My husband and I will be relocating to Santo Domingo in October and have a 1800USD budget for a two bedroom unfurnished apartment. Would this amount be sufficient and what could we expect at this amount. Would utilities run more than $175/month? My husband would like to live near the embassies-is this an advisable area if I will be at home and have no car? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have not been able to find much information on the internet so any real estate websites or contacts you could provide would help.
- Thread starter jltflrs
- Start date
reasonable rental in santo domingo for 2 bedroom apt?
Your budget of $1,800 should be OK for a 2 bd/2ba apt in the area of the US Embassy. Try to locate an apt. yourself with help from others (non-real estate people) perhaps with people your husband will be working with (I assume he will be employed). There are many apts in the 20,000-40,000 peso/mo range that will fit your bill. Please don't fall into a trap like many "GRINGOS" who overpay for housing. Electric will run more than $175US/mo if you are using a/c in bedrooms only (at night). I would budget twice thatif the place is a/c totally. PM me should you wish more details. Good luck.
Cost of Living
My husband and I just moved here. We rent a very beautiful, large 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment in Naco. It has a huge,private covered terrace so that we can spend lots of time outdoors. We eat every meal on the terrace. We looked at many areas and chose Naco because of its proximity to a wonderful,green small neighborhood park. It is also within walking distance to a great athletic club, The Body Shop. We have one vehicle which my husband takes to work everyday. I walk everywhere and have found the Naco area to be close to everything I need. The noise on the street took some getting use to (mostly the motorcycles). We came from living in the mountains and have never lived in a larger city!I would advice taking time to evaluate the noise on the street wherever you are thinking of renting. The weekends seem to be quiet on almost any street so that you need to check it out on the weekdays during peak times.
Also we found that although we only needed a 2 bedroom place, most apartments that fit what we were looking for had 3 bedrooms.
Hope this helps.
Tahoe
My husband and I just moved here. We rent a very beautiful, large 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment in Naco. It has a huge,private covered terrace so that we can spend lots of time outdoors. We eat every meal on the terrace. We looked at many areas and chose Naco because of its proximity to a wonderful,green small neighborhood park. It is also within walking distance to a great athletic club, The Body Shop. We have one vehicle which my husband takes to work everyday. I walk everywhere and have found the Naco area to be close to everything I need. The noise on the street took some getting use to (mostly the motorcycles). We came from living in the mountains and have never lived in a larger city!I would advice taking time to evaluate the noise on the street wherever you are thinking of renting. The weekends seem to be quiet on almost any street so that you need to check it out on the weekdays during peak times.
Also we found that although we only needed a 2 bedroom place, most apartments that fit what we were looking for had 3 bedrooms.
Hope this helps.
Tahoe
The rent you pay seems rather high to me. Must be the big city. The north coast is a lot cheaper.
Thanks everyone for your answers - it helps me alot. I think you are right about staying away from realtors. My husband has been apartment hunting on two different occasions and did not like what he saw and the prices they were asking. Although he admits, it got better the second time around. He was looking at apartments for $2400 and he was not impressed. We are originally from NY, have lived in NC and are currently living the good life in Mexico City...very easy to get spoiled here with the large size apartments and the wonderful architecture here. He doesn't think we can find anything in our budget and I decided to post to get some response and am happy I did...its very encouraging. I told him you probably have to negotiate from the price they ask. I will probably go for my "look see" trip in September. I will let you know how I make out. Thanks so much. I am so glad I found this website. Everyone is so helpful and theres a lot of good useful information.
PS-Tahoe thanks for your input. I keep telling my husband not to stress about me not having a car but he keeps saying its not like NY where theres good public transportation you can rely on. I told him I would try and find a place where I could just walk to everything. He's afraid I'll be a prisoner in the apartment all day and then probably go into a depression or drive him nuts about being there. But I know its just temporary and I'm looking forward to joining the newcomers club and getting involved and meeting people so I'm sure I will adjust ok.
Tahoe, the apt like you describe, there are some of large ones like that here in Higuey (about 200 mt2 - 2000 sq.ft, 3BR/2BTH) and they go unfurnished for US$ 600 monthly.
Mine is 2BR, 85 sqm (850 ft) and I pay 300 dlls after my rent increase last month.
US$1800 monthly for APT is a loot of money. Is that for an unfurnished or furnished one? Do you pay utilities apart?
I didn't even pay that much in one of the best areas in Northern VA/DC metro few years back in the States.
Mine is 2BR, 85 sqm (850 ft) and I pay 300 dlls after my rent increase last month.
US$1800 monthly for APT is a loot of money. Is that for an unfurnished or furnished one? Do you pay utilities apart?
I didn't even pay that much in one of the best areas in Northern VA/DC metro few years back in the States.
Gazcue and public transportation
I live in the neighborhood near the US Embassy - but a bit closer to the colonial zone - and walk to everything - or take a caro publico or a great taxi. Unlike NYC, the cabs here are cheap ($4-5 US to just about anywhere) and come wherever you when you call them, arriving within five minutes. So I would not worry about having a car. Contact me via PM when you get here and we can have coffee and chat..
I live in the neighborhood near the US Embassy - but a bit closer to the colonial zone - and walk to everything - or take a caro publico or a great taxi. Unlike NYC, the cabs here are cheap ($4-5 US to just about anywhere) and come wherever you when you call them, arriving within five minutes. So I would not worry about having a car. Contact me via PM when you get here and we can have coffee and chat..
I am a teacher that lived in Santo Domingo for 2 months in the summer of 2006 and 2007. I had a nice one bedroom on Capt. Eugenio de Marchena (around the corner from the consulate) for 800 bucks per month us. Sorry, but this is my only form of reference. It was only one bedroom, but it was extremely nice, safe and secure. My guess is you will find something very nice with amenities within your price range. I don't think your electric bill will be as expensive as the other person made it sound.
