There have been quite a few threads on the pro's and con's of buying a place here in the DR. I feel that a lot more of the negatives have been spouted, while the positives remain buried. From my personal experience, I know I spent quite a bit of time here perusing the postings before I made my decision to buy, and this forum almost convinced me it was all a huge mistake. Fortunately I did buy, and it is the best decision could have made.
So I thought I would compile some of the reasons why buying here is a good decision. I do realize every persons experience is personal, and what is best for some is not good for another.
Anyways here is my list:
1. Our place is furnished to our Canadian standards ( no wicker furniture, yuck) The paint colours are all my choice and every bit of our condo has been designed to suit our needs. We also have an electric stove, which is hard as hell to find in a rental. I hate gas stoves.
2. All I do is hear renters complain about this that or the other thing. Obviously a renter isn't going to want to fix things that are the landlords responsibility, and if the problem is personal to the renter the landlord wont usually fix them (eg. no can opener, ugly paint colour, tacky furniture or decorations)
3. We have the same guards all the time, we have a good friendship with all the staff here, and that makes a huge differance. I hear a lot of people complaining that the guards may be behind some thefts, having a good relationship with these guys goes a long long way. My pasola isn't locked up, and it is safe. I know they won't take a bullet for me, but my stuff will probably be the last to be stolen. And when I tell them I want something done around here a certain way, they actually care to do it right. Unless a renter is here so longterm that they forget they don't own, they don't get that respect.
4. I can leave my clothes here, and then when I do come down I can pack light, or use the luggage space to bring things from Canada that I miss.
5. The ability to gain extra income from renting when I choose not to be here, pays for a lot of perks when I get here.
6. Ability to join the condo corporation and effect a change when I don't like something going on. For example we had one dirty old man who was letting his prostitutes walk around without him. We worked on getting a rule passed that these girls had to sign in, and be picked up at the gate. If I was a renter, I could complain but it wouldn't carry much clout.
7. Real estate here is pretty inexpensive compared to back home. Cottages start out three times the cost of a condo here. You can buy a pretty nice place here for under 100k.
8. People say it is impossible to re sell, but we are in a nice area, nice building that is well taken care of and have a nicely decorated unit; people have asked me if I would like to sell it. If you buy a crappy place in a dangerous area, you will have problems selling it. anywhere. location is key, followed by a good condo corporation.
9. When I am not here, my place rents for about 1000 dollars-give or take. If I bought a place that rented for that much in Canada, the sticker price would be fifty thousand more than my condo here, or much more. And the rental agencies here are pretty fair about their cut. Property managers back home want a huge cut.
10. I know when my electricity has been paid. I know four people so far this year who lost power because the landlord didn't pay the bill on time.
11. No yearly property taxes under a certain amount. In Canada I pay more for my property taxes than I do for my condo fee's here.
12. No worries about bad landlords, or being evicted or forced out.
13. I can bring my dog. Alot of landlords, rightly so do not want dogs.
14. Closing costs here are cheap, even with a good lawyer.
15. The ability to give friends and family a cheap vacation option, some of them wouldn't be able to ever afford a vacation. I can lend them my place as a present for a week or so if I am not here. I love being able to do that.
16. Pride in owning a piece of paradise.
17. This country is more than a vacation spot. We love it here.
18. We are close to the beach. There are only so many spots close to the beach. Location was key for us.
There are a lot more reasons. But I don't want to make this too long.
The only con for us is, the place is not going to skyrocket in value like a place in Canada might. Some investments are personal, not financial. But so far the value has gone up about ten thousand, after about five thousand in furniture.
Obviously if someone can't afford to buy, these reasons are pointless to them. Then by all means rent.
So I thought I would compile some of the reasons why buying here is a good decision. I do realize every persons experience is personal, and what is best for some is not good for another.
Anyways here is my list:
1. Our place is furnished to our Canadian standards ( no wicker furniture, yuck) The paint colours are all my choice and every bit of our condo has been designed to suit our needs. We also have an electric stove, which is hard as hell to find in a rental. I hate gas stoves.
2. All I do is hear renters complain about this that or the other thing. Obviously a renter isn't going to want to fix things that are the landlords responsibility, and if the problem is personal to the renter the landlord wont usually fix them (eg. no can opener, ugly paint colour, tacky furniture or decorations)
3. We have the same guards all the time, we have a good friendship with all the staff here, and that makes a huge differance. I hear a lot of people complaining that the guards may be behind some thefts, having a good relationship with these guys goes a long long way. My pasola isn't locked up, and it is safe. I know they won't take a bullet for me, but my stuff will probably be the last to be stolen. And when I tell them I want something done around here a certain way, they actually care to do it right. Unless a renter is here so longterm that they forget they don't own, they don't get that respect.
4. I can leave my clothes here, and then when I do come down I can pack light, or use the luggage space to bring things from Canada that I miss.
5. The ability to gain extra income from renting when I choose not to be here, pays for a lot of perks when I get here.
6. Ability to join the condo corporation and effect a change when I don't like something going on. For example we had one dirty old man who was letting his prostitutes walk around without him. We worked on getting a rule passed that these girls had to sign in, and be picked up at the gate. If I was a renter, I could complain but it wouldn't carry much clout.
7. Real estate here is pretty inexpensive compared to back home. Cottages start out three times the cost of a condo here. You can buy a pretty nice place here for under 100k.
8. People say it is impossible to re sell, but we are in a nice area, nice building that is well taken care of and have a nicely decorated unit; people have asked me if I would like to sell it. If you buy a crappy place in a dangerous area, you will have problems selling it. anywhere. location is key, followed by a good condo corporation.
9. When I am not here, my place rents for about 1000 dollars-give or take. If I bought a place that rented for that much in Canada, the sticker price would be fifty thousand more than my condo here, or much more. And the rental agencies here are pretty fair about their cut. Property managers back home want a huge cut.
10. I know when my electricity has been paid. I know four people so far this year who lost power because the landlord didn't pay the bill on time.
11. No yearly property taxes under a certain amount. In Canada I pay more for my property taxes than I do for my condo fee's here.
12. No worries about bad landlords, or being evicted or forced out.
13. I can bring my dog. Alot of landlords, rightly so do not want dogs.
14. Closing costs here are cheap, even with a good lawyer.
15. The ability to give friends and family a cheap vacation option, some of them wouldn't be able to ever afford a vacation. I can lend them my place as a present for a week or so if I am not here. I love being able to do that.
16. Pride in owning a piece of paradise.
17. This country is more than a vacation spot. We love it here.
18. We are close to the beach. There are only so many spots close to the beach. Location was key for us.
There are a lot more reasons. But I don't want to make this too long.
The only con for us is, the place is not going to skyrocket in value like a place in Canada might. Some investments are personal, not financial. But so far the value has gone up about ten thousand, after about five thousand in furniture.
Obviously if someone can't afford to buy, these reasons are pointless to them. Then by all means rent.