Eager to Share Insights on Dominican Republic Real Estate!

[Ecoman1949]

I just checked the cost of living between those countries and as of November, 2023 compared to the DR Spain has a cost of living 1.59 times higher, Portugal 1.43 and France 1.88, according to this website: https://livingcost.org/cost

What’s not factored in the the quality and safety of life in the various countries. $800 a month in the DR won’t get you much unless your willing to live in unsafe areas and exist on a limited diet.

The countries I listed are ones I’ve travelled to frequently. Rentals cheaper or equal to DR rentals are available in much safer areas. Local food market prices are the same as or cheaper than DR prices if your a wise shopper.

Watching how and where you spend your money is the key. Ten years ago, the DR was a cheaper place to live. Not anymore. Colombia according to the site still lives up to its reputation of being cheaper than the DR. Costa Rica is listed as more expensive than the DR but has much a much better public medical system. One trip to a private hospital in the DR can quickly skew your cost of living.

Post Covid, I can fly to Europe cheaper at times than flying to the DR, primarily because of where I’m located. That’s not a factor on the site. Car rentals in the DR have risen almost 50% along with the price of gasoline. The subcompact I rented preCovid was slightly less than $300 for a week. It’s $500 now. That’s not factored in on the site. They do factor in the cost of public transportation.

All the COLA estimate sites factor in different things but it’s a broad brush. What they don’t factor in is the ability of the experienced traveller to cut costs and travel safely. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

The more I read this thread, the more it feels like OP is using this opportunity to build a lead list of sorts. Ho hum. We need a good PuTa thread or a fake kidnapping to generate some content on the site!

 

[XQT]

I just checked the cost of living between those countries and as of November, 2023 compared to the DR Spain has a cost of living 1.59 times higher, Portugal 1.43 and France 1.88, according to this website: https://livingcost.org/cost

You obviously have not lived in those countries.

Food, drink, utilities are way better and cheaper than DR.
Spain has a fantastic high speed train network, better than other EU countries.
Fantastic infrastructure, highways, public transport.
In addition to history, culture, architecture.
Everything the DR has not.

Any life similar to Western standards is very expensive in DR, so is food, cars, consumer goods and their availability.
In any way the DR is a third world country.
Yes DR is much better than Papua Guinea and Port Moresby.
Some people like it in the DR and it's proximity to US, CAN, I'm here right now......but never more than 4-6 month max.

Even Windy who is committed to the DR, is speaking the truth and obvious facts.
Everyone has different standards and needs, but why pretend the DR is something it is not?

Even comparing Caribbean island infrastructure, many are better than the DR.
Barbados, Cayman, ABC, Bahamas, BVI, St. Kitts, Mustique, even Puerto Rico, Nevis, Turks, St Lucia have good points.

In the DR real estate lots of money will increase comfort, but the outside realities of the DR await outside of your palace.

https://www.idealista.com/en/

https://www.thinkspain.com/

 

[XQT]

The more I read this thread, the more it feels like OP is using this opportunity to build a lead list of sorts. Ho hum. We need a good PuTa thread or a fake kidnapping to generate some content on the site!

Unfortunately the OP is talking to some people who live here, not blue eyed dreamers.
Plenty of P.C. and other DR real estate available for DR bargain and value hunters, Buy, Buy, Buy!
Before it is all gone and prices increase. 🤣

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Even Windy who is committed to the DR, is speaking the truth and obvious facts.
Everyone has different standards and needs, but why pretend the DR is something it is not?

This^^^

 

[CristoRey]

Living here in the DR since 2012.
It's a hell of a lot safer than where I grew up in America. 12 years of living here full time I've yet to be shot at. That said, indeed the cost of living has gone way up since Covid but Santaigo is still cheaper than other cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. A "western" standard of living will cost you the same if not more in many of the countries mentioned above.

The overstay fees are a major plus for this country. Ya wanna add a 6 month snowbird visa with more paper work, headaches and fees to your vacation? Be my guest.

 

[cavok]

Forget a six month snowbird visa. What is needed is a six month tourist card like is offered by many other countries.

 

[Big]

Higher prices does tend to keep the riff-raff out. A person that is looking for a 500 dollar rental and cheap beer is not someone I want to be within 40 feet.

 

[Ecoman1949]

Forget a six month snowbird visa. What is needed is a six month tourist card like is offered by many other countries.

Agreed but it should be readily available at immigration as you get your passport stamped on entry. Available to expats, snowbirds and tourists who want the option of staying longer if they choose to do so. The cost could be the same as the six month overstay fee. A generic six month visa. The standard 30 day tourist visa would still be available for AI clientele.

 

[PamelaCanablueRealEstate]

We have not yet been involved personally in real-estate purchase in the DR (I'm from EU, my wife from the DR), but my wife's whole family owns numerous properties on the NC as well as a huge amount land. My brother-in-law (Dominican, in his early 40s, went to university), has been years dealing with various legal cases regarding their own land, and they are ready to send the DR justice system where the sun does not shine...

What I have seen, is that you can purchase/sell property in the DR, but you have to be very very careful. And, as pointed out many times on this forum, do not buy anything you cannot access immediately after paying for the property...

I will want to retire in the DR (we've lived in POP for more than a decade) and as soon as possible, we want to purchase a house there, so I and my wife definitely do want to invest in real-estate in the DR, but that just needs to be done carefully...

Hey Josh! I completely understand this, but it is imperative you get legal assistance prior to purchasing. This is the ABC of sales here and everywhere.

 

[drstock]

You obviously have not lived in those countries.

Food, drink, utilities are way better and cheaper than DR.
Spain has a fantastic high speed train network, better than other EU countries.
Fantastic infrastructure, highways, public transport.
In addition to history, culture, architecture.
Everything the DR has not.

Any life similar to Western standards is very expensive in DR, so is food, cars, consumer goods and their availability.
In any way the DR is a third world country.
Yes DR is much better than Papua Guinea and Port Moresby.
Some people like it in the DR and it's proximity to US, CAN, I'm here right now......but never more than 4-6 month max.

Even Windy who is committed to the DR, is speaking the truth and obvious facts.
Everyone has different standards and needs, but why pretend the DR is something it is not?

Even comparing Caribbean island infrastructure, many are better than the DR.
Barbados, Cayman, ABC, Bahamas, BVI, St. Kitts, Mustique, even Puerto Rico, Nevis, Turks, St Lucia have good points.

In the DR real estate lots of money will increase comfort, but the outside realities of the DR await outside of your palace.

https://www.idealista.com/en/

https://www.thinkspain.com/

You are right, I have not lived in those countries, but I have travelled extensively there in both my business and personal life (I am from the UK). I was not commenting on the other aspects you mention, just replying with statistics to what was said about the COST OF LIVING there. The South of France, for example, is one of the most expensive places in Europe, if not the world.

 

[windeguy]

Forget a six month snowbird visa. What is needed is a six month tourist card like is offered by many other countries.

A rose by any other name. Call it whatever you like, but I agree on the 6 month solution.

 

[cavok]

A rose by any other name. Call it whatever you like, but I agree on the 6 month solution.

They're two completely different things. Visas require an application, time, approval. and fees. Keep it simple like many other countries do and just allow those in from countries that qualify to enter visa-free on a tourist card.

 

[XQT]

Higher prices does tend to keep the riff-raff out. A person that is looking for a 500 dollar rental and cheap beer is not someone I want to be within 40 feet.

I get your point!

However looking for too much sophistication you are in the wrong country entirely,
Unless you live in a golden cage and can't fly anymore.
As previously mentioned, most foreigner see zero value of moving/living here in S.Domingo or Santiago.

Unfortunately most of us do not move in Abinader's circle or the DR that of the DR elite.
For average people they live substantially better off island, cost effectively with many locations of choice.

As to the riff-raff Sosua like, I would never associate with those people off island, why do it here.
One of the Montreal Angels is still cruising Sosua, maybe more??

Yes there are a few exceptions, even in Sosua or the N. Coast however the majority is bottom of the barrel, ex-pats and locals alike.
Yet those trying to capture the Pirate vibe and Wild West, they can still find it here.

 

[josh2203]

Hey Josh! I completely understand this, but it is imperative you get legal assistance prior to purchasing. This is the ABC of sales here and everywhere.

Yes, I'm sure this was not a problem, as there was no purchasing involved, and this was about a family of Dominican entrepreneurs that have been in real-estate for decades... They also obviously have their lawyers and still they had issues with documents due to some family members with ill will...

 

[drstock]

Yes there are a few exceptions, even in Sosua or the N. Coast however the majority is bottom of the barrel, ex-pats and locals alike.
Yet those trying to capture the Pirate vibe and Wild West, they can still find it here.

Thank you. I will inform my well-educated, well-to-do friends here on the North Coast of your opinion.

 

[Big]

Thank you. I will inform my well-educated, well-to-do friends here on the North Coast of your opinion.

that shouldn't take long.

 

[drstock]

that shouldn't take long.

Hilarious. Do you know me or my friends?

 

[CristoRey]

A rose by any other name. Call it whatever you like, but I agree on the 6 month solution.

There is no real need for a six month solution as it serves no real purpose.
Seeing how you live here and you understand the reality of life in the DR, I would think you'd recognize things for what they are, not what you want them to be especially when it has zero impact on your daily life.

The current system in place, which has been in place for several years, is not broken and therefor it needs no fixing.
Many people travel down here and spend more than six months at a time without issue and are happy to pay the fee upon their departure.

What you seem to keep advocating for is changing something that has no impact on your daily existence and only serve to inconvenience others, which I think sounds spiteful and ridiculous.

These overstay fees are a win-win situation for both the government coffers and the people who pay them before their departure.

With this country having so many real problems to deal with I can't understand why this topic in particular seems to be your top concern?

You should find another horse. This one has been beaten enough.

 

[Big]

Hilarious. Do you know me or my friends?

intuition! That and Sosua is not known as a bastion of intellectuals solving complex scientific problems.