Renting vs buying vs building new is a hard call.. From what I've seen in the listings lately, you can rent beachfront for much cheaper than buying. Some owners just want a steady income to cover costs while they hope they can sell at a profit, but you can get a decent condo a mile from the beach for under $60K, a stand alone house for about $100K and up or a walled "villa" starting around $250K. Want to blow $4 million? They've got that for sale too.
I'm flipping a property here in NY and then FINALLY, after nearly ten years, coming down again to assess the DR market first hand. I'm taking my time and have some new towns to check out. It seems the off season is the best time to look for bargains..
now is a good time to buy, as properties do not go since some years, nobody pays what owners thought they would be worth a few years ago.
but honestly, i would not buy and built down here, not worth it, Rent is the way to go.
where I own/bought, is the Ranch. i also own property along the Boulevard del Este, the highway between PC airport and the hotelarea, first row, Highway entry/exit, but i would never build there for my own. it is property that i bought cheap many many years ago/almost 2 decades ago, i did of course not know about any highway to be build right along there, lucky shot. such properties are like money on the bank, wait some years or decades, then sell. right now salesprices are the cheapest since a very long time, good for buyers, but those buyers do not know when their property will start to raise on value.
the only exceptions are the extremely rare small beachfront properties, almost nothing available in the punta cana area, at least not available for sales, and where someone is willing to sell, it does not matter on the price if theres a mansion built on it or if its a empty dirty Lot, it has its high price because it is beachfront, right along the 60 meters from the waterline.
consider building costs and purchase of beachfront property, look on the typical markets rental rates(which are darn cheap here), and then see how many decades you need to rent out such property, just to amorize the prior investment, PLUS the extra years of renting out to cover for your maintenance costs to keep it up on value as a Landlord, NOT worth it.
I live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, small balcony, big veranda appartment right on the beach, first row, fully furniched $600.- USD per month. all maintenance, security, trash removals, beach cleaning etc etc already in the rental price.
now ask, what would it cost to purchase Today such beachfront and what would it cost to build it? and what is the costs of maintaining it with gardeners, watchy etc etc?
well, i did such calculations more than once during the last 20 years down here, and the result is always the same:
I will rent til the end of times, but i will not throw my money out of the window to purchase and build for the own living.
and the rental keeps me flexibel, in case the 'hood changes or the Daughter's future demands to move some other area for school etc, i just could Move, no need to sell anything. not that i like to move too often, we just moved, but within the same building, been waiting a long time that this actual bigger appartment gets empty, lol. we live here since 9 years now and i see no reason to move. but at the moment a reason comes up, i just pack the bags and we are free to move where ever we wanna go.
Mike
