Realtors find that the real estate business runs very differently in Cuba.

Added: (Tue Nov 23 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Stuart and Lynn Epstein, owners of Devlin McNiff Real Estate, just returned from a trip to Cuba, a society caught in a 60 year time warp. Strangely enough, one of the most fascinating things that they learned related directly to their bread-and-butter business of real estate brokerage.

They found that in the communist world of Cuba you can own real estate, so most people do own their own home, either because they did before the revolution or because the government essentially gave it to them. However, unlike a free market economy, while you may own it, you can't sell it. With the exception that, if the property ceases to work for you, if your family gets too big or too small; or if you just want another location, it is possible to swap it.

"Real Estate" agents congregate on a formerly elegant Boulevard called the Prado that connects the old city of Havana to the Malacon, the drive that runs alongside the harbor. There, on a long tree-lined promenade, agents sit on stone benches with a dog-eared book of properties that somebody wants to swap. It you find something you like, the agents arrange all the necessary "compensation," as well as the official documents needed to complete the transaction.

This simultaneously legal and underground aspect of swapping homes is typical of how the entire economy functions. As for Devlin McNiff Real Estate opening an branch in Havana...well, probably not yet.