negociating price buying a home

first find out how much is the average price pr m2 in the neighborhood, how old is the building complex?

what are other apartments selling for around the area? i doubt the owners will go down 35%...why you want

to live in el cacique, its not a very attractive place! there are areas much nicer priced at around 1000-1100 m2.

dont rush it!

lorenzo1960 said:

Hello everyone,


i need your advise for this.

I just saw a two floors home of 120 m2 in Santo domingo in a neighborhood called El cacique. I am about to negotiate about the asking price. Askingprice is $109.000 USDollars. the house needs some renovation for exemple the floors, windows, kitchen and bathroom needs some renewal. the home has 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathroom, cuarto de servicio, 1 parking space and a terrace and a balcony.I want to make a offer...what would be a reasonable offer to start with? 70.000 thousand dollar? my final offer would be 80.000 dollar

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By making a low ball offer of 70 you are likely to annoy the owner. If 80 is it then tell them that up front. Most Dominican sellers that I have seen will not come down that much. They will instead leave it up for sale for years and years. Its not like in the US where people are strangled with property taxes and insurances and are pressured to sell. Here its owned outright and there is no cost associated with waiting forever.

Have you lived in the DR for 6 months to a year while renting in the area where you want to buy???
If not,STOP, Wait,and don't buy ANYTHING!!!!!
You WILL live to regret it!!
I know you did not ask for this advice,but it my moral duty to give it!!!!!!
Since this is your first post on DR1 we/I don't know your "Story".
If you are buying because a Dominican "friend",has told you it's a good time to buy,or it's a"Good Investment",or Worst-Of-All,if you are buying to live "Happily Ever After" with a Dominican,"Novia/Novio","Double Stop"!!!!!!!!!!
Time is your friend,USE Some!
YOU MUST live/rent here for a minimum of 6 month,better a year,AND,in the area you want to buy!!!!
Do you have any experiance doing "Renovations" in a home here???
Are you fluent in "Dominicam"?
Will you be here 24/7 to monitor the work,purchase of,and use of,ALL materials?
Where will you live during renovations?
Do you know how much that costs,materials/labour???
Have you
Have you been told,"It's really cheap to remodel here!"
IT's NOT!!!
Ther will always be "Good Deals",and "Motivated Sellers" in any market.You don't need to do ANYTHING NOW!
So Don't!!
Please!!
Cris Colon
NOW,for the NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY ADVICE!!!
Do you have a well known,and respected,professional,Real Estate law firm to represent you during the process?
You know,check the "Title" of the property,handle the "Transfer of funds/checks???
I'll guess your answer is "NO".
MANY properties are "sold" in this country by so called "Owners",who have no clear title to the land/property.
And seeing a paper title means "Nada".It could be fake.
You can very easily end up with no "House",and No Money either!!
As our Professor Emmeritus in Santiago would say:
"Lawyer Up"!!

Just the same as any other country really.
Choose properties you like and check if it is in your plan to sell later they have features that are marketable to Ameicans, Dominicans, Europeans etc.
Visit the area of the property at different times day and night. Talk to neighbors etc.
Make sure deposit is available locally.
Talk to vendor, get papers checked out by reputable lawyer.
Make an offer, conditional or not. If accepted tender deposit if needed and get lawyer to carry out final checks.
Wait for full funds into escrow account and finalize transaction.
Yes, work to Dominican standards is readily available at a good price but a pay as you go system is advisable.
Enjoy!
pi2

Criss Colon said:

Are you fluent in "Dominicam"?

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Did ou mean Dominican, or Dominiscam?
Just curious,

Barnab?

Why would you buy something that needs work in DR for that price? I have seen places totally finished for the price that you are going to pay.

"Barn",why are you asking ME what I meant?
I have NO IDEA what I EVER mean!

But I will say that "Pi2s","Cavalier" attitude can cost anyone who believes his statement that, "Buying property in the DR is just like anywhere else"
all their money!
"P" how about the fact that "Going To Court" in the DR to dispute property rights is a "Fools Erand",or,the land titles here are not registered,recognized,or current!CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

I have a couple of examples..... lawyer errors.

My friend was being taxed for her house and a condo in Cabarete..
She has no such condo and refused to pay the tax bill.... $10K + $10K in penalties later, she haad a faceoff w/ the lawyer.

The company in question , for which they had been billing her fees + taxes wasn't even her company BUT her true house was in there erroneously.

They forgave their $10,000 and fixed the rest.

The error was years old.

Oh, all $$$ are US...... very costly

No, this isn't Kansas any more

Dear Lorenzo1960,


I too am currently looking for a house in Santo Domingo. I've been here 4 years, and basically don't feel the need to move, so I'm looking at the purchase transaction as a way to get some equity for the rent that I'm paying.

However I don't want to buy a condo as I'm not convinced Dominicans would maintain a condo 'properly' over the long term - getting one person to do something right here is tough, imagine getting an entire condominium strata council to agree to something!?

For this reason I"ve been spending my weekends driving around and house hunting. Let me share some experiences which may help:

#1. In this city, MANY people keep the 'Se Vende' sign up for no apparent reason. It's kind of like a 'well just in case some idiot walks in and offers too much, I'll sell it. So don't trust anything you hear.

#2. Everybody seems to agree that the next 6 months are 'uncertain' times, there could be 2 possible things that occur:

a. government doesn't change, electricity rates get jacked up, the tassa changes slowly, a lot of people end up in a cash flow crunch in a slower trickle way

b. government DOES change, electricity rates get jacked, a LOT more people (future ex political class) end up in a bigger cash flow crunch and it's not a trickle but a rapid descent from power


Just by talking and listening to some people, it seems some of the people who own big houses and condos who are presently on 'botellas' or government people, well they don't necessarily have any savings! they're just spending everything that comes in, and when that 'coming in' isn't actually earned but stollen or embezzled, well you can imagine how there may soon be good deals to be had on luxury apartments and cars!

SOme of my friends here have told me that in the 3 months after the last time the government changed, there were some great short term deals to be had both on real estate and vehicles.

So, from my very amateurish fumbling around, I would advise for you to NOT buy that place. keep your options open, spend a LOT of time on the ground and keep looking. Something that costs $100K today may cost $80K after May 20th if the tassa rapidly changes!

Criss Colon said:

"Barn",why are you asking ME what I meant?
I have NO IDEA what I EVER mean!

But I will say that "Pi2s","Cavalier" attitude can cost anyone who believes his statement that, "Buying property in the DR is just like anywhere else"
all their money!
"P" how about the fact that "Going To Court" in the DR to dispute property rights is a "Fools Erand",or,the land titles here are not registered,recognized,or current!CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

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Any property has to be sold with a deslinde defining the parcel of land or a condo agreement defining condo regulations.

Court is sldomn necessary on recent transactions carried out by reputable lawyers.

Cheapskate gringo artists trying for a stupid bargain get caught once in a while but there are 10,s of thousands of condo and land transactions where everything is exactly in order and the efficient transfer process is really like many other countries.

pi2

Personal Experience

Four years ago, I made an offer on some land..... offer accepted.
I wired the funds to the lawyer, flew here for closing.

Settlement was scheduled for 4pm.

At noon, the lawyer called and said the deal was off - no clear title, too many problems.
I insisted that I could be patient, I really wanted the deal.

"You can't be patient enough. This could take years or, it may never happen.
I'm wiring you back your money."

This was just before the deslinde introduction , I think.

Anyway, the next transaction went through smoothly.

LAWYERING UP, is good advice.

I bought a house half a year ago offering 20% below asking price (which was already reasonable but I couldn't afford it) and ended up buying it 15% below asking price (after they first refused but came back after 3 weeks that they accepted my offer). So, yes, Dominicans do go down considerably in some cases.

pi2 said:

Just the same as any other country really.
Choose properties you like and check if it is in your plan to sell later they have features that are marketable to Ameicans, Dominicans, Europeans etc.
Visit the area of the property at different times day and night. Talk to neighbors etc.
Make sure deposit is available locally.
Talk to vendor, get papers checked out by reputable lawyer.
Make an offer, conditional or not. If accepted tender deposit if needed and get lawyer to carry out final checks.
Wait for full funds into escrow account and finalize transaction.
Yes, work to Dominican standards is readily available at a good price but a pay as you go system is advisable.
Enjoy!
pi2

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I agree with the caution aspects but TOTALLY disagree with the first line. It is NOT the same as "any other country". If you are coming from the U.S. or any other place where the sale of Real Estate is governed by law, you should listen to Chris Colon. Once you're ready to actually buy, you should have a very reputable lawyer working for YOU. (Part of your 6 months to a year trial period can be spent looking for a lawyer.) In the U.S., R.E. transactions are strictly controlled by the rule of law, and there are REAL and EFFECTIVE options should something "go wrong", not the least being "real" title insurance.

There's always another, better, property coming along. You don't have to buy the first thing you see.

pi2 said:

Any property has to be sold with a deslinde defining the parcel of land or a condo agreement defining condo regulations.

Court is sldomn necessary on recent transactions carried out by reputable lawyers.

Cheapskate gringo artists trying for a stupid bargain get caught once in a while but there are 10,s of thousands of condo and land transactions where everything is exactly in order and the efficient transfer process is really like many other countries.

pi2

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The phrase "has to" doesn't even work in the U.S., let alone the D.R. Ask the people who have been scammed if ANYTHING "has to" be as it is "supposed" to be.

Buying an apartment in STO. DGO.

CaptnGlenn said:

I agree with the caution aspects but TOTALLY disagree with the first line. It is NOT the same as "any other country". If you are coming from the U.S. or any other place where the sale of Real Estate is governed by law, you should listen to Chris Colon. Once you're ready to actually buy, you should have a very reputable lawyer working for YOU. (Part of your 6 months to a year trial period can be spent looking for a lawyer.) In the U.S., R.E. transactions are strictly controlled by the rule of law, and there are REAL and EFFECTIVE options should something "go wrong", not the least being "real" title insurance.

There's always another, better, property coming along. You don't have to buy the first thing you see.

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Dear, Lorenzo1960,

I can get a very nice apartamento in a much better area than Cacique for around 100 to 110K. Send me a PM or email to bsierra08@yahoo.com for more information.

CaptnGlenn said:

I agree with the caution aspects but TOTALLY disagree with the first line. It is NOT the same as "any other country". If you are coming from the U.S. or any other place where the sale of Real Estate is governed by law, you should listen to Chris Colon. Once you're ready to actually buy, you should have a very reputable lawyer working for YOU. (Part of your 6 months to a year trial period can be spent looking for a lawyer.) In the U.S., R.E. transactions are strictly controlled by the rule of law, and there are REAL and EFFECTIVE options should something "go wrong", not the least being "real" title insurance.

There's always another, better, property coming along. You don't have to buy the first thing you see.

Click to expand...

I do not think it is any different from Spain, Roumania, Equador, France, Thailand or dozens of any countries.

In the US there have been countless disputes over condos undr construction, planning on land supposedly free of restrictions etc. etc.

pi2