We are a family of four (two adults, two children) planning to relocate to the DR. We intend to arrive mid-January, and stay until mid- to end of August.
We have spoken with people who have spent time there, and we know that it is possible to live within the budget we're looking for. But it's so hard to find things online. We are considering whether one of us (I) should come first and scout things out; ideally, though, we would all like to travel at once. If the family needs to stay in an (inexpensive) hotel for a few days to a week while we find something permanent, no problem.
We're trying to find a 3-4 bedroom place (apartment or house) for $200-$400 -- we're shooting for a total monthly budget of $800-$1000. We know that this IS possible. We also know that there are plenty of people on this message board who will write and say it's utterly impossible, and that one cannot live "comfortably" on less than US$5000 a month -- so please, understand that we're looking for a different standard of living, and that our idea of "comfort" is different from that one.
We don't want to live like tourists, and we frankly don't even care about air conditioning. We would like to live in or near Santo Domingo (but this is open). Main things we care about are electricity (but we will BUY an inverter if necessary) and high speed internet. We want our daughter to be able to walk around safely, and we want to feel safe about our living space -- but again, "safe" to us means literally and truly just that: it does NOT mean that we feel uncomfortable seeing people who are not like us. We would be very happy to live in a primarily Dominican neighborhood, we don't care about noise, and we do NOT, NOT, NOT need bright and shiny sparklingly new things all around us to feel happy. We don't care about bars/nightclubs or anything like that, but we do want to be able to take in "cultural" stuff like films, theater, etc. from time to time.
We would be deeply grateful to anyone who has any advice, any pointers at all. Again, please, if your perspective forbids you to imagine that the budget I'm describing is possible, let's just agree to be different. Anybody who might know a place we could rent, or have ideas about the right steps for finding a place, please let me know. We have a few Dominican contacts who could potentially act as guarantors if that's necessary (and who could possibly check out a place if somebody's able to recommend it).
Any and all help, from general advice to concrete tips, much appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance,
Noel
We have spoken with people who have spent time there, and we know that it is possible to live within the budget we're looking for. But it's so hard to find things online. We are considering whether one of us (I) should come first and scout things out; ideally, though, we would all like to travel at once. If the family needs to stay in an (inexpensive) hotel for a few days to a week while we find something permanent, no problem.
We're trying to find a 3-4 bedroom place (apartment or house) for $200-$400 -- we're shooting for a total monthly budget of $800-$1000. We know that this IS possible. We also know that there are plenty of people on this message board who will write and say it's utterly impossible, and that one cannot live "comfortably" on less than US$5000 a month -- so please, understand that we're looking for a different standard of living, and that our idea of "comfort" is different from that one.
We don't want to live like tourists, and we frankly don't even care about air conditioning. We would like to live in or near Santo Domingo (but this is open). Main things we care about are electricity (but we will BUY an inverter if necessary) and high speed internet. We want our daughter to be able to walk around safely, and we want to feel safe about our living space -- but again, "safe" to us means literally and truly just that: it does NOT mean that we feel uncomfortable seeing people who are not like us. We would be very happy to live in a primarily Dominican neighborhood, we don't care about noise, and we do NOT, NOT, NOT need bright and shiny sparklingly new things all around us to feel happy. We don't care about bars/nightclubs or anything like that, but we do want to be able to take in "cultural" stuff like films, theater, etc. from time to time.
We would be deeply grateful to anyone who has any advice, any pointers at all. Again, please, if your perspective forbids you to imagine that the budget I'm describing is possible, let's just agree to be different. Anybody who might know a place we could rent, or have ideas about the right steps for finding a place, please let me know. We have a few Dominican contacts who could potentially act as guarantors if that's necessary (and who could possibly check out a place if somebody's able to recommend it).
Any and all help, from general advice to concrete tips, much appreciated.
Thanks so much in advance,
Noel
