I bought a three bedroom apartment in Cabarete as an investment. I rent it out either via my manager in Cabarete, my web site and I advertise on DR1.
Royal Residence Cabarete
As a distant owner it is always going to be more difficult than living there, especially as you have to trust 'someone' and of course, pay people to handle rentals for you. Living there, you can manage your own property so have a greater chance of being successful.
I purchased the property instead of a pension scheme. There are two key elements to this. Firstly, the money that it is costing me is what I would be paying in to a pension scheme anyway, so I am not relying upon the rental income to cover the costs. Obviously, I would *like* to break even or make a profit but I don't *need* to do so.
Secondly, it's a long term investment which I hope will grow in value substantially.
If you are relying on the rent to cover the cost, expect to get a stomach ulcer pretty quickly! I hope that I will start to cover costs in another two years time at the earliest.