is DR falling apart???

rahim

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Aug 16, 2002
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I am suppose to take ownership of a condo in Punta Cana on Friday.... from all I'm reading and hearing... it sounds like the DR is falling apart... exchange rate 53+, propane and gas strikes... any feedback from you view down there is greatly appreciated.
 

Talldrink

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Jan 7, 2004
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Rahim, the DR has been 'fallin apart' since the dollar used to be exchanged at $6 pesos... If it does fall apart, the only thing that holds up is property, so you should be ok. Dont believe the hype...
 
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XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Hype?

There is no propane.There is no gasoline. There is no diesel. No Diesel to run my gnereator, which I need to run because there is no electricity. Everything from building materials to corn flakes are up nearly 300% in the last year.

Hype?

How do I live? And I actually have money! The government is blocking people who have products, gasoline,propane, etc, from selling them bercause the lambones who rely on government subsidized wholesalers, don't. And they don't just because the 'government' won't pay it's bills for products purchased.

Hype?

It's not hype. This place is going to go BOOM! very quickly unless the government gets out of the marketplace. Hopefully that will before I can't find any gaoline to go buy milk,pampers, and food for the children.

Tom (aka XR)
 

Talldrink

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Jan 7, 2004
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Alright Tom, I feel your pain.... Sorry for using the word. I wont say it again... I'll be quiet in my corner.

I am really sorry you guys are going through all that. My mom is going through some tough times herself. She also needs energy to run her machines and the gas for the planta is bullistic.

However, all the advice she gets is to take her capital and invest in property in case whole Coralito thing happens, which is what Rahim is doing...
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Tom is a newcomer, Talldrink. His perspective is just what has happened during the past couple of years. But you are right, there has been one crisis after another for a long time. When I came to the DR in 1986, the peso was about 2 to 1. Although the present fall of the peso has been more dramatic than previous ones, there have been some big changes over the years and the doomsayers all predicted the demise of the DR.

But somehow the country manages to muddle through these crisis and I believe it will this time, as well. Living in the DR is not for the faint hearted.
 

Danny W

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Mar 1, 2003
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I understand that real estate is the best place to have your money in the DR, and I gather that prices are at their peak. But I wonder whether all the bad publicity is scaring away some potential international buyers. Just as the poster was worried about jumping in, won't this sentiment eventually have an effect on the market? - D
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Where did you hear that prices are at their peak? This is not true in Sosua.
 

Danny W

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Mar 1, 2003
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Am I wrong? I guess I got that impression from Scott's (and others) posts, and also from Juan Perdomo's people. Am I wrong? What is the state of the real estate market in your opinion? I'm considering a somewhat overpriced condo in Sosua. I am willing to overpay slightly for something if it's unique or exactly what I want, but not if it's a white elephant. If the bad news is scaring the high end foreign buyers away (as I suspect is possible), I'd like to know. - D
 

Jan

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Jan 3, 2002
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I say if the Dominicans have survived all these years why can't we expats here? Just learn to live like a Dominican. As long as you can have some food and a roof. Electircity...its a convience buit do you really need it? With all the fresh fruits and veggies here. You don't need to cook if its not available. Water can be found if its not piped into your house. Its there just a little more work getting it sometimes. If you live here and want to live like you did in USA or another developed country maybe this place is'nt for you. Or maybe you should just come here on vacation and enjoy the dream instead of the reality.
I love this place with or without. Just hope I can keep a roof over my head and have some computer access sometimes. What more can you want? Sun. Beach. Good beer. Great neighbors.
Why did you come here in the first palce? Cause yopu liked this place or cause you wanted to bring your country of origin with you?
It can be bad but the good is always better....in my opinion....
Just 1 poor gringa that loves this country!
 

Talldrink

El Mujeron
Jan 7, 2004
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Danny W said:
I understand that real estate is the best place to have your money in the DR, and I gather that prices are at their peak. But I wonder whether all the bad publicity is scaring away some potential international buyers. Just as the poster was worried about jumping in, won't this sentiment eventually have an effect on the market? - D

Well, the person that started the thread is buying prime real state by the beach. Regardless of what happens in DR, it is still an island. If you want to move there for to be in the tropics, the beach will always be there and it will always be a prime location. I hear that the lots near the beach are very hard to get and very expensive. So if you have the chance to get into it now, then do it. If push comes to shove, you can always sell.

There are many posts about how bad is getting over there, but no one has ever said that they lost any money by selling their property.
 

Lurch

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Aug 8, 2003
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Remember

1. Beirut has beach front property

2. Haiti has beach front property

I can continue with the list however the point that needs to be made is the need to educate yourselves. 99.94% of the "ExPATS" or wannabee expats enter the republic woefully unprepared for its nature.

Here is something to ponder, where do you think the money is going to come from to pay the massive debt? Taxes of course, perhaps new significant taxes on real estate, after all you'll make a nice juicy target being an expat in your house.

Naivet? has no business in RD (including the AIs)
 

ltsnyder

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Jun 4, 2003
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Re: Hype?

XanaduRanch said:
There is no propane.There is no gasoline. There is no diesel. No Diesel to run my gnereator, which I need to run because there is no electricity. Everything from building materials to corn flakes are up nearly 300% in the last year.

Hype?

How do I live? And I actually have money! The government is blocking people who have products, gasoline,propane, etc, from selling them bercause the lambones who rely on government subsidized wholesalers, don't. And they don't just because the 'government' won't pay it's bills for products purchased.

Hype?

It's not hype. This place is going to go BOOM! very quickly unless the government gets out of the marketplace. Hopefully that will before I can't find any gaoline to go buy milk,pampers, and food for the children.

Tom (aka XR)

X, just wondering, last I read you had no problem getting gas for the generator, you just needed to talk to the manager at the Texaco to get the cans filled right? Has something changed?

-Lee

Edditted to add, just read the Sosua area Texaco is out of gas and everything else. . . . nm
 
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michelle2504

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Jan 29, 2003
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Jan,

I couldn't have said it any better. I think you have the right attitude about living in DR!

Regards, Michelle
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Re: Re: Hype?

ltsnyder said:
X, just wondering, last I read you had no problem getting gas for the generator, you just needed to talk to the manager at the Texaco to get the cans filled right?
Well, yes and no. Greg got our tank filled, 230 gallons a few nights ago. But he doesn't have any either. He's got to follow the same quotas as the stations getting fuel from the government refinery. He'll get something in at 8:00AM and it's gone by 8:00PM. So the whole thing is still a big hassle here.

My point was that I'd like all the Dominican's reading this board, just as I have explained to all of my friends and employees, to go back and tell everyone they know, explain to everyone they know, that all of these shortages are artificial. I don't want anyone in this country who knows me or any of my friends, relatives, or employees, to buy the Bald Hippos nonsense about blaming this on everything from meteors to tourists. It's HIS fault and it could be fixed in a DAY if he'd just get out of the way. But he can't because then he'd be doomed for sure - if he's not already.

Tom (aka XR)
 

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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Tom's perspective here is NOT representative of the DR. (Sorry Tom!).

Where I live now:

The power goes out, and I don't notice a thing. All I hear is a rumbling of the generator outside. It comes on, it goes off, I don't care either way. I have UPS's and an inverter, which supports everything until the building generator kicks in. Its that easy, and I don't have to do a thing to maintain anything.

Tom chooses to live in a remote area outside Sosua which has unreliable electricity. He is dealing with the associated costs of living in such an area. I suspect in remote areas of the USA or Australia you could expect unreliable electricity from time to time as well.

If you have a USD income in this country you CAN live so that you're completely shielded from the local infrastructure problems.

You can

a) live in a house, supported by a solid generator infrastructure OR
b) live in a building with true 24 hour electric

a) is preferable, but more expensive to get started. b) is available to anyone with a USD income.
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Sorry Adrian, but what Chris and I were trying to tell you is that you DO have the sameproblems we do. You don't see them because you're not the one responsible for your building's systems and scrambling to find diesel or gasoline, etc. I am the one responsible here, so I do feel the impact directly.

Come here Adrian.

You can't buy gasoline when you want to. Many shops have usddenly sprung gasoline plantas on the sidewalk in front of their shops to cope with the power blackouts. That's in Sosua and Cabarete, not just here in the sticks. You can't buy diesel much of the time. It's not available. And the cause is still the same. Baldy is stealing the money needed to pay the bills and stiffing the creditors. Period.

Explain to me then why our house in Santiago is also continually bereft of cooking gas, and electricity? That's not in the sticks Adrian. It's in the DR's 2nd most populous city. Even Robert has noted in another thread that they are having problems keeping enough diesel in their planta in Santo Domingo.

You have isolated yourself from this, and good for you. I am happy for you. But those of us who have to take care of such things directly know that the truth is very different from what you describe from your new ivory tower. Just go back and read a few of your posts from before you moved. I think you have forgotten all of that.

Tom (aka XR)
 
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Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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I agree with Tom on this one, the underlying problems are the same for all. How we deal with them, how much money we throw at them and at what level we get involved is another story.

We have plantas, inverters and UPS's etc. We pay a premium to have these back up systems and to dump the pain onto someone else to go and find gas oil for the buildings planta.

At the end of the day, most of these problems can be solved with money. You buy a bigger invertor, more batteries and a bigger gas tank for the planta.

This is exactly what Adrian has done, he is paying a premium to live in a building with more "cotton wool".

Long live cotton wool!
 

Adrian Bye

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Jul 7, 2002
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But this is the whole point! Cotton wool is critical, if you value your time.

If I read Tom's posts (and mine previously) I would consider it impossible to move to the DR.. that you couldn't possibly manage here.

Oh, btw, did I mention we get natural gas piped in as well?

So, some numbers:

My rent is just under RD $20,000/month. Thats a huge amount to pay for Santiago. But turned into USD, and divided by 46 its only US $434/month. At 35:1 its $571/month.

- I have no electricity problems
- I have no gas problems
- The building has a security guard (mostly)
- The apartment has a burglar alarm
- I even have redundant internet connections (DSL/cable)

As an amount of money, someone earning USD that is making a living on the internet should be able to pay US $434/month to live in a stable work environment.

Whats your time worth? How much do you earn per hour?

Do you want to be building your business project, or trying to find propane?

And the next stage is when I can afford to put down US$20,000 or so to buy a big diesel generator + underground tank for a house, and pay people to maintain it all for me. But I would definitely not try to do this now, as I'm not ready for it.

My point is, it was a mistake for me not to move into one of these buildings sooner. I could have afforded it a long time ago. Instead I wasted time on infrastructure problems like this.

And my time is valuable.