Land prices, building costs. Massive variations?

You can't be serious! Are you that naive? How about taking a vacation to the country first. Specifically to the nagua area where you would live with her large extended family. You have no idea what you are getting into!!! A mansion over there for $30000. Get serious!!! Out of what? Twigs and glue? I could go on and on. Get in touch with reality!!!

I don't there's anything wrong with your plan, if it doesn't cause you any heartache to kiss the money goodby; in the sense that you may never get a return on it or be able to sell. Having just built a house in Jarabacoa (not a mansion) for around 70,000 $US I belive you could build a basic Dominican style house for around $40,000. The price of cement and rebar is rising(always) and labour costs are also going up. I don't know anything about the area around Nagua so can't comment on land prices or location.

If you open your eyes you will see that I have 81 posts genious, so not on forums too often. Anyone living here will inform you about how large extended families fit in. You stated mansion for $30,000 not me! I'm sorry, luxurios you stated! Clueless!By the way, married for 4 years to a dominicana. Moved here in 2004. Bought a house and built a house in Puerto plata. Go ahead, proceed with your plans and listen to her brother and LARGE family!

You didn't state that they were not dominicans, so I'm sorry about that. That certainly changes how I view your situation. Living here for the past 8 years, doing business with Domincans has taken a very negative toll on me. NOTHING is accomplished easily and professionally too often. Have had numerous visits to the fiscal to resolve problems with dominicans. Building a 6 bedroom house, 7 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, complete gym. bar and lounge area, built in pool was torturous and never ending to say the least. Good luck with your plans!

boniouk said:

Thanks Bob for your reply. I'm not really doing it as an investment, just to be around her family. We want somewhere around an hour from POP and Sosua, and about half an hour from SFDM and Tenares. So nagua way seems best. Do you have any photos of your house in Jarabacoa Bob? We've also thought about moving there as my wife went to school there and its a nice place.

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Here is a photo of the not finished state. Finished is 3 floors, 3 bedrooms on each of the bottom floors with two bathrooms on each floor. Top floor is a two bedroom apartment that cost 900,000 pesos by itself.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2487855230498.2134148.1076200119&type=3

Land prices and security

Good day Boniuk

Some comments for you to consider

As you would expect land prices vary for several reasons [the old haw position position and position] Another factor in DR is the stautus of the title.
Land without title - Many "owners" of dwellings and farmland do not have any formal title They may well be able to take out title with the rights they hold but it is hard for a buyer to follow through these rights to obtain title The difference between similar parcels with /without title can be a factor of ten or twenty
Land with old titles Title law was updated in about 2005 Now everyone is updating their titles The best paid DR professionals at the moment are, I guess, land surveyors. I would not pay more than a peppercorn for land without a new title.

Security is another key factor I have lived in two wonderful rural locations in DR We were held up by armed gangs in each of them. As an "americano" I would not live in a rural location again. Your tico family members may not stand out from locals to a passing gang but white people with our possessions stick out like grandmas teeth.

I have enjoyed living in DR - I am working in Africa now - and would live there again choosing carefully the place and conditions Renting for a year is not such a bad option whilst you size the place up from the viewpoint of a resident

PS Nagua to Sosua is more than an hour and not recommended at night due to the number of people walking on the roadside

Great house!

I live in Cabrera so I'm pretty familiar with Nagua. Be careful where you purchase there. What is apparently high and dry in the summer is under a meter of water in the rainy season. Also, as always, make sure of the title as there are shenanigans which occur there.

I've built a few places here. One was...ummmm...kind of expensive whereas the other is more typical. The typical one is 2bd/2ba with the mandatory North American amenities and cost about $50K or so. It's far from a mansion, tho, so put that thought to bed. A mansion is...kind of expensive.

boniouk said:

Just a quick question to you Bob, and you Dunroamin. What is your experience with organising this yourselves as "gringos". Do you have Dominican wives or brothers in law etc that did all the talking for you, because as "gringos" i'm sure you know you are probably paying 2 to 3 times the price for anything you try and negotiate for with a Dominican. I appreciate you both have done this and probably know the process from start to finish, but my father in law and brother in law are both living in SFDM and as they blend in with the locals, they are talking completely different prices to what is mentioned on here.

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My wife organized it and had her brother send her progress pictures every day. We will build another but not from long distance. The prices we paid were slightly higher than they would have been had we been there in person. We now have a different builder, one that is younger, hungrier, and was my wife's student for a few years, and trained in Spain.

We purchased a few plots in 2009 in the San pedro are for aprox $15 per m2 + legal costs for title transfer
I am a Brit also ! We built a 500 m2 house over 2 years and the construction cost averaged at 17,000 dop per m2, plus 500,000 dop for perimeter wall and iron work

We used a maestro/builder who had a good pedigree and took us to view his previous projects and allowed us to speak to the owners

Piece of cake just agree your spec and crack on

Whiskylee

whiskylee said:

We purchased a few plots in 2009 in the San pedro are for aprox $15 per m2 + legal costs for title transfer
I am a Brit also ! We built a 500 m2 house over 2 years and the construction cost averaged at 17,000 dop per m2, plus 500,000 dop for perimeter wall and iron work

We used a maestro/builder who had a good pedigree and took us to view his previous projects and allowed us to speak to the owners

Piece of cake just agree your spec and crack on

Whiskylee

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Very interesting. Can you elaborate a bit about the quality of finishing? And can anybody make an estimate how much this price of 17,000 would be at todays prices?

BelgianK

Take into consideration that a lot of people who buy and build pay way over the odds through lack of connections and contacts and so their idea of what is possible is limited and will shun your figures as ridiculous because they can't handle the price difference, or that they could have built 2 or 3 under a trusted unconditional local eye such as family in the know.
You can find something to fit your cloth always in DR, you may need to compromise here and there, and double check to keep your heart and mind clear, but you can build for silly money if you want to step out of the Gringo comfort zone. And you have better chance of keeping it safe if you keep it in the family, people will mess more with a gringos turf, but will think longer and harder on a fellow natives interests, and the family will protect it also if they have interests in it also.
Good luck, I think you will have fun.

Basic finish for the bathroom & kitchen I.e toilet, shower & sink in the bathroom, work surface in the kitchen
I would estimate around 20k - 25k with current material prices. Don't forget services, water, electric & sewerage are all extras on top of this cost, plus garden landscaping etc

Thank you. This confirms what I thought was a decent quote, from a maestro like yours, with references and no probs of you talking to the owners.

I just got quoted a price of 27K, including water and electric, basic sewage (but the 3 septic tank system I have to have here, were not included). This price included the use of local finishings, meaning local windows, tiles, etc...

As I would prefer to use some imported materials, the price would be a bit higher (I am thinking of German locks and faucets, and if feasable suspended toilets). I know the price of importing them would be high, but the quality is so much better than you can get here. As I come from this business, I still have my contacts there and could get them at a 60% discount.

BelgianK

belgiank said:

Thank you. This confirms what I thought was a decent quote, from a maestro like yours, with references and no probs of you talking to the owners.

I just got quoted a price of 27K, including water and electric, basic sewage (but the 3 septic tank system I have to have here, were not included). This price included the use of local finishings, meaning local windows, tiles, etc...

As I would prefer to use some imported materials, the price would be a bit higher (I am thinking of German locks and faucets, and if feasable suspended toilets). I know the price of importing them would be high, but the quality is so much better than you can get here. As I come from this business, I still have my contacts there and could get them at a 60% discount.

BelgianK

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That price seems high. Chip is still quoting prices in the 18k range with high quality construction. I would contact him before I paid a north coast builder that kind of money.