Advice needed - Signed contract years ago for apartment & now developer wants more money to close the deal

Greg81

Member
Aug 12, 2012
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I need some advice. In 2021 I put down a deposit on a two bedroom apartment in a development that was under construction. It is in Bavaro. The project was supposed to be finished in 2022, but was delayed multiple times. It is finally complete, but now the developer wants 35% over the contract price due to increased labor and building material costs. Is this common in the Dominican Republic? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing? Thank you
 

chico bill

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May 6, 2016
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Yeah doesn't seem right. That's a hefty jump especially because he's 4 years behind promised date
 

cavok

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Jun 16, 2014
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Cabarete
FWIW, real estate prices have gone up about 35% or more in the last 4 years. Get a good lawyer and see if he can be held to the contract price.
 

drstock

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Oct 29, 2010
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Yes, I've heard of a similar post-construction price increase at a certain development in the Cabarete area. In this case the people said they wanted to pull out and get their original payment back but the developer said they would lose all their original investment. Very bad that this can happen but the OP must get legal advice.
 
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Nov 9, 2023
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Yes we had a similar situation: bought pre-con 2019 (just pre-covid), delivered a month ago 2024. An increase of 30% came up somewhere in 2022-2023. After a lot back and forth we got it to 20% on the remaining build/payment. The total amount is still around 50% of what these houses go for now when finished. So we got hurt and delayed but came out well in the end.
In 2023 the builder also offered to buy it back at the 2019 price if we wouldn’t agree with the raise but the value in 2023 was already close to double, so he could put it back in the market for that! I suspect this has become common practice: delayed projects generate value when the market is high, then the buyer pays for it or bails out and it is resold at a higher price.
Lawyers will suggest to pay the extra % when the current value is high, going to court can take a long time and cost a lot of money. Even when the contract puts the buyer in the right!
They got you by the balls and the wallet and they know it.
We got it down by negotiation and letting them wait. Finally a new contract was made up with the new price.
 

josh2203

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Dec 5, 2013
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I read elsewhere in this forum that in the DR never to buy some property which you cannot move in to right away
Very true, posted by multiple posters. I have witnessed multiple real-estate transactions in the DR, all done following that principle. No promises that something will happen in the future, but rather like in the early days of website editing, WYSIWYG, what you see (not on paper, but in brick-and-mortar) is what you get.
 

Peterj

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Oct 7, 2002
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Very true, posted by multiple posters. I have witnessed multiple real-estate transactions in the DR, all done following that principle. No promises that something will happen in the future, but rather like in the early days of website editing, WYSIWYG, what you see (not on paper, but in brick-and-mortar) is what you get.
Thas was (and still is) solid advice from DrNoob, and even then prepare yourself for trouble & problems in the future.
 

DrNoob

Active member
Aug 10, 2024
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Cabarete, DR
Thas was (and still is) solid advice from DrNoob, and even then prepare yourself for trouble & problems in the future.
Thank you but I cannot claim credit. This is something I read in DR1, before even I was able to register as I was looking at the pitfalls and found gems like the one I repeated above. The other thing I repeat to my GF and get side-eyed is 'easy to buy, very hard to sell in the DR' - I will attribute these to the collective wisdom of DR1 members, past and present