Buying property $120,000 ?? close to diving locations

You Are "AT LEAST" A Year Away From Needing To Ask Those Questions!

First you need to live here for six months to see what you think about living here.You need to see if you CAN get a job,and how much it pays.Can you live on what you make? Buying a property is the very last thing you need to think about!!!Rent where you want to live.Leave your money in England,it is a good place to be able to go back to if needed!
The DR is expensive! It is not a "Tropical Paradise" where you can live on the beach and pick fruit to live!

Too broke to come & look but prepared to sink $120,000 in a property? That could be a recipe for becoming even more broke........I don't want to be unkind, but you have to do your homework. Look around, talk to people who live here etc. The advise as always would be to rent first, take your time, make sure this country is for you....it isn't for everyone. I, too, am a Brit. & we moved here over 12 years ago & love it, but I can think of an awful lot of people who came.......and went.
Yes, you can get properties for the amount you identified & certainly properties will be cheaper away from the tourist areas. But if you want to live inland in a more 'no gringo' setting........how much do you know about this sort of lifestyle? Do you speak Spanish? Have you in fact visited the DR before?

Totally do-able

another Brit here, what you suggest is absolutely do-able.

get your butt on a Thomson cheapy flight and check it all out.

Malcolm,

Look in the Real Estate section, Plenty of places for under $120,000

Just don't expect your 'dream place in the sun', they START a lot higher.

When we were looking, 100k could have got us a luxury 1bd apartment but with a view of next doors roof or a perfectly located but pokey place. ie for that budget there will be a compomise somewhere, ... it depends what you are used to.

AS GSUK said Get yourself on that plane, then get out and about
You really can't visualise the DR from a website (at least I could'nt)


I'd imagine getting a job that pays well enough would be the biggest problem.
(I if could figure that one out I'd be doing it!)

Luke

This is not the paradise one may think it is to operate a business.

When you set up a tourist oriented business you need a money reserve to pay off all legal, semi-legal, and pay-offs for the permits you require. Then depending on the government bureacracy for the beach area you may have to pay a commission to the dive company that has rights operate in that whole tourist zone. You pay rent and a commission to the owner of the beach from where you operate. You pay a commission to any official that approaches you. You pay, pay, pay, pay.

I have an aquaintance who had a dive operation here. He started off well with promise. But, now because of his own mismanagment and aggrevated by the commission system he is now basically bankrupt, just the house is left, and that may go soon. To pay off all his debts and favors, he sold out everything, equipment, and truck. Sad story but true.

Visit the island, work with a dive shop to get a feel for the place. Then, decide what you want to do with the $120,000.

Regards,
PJT

New people frequently don't find life 'easy' here.......they find it 'different'. There are stress levels here..........PJT identifies some in relation to setting up a business. There are others......dealing with Dominican bureaucracy, for example.
So, any rose tinted perceptions need to be removed, & as we all say, check it out for yourself, in person, meet expats out here, believe only a quarter of what we all tell you, check it out again, err on the side of caution & never sink your nest egg in a property unless you are convinced this is the country for you.

I understand you want to reach out to those of us who have done it, & that's fine. But it is a lot better face to face, when you can make your own judgements as to what you're being told.

I now do find life easy out here........but it has taken me 12 years to amass enough know how as to how things operate. And I'm a retired person so not looking for a job, although I have worked here in the past.

As before, do a cheapy last minute booking, get out & about, & ask, ask, ask.
And good luck with your dream.

What a Deal I Have for You

I'll sell you my place for $100,000.00 and pay your first two years of condominium assessments up front. Nice place, plenty of room and well maintained.

malcolm William said:

thanks for advice,

catch 22 sometimes, a lot safer to set up a business in UK with the tight regulations but thats the reason i want to leave ! and who wants to go diving off Brighton pier at -2 degrees in the summer, dodging all sorts of floating things ?

It's a shame it's so complicated to live a chilled, little lazy existance in paradise. Anything for an easy life.

malc

Click to expand...

Malc,

Doing business in any country is complicated. If I were you I'd see about getting a job at the place in Sosua (excellent dive operation) or there is another one in Rio San Juan (gri-gri divers). Sosua/Cabarete are much more expensive than Rio San Juan due to the heavy tourist crowd there. But then that helps the job market (catch 22).

Best of all, there are lots of expats here to help you cry in your Presidente when things don't go well for you! :-D

Gri Gri Divers are at http://www.grigridivers.com/ and also check out http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/scuba.html for more info.

Blow some bubbles!