Posting rules
Ads are free and placed by their owners. USVI Realty is an educational resource, not a real estate brokerage: we review ads, but we do not verify them or take part in any sale or rental.
Who may post
- The owner of the property or business, or someone the owner has authorized to advertise it.
- Licensed real estate agents, who must give their Virgin Islands license number; it is shown on the ad.
- One ad per property or business, and no more than five open ads per email address.
What you can advertise
- Homes, condos and land for sale; long-term rentals; vacation rentals; and businesses for sale.
- Only on St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix or Water Island.
- Vacation rentals must follow the territory's licensing and tax rules. Our guide to short-term rentals explains them.
Not allowed
- Anything illegal, misleading or not actually available, including bait prices and old listings.
- Photos you do not have the right to use, or photos of a different property.
- Wording that states a preference about who may buy or rent (see Fair housing below).
- Requests for payment, deposits or personal financial details in the ad.
- Duplicate ads, spam, and ads for anything other than the four kinds above.
Fair housing
- The federal Fair Housing Act forbids housing ads that state a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin.
- Describe the property, not the people you want: "two bedrooms, near the school" is fine; "no kids", "adults only" or "perfect for a couple" are not.
- We flag such wording during review, and an ad that keeps it is rejected.
How review works
- You confirm your email from a link we send; the ad is not reviewed until you do, and an unconfirmed ad is deleted after three days.
- A person reads every ad before it appears. We may reject an ad, or take one down at any time, without giving a reason.
- We do not verify ads, inspect properties or businesses, or check who owns them. Readers must check for themselves.
How long ads last
- An ad stays up for 60 days. A week before it ends we email a link to renew it for another 60 days.
- Every email to you has a link to take the ad down at once.
- Photos of an ad that has ended are deleted 30 days later.
Messages from readers
- Your email address is never shown. Readers write to you through a form on the ad, and we email you their message; you reply to them directly.
- Your phone number is shown only if you choose to show it.
- We keep a copy of each message for 12 months, as our privacy policy says.
Staying safe
- See the property, or meet the seller, before you pay anything. Be wary of an owner who is "abroad" and cannot show it.
- Never wire money, send gift cards or pay a deposit to someone you have not met.
- Check that a seller owns what they offer, and that an agent holds a current Virgin Islands license.
- If an ad looks like a scam, tell us through the contact form and we will review it.