The future of Sosua

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etolw

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Caonabo said:
This is obviously a lower class of person than I am accustomed to. The African American men I know, OWN their condos and villas, and if anything, host gatherings amongst friends, family and business associates.
Not a group of five having to rent a villa for a weekend together on pooled money.
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Caonabo said:
Correct you are. You have been invited to villas. I own villas. Just not in Sosua, and most definitely not with the types of people you happen to "roll with". My clients play golf, and appreciate the arts, of which you have stated you know of none. So be it. We choose to travel in different circles. So be it. Some aim high. Others hang low. Such is life. Have a blessed evening in whichever direction you may so choose.
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First, I found Sosua entertaining 10 years ago, a place to have fun in bars and people watch. Not any more.

Today I am older with family, and only visit by daytime, and hopes that in the future good restaurants still will exist, and tourist business can manage to survive, depending on night life or not.

@Caonabo
I find it amusing that you choose to label people who have chosen (or been forced) to live another lifestyle than you «low level»
Usually that is a sign of someone that have a need to step on another person to feel better. People who are confident of themselves have no need to speak about how great they are.

Myself I believe I am educated, well informed and intelligent. Yet I will choose to sit down and booze in a bar instead of going to art galleries any day.

Different interests do not make me «low lewel» in my opinion. Btw, I do not like golf either. Prefer windsurf or mountain biking any day.

Last post in this thread from me, I am not going to derail the thread with personal ramblings.
 
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zoomzx11

Guest
A little good news for us from Dominican Today.

The DR is only the second most corrupt country according to NGO Transparency International.
Many would have guessed we hold the number one spot.

One of our prolific posters here upgraded me for doubting that the DR had stringent zoning laws.
There is no law here that cannot be gotten around here and others have written they like the idea that a US $20 bill
will buy the average joe out of most problems.

Corruption is part and parcel of daily life in a country with out a middle class.
Here it is the poor and the rich and no one in between.
Not hard to guess who the political system supports.
Following elections the faces change but little else as one crook is exchanged for another and Sosua is no different that the rest of the country.
 
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Ecoman1949

Guest
windeguy said:
A builder in my development is building smallish two bedroom homes on one floor. They have a combination living/dining kitchen area and two bedroom with one full bath. A small swimming pool as well. They cost about $150 to $160K and have all sold as they have been built.

The houses not selling for a long time have a kitchen/dining area with a vaulted ceiling, a bedroom downstairs and then two or three bedrooms upstairs and are on the $200 to $300K price range.
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Excellent information Windy. Much appreciated. The question is what is going to happen longterm to the large houses owners can’t sell? Are there covenants in your area requiring owners to maintain their properties even if they are on sale and vacated for long periods or can they walk away and just continue paying the HOA fees? If my property was next to a run down property, I’d have some concerns about my resale potential and value. I’ve kept a close eye on the DR real estate market since I started wintering in the DR. Do foreclosure sales exist here? I’ve never seen them listed by DR real estate companies.
 
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zoomzx11

Guest
windeguy said:
A builder in my development is building smallish two bedroom homes on one floor. They have a combination living/dining kitchen area and two bedroom with one full bath. A small swimming pool as well. They cost about $150 to $160K and have all sold as they have been built.

The houses not selling for a long time have a kitchen/dining area with a vaulted ceiling, a bedroom downstairs and then two or three bedrooms upstairs and are on the $200 to $300K price range.
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Interesting.
I had the impression from our pundits here that nothing was selling in Sosua.
Looks like the builder has found a niche;
I would expect that less expensive homes would sell faster but selling out is a good sign.
Nice to see that our little city is still attracting new people.
Maybe it is not all doom and gloom.
 
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ctrob

Guest
zoomzx11 said:
Interesting.
I had the impression from our pundits here that nothing was selling in Sosua.
Looks like the builder has found a niche;
I would expect that less expensive homes would sell faster but selling out is a good sign.
Nice to see that our little city is still attracting new people.
Maybe it is not all doom and gloom.
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There will always be doom and gloom. People come and overpay. That's gloomy when they find out the truth. One should not be investing money in a foreign country in a market they know nothing about. But it happens all the time. Just because you owned a few homes back in your own country, doesn't make you a real estate expert. I also think part of it is thinking they'll get one over on the locals.

On the other hand, lots of people come here and can make a few bucks in real estate.

As to the smaller homes, there are other developers doing the same thing. Selling brand new small homes with a pool for less than $130K usd.
 
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windeguy

Guest
Ecoman1949 said:
Excellent information Windy. Much appreciated. The question is what is going to happen longterm to the large houses owners can’t sell? Are there covenants in your area requiring owners to maintain their properties even if they are on sale and vacated for long periods or can they walk away and just continue paying the HOA fees? If my property was next to a run down property, I’d have some concerns about my resale potential and value. I’ve kept a close eye on the DR real estate market since I started wintering in the DR. Do foreclosure sales exist here? I’ve never seen them listed by DR real estate companies.
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If a homeowner fails to pay the HOA fees, their house will be put up on auction. The sale price will be given to the now former home owner minus any overdue HOA fees.
 
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windeguy

Guest
zoomzx11 said:
Interesting.
I had the impression from our pundits here that nothing was selling in Sosua.
Looks like the builder has found a niche;
I would expect that less expensive homes would sell faster but selling out is a good sign.
Nice to see that our little city is still attracting new people.
Maybe it is not all doom and gloom.
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Homes are being built and sold all the time. They are just not being built on the west end of Pedro Clisante, which is the focus of whore mongers on threads about Sosua.

Casa Linda is also continuously building and selling homes. They just bought a tract of land for 300 more houses, but once again, this is not on the west end of Pedro Clisante.
 
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Big

Guest
no "doom and gloom here" Sosua will continue on as always. Its just seems that many think it will become a family destination or a retirement mecca, others don't. I don't believe it. I hear all the news about the closure of bars/restaurants and the banishment of chicas. Yet every time I go to Sosua for dinner and "cocktails" I see tables of men with their dressed up favorite chica and the bars with high heeled smiling faces. Like someone indicated earlier, the town has ebbs and flows (weather, holidays etc). There are some visionaries here for sure, I however would not jump into a town ( real estate market) that has a stockpile of condos for sale for 50 thousand U.S
 
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Caonabo

Guest
Sosua Sonny said:
A wee bit defensive are we?

For a person who travels in different circles it is unusual that you have such a keen interest in a thread about Sosua's future.
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Solely from an investment/economic perspective. I am interested in the future investment possibilities for the region. Not it's recent past or current state.
 
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Caonabo

Guest
etolw said:
First, I found Sosua entertaining 10 years ago, a place to have fun in bars and people watch. Not any more.

Today I am older with family, and only visit by daytime, and hopes that in the future good restaurants still will exist, and tourist business can manage to survive, depending on night life or not.

@Caonabo
I find it amusing that you choose to label people who have chosen (or been forced) to live another lifestyle than you «low level»
Usually that is a sign of someone that have a need to step on another person to feel better. People who are confident of themselves have no need to speak about how great they are.

Myself I believe I am educated, well informed and intelligent. Yet I will choose to sit down and booze in a bar instead of going to art galleries any day.

Different interests do not make me «low lewel» in my opinion. Btw, I do not like golf either. Prefer windsurf or mountain biking any day.

Last post in this thread from me, I am not going to derail the thread with personal ramblings.
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Sound advice. I will take it into consideration when the opportunity presents itself. Thank you.
 
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cobraboy

Guest
ctrob said:
There will always be doom and gloom. People come and overpay. That's gloomy when they find out the truth. One should not be investing money in a foreign country in a market they know nothing about. But it happens all the time. Just because you owned a few homes back in your own country, doesn't make you a real estate expert. I also think part of it is thinking they'll get one over on the locals.

On the other hand, lots of people come here and can make a few bucks in real estate.

As to the smaller homes, there are other developers doing the same thing. Selling brand new small homes with a pool for less than $130K usd.
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ZI keep hearing of expensive homes selling for a serious bargain. Where are they?
 
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cobraboy

Guest
zoomzx11 said:
One of our prolific posters here upgraded me for doubting that the DR had stringent zoning laws.
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That "poster" didn't say "stringent." He said "try building a structure without a permit and see what happens."

Non-sequiturs.
 
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windeguy

Guest
ljmesg said:
Casa Linda. You can watch your neighbor brush their teeth lying in your bed.
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No, it is not Casa Linda. Although the smallish houses currently being built by one developer are reminiscent of Casa Linda's first developments. Casa Linda now offers considerably larger homes.
 
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windeguy

Guest
As for the property tax situation: That is not based upon the sale price (as in a $150,000 number being a good one to avoid taxes) , but rather on an assessed value determined by a formula from DGII.

Few houses pay property tax based upon that formula.
 
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ctrob

Guest
windeguy said:
As for the property tax situation: That is not based upon the sale price (as in a $150,000 number being a good one to avoid taxes) , but rather on an assessed value determined by a formula from DGII.

Few houses pay property tax based upon that formula.
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Correct on it being an assessed value based on their formula, but I think the cap is 180 now.
 
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etolw

Guest
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zoomzx11

Guest
CristoRey said:
...cash is still king.
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Our fellow posters here celebrate the fact that for $20 they buy their way out of most anything.
And one guy rants on about how strict the zoning laws are.
There is not a law in this country that one cannot get around for cash and or with connections if you are Dominican.
If you are a gringo it is a bit harder as you need to go find a Dominican to do it for you. Takes an extra 5 minutes.
 
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