Thanks everybody.....I am truly grateful that I found this site BEFORE my big move. Even though I am making mistakes along the way, for every mistake that I have made, I have avoided 2 due to good sound advice from this site.
Here goes what happened with the house.........
I had been looking for a while, getting alot of tips and sending my friend all over Santiago visiting houses (and apartments at one point). He is so sweet, but that is another story
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ONline I saw a house that I liked through an inmobilario and I called the guy. He showed my friend the house, and although I liked the pictures, my friend told me that the area was not good (not in terms of crime but in terms of the appearance of the surrounding streets and barrios). So i did not want that house.
Anyway, the agent told me that he would keep looking and if anything can up, he would let me know. So then he called me about the house in Cerro Alto, keep in mind that there were houses before this that I liked but for some reason or another didn't pick because my friend would let me know that the area was not good, or it was farther from the colegios than I wanted, etc.
So when he went to this house in Cerro Alto, he took the pictures and emailed them to me quickly. I liked the house and he (my friend) told me that it was in a very good area and close to most things. So I decided to rent it.
I sent my friend the money for 2 months deposit, 1 month comission, and 4 months rent. After talking with the owner, we agreed that my friend would sign the contract and that I would sign one when I got there in August. All was agreed, my friend paid, and received the keys. A couple of days later, the agent from the inmobilario called me to tell me that the comission was not paid. I told him that that was impossible because when I spoke to the owner he told me that he had received all of the money from my friend. I told the agent to let me call my friend and if something was wrong, I would send him the money. The agent asked me had I already paid the deposit and I said (THIS IS WHERE I MESSED UP) "Yes, I sent him 2 months deposit, 1 month comission, and 4 months rent, ______pesos" Because the agent told me that the house was not one from his negocio but rather from a negocio of a friend and that his friend wanted his comission for having told the agent about the house.
To make a long story a tad bit shorter, the owner states that he has no agent. Apparently, the other guy "saw the owner's sign" and mentioned it to the agent and now they both want money. So my friend said to just ignore them, until....
The OTHER guy calls MY FRIEND to ask for his comission, stating that he knows that I need a house and that I was happy with the house but that HE was the one who told the agent about it. He mentioned something to the effect that if "she can send you _______pesos, it won't be a hardship for her to give me something for my effort in the deal" Apparently the agent had divulged how much money I had sent to my friend.
My friend was furious with him and me for running my big mouth. He canceled the contract, spoke with the owner who agreed, and then called me to tell me that he had canceled it, when I asked why...
He told me (and it's common sense), that now this guy (God only knows who he is) wants money, thinks I am rich, and knows where I am about to live.
That I cannot live in that house now because he WILL come, it's just a matter of time, and myself and my children would be in danger. That he may continue to tell other people that I have money and I will be a sitting duck.
So there it goes... I should have not spoken with the agent at all, let alone tell him how much money I had sent. My friend told me first of all, I should not have given him my phone number.
I am not used to NOT being able to nonchalantly speak of money. How many times do I go out to shop with my friends mentioning out loud what we are going to buy and where? In the mall, trying to decide should we buy the Nintendo Wii at Best Buy where it is $319 or at Target where it is $369 but you get a couple of cheap games. I know now that you cannot do that in the DR, we might not have made it home that day!!!
I am learning but this by far was the most costly mistake that I have made so far.............
SHALENA
