Is there hope for Cabarete? (Investing in Property)

Lobo Tropical

Silver
Aug 21, 2010
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No we don't work, we are living on investments etc... My Wife will do some music stuff online eventually once we get more settled.
If you opened a Taco Bell I'm pretty sure I alone could keep you running for a while ;-)

I'm really interested to know your business Idea's, but obviously I know why you won't share it!!
If you do decide to open a business here I wish you the BEST!!!

In that case you should keep Gorditos running, because his Tacos beat Taco Bell any time !!!
 

LTSteve

Gold
Jul 9, 2010
5,449
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Oceanspear

Thank you for that honest assessment. There is opportunity in the DR. I don't think it has much to do with tax rates. In Canada many people pay a personal tax rate of over 45%. In the US it is around 35%. Canada has a 16% tax (8 Federal and 8 Provincial). Yes the tax on goods and services in high in the DR but so are the needs of its' Government and people. I have met many ex-pats in the DR who own businesses and have done quite well for themselves. I have also met some that have returned to their home countries because they went out of business. The difference in many cases is the work ethic and commitment. If you decide you are going to get up late and start working around 10 and take a 2 hour lunch and then quit around 4 then you will not succeed either. There is nothing wrong with buying property. You have to be selective and willing to be in it for the long haul. Prices in the DR will rise again but it will probably be a number of years until this happens. Location is everything. If you are a small investor long haul and location are the key to making money in todays real estate market. If the DR Gov can get it's debt under control I think you will see strong growth here. Be ready it is coming.

LTSTeve
 

Seamonkey

Bronze
Oct 6, 2009
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This post is hilarious. So let me get this straight, it is okay to open a business in the DR......so long as you don't expect to get rich!? ROFL! Man, that was a good one! Isn't that why most people go into business in the first place? You sound like a Dominican lol, you run a business just to get by rather than to become rich, ha! Me, I'm a little bit more ambitious than that.

What DRstock is saying is that he has done his research and knew before he got into business that he wouldn't get rich..he had no expectations. People that come here with high expectations are the first ones to leave with nothing left in their names. So to answer your question people do not come here and buy a business to get rich, but to enjoy an adventure or a new way of life. I'm laughing at your post because of its ignorance. It's obvious you don't have a business here or have never done research on the subject.
 

Seamonkey

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Oct 6, 2009
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Businesses in the DR do not base their business models on good products, fair price and good customer service. If they did the country wouldn't be as poor as it is. Business in the DR is all about connections and who you know, that is the way it works here. Clearly you know little about this country even if you've been living here awhile. Like I said yesterday, you can be the next Steve Jobs but you will not move an inch in the DR if you have neither connections or the ability to charm. Most third world nations run their businesses based on connections rather than merit........that is why they're third world. The talented people born in those country often smarten up and immigrate to develop countries where they actually have a chance at making a good living.

I know quite a bit about this country...more than you it seems. I run my business on all of those three standards....good product, fair price and good service. It's never easy but I am high. Most businesses don't have any standards at all and fail.

I've been reading your posts and they are all very rude and condescending. You think you're way is the only way. You brag on how successful your internet business is, but yet mention that your internet connection sucks. How successful would my business be if my electricity wouldn't work???? So before you come on here and tell us expats how to get "rich" you should get yourself an internet connection...afterall that is the base of your business isn't it? I have the Delancer 3G package and never have a problem.
 

Seamonkey

Bronze
Oct 6, 2009
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This is why I'm saying I wouldn't invest in the DR. We're all gringos here, outsiders. In addition to that, the Dominican Republic has a history of exploitation and instability. It is dangerous to invest in a country where the locals are too dumb to control their own gold mine, and will let a Canadian mining company come down here and screw them out of their gold. I fear investing in the DR because this country has a dangerous combination of dumb locals and ruthless foreign interests, and I fear the ruthless foreign interests will make things so bad here that the locals explode and violence and trouble starts. At that point I don't want to own businesses here because I may have to flee, you guys follow me? You people should read up on Dominican history, the locals almost had a revolution during the 1960s and the USA sent in the marines because they thought the DR would go Communist.

I read this book on the DR, and down in Altagracia province the locals where about to go nuts because they couldn't even get access to any decent water. If foreign interests keep pushing Dominicans and exploiting them this country could become untenable for expats or tourists. And Dominicans simply have a mentality that does not sync with my own, that is one reason I wouldn't want to do business with them. I'm an outsider here and as a Black man I was an outsider in the USA. I have no loyalty to this country or the U.S., only myself. The Internet is perfect for a guy like me, who has no allegiance to anything. With the Internet I can make money and live anywhere, don't have to depend on the DR. This country could go to sht tomorrow and I could easily leave and go live in Ecuador or Belize. I have no loyalty to the DR, and the locals see me as an outsider anyway. If things go bad here or the exchange rate becomes unfavorable then it is ADIOS.

Wow and you are clueless on mining companies. The DR has no mining companies!!!! Barrick does work all around the world. They are not exploiting the DR, they want to mine the gold....this is what they do. So Peru, Russia, Africa, Honduras are all been exploited????
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
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elizabetheames.blogspot.com
ok let us be clare that there are lots of businesses that can provide a living here if you have capital and if you know how to work.

passive investment in real estate .. where you find an agent who does the rentals for you.. that is also possible here . There are at least two condo hotels in Las Terrenas.

Real estate will always be a means of livilihood anywhere if you know the business.

But buying a piece of land and expecting to just hold it and let it appreciate.. NO
that will not happen here

Here you will come back and find that seventeen huts are on your land and Haitians have moved in

You must defend your stake here

You can buy a condo in Miami and hold it as an investment. No one will steal it or break into it and take the plumbing. You can find a good rental agent company who will manage it as a rental for you.

none of those operators exist very much here

except, perhaps in Las Terrenas which has the most advanced real estate market

there are three big condo hotels who will rent out and manage for you

there are numerous good established condos

there is good tourist infrastructure

there is a good real estate history of trade.. most of the phony titles have been worked out

there is a local international community which is operational

I doubt the Caberete even has the geography to become what Las Terrenas already is

Caberete is just a strip on the beach for wind surfing.. it cannot expand.

las terrenas ./. well.. that is where the action is now
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,970
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Caberete is just a strip on the beach for wind surfing.. it cannot expand.

las terrenas ./. well.. that is where the action is now

Not quite correct. Cabarete Center is "just a strip on the beach" several KM long for kite surfing. West of that by a couple of Km is Encuentro surfing beach.

Cabarete itself is much larger than that reaching from Sosua at the Cabarete Medical Center or thereabouts on the west until Islabon to the east. While not much of that distance has great beach front locations that are not already in use and developed (one notable exception is that the Russians abandoned a development project along the so-called Million Dollar mile on the way to La Boca), keep in mind that Sea Horse Ranch is along that strip and it has a very tiny piece of beach and is perhaps less attractive than the Million Dollar Mile location of Cabarete. There is a large amount of land on the other side of the highway from the beach along that entire length of Cabarete.

Let the French have Las Terrenas so we can come and visit for good French food from time to time.
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
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there is a growing international community in LT

Caberete seemed like a strip between Puerto Plata and Sosua.

too built up for my taste

LT is now too built up as well for my personal taste.

I was just talking about where the edge of the market is in real estate, where the market is hot. And LT is hot. It is the hot spot for the Capitalenos on the weekends. It is the destination.

Caberete is where the Embassy families go with their kids for the weekend to rent villas with pools and buff tourists go to kite surf

LT is more for bocce playing beach walking long lunching European style tourism.

As this is the real estate section, I assumed the issue was where the real estate was hot. So in case you have never been to LT, you should check it out. It will attract more tourists faster than Caberete as there are two jet blue flights a week coming into the airport at El Catey
 

bluemoonnyc

New member
Oct 4, 2007
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My feelings toward the DR may soften over time. But Frank, to be honest with you, I've always been treated like an outsider, even by other Black Americans when I was in the U.S. I never quite fit in with them. Here in the DR, I feel the same way, alone. Doesn't bother me much because I'm used to it, used to the loneliness. But I've developed a mentality where I have no loyalty or allegiance to anything. There is no doubt that there are wealthy Dominicans here, but when I look at things, I like to look at the big picture. Where does the DR really stand in the world? What does the future hold for this country? They say to predict the future you must study the past. The DR's past isn't great. Its future is questionable. Cyberspace just seems to me like a safer bet, then putting eggs in a country with the history and structure of the DR. What worries me though if I have kids here and I get in a situation where I'm forced to flee, then what? Will I be able to take them? I just have too many questions about this country right now, and too few answers.

so now the truth comes out, you do not fit in anywhere because of you, not the Dominican republic or Dominican people or the US, and you are just here to bitch and whine and complain while you sit in your own little cyberspace world..
you , my friend are a square peg, you will not fit in anywhere because you do not like people and people sense that
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
969
3
18
DK - being an extrovert doesn't have to mean going to clubs as I never go to them. It does mean making an effort to communicate with people, whether at the store or talking to the neighbors. If you can't improve your Spanish or would be better off in the tourist areas as I understand many people are able to get along with just English/German/French.

BTW, imo your Spanish will never get better until you crawl out of your shell. I think your general dislike of people is hurting you.

I don't communicate with people unless I have to. Why carry on unnecessary conversations with people you don't know? My general dislike of people comes from my experiences dealing with them, as well as studying history. I'm a genuine misanthrope, the last thing I want to do is talk with my neighbors unless I have to, the best they will get from me is a hola, and that is only if they say it to me first(I don't speak unless spoken to).

I can't control my personality, and the truth is, I like the way I am. It has gotten me this far, so I can go further. Regarding my Spanish, it will improve once I'm in a relationship with a chica and she is living with me and speaking it regularly. That is the best way to learn the language, a lot of the practice I've gotten since I've been here has been with Dominican girls. I'm not interested in having male friends here in the DR because they are useless to me. Most of the conversations I've had with the locals have been with the females, with the men, I don't really talk with them unless it involves me purchasing some service from them like dental or getting my hair cut, etc. I'm not here in the DR to make friends(unless it is a girlfriend).
 

Dark_Scorpion

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Aug 13, 2012
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shows how little you know about DR and how much you operate based on the present (as in whatever currently makes it to the news). the biggest and best companies in DR are dominican. and the richest dominicans could easily swallow many american millionaires whole. this is the country that has moved very fast in terms of business. following the example of frank i will put here once again ramos family. grandpa ramos started with one shop, many eayrs ago where there were no bigger shops in DR that had everything in one place. slowly he has built an empire that is known now as la sirena. and bravo, because acually the owners come from the same family. today there are talks of walmart buying them off and we are talking hundreds millions of dollars...

virtually all argiculture production: rice, sugar, coffee, cacao, bananas, avocado, coconuts, mangoes, are all owned and run by dominicans. dominicans own the biggest banks and insurance companies too. yes, now it is all international money, to an extend, but nonetheless it was all started here.

barrick gold is another story. dominicans have zero experience in heavy mining, really. in many countries mining is a source of major income, be it gold, other metals, coal, whatnot. letting someone else do the job was, and still is, the best option. the fact dominicans got screwed over this is a story of greed and corruption more than stupidity.

DUDE, can you read my posts before responding? I already said a few days ago that agriculture is one of the top industries in the DR, along with tourism, I already know all that. I also already know that Dominican families tend to dominate those industries, but there is no big money in that stuff, the foreigners own key infrastructure and real estate, ever heard of the mega port down in Punta Caucedo? Totally foreign owned, created virtually no jobs for the locals. The DR is run my a small group of families just like Mexico, big deal, the wealth doesn't get to most of the people so what is your point? And the rich here in the DR inherited a lot of their money, they didn't build that stuff from scratch. How many self made success stories are there in the DR, and if there are so many of them why is the country so damn poor? Tourism and agriculture based economies are joke, any economist will tell you that. Big money goes to nations like Japan and China that can build sophisticated goods like cars and computers, that is where the big money is. Until Dominicans start building cars and computers they are still playing in the little leagues.
 

MikeAmbro

New member
Nov 8, 2012
11
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Building cars and computers is the benchmark for a successful economy?
How about Norway, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, the don't have big car manufacturers or mass produced computers.
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
969
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I chuckle when I read a post about someone wanting to start a bidniz in the DR, especially when they've never been in bidniz successfully where they came from.

Creating a bidniz in the states is hard, and getting MUCH harder every day. Creating a bidniz in the DR is 3-4 times more difficult.

It takes creativity and understanding of a market.

I offer three suggestions to help skew the odds in your favor:

1) Do NOT create a bidniz that competes with Dominicans. They don't play fair, and not only are there fewer laws for "fair play" they are either not enforced or enforced by payoff.

2) Create a bidniz that has a significant barrier to entry either by capital or expertise.

3) Import your revenues; do NOT rely on the DR economy for your success.

If you've never started a successful bidniz where you came from, don't start one here.

Caveat Emptor

Great post man, I couldn't agree more, and this is how I operate in the DR. Much of my income is imported, and I operate in a business where my expertise is a large barrier to entry(I have a unique specialized skill set that took years to learn and I'm still learning). Few people have my skills and I will never share my tricks or tactics with anyone. Plus my ability to manage financial resources are second to none.

The INTERNET is the only real solution. You are correct that starting a biz in the states is getting hard. You are correct that it is even harder in the DR(as I said days ago, the DR ranks 116 out of 185 on the ease of doing business index). The only real advantage of his country is its 41 to 1 exchange rate with the dollar and its close proximity to the USA. Beyond this the country has few advantages for the expat, and without them I wouldn't be here. Making money online makes you extremely mobile. All I need is my laptop and a wireless connect and I can make money anywhere. Not even my landlord can do that, if something happens here politically or this apartment is damaged by earthquake or hurricane he is finished.
 

Lobo Tropical

Silver
Aug 21, 2010
3,515
521
113
Sting

I don't communicate with people unless I have to. Why carry on unnecessary conversations with people you don't know? My general dislike of people comes from my experiences dealing with them, as well as studying history. I'm a genuine misanthrope, the last thing I want to do is talk with my neighbors unless I have to, the best they will get from me is a hola, and that is only if they say it to me first(I don't speak unless spoken to).

I can't control my personality, and the truth is, I like the way I am. It has gotten me this far, so I can go further. Regarding my Spanish, it will improve once I'm in a relationship with a chica and she is living with me and speaking it regularly. That is the best way to learn the language, a lot of the practice I've gotten since I've been here has been with Dominican girls. I'm not interested in having male friends here in the DR because they are useless to me. Most of the conversations I've had with the locals have been with the females, with the men, I don't really talk with them unless it involves me purchasing some service from them like dental or getting my hair cut, etc. I'm not here in the DR to make friends(unless it is a girlfriend).


Dark,
Your voluminous posts indicate to me that you do have a great need to communicate with people.
Your instinct of a heard animal is still intact.
Good luck finding a Dominicana who wants to live as a recluse, or with one.
The nature of a scorpion is that it will sting.:hurt:

Rent in Cabarete which is a nice place, before deciding to buy!
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
969
3
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DS a few things:



1- You talk about own a face book? What does that mean? Stock? Hasn't done that well.
Or starting the next facebook? More luck winning the lottery.

2 -Starting a successful (!!, not some multi level marketing with a myspace looking web page) online business costs a truck load of money, why do you think the facebook's, twitter's etc have to beg VC's for money.

3 -I been living in the DR over a decade and for the last 2 years enjoy very fast & reliable internet , comparable to US ( ok it costs a bit more)

4- I thought the term "cyberspace" was last used 15 years ago by my grandma

I'm referring to the Internet in general, not just Face Book. Any online business gives you a level of freedom, mobility, and anonymity which is almost impossible to get with a physical business, anywhere. Anytime you run a physical business, you are vulnerable to extortion by underworld figures, government seizure and regulation, high taxes, and acts of God like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc. If you live in a country, and you own a successful physical business, you may also have to flee and leave that business behind if that country goes to war, or you're a member of an ethnic minority that is targeted. What do you think happened to Jewish owned businesses in Germany after Hitler came to power? How about businesses in Syria, how well do you think they're doing right now?

With an internet business, you can live anywhere and make money almost anonymously. How do I know? Because I'm doing it. The Internet is the ultimate weapon against tyrants, repressive governments, and anyone else who wants to dominate the free market. The Internet is Capitalism, arguably in its purest form. The internet is the only true place where a Black person can do business, without worrying about their skin color holding them back, why? Because on the Internet no one has to know you're Black.

Some say the Net was designed to survive a nuclear attack.......others say it wasn't. The matter is irrelevant, because the internet can in fact survive a nuclear war. Online businesses like Amazon and Ebay will keep running, and I believe that the servers for these companies are probably located in reinforced bunkers underground(pure speculation). The governments of the world have never been able to control the oceans, if they can't control the oceans then they can't control cyberspace because cyberspace doesn't technically exist. This is why I've spent the last 8 years mastering the ability to make money online, and you can be sure that is how long it takes, making money on the web is no easy task.
 

MikeAmbro

New member
Nov 8, 2012
11
0
0
Great post man, I couldn't agree more, and this is how I operate in the DR. Much of my income is imported, and I operate in a business where my expertise is a large barrier to entry(I have a unique specialized skill set that took years to learn and I'm still learning). Few people have my skills and I will never share my tricks or tactics with anyone. Plus my ability to manage financial resources are second to none.

If that's the case you must be making millions of dollars, but somehow I have a feeling you don't..

Also please explain what the real advantage of its 41 to 1 exchange rate with the dollar is?
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
969
3
18
Building cars and computers is the benchmark for a successful economy?
How about Norway, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, the don't have big car manufacturers or mass produced computers.

All these countries you mention are in Northern Europe. Next to North America, Northern Europe has some of the best geography in the world. Unless you've read the works of George Friedman and Jared Diamond, you won't follow what I'm saying. Geography plays a role in the wealth of a nations. Germany isn't richer than the DR because Germans are superior, it is because the land of Germany is better than the DR, and it is also better than Bolivia and Nigeria. Let me ask you this.....how easy is it to drive an 18 wheeler through a rain forest or jungle? Not possible, is it? And you could try clearing that jungle or rain forest, but you would be spending hundreds of billions, as well as ruining the ecology of that region. Africa is partly poor because of its geography. Sure, Africa has lots of raw mineral, but they don't have the navigable rivers to ship them and the rainforests and jungles make it impossible to ship by road. Northern Europe, with its flat northern lands and multiple navigable river systems, is a godsend. Europeans just got extremely lucky, their land happens to be the best in the world.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,262
363
0
DUDE, can you read my posts before responding? I already said a few days ago that agriculture is one of the top industries in the DR, along with tourism, I already know all that. I also already know that Dominican families tend to dominate those industries, but there is no big money in that stuff, the foreigners own key infrastructure and real estate, ever heard of the mega port down in Punta Caucedo? Totally foreign owned, created virtually no jobs for the locals. The DR is run my a small group of families just like Mexico, big deal, the wealth doesn't get to most of the people so what is your point? And the rich here in the DR inherited a lot of their money, they didn't build that stuff from scratch. How many self made success stories are there in the DR, and if there are so many of them why is the country so damn poor? Tourism and agriculture based economies are joke, any economist will tell you that. Big money goes to nations like Japan and China that can build sophisticated goods like cars and computers, that is where the big money is. Until Dominicans start building cars and computers they are still playing in the little leagues.

one: it's dudette, dude. thank you very much.

two: no matter what happens people will always eat. agriculture will never go out of style, know what i'm sayin', dude? DR has no infrastructure or a know how to run operations like car building or whatnot.

stop with your terminator fantasies. DR has to work with they have.