Hey Joe,
Spent a bit of time working in Santo Domingo myself on a project which unfortunately came to an end. Lucky you. I still return for holidays as I made a lot of good dominican friends. Check out
SuperCasas.com - Homes for sale Dominican Republic, condos, villas, caribbean real estate - super-casas for a good selection of properties at realistic prices. I also liked a previous reply recommending the purchase of a site and construction of a small apartment block given low labour charges in the DR. However in all transactions the use of a trusted dominican as a front man would be a good idea in obtaining value for money. Let me know if you want more advice