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.
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