Virtual buying

Hello Gina 2020 : without any reservations I have studied several areas looked at google maps, taxation , dealt with multiple realtors until I narrowed down to the area of Cabarete in the Sosua area , the virtual look really good but in my opinion the locations and how to get there from point A to B and specifically for what you are looking for could be troublesome. With that said it comes down to trust , I have narrowed down to a man from Canada a realtor , a former pastor from Canada , runs a local food bank and owns a small hotel named Casa Blanca his name is William Oosterman I trust him , I message him daily to keep him up to date on what I am doing along with my schedule departure from the State of Texas and relocate permanently into Dominican Republic . look him up by a google search by his name or the hotel name his tel 809-935-0809. Many blessings to you and yours in Canada. Krumite

Just my opinion...there is no friggin way I would purchased property here without seeing and touching it. We have looked at properties, in person, based on pictures and descriptions and the property was not nearly what was described. Also, I direct you to the thread regarding noise pollution here, as an example. You can't vividly get a sense of "intangibles" like excessive noise, and the behavior of your potential neighbors, in pictures and videos.

Gina2020 wrote:

Hello Expat community,

I'm from Ontario, Canada and looking to buy a property in the Dominican Republic. I've done a lot of research and narrowed it down to a specific area. I have never been there before but I had close family who visited there recently. I know you should rent before you buy and also rent at least for 6 months before you make a decision. It's very hard to travel right now with all the restrictions.
Would you consider buying a property virtually? It would be a rental property for now, until we're able to travel and spend more time there. What are your thoughts? Have you purchased real estate virtually before?

We just did it. A complicated process by not being there but doable. We are in Ontario as well.
You can message me privately if you'd like.

Hi Gina2020,

I would not buy a house virtually in my own country, so for nothing in the world I would do it in the DR.

Buying a house you do not know, remotly,  in a country you do not know, to people you do not know is the better way to regret it bitterly.

Come down here, live and rent as long as you can before buying.
In my opinion, those who told you not to do that, gave you a sound piece of advice.

Being someone who has lived in this country for many years and who has visited virtually every part and stayed and lived in a number of locations, my advice as will be the advice of many other expat members, will be - don't put you money into any property without seeing it in person first and understanding the location well. You need to see the quality of the investment because there are no uniform construction standards nor adequate building controls and you could be buying into problems. I have extensive construction experience here so know first hand the potential quality pitfalls to add to seismic, flood and windstorm risks. Not to mention the legal risks if not handled by a known company of repute.

We, and indeed all the world, are going through a difficult time and economies are suffering. People will not be travelling abroad in the numbers of past years and the rental market is almost certain to suffer as a result. But the biggest drawback in DR is that it is much easier to buy and very much harder to sell and very few people will make money out of investing in a property by renting and not living there and probably will see their investment depreciate in value too in the medium term.

And there are the scams and plenty of expats have been burnt with their investments.

Rocky in post #3 is talking from recent experience and he is offering the best advice imo.

Come down and rent when you can for vacation and do due diligence, and keep your cash safe to use when the situation is much clearer, which incidentally includes the significant changes happening here politically.

I know of two instances of virtual buying -

In one case, the owner still owns & is happy
The other case, the owner decided to move on - sold the house
only to discover he didn't really own it.....

Of course that poor fellow had a string of bad luck.

He called the movers..... they came and gave him an estimate - $10,000US
packed and shipped to the US

See you at 7am tomorrow morning
Owner went to the bank and the $$$

The owner went out for dinner and came home to find he had been robbed
$10K + passports.....
No travel for him & his wife

Sad story but true.....

Absolutely not!  Never ever would I buy anything here that I had not been to, seen, touched, explored, researched and double checked! 

No!  Just don't do it!

Wow there is plenty of feed back out there , is all about trust and doing your search , sort of agree with Lennox and respect his opinion, but really look at this whole mess with covid -19 is worldwide . I personally do not take permanent position for temporary problems and trust me the whole world has had plenty of them . Stay positive we are all in this world for the long haul. And for those in doubt check the I.M.F. Report they are pumping 14 trillion into world economies with that much money is has no other way to go but up . And yes the art about all this how do we pay it back , for how long and the terms of it all. along with helping to stop the next world crisis . Like the old little green men movie said " we are not alone anymore " Be blessed every one . Krumite

I have to agree with my Rocky (my hubby!) that you should never buy without seeing the property and knowing the area. Even if you were looking for something solely as an investment property that you never intended to live or vacation there, I wouldn't recommend it. If you are going to spend time there, you really need to see it first!

The villa we're currently renting while our house is being bulit was recently put up for sale (along with the other villas and empty lots in the residencia). The pictures in the ad are from quite a while ago and do not represent the current condition of the house. That seems to be pretty standard here. We've looked at homes that were not well maintained and looked nothing like the pictures in the listing! The description also says this place has an "American kitchen", a term I'm not used to seeing. I'm guessing it means "tiny kitchen like you'd find in a studio apartment" because that is what we have!

You just cannot trust what you see online.   Same with  photos on dating apps!!!!!!!!! 

Planner you always have a good way with words . krumite

I try to be entertaining when I can.....

Hi Gina, as a fellow Ontarian, lived here for 7 years and despite often having opposing opinions, Planner is 110% correct. 

PM me if you like, I live in the Punta Cana area.

Good question.  Personally, being on the ground here since last September after a careful scouting trip at the end of 2018 I'd really suggest having your own eyes on the ground first.

Thing to be looking for... the list could be long and most are quite easy to check once the title issues are clear and understood...

Any signs of paint / plaster to cover even subtle settlement issues?  Construction on uncompacted fill is not uncommon.

Electrical wiring, breakers, capacity, water delivery via municipal system, water runoff, noise at night, neighbors (all important), the 'feel' of the community really being the most important I'd say.

Which is why I landed here in Cabrera and have immersed myself into real estate and the community and am still quite happy renting.

Just when I find "THE ONE".. I chill for a bit and then find something even more affordable and that I potentially like better.

And more than a few of the really most desirable places, in my limited opinion, are not even formally listed and that just takes getting under the sheets a bit to see whats really happenin'

Just my two cents.

All best to you and happy to help if your interest is in this area.  It had what I wanted and didn't have what I didn't want

JR

I have met William Oosterman, and we have stayed in his little hotel. He was quite nice and congenial. I looked at the listing he had back then. However, as so many others say,  I wouldn't recommend buying virtually.

Hi Gina, I am from Canada and sell real estate down here every winter. Big mistake to buy real estate virtually. You've never been to the country before. You may find that it is not your cup of tea....

Case and point...I bought my house 5 1/2 years ago.  It is still online being advertised for sale...every once in a while someone stops buy and asks us if we are selling...reminding us it's still for sale online...lol

Wow  5 1/2 years later the listing is still online....   Brutal.

Brutal but not surprising...lol