Sunshine Properties — Sint Maarten's Upscale Real Estate Specialists

Sunshine Properties has been one of the most recognized names in Sint Maarten real estate for decades. The office sits on Welfare Road in Simpson Bay, directly across from the Simpson Bay Yacht Club and Plaza del Lago — well positioned in the commercial heart of the Dutch side's most active area.

The business is a family operation built around the Schaede name. Founder Dieter Schaede Sr. established the company's reputation over a long career on the island and remains an emeritus presence. His son Jonathan now leads the brokerage, supported by brother Dieter Jr. and a multilingual team that handles clients in English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, and Spanish — a practical necessity on an island where serious buyers arrive from every corner of Europe and the Americas.

The Inventory

Sunshine's portfolio skews consistently upscale. Villas, beachfront properties, lagoon-front condominiums, and building lots in the island's premium neighborhoods — Terres Basses, Cupecoy, Pelican Key, Point Pirouette, Beacon Hill, Dawn Beach, Oyster Pond — across both the Dutch and French sides. Prices in the current portfolio range from the mid-$500,000s to well above $3 million. The company also handles vacation rentals, long-term rentals, property management, and unusually, architectural and renovation services — a broader offer than most island brokerages.

Beyond the Transaction

What Sunshine has done consistently well over the years is advise buyers — not just show properties. Sint Maarten's real estate market has no centralized multiple listing system. The Dutch and French sides operate under different legal frameworks. The process of purchasing, registering, and owning property on the island involves navigating banking, documentation, and in some cases immigration considerations that first-time buyers find genuinely complex.

Jonathan Schaede in particular has built a reputation for guiding buyers through this process with patience — handling document preparation, bank account setup, and practical guidance alongside the property search itself. For a buyer arriving from Europe or North America with no prior experience of Caribbean property ownership, that kind of hand-holding is not a minor convenience. It is the difference between a transaction that closes cleanly and one that doesn't.

A Family Rooted in the Island

The Schaede family's connection to Sint Maarten runs deeper than the brokerage. Dieter Jr. is one of the island's first set of triplets — a distinction that gives the family a particular place in local history. His two brothers, Geraldo and Nicolas, perform internationally as The Shady Brothers, a pop duo from Saint Martin who charted in France with their debut single and collaborated on a tribute album alongside Charles Aznavour, among others. Their sister Alexandra Schaede built a career as a professional photographer, now based in Spain and shooting international tennis tournaments — her work has been published in Sports Bild, covering players including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. St-Maarten.com featured Alexandra's story in our profile of her work.

This is not a family that merely operates a business on the island. It is a family the island produced.

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• real-estate
• island-guide
• listings