Wayne,
Unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure about the Sosua area as the place you want to live & unless you are totally aware of the legal & cultural differences between the DR & NorthAmerica/Europe, you would be best advised to come here & RENT for 6 months or so before buying a house/apartment here!! As suggested in previous posts, check out the archives on this subject & take well trusted advice (checked three times at least with other trusted people) before going down the minefielded road of BUYING here without knowing the pitfalls you can get into!!
I don't doubt that you have done your homework & checked prices out for being competitive, but have you checked to see if you can rent it for 6/12 months with an option to buy once you have researched the area & lived there a while?? Might be worth a try & don't take "NO" as an immediate option - the sellers have probably had the house on the market for some time (Property sales are pretty down at the moment & likely to remain so until this Government goes!!), so slowly, slowly catchy monkey as the saying goes!
PLEASE check with Scott (or myself, Ken, Marco, Eddy, Peter & Alex etc) as to who are respected & trustworthy lawyers in the Sosua area before appointing one - it could save you LOTS of hard earned $$$$$'s. My advice on this subject is always to come live here for some months before trying to BUY a place - it is always easy to buy, but NOT so easy to sell. My other house in the centre of Puerto Plata has been on the market for 4 years!!!
Good luck & PM or e-mail me if you need more - Grahame.