Property websites

Three years of visiting and did not expect to buy anything. Year two found the area I liked and still year later to wait to purchase the condo that I wanted (rented three times on visits during the year). If you are considering buying rent on airbnb and you can see the areas, apartments, people, noise, infrastructure and everything else staying at a hotel will not provide.

- @DRVisitor

Hello,

I have a question about property websites in the Dominican Republic and I thought this forum might be a good place to ask it on: I am thinking of buying an apartment in the Dominican Republic and there are a few websites I've come across that list what seem to be very cheap properties for sale. However, many of the properties on the sites have yet to be built and all one sees are images of what they will look like after they've been built. One such website is [link under review]. Here's an example of an apartment on point2homes.com that seems, when I compare it with properties on other sites, to be a bit on the cheap side: https://www.point2homes.com/DO/Condo-Fo … 31799.html

Now, it may be that the properties aren't actually cheap and that I am just unfamiliar with property prices in the Dominican Republic. I haven't been to the Dominican Republic and all I've done really is compared prices on different websites.

Does anyone here have any experience with point2homes? I like a lot of the properties on the site, but I don't think I've ever come across a property site in Ireland where the properties listed were ones that were being planned to be built.

Thank you in advance.

- @Duanaibh

@DominicanadaMike Great advise!

@Duanaibh

I have been looking online in the dominican and the advertisements for condo's are very misleading.  In Canada if you offer a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom for $200,000 on [link under review] you have to have a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom unit available at that price.  In the DR they advertise a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo for sale for $200,000  When you look at the listing it shows that units start at $200,000 which is a bachelor or a one bedroom.  The 3 bedroom is actually $340,000   In Canada this is considered false advertising.  I will not purchase from any real estate company that advertises this way.  If they are misinterpreting their product in their advertising then they don't  have the integrity that I am looking for when choosing an agent.

I find the entire industry in the Dominican Republic a little less than above board.

The truth is that you have to go to the DR and find something that is already built that you can see.  The amount that they want you to put down before ever taking possession is crazy.

You are correct on some ways the industry is well behind the times.

To be fair, although still super misleading, even in Canada the ads state "starting from $XXX".  As long as they have 1 model at that price, they are legally accurate.  Same here, but the fine print is very small, and may not be there at all.  "Oh, we sold that one already" is what you hear all the time.

As @planner pointed out, info on point2homes and many of those sites is probably out of date.  What I did was, I used point2homes to get names of real estate agents.  On P2H, I browsed properties in the areas I wanted to see, got the listing agent's name, then went to their web site to view their actual current listings.  Sometimes, you can tell if someone is updating their site or not - check for the copyright date at the bottom of the page, or periodically check their listings to see if they change over time (new, sold).  If in doubt, email the agent. 

I definitely recommend NOT relying on point2homes. When we bought our lot it stayed on that site with another agent (not the one we used) for a year showing it was still for sale. We had also seen another lot on the site, prior to buying ours, and when we went to see the lot it had been sold many months earlier and a home was almost fully constructed on the lot already. You'll also note that you see multiple agents listing the same condo/villa/property/lot, at different price points. In my opinion it's better to find a reliable agent through word of mouth FIRST, and THEN ask that agent what's available based on what you're looking for. There are a few agents on point2homes who are very shady in my opinion.

Additionally, regardless of the site you're looking at, please don't rely on the photos they have posted. You need to physically visit! You may be unpleasantly surprised, and especially if it's showing a "cheap" apartment. There's bound to be a reason it's cheaper than others in the area. If you find something you're interested in, visit a second time, and a third time before putting any money down at all. As someone else pointed out, there are so many unfinished projects.

@colmcb

Absolutely agree regarding the photos.  These people pay professional photographers to get those beautiful photos, and they will get all the angles and lighting just perfect to ensure maximum effect.  It will never look the same in person.