Real Estate

RE in Dominican Republic

  • Last Updated:
  • Jan 17th, 2019 11:31 pm
Deal Addict
Aug 5, 2008
1784 posts
1108 upvotes

RE in Dominican Republic

Any thoughts, opinions or experience with purchasing and owning RE in DR?

Flights are cheap-ish, RE about 1/3 of cost in Florida.

Seems like a 2br condo in a gated community can be had for 100-150K.

Would get 4-6 weeks of use per year.

Language not a problem.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world... Those who understand binary and those who don't 💡
9 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 13, 2016
4531 posts
4060 upvotes
Never, ever buy real estate in third world places.
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2009
12381 posts
11307 upvotes
BiegeToyota wrote: Never, ever buy real estate in third world places.
+1...just rent. DR is a poor country to begin with, not like a resort where everyone caters to your whim...DR people are known to be feisty and excuse my language, wont take your shit if you have a problem with customer service, like people here who have to bite their tongue.

If you must just rent its much cheaper and less of a headache...this also allows you to visit different places each year.
Deal Addict
Aug 5, 2008
1784 posts
1108 upvotes
BiegeToyota wrote: Never, ever buy real estate in third world places.
So, I bought a condo in a South American country around 10 years ago and it's been returning around 1% per month of the original purchase price and the price of the condo has doubled. I guess it would be a good time to sell :-)

It beats any of my other investments, understanding it is higher risk, but part of portfolio.

The DR property would be a property to enjoy, more than drive a return so my bar is lower. But I suppose it should not be. Opportunity cost of the money, and this same money invested elsewhere can pay for the hard and soft cost of renting.

The soft benefits of having your own place, dishes, furniture, comforts is what appeals the most and there is a value to this. But again, I guess we can just rent a higher end place.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world... Those who understand binary and those who don't 💡
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 13, 2016
4531 posts
4060 upvotes
junkmail2002 wrote: So, I bought a condo in a South American country around 10 years ago and it's been returning around 1% per month of the original purchase price and the price of the condo has doubled. I guess it would be a good time to sell :-)

It beats any of my other investments, understanding it is higher risk, but part of portfolio.

The DR property would be a property to enjoy, more than drive a return so my bar is lower. But I suppose it should not be. Opportunity cost of the money, and this same money invested elsewhere can pay for the hard and soft cost of renting.

The soft benefits of having your own place, dishes, furniture, comforts is what appeals the most and there is a value to this. But again, I guess we can just rent a higher end place.
If I had bought property in Thailand and just sat on my behind without even renting it out I would have made out like a bandit. My issue with third world countries is that you never know who's going to scam you or what changes can the government bring. Your condo can become someone's else property with a simple forged signature. Now, you obviously have experience with this, so my advice shouldn't matter.

BTW, I understand the property price has doubled, but how easy would it be to sell? I can speak from my experience where I live that some condos take years to sell. I saw a place that the owner has been selling....get this....since the Asian financial crisis. The place looked like a museum, never lived in.
Deal Expert
Feb 22, 2011
16521 posts
21871 upvotes
Toronto
I never really understood the allure of doing this. It's going to cost you about $20k a year to carry and you are forced to always go to the same place. For that amount of money you could spend 4-6 weeks in almost any city in the world and experience different things whenever and wherever you want. Even if you buy it cash the opportunity cost is still going to push up that carrying cost. That is before you even start looking at the different risks and obligations.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Jun 26, 2005
10111 posts
1966 upvotes
Toronto
Probably easier to just invest in the stock market.
Member
May 7, 2016
484 posts
426 upvotes
A couple of years ago a friend of mine was trying to sell their home in South America. He realized that there was a problem with the title, and the local neighbours were extorting him to have it resolved. He bought the home in USD, and because the local currency tanked, even if he wanted to resell it for the same amount in USD the capital gains was massive and he had to pay a hefty tax bill.

Would have been way better renting and travelling wherever he wanted every year.
Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2009
12381 posts
11307 upvotes
Punta Cana is a fine place to vacation but to live? no no no...

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)