to rent a house , need to pay a lawyer

[NotLurking]

Turn this around how you want, but the fact remains.
If the original poster rents a house/apt and lets say the rent is 10.000 pesos.
He will then pay 10.000 x 2 or x 3 when signing the contract, and the contract for the rent ( 500-1000 pesos ).
The first 10.000 is rent, 2nd-3rd are deposits, that he gets back when moving out, or better lives up before moving out.
If, lets say, a real estate agent or someone, have referred and showed this person the apt/house, he/she gets a commission from the above amounts.
For residential long term ( 1 year min ) the commission is anything agreed from 60% up to 100 % of the 1st month rent.

It is not put on top, or specified as a separate amount as you claimed in your prev?ous posts to be a brooker fee, and that was the question of the person posting. No such amount exists.

A rental contract is for 1 year for a residential apt/house.

Interesting, so, what you are telling me is that your were there the times my broker rented out my apartment and you know exactly how it was handle, what commission or fee was paid and by whom? Ok. Like I said, no arguments here.

NotLurking

 

[NotLurking]

What I suggest to people who feel the way you do is that you don't use a Realters service........

You go out and search for the house yourself, You ask all the people in the area you want to live.....What's for Sale or Rent?

Because Dominicans do not like the traditional For Rent or For Sale Signs on there propertey as they are bothered by every other Motor Concho passing by to view there property.

And just maybe you do end up paying more in the long run because the Gringo price escalates way up! As soon as they see your Gringo Face...

Just maybe the house next door is $20.000 less, but because you are a Gringo and have done the leg work and negotiating yourself and of course you are fluent in Spanish, so just maybe you won't get screwed to badly.

And don't forget with all your connections you will not be subject to the Mortgage rates here for the laymen @ lets say 3% a month.

Will you save in the long run?

My listing prices are the same for every one regardless of Race.

Good Luck- Paul

Larry

Larry good advice....hehe...but I'm not gringo nor look gringo. I'm Dominican and look like one...hehe. Anyway, Larry, I know what you mean but like everything here, commission and how it is going to be covered, CAN be negociated! It all depends on how motivated the seller is, how bad the buyer wants the property or renter the apt or how broke the broker is . In any case, it's been an interesting thread.

NotLurking

 

[carina]

Interesting, so, what you are telling me is that your were there the times my broker rented out my apartment and you know exactly how it was handle, what commission or fee was paid and by whom? Ok. Like I said, no arguments here.

NotLurking

I am not talking about you, I am talking about the general praxis when renting a house or an apartment for long, residencial term.
And the praxis is as per above, see Gringos posting.

 

[sunnyvillas]

I want to rent a house from somebody . She makes a contract for rent the house with a lawyer .
Now the lawyer says that I need to pay him for making a contract of the house , the same price as 1 month of the rent of the house .
Is this correct ? Isn't it so that the owner need to pay the lawyer ?,, She wants to rent the house with a lawyer , not me .
They tells me it is a new law ???
Who knows the right answer ?

thanks . greetings , Wim .

I think it is bunch of....., that you have to pay for the contract preparation and especially a monthly rental???

I am sorry to say that, but I am in the rental business for many, many years and I never had a client pay for any contract. It is the owners responsibility to provide you with the contract, through lawer or not, makes no difference. But if the owner decide to hire a legal council, it shouldn't be your money to pay for it.

 

[Gringo]

In this Country the owner has almost no rights

I think it is bunch of....., that you have to pay for the contract preparation and especially a monthly rental???

I am sorry to say that, but I am in the rental business for many, many years and I never had a client pay for any contract. It is the owners responsibility to provide you with the contract, through lawer or not, makes no difference. But if the owner decide to hire a legal council, it shouldn't be your money to pay for it.

In a Country where the Landlord has no rights he must make sure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted and yes you the renter will pay all the legal contract fee's.

Sometimes you will get lucky and find some idiot who will rent to you without his limited rights being protected.

Gringo

 

[Snuffy]

Reading back over this...

I found it quiet odd that you people could not come to an agreement on this question. My experience has been that the person wishing to rent the dwelling pays first months rent, one or two deposits, and a commission equivalent to one months rent. Then that person must pay for the rental contract. I recently went looking for houses to rent and that is what I was told every time. It is what my wife, the dominican, was told. Even if you did not hire the attorney or rental company or owner to find you the place. They still want a months commission.

Can someone with absolute certainty tell us what is correct. I mean, what do Dominicans incur when they rent a dwelling? Is it different for a gringo? Are gringos paying a premium? There has to be one Dominican out there who is willing to tell it like it is.

 

[NotLurking]

Snuffy, I am Dominican and look like it too! I told it like it is according to my experience here in SD. I don't have any first hand knowledge in any other town though. I see you've been treated the same way I've described. Is your related experience from SD or another town?

NotLurking

 

[Snuffy]

Santiago...yes we seem to concur. Looking over the thread again I see that you point out that negotiations are possible. When I rented my current place...I did not pay a commission. They wanted to rent it. It was a time when there were a lot of rentals on the market. You will be hard to find that these days. But lets clear something else up....

First Months Rent
Commission Equivalent to one months rent.
2 Months for Deposit, or 1 Month...what is standard?
Contract Fee 500 to 1000 pesos.

Snuffy, I am Dominican and look like it too! I told it like it is according to my experience here in SD. I don't have any first hand knowledge in any other town though. I see you've been treated the same way I've described. Is your related experience from SD or another town?

NotLurking

 

[NotLurking]

...
First Months Rent
Commission Equivalent to one months rent.
2 Months for Deposit, or 1 Month...what is standard?
Contract Fee 500 to 1000 pesos.

In my case, I'm the owner and my agent handles the renting of my apartment. AFAIK, he charges:

1 Month Rent
2 Month deposits
1 Month commission (this is his fee and includes the cost of the contract ~RD$600)

You can try to negotiate the commission down to 1/2 but if the market is 'hot' I doubt you'll succeed. (Again, I don't know about Santiago. My experience is in SD.)

Good Luck,
NotLurking

 

[Snuffy]

Let us talk about something else...the deposit when you go to leave. I was thinking I would live out my two months deposit. I would then negotiate the painting, cleaning, and anything else fee. I don't want to leave the owner with cost I need to assume and I don't want to be in a situation where the owner does not wish to refund any of my deposit. Does this sound reasonable...to live out the two months?

 

[NotLurking]

The ideal situation is that you DON'T think about living off your deposit but I do understand your concern. In practice, however, this is very common and most of my tenants have done it this way. You can live those deposits off without any problems. Say you rent an apartment for 1 year, after paying month number 10 of your lease stop paying rent. You can call the person that handles the apartment and notify them that you'll be living off your deposits and intend to move once the lease is up. You'll usually not get any 'static' from the owner/manager but if you do, assure them that all is well with their property and invite them for an inspection, if necessary. You are not responsible for painting the apartment unless you specifically agreed to that in writing in your rental contract. You are responsible for damages to the property but not for painting. Returning the apartment clean is recommended and speaks well of you as a tenant. You should leave in good standing with the landlord. You never know when you might need a reference or maybe even another rental from the same landlord.

NotLurking

 

[Snuffy]

NotLurking...thanks for the information. My contract states that I am responsible for painting. Not sure about cleaning. But I would clean anyway. So say I don't pay on the 11th month...do I need to be concerned about the attorney attempting to evict me?...making it into a messy situation.

Good Night.

 

[NotLurking]

I don't see a problem with you living off one of your deposits. I strongly doubt you'll get any lip service from your landlord. Trust me, your landlord doesn't want to go 'there'. It is pita, and then some, trying to evict a bad tenant. Just be upfront with your landlord and all should be good.

BTW next time you rent try negotiating that painting clause if it is part of the rental agreement. Read the agreement BEFORE you sign it and if the painting clause is their, ask for it to be stricken from the contract. Most landlords should agree. I ALWAYS paint my apartment before renting it. Also, if the same tenants are still renting and 'want' I'll paint again in about 3 years.

Good night,
NotLurking

 

[Escott]

NotLurking...thanks for the information. My contract states that I am responsible for painting. Not sure about cleaning. But I would clean anyway. So say I don't pay on the 11th month...do I need to be concerned about the attorney attempting to evict me?...making it into a messy situation.

Good Night.

I would think about late fees and penalties. Security is not a rent payment but for security at the end after you move out for repairs you may have caused.

Escott