Santiago Housing Price

JAMIE

New member
Jun 10, 2002
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Hi to all viewers:

Can anybody give me some ideas how much the purchasing price of a house will be in Santiago? It may be too vague for getting the correct answers, but the general informantion are as followings:

1. 3 bed rooms, either new or old
2. near the Zona Franca
3. areas in the middle income (for local Dominican)

As I explained, this question may be not specifically to have the correct answers, however, all sources could be used as the references and guidelines.

Thanks for your answers.

Jamie
 

goatfarmnga

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Jun 24, 2003
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price of housing Santiago

Just do a search Dominican Republic Real estate on any search engine and all the realtors in DR will pop up. I found a nice home3/1.5 with an apartment upstairs 2/2 (many homes are like that there) on a website the other day in Santiago and forwarded it to my family to see and it was $70,000 us$ and really nice size with a concrete walled large yard (100m I think). On an asphalt road too. If I was going to Santiago I would look into that house for myself but I am going where the realtors have no listings....Check around you can get an idea. Pam
HERE IS THE INFO: I checked my older emails and here it is and it is in Santiago. That realtor has the best site I have see too. Not tourist priced homes either. This is for that specific home described as "Extraordinary House in Santiago" Here is the actual place the info came from..acreare-Immobilien:houses,ranchs,lots in the Dominican Republic.. Here is the email to get info on that specific house. I can not find the actual website on my old email. But email the realtor I am sure they will send you all the info you need. Info157@Domrep-imobilien.com Hope this helps. Pam
 
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philly

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Feb 14, 2003
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The location is going to be the strongest factor in the price. If you want a barrio home all concrete in camboya o buenos aires I know they can go for 400k RD

In more exclusive 'urbinizaciones' like enbrujo 2 , 3 or los alomos I have seen nice 3 bd homes for 800K to 1.100k RD these are the dominican prices as I have an associate that is looking for a home for our family at the current time...he finds a potential home and takes digital fotos of it then emails us the fotos with a brief description.

Happy hunting...
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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You might consider renting. My wife just found a second house for us in Santiago (we already own a house on the North Coast near Cabarete) Very nice. New, all oak and caoba throughot. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two salons, dining room, breakfast nook, kitchen, screened patio, two car carport, one house next door, nothing else, all on a short cul-de-sac, two short blocks to a main 4-lane street, five minutes to Calle del Sol in light traffic, 10 pesos by taxi.

I asked about how much she thought they might sell it for because I do like it. She guessed at what would be equivalent to US$55K-US$60K (RD$2M) and I would agree. But we're able to rent it for just US$155/month (RD$5500) without any worry about it being sold. So I have no need to buy. That's a steal!
 

goatfarmnga

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Jun 24, 2003
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Renting vs buying in Santiago

Hey that is a good point Tom XR..I may just go rent something if it is that cheap.... Maybe I won't sell the farm to move! :) Pam
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Pam, as always recommended by just about everyone here, if you haven't been living here for at least a year, or visiting here dozens of times for more than a week's vacation you just don't know the lay of the land and just in my opinion for what it's worth it's stupid to buy.

Rent! It's cheap, and if the ocean just isn't quite the right shade of blue, or the coconuts on the trees outside make too much noise in the wind, you can go someplace else.

I moved around 5 or 6 times before I found this place. I immediately knew that this just felt like 'home'. And I wanted it. But I still waited almost a year before putting pen to contract so I knew exactly what to expect here from electricity, water, ladrones, lambones, noises, cows in the yard, etc. All that's even more important here in the DR if you're from the US or a 1st world country because you never know what you're getting - or getting into.

Live there first, buy later.
 

JAMIE

New member
Jun 10, 2002
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All the correspondence regarding to the "Santiago housing price" are appreciated.

I went to Santiago twice and saw quite a lot the houses for sale, do you guys think the sign of "se vende" has been hung there for a long time (average one year) or short time (about 6 months)?

I don't think the real estate business is active in this country, being the mortgage rate too high (now is 40% from Banco Popular). For example, to get a RD$400,00 loan, 10 years term, with the 40% interest rate, each month's payment including the principal and interest is $13,599.20. What about the utilities expenses? Food, medical, clothes, transportations...etc. What about the home owner's insurance? For local dominican, it is very tough to make the dream home come true.

How local people to get a home? Well, they got to figure it out.:ermm:
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Our experience is that most things with a "for sale/se vende" sign have been there for a long time.

Bank loans here are way too high to consider a loan IMHO. But, since most of these have been out there for a while I also think it gives you much better negotiating power if you don't have cash, but have some income. Work a deal on a contract! Pay like you're paying rent, but make it good toward the purchase. In the U.S. this is referred to as a 'land contract'. Much easier to do here than there because things sell so mch more slowly here.

Utilities will be the big deal, electricity is very high unless you're in an area where His Baldness pays it for you with a rubber check. Insurance costs very little. Transportation obviously depends on where you buy. Get something on a main route and you'll pay as little as RD$5-$10 to get to the center of town.

Are you Dominican?
 

philly

New member
Feb 14, 2003
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It is supply and demand: if the house is well built and in a good area and bargained priced it will sell. My wife and I just lost a nice house in Embrujo 2 because we were waiting for the pictures of the inside to make there way up here...so in 2 days the house was sold and it was only on the market for a short time ...It was in a desirable neighboorhood and had the right asking price.

BTW, I believe most dominicans, if they are furtunate, build the house piece-meal. They get a few bucks and buy some blocks then get some cement....etc... until they finally have a suitable house. I think that is why throughout the country you'll see the half built homes and rebarb sticking out all over the place...an associate I know in Santiago just completed his home...he had been building it for 3 years a little at a time...

The renting idea does sound like a very good alternative as well as the "rent to own"

Good luck...
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
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I don't know how useful a local's perspective is. But for what it's worth: listen to those who suggest that you rent first.

Many houses and buildings are built in areas that flood when it rains, others leak when it's raining, or have plumbing problems (all very common). Only if you have lived in the property for a reasonable period of time will you know if you like it.

I don't know how the "rent to own" deal works. Here I signed a "contrato de alquiler con opci?n a compra". I lived here 1 yr., decided I like it and later bought it. I was wise, some of the other apartments have problems.