Resort purchase?

Visit different areas, stay at different places and you will know what place stands out to you!

Generally buying at a resort limits your control.  You are subject to their rules which can change.  What if they go in a direction you  don't like?  What if they allow them place to go into disrepair? 

It is almost always much harder to get out of in the future as well.

My experience with resort condos compared to other condo projects is that the resort projects for the larger resorts is very good but with some major differences.  Let's take Iberostar in PC as an example.  Their condos are beautiful, great amenities, located on a beautiful golf couse.  It is very well taken care of and has beach and golf course privileges.  They have rental managers for when you are not there and want to rent, good security and I believe a good choice.  Also much of the beauty and amenities are paid for in whole or part by the resort.  The down side is you don't actually own the property or receive a title.  Your agreement is with the resort.  A little hard to understand but then it also has its advantages.  A private condo (which I am both an owner and manager) can have many more problems and issues.  In the end, the Owners are stuck paying for everything and if owners are delinquent then the whole project suffers.  It is also difficult to find a project where the Administration is honest, transparent and capable of doing the job that the Owners expect.  My suggestion is find a good resort project and hire your own reputable lawyer.

Thank you.

Ahh....didn't think of this. Thank you for sharing. Appreciate it.

Your idea sounds great, real estate in the resort is always cool, warm, Sunny. If anything, you can sell it at any time. I think that before you choose a resort, you should stay in each of them, or go for a walk, see, evaluate and make a choice. Now is the eve of Halloween and [link under review] can be found on Westgate Resorts at a good price. A great opportunity for you to benefit from the trip and have a good time. Recently, my neighbors who are an elderly couple, bought a house in the resort and are very happy. In General, I also want to retire to buy a house in the resort.

I have been looking to buy a condo but I don’t like the HOA fees. Trying to get away from paying that. So now I am searching for a house.and I understand the maintenance fee is for security. Cleaning etc etc.

We purchased an apartment in Las Terrenas.  Half the apartments are owned by the resort, the other half are privately owned.  Some owners enter the rental pool and let the resort manage the rental for a fee, some owners manage their own rentals via online sites like AirBNB or FlipKey.  We are the only full time residents here and love the times when it is high season and there is more activity but also love low season when it is primarily owners who come for the weekend.

Billmaddison.....you're wrong when you say "you can just sell at any time".

I have to agree. It takes a lot of patience to sell anything of value here. Real estate simply does not turn over quickly unless it is at fire sale prices. If you buy real estate here prepare to hang on to it for the long haul.

I have been looking for a house in Juan Dolio. But the prices are out of their minds.  Not sure how the real estate works here. But how they come up with these selling prices? Does any have any idea?

Thanks

Exactly, wheras if you rent and the neighborhood goes bad(or any of the other multitude of horrors that frequently happen) take place, you can easily walk away.

Real estate prices seem to be taken out of thin air! I seriously have no idea why the prices are what they are!  No logic in many cases.

Colonel - so right.  So hard to get out of a sale - buyers remorse is real!  Rent until you are sure this is where you want to be and that is the neighborhood you want to live in.

I'd suspect, (in addition to the usual multi-tiered pricing, ranging from native to full on gringo), that it's going to be what 'what they think the market might bear'.

I did a couple of years of research, ended up in Cabrera, in a house I couldn't build or buy for $1MM, renting, all util's included (5BR/3BA, gated community, 2 pools, 3 patios, 2 kitchens, w/ groundskeeper for $350 USD / Mo.)

Comfortably secluded but not isolated, on a hill with good breezes with a beautiful ocean view.

Opportunity cost, for the time being, for doing other than renting.... Meh, not so much lol

But I could be totally wrong and commonly am.

Best of luck,

Jay

I agreed with you.  Not idea how they come up with these selling prices. Is it because they know foreigners want to buy and they jack up the prices?
Correct me if I am wrong but the real estate here is not the same is in Canada or USA
In Boston a house is price base on property sales around the neighborhood along with other factors.

It is  simple equation.

Buyers from afar want their dream vacation home in the Caribbean quickly on demand and that fixes the price - dreams.

The cost of building in DR is low. The cost of real estate in the so called prime locations is high. The cost of the third parties- real estate agents, lawyers, consultants and general contractors is high. The cost escalates quickly from what it should be.

Get to know the market if you are frugal with dinero and want your buck spent to reflect real costs here.

Rent first and learn the market if you want more easily saleable property at a modest or zero return given time.

Another issue is many do not understand the time value of money.

In the US (and maybe in Canada?), the reason the market drives prices is that almost all properties are mortgaged and have to go through an appraisal process. Mortgages are uncommon here, so with a cash purchase, the price is whatever you are willing to pay! We've seen fire sales with incredible prices and we've seen grossly overpriced properties. Buying or selling is not something to be rushed!

Yes, here its mostly a 'greater fool' thing.  Some gringo buys...... and overpays for the first place he sees......soon suffers buyets remorse....hopes some other fool will be dumb eveough to buy it from him.....nobody does....so he sells for half price.

Only purchases by expats are almost always cash or financed from "home'.

Many many properties here have mortgages!  They are somewhere around 97% Dominicans.

Expats don't have credit ratings so don't qualify for mortgages in most cases!

Interesting! We were told they were rare - maybe it was just the "for expats" that was left off.  We were told that the mortgages are never for more than 70% of the purchase price and the length is based on the borrowers age. Is that true for all or just for the rare expat mortgage?

It is rare for expats. More normal for Dominicans. Yes to the never more than  70%.  Most are like  5 years to 10 years in my experience.

ddmcghee wrote:

Interesting! We were told they were rare - maybe it was just the "for expats" that was left off.  We were told that the mortgages are never for more than 70% of the purchase price and the length is based on the borrowers age. Is that true for all or just for the rare expat mortgage?

Each time I have purchased property here,  I was able to get a loan to cover the entire purchase price because the sale price was less than 70% of the appraised value determined by the bank's own appraiser.

If you're trying to get a loan, the bank will send their appraiser who sets the value and that's what the 70% will be based on. 

If you're buying a property for 100k and it's appraised at 50K the bank isn't going to finance the entire cost.  They'll finance 70% of the 50K.

Full disclosure:  I'm sure age is a factor but it wasn't in my case. For each acquisition, I had funds in the bank that were more than the purchase price.
Each time I have purchased property here,  I was able to get a loan to cover the entire purchase price because the sale price was less than 70% of the appraised value determined by the bank's own appraiser.

umm. I think something was included in my post I didn't see.  Planner, can you check that last little bit and delete it? Sorry about that.

Getting it fixed. No worry.

Strange, as an expat I was offered by my Dominican bank (Banco Santa Cruz) 100% financing on their valuation of the property for up to 12 months.  I never took it up as I decided not to buy in DR.

ducketts wrote:

Strange, as an expat I was offered by my Dominican bank (Banco Santa Cruz) 100% financing on their valuation of the property for up to 12 months.  I never took it up as I decided not to buy in DR.

Possible, of course.  How long ago was this?   My last financing was almost 10 years ago. (I deal with Popular)

But my manager is always asking me when I'm going to buy something else.   

Be patient when looking - opportunities present itself when people need to get out. Prices are all over the place but as others mentioned stay in the area and research awhile before buying.