything she needed and got the unit ready for the opening. The author of this review can personally testify to the excellence of her work having been one of the first people in the apartment. She won the order to furnish the rest.

Natalie works with the client on a one on one basis, meeting with them in Barbados either in her office or on site. In many instances she has come up with designs working from the architect's floor plans while the villa was still under construction. She works with each client to ascertain their individual tastes and then puts together a package to suit their needs using local craftsmen and materials wherever possible. She has a tremendous range of products to choose from and her strength is going the extra mile to satisfy her clients and this has shown up in a lot of repeat business for her.

Harry tells us: 'It has got to the point that clients will only talk to Natalie. No one else will do even when it is for something as simple as eight new water glasses. Natalie must choose them. It is really silly, but that's how it is.'