New members of the Dominican Republic forum, introduce yourself here — 2nd quarter of 2015

Hello everyone. 

I am moving to DR next month.  I will have $900 a month to live on.  I haven't decided if I will work yet or not.  I am an attorney currently in Oklahoma City.  I am learning Spanish now and I'm sure will pick up on more when I arrive.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them.  I am looking at living in the Bavaro area.

Thanks,

Lexie

Welcome.

Have you been here before? Are you moving to be with a boyfriend? Make sure you do your homework.  You might find $900 a month a bit tight in that area.  Have you been to other places in the DR?

I know a lot of questions but when we see a post like yours red flags start waving all over the place

Bob K

Hi Bob,

I was just there in May.  I love the Bavaro area but would love to explore other parts of the DR.  I have a friend there that is setting me up with an apartment for when I arrive.

I know $900 will be tight.  I have a little savings just in case and can cut more bills if I need to. 

I am looking at a year trial run to see if it is something I want to do.

Welcome to  the forums!  Bob is right 900 will be tight there.  Good that you are open minded and wanting to see the other areas!  There is so much diversity here, its amazing!

As a lawyer can you do any work online or remotely???  That might help.

Hi Planner,

I can probably get some remote work, or teach some online courses.  I have sent out a few applications, so we will see.

I also thought about teaching some English (private lessons) once I learn a little more Spanish.

Cool.....

Hi all,
My name is Mike. I'm seriously considering retiring to the DR. I need accurate and honest information relative to the following:

1) Monthly income required to live comfortably....not extravagantly.
2) Best location for active retirees.
3) Resident/long term visa requirements.

Does this sound familiar?

Many thanks to you all,
Mike

Mike welcome to the forum.  Lots of good info here.

Have you been here before. Living here can be vastly different than coming on a week or two vacation.

Saying that there are lots of retired folks here and a large expat community (many of are old retired farts) here on the north coast.

All of your questions have been discussed at length in various threads here.  Do a search on them and then come ask some questions.

1.  How many are you.  What kind of life style do you want.  A retired couple can do very well on $1500 to $2000 a month if you don't have outside (back home) expenses.  Some will say you can get by on less and some more.  Depends on life style

2.  Above

3.  Yes you will need residency and cedula to live here full time.  This process has to start back in your home country and is discussed at length on the fourm

Good luck to you

Bob K

Hi Bob1
  Wow that was quick! Never visited but plan to before making a decision. I'm told a visa good for more than 90 days is available within 45 days upon arrival. I will however contact the consulate.

No problem with the monthly income. Are there expats willing to help with answers advice during my visit?
Not an "old fart"!!... :-)
Thanx!!!

Mike

Yes depending on where you are staying some of us can meet with you.

Bob K

I'll keep in touch.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forums!  I will  second everything Bob has said and encourage you to read the other threads. Much of what you want to know has been covered.  Once you have read more,  come back and ask us some specific questions.

And by the way there is no 90 day visa as of right now.  Come on a tourist visa the first couple times. Then get your residencia requirements done and make the move.

Hello everybody. I signed up back in April and I seen your advice to read the past forum topics for info about moving/living in the DR. That's what I have been doing and found lots of very good advice, my note book is getting full. The next thing is everybody asks for info about us. Why we want to move to the DR and where. We currently live close to Louisville KY out in the country. We are looking to move the Sosua/Cabarete area. We have been to the Punta Cana area for the last 4 yrs and it its to touristy for us. We want to be in a more Dominican/Expat residential area, we really enjoyed the trips we took out into the country side and enjoyed meeting the locals, very friendly. We are looking to get away from the north American lifestyle of fast pace, slow down and enjoy life more naturally before we are to old to enjoy the lifestyle and experience. As for the area, the north coast sounds like the best fit for us, no big cities. My wife will be retired and me semi-retired. I work in the maritime industry, I work 3 weeks and I am off for 3 weeks so I will be commuting back and forth. There are 2 airports for me to use. We like the idea of going into the countryside to explore one day and beach it the next day with lots of different things for us to do and for any of our friends and family who visit. We are coming down June 30th flying into Santo Domingo. Staying a night and driving north to see the country. We have a place in Cabarete and will be looking at villas in both residential/gated communities in the area and explore the local communities to see if it will be a good fit for us. I hope this is enough info, if you have any questions fire away. On a side note, Bob K if you are going to be around that weekend maybe we could get together, I know my wife would like to talk with someone local with good advice other than the realtor. Thank you all for you time.
Brian

Hey BD!
We are a couple from Canada looking to retire in DR. We have bought a property between Sosua and Cabarete  in a gated community which we love very much.
At present we can only spend 2 months a year or so there as we are still working. We will be there for 2 weeks starting July 24 and a month next Feb and whenever we  an. In the meantime email we rent our place as a vacation  property in our absence. We do alright. Constant rental from Oct to may.
Our community is very quiet, well maintained and secure.
If we can help you in any way just write a d will get back to you.
Bob and Planner have been a wealth of Info

Welcome BD,  thanks for the info!  That helps us know who you are and what you might need.   It sounds like you both know what you are wanting!  That is half the battle.  I am pretty sure Bob will meet up with you as long as he is in town!!!!

Thanks Donna&Ken

Brian welcome and yes I will be around so keep us posted to your schedule and we will get together for sure.

Can I ask who is the real estate agent you are working with??

Bob K

Ken and Donna glad to hear from  you guys and July will be here before you know it

Bob K

Hi Bob K,
We have been in contact with Joe Ciotti with Century 21. We have also been in contact with Isabel Dominguez with Scotiabank. Hopefully if we something we like we will start our residency paper work. We have looked at a lot of different websites to see what is available and we seem to keep coming back to the same properties. I emailed Joe about what are looking for and hopefully he might come up with a few other possibilities.

Thanks,
Brian

You will be in good hands.  Do know that Cent 21 tends to show mainly what is on their site.  You will need to look at other agency sites and if you find something let Joe know so he can arrange for you to see those as well.

Bob K

Also remember that very few properties make it to websites - there is so much more out there to check out!

welcome. 900.00 is kind of tight.

HI everyone.  I think my profile says everything.  I've been in the country for 9 years and in Sosua for 6.  I met my wife 5 years ago and we got married 3 years ago.  I will be fully retired by the end of this year and I'm looking forward to it.  For now I continue to work part-time via my computer. 

I just moved to an awesome dream location.  I was really hoping to head back to Santo Domingo, which was my first stop in the country.  There is so much more to do there.  But my wife has a lot of family in Sosua and it just isn't the right time to make that sort of move.  So I picked the most perfect awesome place in Sosua to settle down for at least a few more years. 

I originally came here to basically save money.  I live so comfortably here on about 1/2 of what the same lifestyle was costing me in the U.S.  I know some things are definitely more expensive here but the every day stuff is cheaper in my opinion and that has helped me to be able to retire at the end of this year at the young age of 38.  And now that I met my wife here there is no turning back. 

Although there are challenges here I find my life to be very pleasant overall and I wouldn't trade it.  I would say that I am only an occasional poster.  I just don't put the time into browsing the internet and the forums when there is so much more to do.  But I'm looking forward to a good forum of people that enjoy their lives here in the DR.

hello and welcome

cpj let me add my official welcome.

Sounds like you are doing it right.  And you are correct about living expenses.  We maintain a very similar lifestyle to what we had back in the states for about 40% less.

Where in Sosua are you?  We moved to the area full time also 9 years ago and are starting our 10th year next month.

Again welcome

Bob K

Thanks.  Just moved to Playa Chiquita.

Pretty area

Bob K

Welcome cj!!!  Sounds like you have a nice life.  I look forward to you joining and commenting in our other threads! More perspective and input is always welcome.

my thinking originally was like yours.  i too wanted to live "with the people" and not in some artificial ex patriot community.  i have changed my mind after hanging around here for years.  i pretty much can get by in the language and am comfortable around latinos because i have a Mediterranean background being of greek nationality and having been raised in my early years in a greek community in new york.

you will never become one with the locals no matter how long you live here.  you have a "western" mind as much as you might like to think otherwise.  the western mind just doesn't blend with the Dominican way of seeing things.  sure you can enjoy the alleged "friendliness" of the locals, and certainly there are certain freedoms here that you will not find in the states.  but you can never sleep here with both eyes closed.  this place is proof of darwin's theory that only the capable will survive.

take what you can get here, but don't think you can get away from who you really are.  in the united states you must live in constant fear that the government will take away everything that you have worked hard for;  here you have to worry about your own brother doing the same.

Carl you certainly have an interesting perspective.  After almost  12 years I know exactly what you mean. I don't necessarily agree with everything but I respect your point of view completely.

i am baffled when i read posts like yours.  i have been visiting in santo domingo over the past 25 years mostly only in the beginning since i married a local and i returned to the states and she never wanted to return here because she hates the country and the people. after the recent divorce i decided on living here part of the year.

there is only one reason i can see why any ex patriot would have any interest in this country: and that is that an older guy like myself can find a younger girlfriend. i don't see any other advantages to being here.  it's expensive, unpredictable, too hot, too competitive (your own brother wil steal everything that you have).

if you want warm weather go to florida.  if you want "friendly" people stay in the united states. there are no friendly people here; there are only sharks out on the prowl if they see your feet dangling.

i forgot to add that i love the place.  you only need to accept the fact that everything is fake to enjoy life here.

that is your opinion. I like it here.. I do not stay where I do not like. too many crazies in USA hahahahaha Who wants a young girlfriend. Kind of perverted to me

i don't see the dominican republic as practical for the monthly income available to you. 
before you make any decisions, have you thought about just the sales tax rate in the dominican republic?  if you don't know, it's 16%.  for this reason alone i think the dominican republic is the last place to go if you are a retiree with limited income.  you will be punished here every time go grocery shopping.  see excerpt below:

"Tax on the Transfer of Industrialized Goods and Services (ITBIS)

The ITBIS is a value-added tax applicable to the transfer and importation of most goods, and to most services (Art. 335). The rate of the ITBIS is 16% (Art. 341). For imports, the ITBIS is charged on the CIF value of the goods plus applicable duty (Art. 339).There are many exemptions to the ITBIS tax (Arts. 342 and 343), among them, the following:

* exported goods
* basic foodstuffs
* medicines
* fuels
* fertilizers
* books and magazines
* educational materials
* financial services
* transportation services
* home rentals
* utilities
* educational and cultural services

The 16% ITBIS must be added to every bill for goods and services that are not exempt. The individual or entity receiving the ITBIS must disburse it to the DGII within the first 20 days of the following month (Art. 353). Noncompliance is subject to a 10% surcharge for the first month and 4% for each month thereafter, in addition to 2.58% interest for each month or fraction of a month (Art. 252). From the total ITBIS received, the individual or entity is allowed to deduct any ITBIS paid to suppliers, customs, etc. (Art. 346)."

i would think it is more "perverted" to want an old girl friend.  girls are beautiful for a short period only when they are young.  normally men are attracted to women because of their beauty not because of their brain.  i am not talking about other reasons for picking a mate, like having a family or a business associate or someone to talk philosophy with in the evening.

this country has still not been taken over by political correctness nonsense like there is no difference between a male and a female and is one of the few reasons why i hang around here for at least part of the year until i get sick of the place and go back to the united states until i get sick of that place.  both places have their good and their bad; neither is ideal.  you pick the one that suits your own needs, not the one which is "best".

i would agree with you that once you see through the superficial attractiveness of local young women for the most part they are troublesome and will end up peeling the skin off your flesh.

Wow,  I take back my comment.  I do not agree with much of what you just said.  You are not hanging with the right people.  This country is full of amazing people, once YOU set boundaries then they stop trying to take advantage of you. There is so much to offer in this country.

Its not for you.........too bad so sad.  Take your "young women" loving self out of here.  Simple.

no comment.

you said it all yourself: "you have to set boundaries".  that's what you do when you raize children.  and that is the mentality of these people: childlike.  who wants to live like that having to treat grown people like children.  and why should i leave the country?  because you don't like to hear the truth about this place?

if you try to call the cable company tricom you will get a message "tricom no one serves you better".  now that is a very tricky comment because it sounds like the company is saying that they give the best service. and then you get all confused because you get nothing  bad poor service from the company.  what they are really saying is that other companies are worse than they are.

you keep looking for the "best" place and make the same error.  the united states is horrible, but in some ways it is less horrible than this place, and similarly overall this place is horrible but in some ways less horrible than the united states.

i am here because i have a reason to be here which has nothing to do with what you think is of value, just like you never consulted me before you made your decision to live here.

you don't think this place is horrible?  the typical cashier earns the equivalent of 250 dollars a month working six days a week nine or so hours a day.  the cost of living in the capital overall es equal to the cost of living in new york city.  imagine living in new york city earning 250 dollars a month?

i have seen this city change over the past 25 years. it used to be all single family homes with poor as well as rich homeowners. now it is becoming a condominium only city with condos selling for a million plus dollars.  tell me how a supermarket cashier is going to pay for her condo?

we are here because we are exploiters taking advantage of a substandard underclass.  let's admit the truth and stop inventing fantasies that we have found some sort of paradise.

don't give up yet donkey, it gets worse.

sound like you are a big whiner to me. Not very happy here go to Greece I heard they are having Parties. You can find some young 12 year old over there.

I live here and am fine here. You need to worry about you no one else