Do you regret moving to the Dominican Republic?

Do you regret moving to the Dominican Republic?


  • Total voters
    86

DRDone

Member
Sep 29, 2014
293
2
18
I agree... if you are a total loser in the US you can live here at a higher level. The island is beautiful and despite moving back we often talk about the fun stuff, ie lots of free time, country club, day drinking, domestic help etc... It is fools gold though when you can not even trust your own family, people are ignorant about anything other than making money (at high level of society) and even if your place is nice enough and up to American standards you cant go for family walks without packing a weapon and having a guard. What I enjoy about America is the honesty of the people and the safety. My wife (white anglo saxon ) has dropped her game as well since she doesn't have to compete with young firm Dominicans .

I am not saying that the people that move here are losers, I am saying that if you are lower on the socio-economic scale in the U.S, then maybe your life is better in the DR. Part of the sad aspect is that you end up with foreigners (who choose to stay) that don't know how to be successful at business, so the Dominicans don't have much of an example to look up to. Just great ideas like start another pizza place, but have pepper on the table and that will make it successful. I will say watching a lower middle class North American discussing an investment with a Dominican is quite the thing to view. I could see the train wreck, but I was not strong enough to stop it and as everything goes in the DR, I guess it was none of my business.
Guy got to feel like a mogul, investing in a business, an opportunity that would never have arisen back in his home country. Unfortunately I don't think the investment went well, and of course now this guy is the villain.
 

Fredo

Member
Mar 17, 2013
215
0
16
1:europe
2:34 years
3:well adjusted to the weather, September is worst for heat
4:enjoy the authentic campo diet of high fiber low meat
5:fluent in 4 languages, Spanish was easy
6:1 accident because I broke my rule to not drive at night outside the familiar 10km range from home. Did enjoy the no rules driving from the past, but that is changing quickly.
 

Buffness

Self-imposed banned🫢
Oct 9, 2014
399
227
43
Hmm...70% of voters do not regret moving to the DR ?

Chances are the people who actuallly regret moving to DR are unlikely to visit this website , let alone participate in this survey . It's like asking the Choir if they belive in God or not ��

Interesting reading nevertheless . Just saying ��
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,673
1,458
113
I answered somewhat when I should of answered not sure :(

1.France/Switzerland.

2. Coming and going for 9 years.

3.some summers are unbearable. I go back to europe once every 2 years during the summer.
That said no AC for me, fans very rarely. My campo cools down at night.

4. I am OK with dominican food........once or twice a week, dont want to become a*baril de graza ( never seen so many fat people in my life ).
I also enjoy cooking . Wife cooks dr style, I cook european style.*

5. Kind of fluent. Taught myself "total immersion style". Sadly my spanish friends back home tell me I sound like a narco..........

6. Great.*
Got my licence in france in 1998, the times of good ole aggressive driving. I also play Grand Theft Auto a lot, so as not to lose my skills. :)


Bad points would be that*nothing ever works/goes as it should. Funny at first, frustrating now.
I would NEVER have moved here if I wasnt young ( arrived when I was 27 ). So not too sure what we will do in our old days.
I would NEVER have moved here if my wife wasnt dominican.
I would NEVER have moved anywhere else than my wife's campo.
I would NEVER have moved here if my wife wasnt a bi- national, couldnt have coped with all the visa sh.it to travel back and forth.
Those 4 points cut out 80% of possible negatives.
But even so the remaining 20% can really, really pis.s me off , at times.
 

CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
13,849
10,008
113
I am not saying that the people that move here are losers, I am saying that if you are lower on the socio-economic scale in the U.S, then maybe your life is better in the DR. Part of the sad aspect is that you end up with foreigners (who choose to stay) that don't know how to be successful at business, so the Dominicans don't have much of an example to look up to. Just great ideas like start another pizza place, but have pepper on the table and that will make it successful. I will say watching a lower middle class North American discussing an investment with a Dominican is quite the thing to view. I could see the train wreck, but I was not strong enough to stop it and as everything goes in the DR, I guess it was none of my business.
Guy got to feel like a mogul, investing in a business, an opportunity that would never have arisen back in his home country. Unfortunately I don't think the investment went well, and of course now this guy is the villain.

Some of us just got fed up with the America.. so we left. **
 

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
262
76
28
1 From Belgium

2 Been living here for 3 years now

3 The weather is great! I hate cold and snow.

4 I already ate a lot of Dominican food in Belgium (my wife is Dominican and Belgian). Here we sometimes have dominican food, sometimes belgian food

5 When I lived in Belgium I followed Spanish classes after my work for 5 years, because I didn t want to move to a country without speaking the language

6 I learned to drive here, not in Belgium. So no problems with that
 

BelgianMik

Active member
Jul 9, 2015
262
76
28
Hmm...70% of voters do not regret moving to the DR ?

Chances are the people who actuallly regret moving to DR are unlikely to visit this website , let alone participate in this survey . It's like asking the Choir if they belive in God or not ��

Interesting reading nevertheless . Just saying ��

I know a lot of expats here in Puerto Plata and Sosua and Costambar, and almost all off them like living here, I personally know only 2 people who regret moving here, one is selling his house now. The people that I knew who regretted it, moved back to their country

I think almost everybody who lives here does not regret moving, because if you regret it, you just move back to your country, no? Not meant in a bad way. But we are fortunated that we can always go back to our country, where it is easier to make money etc. Why would somebody live here and hate it? I would never stay in a place where I don t want to be.
 
I know a lot of expats here in Puerto Plata and Sosua and Costambar, and almost all off them like living here, I personally know only 2 people who regret moving here, one is selling his house now. The people that I knew who regretted it, moved back to their country

I think almost everybody who lives here does not regret moving, because if you regret it, you just move back to your country, no? Not meant in a bad way. But we are fortunated that we can always go back to our country, where it is easier to make money etc. Why would somebody live here and hate it? I would never stay in a place where I don t want to be.

I know tons of people who dislike it, not everyone can just go back to the place they live just like that for many reasons. Many couples, one of them love it, the other hates it for example.
I have a house to sell, 12 animals and my wife needs to live in this climate. I dislike living here, way prefer the ease, people and safety of back home and the weather but i can't just move back home.
DON'T BUY A HOUSE HERE UNLESS 100% Certain!
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
15,030
5,144
113
There really is no need to buy a house here. The rents are very cheap. And on the North Coast there are many people that own homes that live elsewhere and will rent it to a responsible party for the cost of upkeep.

Buying means you are stuck, renting you are free.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
33,702
7,096
113
dr1.com
yup!!! Biggest mistake i made! Don't buy here!!!!

Depends on location. I know that if I wish to sell I will have a buyer. I've already been approached several times. Prime location.
I had a small plot of 300 metres outside of town- good location. I sold for double of what I paid two years previous, again I was approached, never had it for sale.
Everything is about research and patience. I will admit there is some luck involved but usually good luck happens to those that choose wisely.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
57
48
Depends on location. I know that if I wish to sell I will have a buyer. I've already been approached several times. Prime location.
I had a small plot of 300 metres outside of town- good location. I sold for double of what I paid two years previous, again I was approached, never had it for sale.
Everything is about research and patience. I will admit there is some luck involved but usually good luck happens to those that choose wisely.

Exactly!

When it was time for me to move on I didn't have a problem selling my condo in Santo Domingo, not at all, sold quick as gold would.
 

cbmitch9

Bronze
Nov 3, 2010
845
8
18
The only way I would build a house in the DR is if my kids have plans to return. We have property deeded to us from my wife's father but have no plans of building
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
I know a lot of expats here in Puerto Plata and Sosua and Costambar, and almost all off them like living here, I personally know only 2 people who regret moving here, one is selling his house now. The people that I knew who regretted it, moved back to their country

I think almost everybody who lives here does not regret moving, because if you regret it, you just move back to your country, no? Not meant in a bad way. But we are fortunated that we can always go back to our country, where it is easier to make money etc. Why would somebody live here and hate it? I would never stay in a place where I don t want to be.



I dislike it here, my wife wasn't very happy in the Netherlands. We have four children, so going back is just a big decision, maybe one we'll never take.

Beyond that, I think making money is much easier here than in Europe. Not as an employee maybe but you can do a lot of business even without really having a company.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
If you have money in the bank or can get a loan in Europe or US buying is much cheaper than renting. I agree on the freedom of just leaving though. I can sell my house easy for more than I bought it for, but it's still a hassle. More than just ending the rent at least.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,975
945
113
Depends on location. I know that if I wish to sell I will have a buyer. I've already been approached several times. Prime location.
I had a small plot of 300 metres outside of town- good location. I sold for double of what I paid two years previous, again I was approached, never had it for sale.
Everything is about research and patience. I will admit there is some luck involved but usually good luck happens to those that choose wisely.
It also depends on price point.

The more expensive the property, the smaller market of potential buyers.
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,975
945
113
If you have money in the bank or can get a loan in Europe or US buying is much cheaper than renting.
I 100% disagree with your statement.

Renting here is much, much less expensive than buying.

Elsewhere, a $200,000 property would rent for nearly $1700 a month. You can rent here for half that.

I know numerous property owners here who have a hard time getting a 3-4% cap rate for their properties.

From an investment perspective, you can't just compare rent payment vs. mortgage payment. The purchase price also has an opportunity cost.

If you rent and put the difference in what a mortgage payment would be in some other investment, you'd be way far ahead.
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
15,030
5,144
113
I can show you Condos in Punta Cana that sell for 320K you can rent for 800 US per month.