Another Happy House Buyer

bobbytbird

New member
Apr 25, 2003
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www.caribholiday.net
Many thanks to everyone in the Forum that has provided advice about buying a house in the DR. My wife and I purchased a house in Casa Linda which will provide a welcome respite from the 'Great White North' during the winter. We determined to buy a house in the Carribean about a year ago but didn't know where.

We had spent time in the Carribean over the past 10 years and were reasonably familiar with the various islands. Over a period of about a year we collected information on Roatan, Belize, Bocas del Toro in Panama, Costa Rica and finally the Dominican Republic. So why did we settle on the DR? All of the areas we looked at had their advantages and disadvantages but ultimately the decision was based on firstly, the people, and secondly the long-term interest we could maintain as a result of size and heritage. We concluded early on that as wonderful as the sun and beach might be, on the long-term we needed somewhere that would maintain our interest over the years. That dictated a long and interesting history that we could relate to, a size and infrastructure that supported exploration, and a people that would allow us to feel welcome in their country. The DR won hands down on all counts.

The process of finding and then buying our house (which has been named Casa Para Mi Amor) was easy relative to some of the experiences we have seen on the forum. Our experience was somewhat similar to Jan and Doug who found the right people early on that made the process 'a piece of cake'. That had been preceeded by hours and hours on the web and of course travel in the DR itself. Our realtor was Jim Belair with American Realty DR who spent an incredible amount of time showing houses and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of one area over another. We settled on Casa Linda because it is close to Sosua/Cabarete but still with quiet when wanted and has the basic infrastructure for maintenance etc. while we are in Canada. When we got to the point of needing a lawyer, Jim recommended Christoph Sieger with Guzman Ariza, and he was excellent. Our first stay in our new house will be during February and March and then after retirement for about 5 months a year. While not there we hope to at least cover our expenses by renting it out and I built my first website to advertise the rental (http://www.caribholiday.net) So now the adventure begins. Again - many thanks to all who provided advice on the forum.
 

Ken

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
13,884
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Congratulations on a successful conclusion to your long search. Look forward to meeting you when you are in Sosua.
 

JanH

New member
Dec 26, 2002
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Hey, Bob - Glad Doug and I got some backup of the ease in buying in DR if one does plenty of homework and network with the right people.

You should request moderator to add your thread to the "sticky:Newbies..." thread that puts buying real estate all in the same post. Apparently, there are alot of lurkers reading it because we get PMs routinely from people wanting more information.
 

johnsr

Bronze
Apr 13, 2002
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Congratulations on your new home! We wish you all the happiness in the world! Hope you enjoy your new home for many, many years!
John
 

Escott

Gold
Jan 14, 2002
7,716
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www.escottinsosua.blogspot.com
I would like to add my

Welcome to you. Plan on coming to my Easter DR1 Bash at Rockys Bar/Restaurant in Sosua to meet our large DR1 family on the North Coast and the entire country.

Glad you found a home that suits you and your needs. That is what it is all about here.

Kindest regards,
Scott
 

ecarignan

New member
Jan 9, 2003
302
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www.commtech.ca
Welcome to CL.

Hi Bob,

Congrats on your purchase. Your house looks very good. Stop by my house end of feb for drinks. You know where I am.


ecarignan
 

palmas

New member
Jan 7, 2002
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Welcome!!!!!

Congratulations on the purchase of your new home. Saw your pictures and it is lovely.

Warning: The more time you spend in Sosua the more you'll crave to be there. It is almost like an addiction - just can't get enough.

Hope we can all meet one day. We're not in CL but almost across from you, at Playa Laguna (Escondido Bay). However, Eric, Jan and Doug (and others) have places there (I'm sure you already know that) and they are truly wonderful people to get to know.

Congrats from one Canadian to another
Anabela (palmas)
 

GlowWorm

New member
Nov 18, 2003
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Happy House Buyer

Welcome!

Congrats on your new house, I also have a house in Casa Linda (closer to you than you know) so welcome to the neighborhood. Glad to see that you mentioned the research that you did prior to purchase. This is what makes it a "piece of cake".

Is it hard to buy property in the DR? Yes, it is!!!!! But you can avoid the frustration by spending the difficult time upfront and do your homework. I spent 3 times the effort doing research on the DR purchase that I would in the US but I spent zero time with frustration because I did.

Thanks to the DR1 crew who provided so much insight. Especially Ken, who provided a very caring but very firm hand in his advice. I know there are some people who will give you a bunch of grief for making it appear easy but their motives are good. Escott made me do extra research more than once about what I was doing and I thank him for that (did I just pay him a compliment?) because I avoided some pitfalls due to the extra research.

Again Bobby, with the most sincerity, looking forward to meeting you and sharing the DR experience.

Glimmer Glimmer,

Glow

:beard:
 

Escott

Gold
Jan 14, 2002
7,716
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www.escottinsosua.blogspot.com
Re: Happy House Buyer

GlowWorm said:
Thanks to the DR1 crew who provided so much insight. Especially Ken, who provided a very caring but very firm hand in his advice. I know there are some people who will give you a bunch of grief for making it appear easy but their motives are good. Escott made me do extra research more than once about what I was doing and I thank him for that (did I just pay him a compliment?) because I avoided some pitfalls due to the extra research.
Don't bother paying me compliments. Just send money.

When did you buy?

We are putting together a very nice DR1 Community in Sosua in case anyone has missed putting this together. We can probably put together a weekly bash close in the future. We can have them at Kens house, yeah thats the ticket. Saturdays starting at 3 am every week at Kens house folks, sign up right here.

Regards
 

JanH

New member
Dec 26, 2002
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Scott - I read several weeks ago about everyone goes to Rocky's New Year's Eve. Is there anything going on in Cabarete too? i can envision going up and down the beach, hitting one bar after the other, making snowman in the sand, celebrating midnight standing in the ocean, and finally at 3 am, giving Ken and Barbara a kiss goodbye as they taxi home.

Bob/Palmas - See what you'll miss not coming in December?

(Palmas - Bob's floorplan is ours, but with basement. Great house)
 

palmas

New member
Jan 7, 2002
49
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love that floor plan

janH - Before we purchased the one we have now, we were about to put an offer on #7 in CL, but, I prefered your floor plan to this one and besides there was an offer on it already. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I most certainly like that "Y" floor plan much better than the other one.

Hey, we may just be there the beginning of Jan. Things look good. Will let you know for sure.

Again - Congrats lucky Bob.

ps - I didn't know they built houses with basements there. Never heard of that.

Palmas