Americans living in DR, Pleae help

nealymouse

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Dec 10, 2005
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I keep running into people telling me the DR is not safe for Americans to buy property there? Im told that the Govt. is going to come in and take my home if they feel like it.
It seems everyone has a negative story. What I hope I can get from posting this thread is hearing from Americans who did buy in the DR and have had no problems.

We are looking in the Punta Cana area.

Beth
 
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Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Basically bullsh!t....investments in property are generally quite safe.

What might be happening is that the property in question might be inside the 60 meter mark from ebb tide....that is, your land is too close to the ocean. The government does reserve those 60 meters and can take your land,,if that is the case.

Otherwise, Punta Cana is a very good place to park some of your cash.

HB
 

Tuan

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Aug 28, 2004
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I've experience with four homes in the DR in the past 3 decades.
If your title (at the Catastral) is free of restrictions and liens and there is only one seller, you have no problem.
Unless, of course, it's also situated in the province of Saman? ...
 

nealymouse

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Dec 10, 2005
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This is not something I jumped in to. My husband and busines partner and I have talked and looked into buying for a long time. We are now ready to start getting our ducks in a row and I am being bombarded by negative people here in the states. They all have a friend who will talk to me (to date I have received one phone number and will call) and tell me how terrible it is. Yes I was starting to get concerned but read these forums and hear wonderful stories
 

Hillbilly

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nealymouse: Look, there are tens of thousands of people from other countries that have bought property here and are "living the dream."

My wife and I own two properties (urban and seaside) plus some rural lands (really rural!) My sons own land. What's the big deal>?

If you are looking at Punta Cana, you should know that your "neighbors" are all "A List" people....really A List, not wannabes...Julio Iglesias, Bill and Hillery, Henry K and a host of others....do you think that they would invest their money someplace where there was a possibility of losing it? Come on!


HB
 

nealymouse

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Dec 10, 2005
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HB. A huge thank you. This has been my though all along. Sometimes I believe people just dont dare to take life by the horns and LIVE IT. I have never been one to live in the box. I have always taken chances some not so good but I learned something.
Yesterday I spoke with my aunt about this, She called me by my grandfathers name and told me she liked the idea. Being called by my Gfathers name told me right then and there that I was going to do what "I" needed to do not what others are telling me what to do.

Again, Thank you

Beth
 

riravaga

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Feb 24, 2005
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The key is Information and goes to the right place, before to make any deal be sure with what persons you are making it and If they are honest and work for an known firm.
 

ecarignan

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We get the same feedback here in Canada when I tell people that I get homes built and resell them in the DR. They tell me I could loose everything and it is not safe. I have bought, built and sold and brought back the money to home land several times in the past 4 years, not a problem. Usually the negative points are coming from people that don't know a thing about the DR or buying outside their own country, it's called ignorance but people always think they know best. They could also be a bit jealous.

Anyways, it is safe to buy into the DR, you own your land, home or condo. The government can't take that away from you. Make sure you deal with top notch attorney for closing and title researh. Still in doubt, use Stewart Title DR, that's 100% garanteed.

Stop listening to people and do what you want with your money, you've earned it.

Ecarignan
 

nealymouse

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Dec 10, 2005
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At this point we are talking to Karl Lober Remax ofice people. Has anyone used this ofice ?

Beth
 

cobraboy

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Ever notice how folks who offer negative advice are generally those who have no direct experience in the topic, or have never been particularly successful in life?

Find the folks who have been successful and done well in RE in the DR and learn how THEY became successful. Pattern yourself after the successful, not the failures.

Better than listening to non-experienced negatrons.

Eagles don't flock; they are their own birds.
 

Conchman

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It is generally safe to buy property here, but you have to be more careful here as there are people selling land they don't own, and many corrupt attorneys to help them do this, including potentially yours.
 

Danny W

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My experience is opposite to the OP's. When I tell people (generally New York "sophisticates") that I am building a house in the DR, they tell me that it's the new "hot" place to buy in and to move to - that I can't go wrong. They get all of their information from the NY Times and New Yorker magazine, and don't know what they're talking about either.

Use you brains and do your homework and you'll be fine. - D
 

Lambada

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I was going to chime in with my 2 cents worth, but I see you are asking the views of Americans, so maybe you don't want the views of Europeans, Brits. Scandinavians and Dominicans ...............?;) I jest, but I also can tell you that Americans are not singled out as victims of scams. I would just caution one thing though. If you have already done a lot of homework, as you indicate, and you are getting spooked by the ignorant, then DO think long and hard. It can happen in 'gringo bars' in the DR as well, all manner of unbelieveable stories. Ask yourself if you have sufficient self confidence to know when to laugh at those seeming DR 'experts' who have probably never even visited the DR. Or the 'gringo bar' devotees part of whose daily sport may be putting the wind up the new person. If not, the road may be a little uncomfortable.

A good place to start gaining a feeling that you 'know' something would be reading all the archives on this board.
 

nealymouse

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Dec 10, 2005
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Lambada, Thank you for giving me your thoughs, I need to hear from everyone not just Americans,

Thanks for all the info I will use it

Beth
 

JRR

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Don't knw where that all came from but....

Don't know who said it was dangerous to buy property here. I am here in the capital and have been doing mortgages in the US to purchase property here. Now I am lending funds on properties here! The banks I work with would not finance here if the properties could be taken that easily.

One easily forgets that in the US there is also such a thing as eminent domain. As hillbilly pointed out, if the proerty is within the 60 meters it is public. In the state of Rhode Island all seashore is public.

Let's think this through before we panic!

JRR
 

Caren M.

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Jan 27, 2006
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We also have purchased condos in the Punta Cana area. Best thing we ever did! Be sure to buy using a good realtor (we used Camadosa). If you buy in a condo community you'll be fine. If you buy elsewhere, just be sure to have an attorney in DR just as you would when buying anywhere. The only horror stories I have heard were about people who tried to "buy cheap" from guys who would sell the same house to 3 or 4 different people. Your attorney will do a title search just like we do in the states. Good luck! See you on the beach!
 

Lambada

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Nealymouse,
When you read those links check the date on each one. They didn't all occur on one day! (That would be upwindputting! ;) ). The Higuey/Bavaro Titles Mafia was covered extensively in Diario Libre last October-December. If you've got Spanish have a look at the original reports as well as the translated version. And Dominicans were as much, if not more so, victims of that one...........very few foreigners involved there. That said, I'm sure ALL long term expats either know or know 'of' someone who has been a victim of either a ring, like that was, or a 'General' who takes a fancy to someone's farm, or even a lawyer who gets the punters to sign on the wrong line so that they are witnessing his signature as proud owner............ Indeed it can happen. But it is NOT the bulk of foreign residents' experience. The vast majority and certainly those who do their homework, are smart and employ reputable lawyers and get title insurance, just do NOT have those sorts of problems. Those giving outward signals of 'sucker' can get taken as being just that.
If you have any doubts about your title and you have some Spanish, you can make an independent check yourself at any stage after you have had the initial searches done by good lawyers. After the Higuey episode kept getting newspaper coverage, we checked our own title up here in Puerto Plata - even though we had by then been living in the house we built some 6 years. It hadn't mysteriously changed hands. It also signalled to the Land Registry that we would be doing this every few years, just in case the 'Mafia' had reached up here. It sends the message that you're on top of things. Damage control.