Building vs buying

I live in Dominican Republic i need to buy a sonata Lp

Welcome to the forum!

Which will be better for you depends on what you are looking for, your budget, and what happens to be available.

We are building in Las Terrenas because we looked at dozens of homes and none had what we were looking for. In the US, we had done a major renovation and expansion of an older home, but it was wood frame construction. With the concrete construction here, moving walls isn't easy!

You'll need to figure out exactly what you want, look around to see if you can find it currently for sale within your budget, or look for land to build on.

We were fortunate to find a beautiful piece of land for sale at a very reasonable price. We then worked with a local architect who designed a home that met our needs and fit the land perfectly. Having him visit the land prior to starting his design was key.

Many of the homes for sale down here were someone's dream home, but not everyone shares the same dream! Our biggest challenge was finding a kitchen large enough for two cooks - in our rentals here, my husband and I have had to take turns! We also prefer modern designs and didn't want a Caribbean style home with natural timbers and cana roof.

Start by visiting real estate websites featuring homes in the area to get an idea of what's available, then find a recommended agent to walk you through some of the homes to get a better feel for what's important to you and what you like

jonascherestal3 wrote:

I live in Dominican Republic i need to buy a sonata Lp

Hi Jonascherestal3 - welcome to the forum!

Did you mean to post this in the building vs buying thread? I don't know what a sonata Lp is.

It is almost always advised to rent first.  Make sure you like the area and living in this country before making this big decision

We bought an existing home (good bones...but needed work that we could do ourselves) WITH extra land should we chose to build later...

Given the high prices of building materials, the best idea as of this moment is to buy.

realityhomesdr wrote:

Given the high prices of building materials, the best idea as of this moment is to buy.

Not necessarily! Resale prices have skyrocketed too. And unless you find a house that is exactly what you want, you're going to have renovation costs with those high-priced building materials!

I can't speak much for the la Roma area but I know the North Coast closer to Puerto Plata the best way is to build. And also looking other places around here buying seems to be you and heriting all the issues that the previous owner has known about but did not want to take. If the house was built before 2008 ish I would say let's just say they built the house is fast and as cheap as they could. The electrical is usually well below standards of any Nation and the plumbing well the plumbing is what you would expect here. When you build you have the option of working with your architect to decide what quality materials and building standards they use. Plus with electrical you can verify and guarantee yourself that it is being done right if you use a knowledgeable electrician. Yes they are very hard to come by In this country. Plus plumbing you can make sure your septic and Leach fields are correctly installed and are able to perform to the level you expect. And also you get to design your outside yard garden area in the picture you Invision Paradise to be. All in all it doesn't cost that much more to buy land and to build on it compared to buying a previous house. But like I said a lot less stress you just had to learn about Dominican time if the builder says a month and a half consider it to be about 5 months. But like I said you were there every step to guarantee you meet your expectations. I can be in any help just let me know and I hope you're having a wonderful time here in Paradise

I would be very leary of building right now. The area (infrastructure needs to be researched) and materials may be difficult to obtain. A project that should be 6 months will probably be double or triple that right now.

Hi All,

I am an English/British architect am looking to build my own house in the Caribbean. I am looking at the various options now and DR is top of the list. I have never visited but many friends and family have. I am an architect and am also confident in construction and DIY. I speak a decent level of Spanish having lived in Mexico and Spain and I am just wondering 1) property prices 2) best area 3) difficulty with legals for expat ownership 4) material and labour costs in 2022.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I am also looking at Anguilla (as a British Territory) and also Puerto Rico as other options. I think Cuba is too tricky, and other places too expensive or tricky language or logistics-wise.

Thanks in advance

Drew

First there is no issue with expats owning real estate here.

To all else my answer is: it depends!  What's best for me may bot be best for you. Only you can decide.  Price depends on where.

Building costs are going up!  I expect labor costs will go up again soon too

I agree that it's better to buy then to build but you still going to pay for the materials to do  upgrades , like windows and doors and floors and  probably new bathrooms and kitchen ….. I just bought and in my search I found that some of the houses north of highway 5 across from playa Dorada that they built 10-15 years ago were actually sinking from the underground streams ….so be careful

Drew, since your mind is pretty well made up and you want to build a new home - and that doesn't surprise me because you are an Architect and will always want a home to be as you require - I will offer some thoughts being a fellow Brit and chartered builder who has worked for many years throughout the Caribbean and DR.

DR is a very diverse country and geographically and geologically different from zone to zone. That said you as an expat will likely have to be looking at only a few areas - North Coast, Samana and East Coast. The consistent advice given by those that are living in DR on this forum, is to rent and know your areas before investing your hard earned cash. To build here is a different challenge to the rest of the Caribbean and a long stretch from the UK

The areas mentioned are already known to expats wanting to reside here and the land prices will be high and perhaps very high and constitute a large chink of ones budget. Net building labour and material costs have increased recently and for a basic 3 bed 2 bath masonry home with average finishes you will be looking at near 500usd per square metre which will increase with external works and imported finishes. Add land, legal and real estate, main contractor and design fees and permits to this and you will be north of 800usd per sm.

If you are RIBA it will matter not in DR and you will need to employ a CODIA architect here to present your plans. Most construction here is masonry focused. All the Caribbean islands are prone to seismic activity and tropical storms, DR included so design needs to be approached accordingly.

As an British Architect you may better looking at the East Caribbean countries using the EC Dollar where costs are lower than countries using the USD and Euro and where your professional qualification will be recognized. I suspect Anguilla is a pricey option albeit a superb island flat island. Perhaps also look at St Kitts & Nevis or Dominica where residency through investment schemes are promoted and the sf cost is not too prohibitive and probably not too different to DR in total.

@drewc   Hello . I am myself in the process of building a house in Punta Cana.  If you decide you want to step a foot here, let me know.  I can recommend a good pool builder and very reasonable and good general contractor (had another one at the beginning but was being ripped off.  the new one is so more reasonable).

Best wishes,

Anna

@rgwsf

Has he been meeting his timeline?

@rgwsf:  Glad it is going well.  Would you please share the contact info for both with me please and thank-you.

@rgwsf

      Could you send me  your pool contractors information , I would like to reach out to him ……. Thanks

@rgwsf hi!  If you could pass along the general contractors info we would greatly appreciate it!  Thank

@rgwsf  we would be interested in the contractors information as well. Thanks!

@rgwsf So how was the process of building in Punta Cana?