Real Estate, what's happening?

lhtown said:

Lurker,

Could you please explain what your post has to do with this thread? I am sorry, but I fail to see the correlation.

Also, I think you had better review the context in which some of the statements were made about real estate. There have been some very worthwhile comments in the last few months about certain sections of the real estate market. Also, understand that most of those comments were intended to be understood within a specific context and applied to specific sections of the real estate market.

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What he is saying is that real estate will be valueless and that all the R.E. that others and myself have bought will be worthless. He has been saying this for a long time now.

Perhaps in the Campos where you do NOT have Expats and a second home market the R.E. prices will drop but not by the beaches close to any International Airport where people can come in from a country with a hard currency such as the Euro, Sterling, US Dollar or even the Canadian Dollar and everything seems inexpensive in the Dominican Republic.

Even in the Campos I don't believe in the doom and gloom he preaches.

I invest money with a finance house in Puerto Plata just like many others in this forum who in turn lends money to people (read dominicans for the most part) based on a 40% LTV at a VERY high intererest rate to most of us that come from other places. I have told him that I am interested on purchasing properties from him that he takes back for lack of payment. I am still waiting for that first offer from him. Even Dominicans are not "NOT" paying debts with the possibility to lose 60% I guess.

This is a guy that has NOT shown or even discussed any credentials that would make him an expert. He huffs and puffs about the doom and gloom while I see some prices doubling here.

Only time will tell who is right but I have been pretty happy with my investments in R.E. here although I have been getting over 15% interest on money investments.

I think all the bad news has been figured into the market for R.E. already. When the economy was doing better before Hippo the R.E. prices have fallen. Now when the economy is doing poorly under Hippo the Real Estate investments have become the safe haven just like it skyrocketed in the US after 9-11.

I also don't believe that any LAND or Buildings close to the beach and an International Airport will track that DR economy but rather the economy of the Countries people have come from with their foreign currency.

When I bought my first condo in Pesos I paid 40k US in Pesos at 28 to one. Now the last one that sold in my building sold for 82k at a 40 to one peso which turns out to be almost triple what I paid. The only condo that is for sale in my building from what I have been told is being marketed for 150k at a 50 to one peso.

Can you understand "Safe Haven"?

Scott

lurker said:

well geez ihtown you must be a property owner!

if you dont understand how the whole country disintegrating is going to affect real estate values, far be it from me to be able to explain it.

i havent read anything meaningful about real estate on dr1 in any context. 5 cent millionaire real estate tycoons
trying to be marketmakers, dreamin' in technicolor and blowinhard the whole way dont move anything but their ****'s.

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Hahaha, you still crack me up.

Thanks for the entertainment. Let me know when you want to buy a clue so I can make some money! LOL

hyperinflation

I also think hyperinflation is here. We're gonna see prices rising dramatically and more and more informal dollarization. Real Estate? I think it is the best investment in the DR at the moment. Unlike stocks, or money, real estate can never go to zero!

Chris and Escott,

I think you have some good points. I especially think Escott makes a good case for foreign currency holding up certain parts of the real estate market. However, I do think there is a lot of room for certain property values here in Santo Domingo to drop (read maybe 30-80%) - at least if we are talking about their value against a relatively stable monetary standard such as the Euro or peso. In that regard, a lot could depend on the next election cycle. If I were buying property that was not influenced by foreign currency as Escott describes, I would be hesitant at this point and would be looking for real bargains that already have some devaluation figured into their price.

On the other hand, if you think this next election will bring good news and an economic change for the better, we could be near whatever bottom there is in real estate at least with "Dominican" properties.

Fire away! I have said my part.

lurker - Yes, I'm sure you would know as you live and work here. Sometimes I wonder what motivates people to make such uninformed posts? They just end up looking ridiculous.

If you talk to people that have been investing in real estate here for the past 30-40 years they will tell you they have seen it all before and they haven't lost their shirts. Real estate has remained a reasonably safe investment here on the whole. Right now in certain parts of the country it's booming! Will the boom remain? Of course not, real estate ebbs and flows like so many other markets.

Right now in Santo Domingo it's a buyers market and deals can be made. People want and in some cases need US$.
In the boom years many people brought (investment) and sat on apartments. Now many are either trying to sell or rent as they need hard currency.

You can still find deals related RD$ in Santo Domingo. I know of someone on this board that recently purchased an apartment in SD and the final purchase price was linked to RD$. It was a very sweet deal, except for the seller.

Bottom line... If you have US$ and want to invest, you should consider DR real estate.

Right here at DR1, we are looking to get into the vacation/real estate market with a group of DR1er's. We believe this market is expanding and will do even better in the months/years to come based on what we know and hear. Plus we bring something to the table that local real estate and vacation rental people could only dream about. Thousands of qualified surfers looking to rent or buy property here.
If you want to keep up to date on our plans and possible future investment opportunity, drop me an email. robert@dr1.com

Wish you the best Robert. As you say, you should be uniquely positioned to profit from real estate. Also, from reading your posts, I think you bring to the table a unique business perspective that will be invaluable in such a venture. If real estate were my cup of tea, I would be interested. However, I prefer to think that at this time in my life, my abilities and interests are better suited for other types of investments. Again, good luck!

lhtown said:

Chris and Escott,

I think you have some good points. I especially think Escott makes a good case for foreign currency holding up certain parts of the real estate market. However, I do think there is a lot of room for certain property values here in Santo Domingo to drop (read maybe 30-80%) - at least if we are talking about their value against a relatively stable monetary standard such as the Euro or peso. In that regard, a lot could depend on the next election cycle. If I were buying property that was not influenced by foreign currency as Escott describes, I would be hesitant at this point and would be looking for real bargains that already have some devaluation figured into their price.

On the other hand, if you think this next election will bring good news and an economic change for the better, we could be near whatever bottom there is in real estate at least with "Dominican" properties.

Fire away! I have said my part.

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I only speak of the North Coast where I live and am familiar with the Real Estate market. I know not a thing about the capitol or the south coast and ask other people here for info regarding those areas. I should qualify this in my posts but most people know me and know from wherest I come

I will still wager that properties close to the beach and International Airports will not suffer the same fates as other properties. When the shit hit the fan in the States New York Real Estate screamed. Not only did the country suffer after 9-11 but so did the economy. Real Estate SKYROCKETED. I sold into this surge and liquidated 15 properties at twice the price they were worth before 9-11. Safe haven and beach/accessibility are my bets.

Time will tell but I am happy as possible with my investments to date and am closing on another property in Cabarete on Mon. or Tuesday that has Kite beach sitting in front of it.

Hey Lurker, I am willing to bet that I can get a profit above my investment on this property in ONE year. I will market it for 6 months after 1 year and if it doesn't sell I will auction the property. You pay me equal to the profit up to 50k and put up 50k in escrow and I will pay you equal to the loss up to 50k and put the title of the property in escow along with another title valued at about 100k now. Lets see if you have any money behind your bullshit?

Pick a lawyer of good standing in my area to hold your 50k and my titles if you think you are so smart and we will do it just as I just proposed. You should be a shoe in to make the whole 50k according to the BS you have put forth here and previously.

Money talks and Bullshit walks and I hope you enjoy your stroll!

Scott

Air and Water

Proximity to an airport and water are two of the reasons I bought in Sosua. Price and security filled out the equation. I can be on my patio sipping a Presidente twenty minutes after clearing customs. I'm seeing the prices rise where I'm at primarily because Americans and Canadians want in. Some Brits I recently met just bought a minute down the road from me. Four people, all American, that I know have bought in Sosua in the last few months and all of us are spending more and more time down there. I'm also seeing more Americans vacationing on the North Coast than I did a few years ago. Now that I've established a residence there, I'm beginning to look toward investment property and will make the appropriate moves at the appropriate times. Timing and location only come together once out of every fifteen or twenty potential properties.

I take it you have NO money to put where your mouth is then?

LOL

lurker,

That is a truely uninformed post. Compareing DR to Argentina real estate markets is like compareing apples to turds. Argentina real estate devalued with it's currency because the real estate was priced in the local currency. The real estate in the DR that is of any interest to off shore investors is strictly a dollar based market. Obviously, you have made no effort to become informed about the current market conditions. Talk to any real estate agent on the north coast, they've never been busier.

blah,blah,blah

wow, it's like talking to the wall.

lurker said:

escott - i had to go through all your posts to find out what the hell you were talking about. wordy arent they? by any chance are you a short person? a messy bet you are proposing. i dont want to try to authenticate a title that turns out to be the warranty on a vacuum cleaner. and what i really dont want is to actually own the junk. hehe simplify the bet. any investment that doesnt provide a positive return was dumb....agreed? if we can agree on just how dumb it was maybe we can saw off at some percentage. if we can agree on terms and you can cause 50kusd (or more) to be deposited in a solicitors trust account in bermuda, we may be able to proceed.

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I am about 5'5" tall and right around the 220lbs mark so I am a fairly large person in stature. Whatever the difference in our thoughts have to do with my "SIZE" is beyond my realm of reasoning other than as a smoke screen for your lack of everything to carry on a conversation.

The reason my posts are a bit wordy is because I have things to say unlike your posts which are just repeatedly "The sky is falling" which hasn't resembled the slightest bit of truth so far. Had you had anything of value to add your posts would also contain some words. Even if you were to explain your expertise and why you would be a credible person to listen to would be a help and add a couple of words that would have meaning.

My investments other than "building lots" are providing a return and have been since the first month. When I do quick numbers I have been making 12% on my money and using the condos myself. Respectable considering that in the US where the money has come from 2% is a top return on Certs and with the real estate market at the top of the cycle it is hard to find "GREAT" returns. I am booked solid till April for what its worth.

The building lots which I have owned for 9 months and 2 months do not give me a return and wont unless I sell which I don't plan on doing since I am going to build them either as 2 lots or combine them as one for the Casa de Cono Grande. Not sure yet but will make up my mind when I have no other projects in front of me. My closing on a property in Cabarete has been postponed to Monday and hopefully it will close then but since I am in the DR and Mr Murphy is a big man here it may not happen.
If that closing doesn't happen I will work on the lots.

How about putting the 50k in a US trust account?

hahaha, big surprise

Love your tag line BTW.