cost of living

pbrane

New member
May 30, 2003
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Ok.. I'm confused (not unusual!) about living costs on the north coast. I read that rents are cheap, the peso is sliding against the dollar, etc etc. Then I read that "things will cost you twice as much as you estimated." I'd like to hear some more examples of what things cost for someone contemplating a move there...like electricity, water, TV, internet, food etc..

Thank-you, and sorry for the mundane nature of this post.

Regards,
michael
 

ricktoronto

Grande Pollo en Boca Chica
Jan 9, 2002
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Please search first

there is quite a lot of stuff on this subject here and an entire non-forum section of the DR1 site with a lot of info.
 

sjh

aka - shadley
Jan 1, 2002
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www.geocities.com
your question is difficult to answer because we dont know how you live.

Because of the recent collapse of the peso, I think this question is worth revisiting.

I live in a dominican house, in a dominican neighborhood, in a regular dominican town. Our maid cooks us food made from local ingredients. Our kids go to a catholic school. I have an invertor, a decent sized yard, and ok neighbors.

Some numbers from our little family of 5.

Food: 7000
phone: 1500
cellular: 500
maid: 2000
cable: 150
water: 200
gasoline:1000
propane: 500
school: 300
truck insurance: 700

we own our home but an equivent house would rent for about 4000

we have no electricity meter so we dont pay that yet.
throw in a few vehicle repairs, eating out, etc...and total would be 20000 per month plus electricity
 

Peter & Alex

Bronze
May 3, 2003
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www.rainbowsenddr.com
Living costs

As others say - it's difficult to put a figure on living costs?
We are 2 Brits, own house, pool, large garden, invertor, usual household appliances, dogs, car, etc. etc. No kids.
On average - monthly outgoings with maid and part time gardener - around RD$ 22,000.00. Food on top and of course the nights out!
 

Danny W

Bronze
Mar 1, 2003
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I'm confused too. If your money is in dollars, where is the expense? Car insurance?, medical?, ?? If you want to go broke - try Manhattan!
 

pbrane

New member
May 30, 2003
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living costs

Hi all, and thanks for the comments (keep 'em coming). Maybe I'll tell you a little more about my lifestyle and my concerns etc.

I'm what I like to call "semi-retired" and therefore am sort of on a fixed income and am able to be in this position mostly because I am quite frugal. I was living in Sarasota, FL recently, and am trying to compare living there (they have a great beach, but not much else for a 47-year-old single guy) to living around the N. Coast of DR. I had an antenna for free (albeit kinda crappy) TV; had nice house (paid for) with central A/C -used just at night in summer and for heat in winter- and average bill was around $40-45 (that's for all-electric house). Then I paid about $25 /mo for agua; nothing for sewer (septic); maybe about $400-500/yr for car insurance and $15/mo for a little gas. House insurance was maybe $400/yr; house taxes were about $2000/yr. AOL dial-up is $24/mo. Telephone was $30/mo.

So.. Since I wouldn't have a car down there (maybe a bike or moto and ride buses(?)..I'd save there I think.

I'd save the $2000 on property taxes

House insurance.. any comments?

Water bill might be cheaper??

Dial-up.. cheaper?

Telephone.. not sure ..some have said more

Electricity.. sounds like a KWH costs twice (13-14 cents vs. 7-8 cents). Maybe some solar panels and propane appliances? Or a generator? But then I suppose you have toworry about someone "borrowing" them?

That's enuff for now
thanks again for the input
m
 

Larry

Gold
Mar 22, 2002
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Froam what I see

If you want to move down there permanently you need to get the big expenses out of the way first.Purchase house/condo, car, lifetime golf memberships etc..After those are all paid for I think I could live reasonably well for $1,200 per month on the north coast and well for $1,500 per month. Of course I would not be eating out every night in the nicer restaurants and so on for that. It all depends on your lifestyle. I would be happy playing golf, fishing, scuba diving , eating out 2times per week. With golf membership paid for and after becoming friends with people that run fishing charter boats and own scuba dive shops you could do many of these things cheaply.
Larry
 

duhtree

New member
Jun 2, 2003
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cost of living-cont.

Interesting. I also have fallen in love with the idea of living some place where the sun shines, people smile, and the possibility of being loved isn't too far fetched given a moderate amount of money. The problem appears to be: Rent versus buy. At a cost of 20 to 30 thousand pesos a month after buying car, house, land, furniture.
Why not put 100,000.00 U.S. or so into interest bearing instruments and spend the 300,000.00 dr to live keeping your money dry? A'm I off in my thinking?

John
 
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BushBaby

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Jan 1, 2002
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House/apartment purchase is NOT recommended for at least 6 - 9 months. You need to get to know the areas & particularly the one you decide you want to LIVE in. You need to get to know the CULTURE of the country, who you can trust & who to stay away from. You need to find out what you need in the house/apartment & what you can do without - you can only find that out (inexpensively) by RENTING first.

I fully understand peoples need to want to OWN their own property, it is something that is inbred in us from birth in Europe & North America, but it is NOT advisable here until you are SURE of where you want to live!! Selling is not as easy as it is in the aforementioned continents, a house WE have in the centre of Puerto Plata has been on the market for FOUR YEARS!!! Worth US $100K, this is costing us just over US $1,000 because we can not sell it even though it is empty!!

Renting & putting your money into SENSIBLE investments, is definately the way to go for at least a 12 month period!! - Grahame.
 

duhtree

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Jun 2, 2003
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You people are amazing. I've been reading past posts and your responses to questions are thoughtful, informative and wry.
Thanks. To continue: Am I wrong in thinking that $'s would double +- 2 1/2 years if placed in certs. Whereas I can't imagine land doing that over and over for 10, 15, 20 years. And depreciating assets are just that. depreciating.
 

pbrane

New member
May 30, 2003
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Grahame: YES, I understand that one should not jump into a real estate purchase, especially in a foreign country. But this example (where I own my home) is for long-term planning...

So you say you have an empty house? Maybe you could rent it.....to me? ha!


duhtree:

There's the "rule of 72" that makes it easy to figure doubling rates. If your $ was earning say, 24%, then divide 24 into 72 =3 years (to double). Or if you were earning 10% on a cd, then it would double in 7.2 years. Of course, it works inversely as well..

I was once excited about living off the high int. rates down there too, but have changed my mind, as the economy/banking system sounds too shakey and therefore too risky..

Thanks for the input,
michael
 

Jwb

New member
Jan 10, 2002
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Take the advice of the regulars

Pbrane,

I too want to make the move . I onced packed my bags, applied for a $50k 2nd mortgage loan on my home and gave myself a couple of months before taking the leap ( search the archives " What the hell is going on"). After reviewing a couple of replies from some of the more experienced posters cautioning me to plan carefully, because its not going to be easy to make a living down there, I decided to save up enough additional income to live in the DR for 1 year without touching the bulk load. I figure at the rate that the peso is dropping a person with an income of $2,000 USD a month should live quite well somewhere up north.
I am just waiting for an income producing business opportunity to present itself, before I take the plunge. Sometimes you have to take a chance.
 

Escott

Gold
Jan 14, 2002
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Grahame, bite the bullet already and accept the loss on the property and sell it to whomever will buy it at whatever they will pay. You can't hold onto it forever and not have what ever monies you would get for it NOT work for you. You will also feel relieved to be done with it. In the US I would have donated the home for the tax writeoff already.

I think that it takes more than a years worth of Looking at homes and kicking the dirt to have a basic enough knowledge of worth in DR Real Estate. I think that moving and renting for a year is GREAT ADVICE before purchasing. If you only knew how many stories of people overpaying for property here and not being able to sell it at the price they paid you would be amazed.

People that make quick decisions have a long time for regrets.

That is one of the reasons this board is such a great resource. Even though there is so much basic info here you need to know, you also get to get over the learning curve and not suffer the same mistakes others here have made.

Scott