Area of Santo Domingo

Welcome to DR1, DRNED.

All these areas are worth considering except for Avenida Espa?a which is further out of the city and although it is oceanfront it is also a mostly seedy area with lots of errm... nocturnal activity and not what I would call safe.

In all cases you should definitely go and see for yourself before deciding or making a commitment because all these "good" areas have better and worse sectors.

Arroyo Hondo has the whole range: mansions, middle class residential complexes consisting of houses and apartment blocks, and slum areas.

The Malec?n ranges from run-down housing to brand new luxury seafront apartment blocks. Some stretches are safer than others. Most but not all is polluted and noisy.

Some streets in Gazcue are just too noisy although it is one of the loveliest areas in the capital. Same goes for the Zona Universitaria.

Don't know Las Praderas that well but it looks like a nice enough middle class residential area.

(Mod note: I moved this question to the Santo Domingo section - the Living forum is for non-geographically specific topics about Living in the DR.)

The Honduras area near the Casa Espa?a is probably what they mean - it's OK, a lower middle class area. I would suggest Gazcue or Zona Universitaria as more centrally located and possibly safer.

It's certainly possible to find something decent for US$650 per month but based on poster mountainannie's recent househunting experience it is becoming more of a rarity.

The gap between most people's/the average income and these prices is typical of a developing country's economy where the middle classes and above inhabit a completely different world compared to the poorer majority.

Poor families get by on US$200 a month - that is if someone is in regular employment and/or they are receiving remittances from a relative overseas. Middle class Dominicans earn about five times as much (at least) and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle - as you go further up the economic scale people live more comfortable lives than their equivalents in a 'developed' country because of the existence of the poor underclass. They have maids and nannies that only much wealthier people in 'developed' countries can afford.

Having said that, these dollar rentals are aimed at foreigners. Foreigners are considered to be the best tenants, not just because they pay in dollars, but because they pay at all, and because they tend to take better care of the property.

I moved away from the capital over a year ago so I would suggest waiting for some replies to come in from posters with more up-to-date wisdom about renting in SD.

finding an apartment in SD

Depending on how long you are planning on staying here....I guess I have to advise you that really you need to wait until you get here and see the places for yourselves- I was in a good enough Aparthotel called Guesthouse Esmeralda for a couple of months but that might not suit you if you need a place right away.

I am assuming that you are going to be looking for furnished

and the realtor is going to know that you are new in town, do not have a fiador? Are you going to be prepared to pay six months rent?

search this forum on house hunting in Santo Domingo .. a strange experience.

Know that realtors do not share listings with one another so the one that you are working with may or may not have the listing that you are looking for..

I guess what I would recommend is an aparthotel... Hostal Yu, or one like it. and reading Listin Diario every day.... and then calling every number along with a good map. Then perhaps get a good driver.. the Apolo cabs cost $10 an hour and that is probably a good way to just drive around a bit and see the city and see what the various areas are........

Unless, of course, you can get some sort of leg up from wherever it is the one who is working will be working during those four days a week.... THAT would be most help.

not a lot of fun, I am afraid, apartment hunting here!

There are three places listed in the real estate section of DR1 (For rent/ By Location/ Santo Domingo) between US$500/month & US$800/month.
P-297: NICE TOP FLOOR APARTMENT FOR RENT
P-298: BEAUTIFUL TOWN APARTMENT FOR RENT
P-276: Breathtaking view

Also listed at a weekly rate of US$225: MaleconApt: Ocean View Furnished Apartments & Studios, Sto. Domingo. I stayed at this one, about two tears ago. At the time, they had considerably better rates for longer stays. It might be worth contacting them. It is located about a mile and a half west of Nu?ez de Caceres. It was nice & quite safe.

heres what u should do...

DRNED said:

Thankyou for the info. I have managed to find out that the Malecon options would be towards the Honduras area (we could be misinformed if this doesn't exist) on the way out of the city towards a country club?

I must say that either options are very limited or simply not advertised on the internet from Santo Domingo. Which is the case in on this matter? Our own searching online has brought little light to the matter and we are becomming slightly flustered about the thought of searching an unknown city from scratch on arrival, and really going off what an agent tells us, which will obviously only be the positives.

Could you tell me of a good website we may find some interesting apartments. We have been advised a budget of $650 p/m is enough for a reasonable apartment in a reasonable area.
Does this sound about right? My understanding is that Dominicans are a poor people with high unemployment, and so I am finding it difficult to make the math work when considering this cost of living. It doesn't affect me at all but I am trying to understand how this works and people live.
Although it is not a high rent, it is most certainly not a poor mans rent or anywhere near poor in comparrison to places I've worked/lived before. Going off what I have looked at online I expect we will be having to top up the rent to around the $800 mark to get somewhere, but yet again this is all I see online.
Thanks again for your information.

Click to expand...

Yea,$650 is like 23K pesos. Those websites you re looking at are meant for Americans who want a place and not to do the work. No Dominican family is paying $23,000 pesos por an apartment. I have a friend who is a lawyer in Santiago, and she pays 6,000 pesos($194) for a 3 bedroom place, with about 1000 for utilities($27). I got another friend who works for the Ayuntamiento(which is like Town Council) and she lives with her sister in a Residencial. They pay 10K pesos monthly($277). So $650 is mucho! I was told when I came here to rent a place for a week or two and then make your way around town seeing with your own eyes the neighborhood you d like to live in. I did that in Santiago and I found 2 nice and cheap neighborhoods, El Ensueno and Las Colinas. I m not sure about Santo Domingo and Santiago because I could be comparing San Francisco and Oakland here. But if all things are equal, I think you guy should put a cap on 10,000 pesos a month(dont tell the agent that, she will just show you crap and say it is 10K. Tell her I know what I like and I ll like what I see if its what I like. A riddle.) So from 5,000-10,000 you can get a nice place. And with that extra $ you can get amenities, Cable, DSL, AC, car service.

Santiago is

much less expensive than the Capital from everything that I have heard

I have had two friends who had apartments around the 10k mark.. one a furnished one bedroom which had been really a three bedroom subdivided.. you could not turn around in the "living" room and the other was a studio.

I would say more like 15- 18 k for a one bedroom in a solid middle class area...

lots of Dominicans have been there for years, are rent controlled or own their places....

just can't compare

My wife has a new apartment in the Zona Universitaria, furnished, 1 year old, 1 bedroom, 2nd floor, planta, 1 parking. It was rented out to 1 person since the beginning but will be free soon.
Rent is $650,0 maintenance included.
In case you are interested please PM and I will forward.

Regards, GALK