Quote:
Originally Posted by mattb
I am new to this forum and am probably asking a question that has been addressed multiple times. I am considering purchase of a small beachfront lot in either Nagua or Cabrera. My goal would be to leave it untouched for 20 years and when I am 62 build a villa that could be used 6 months of the year when the Northeast US weather is bad.
Does anyone have ideas on these 2 areas. I am wondering if the concensus in DR is that these areas are going to be developed fully in that time span. I could never afford this kind of property in a place like Bavaro or Puerto Plata but my hope was that in 20 years the infrastructure would be advanced enough to support these beachfront areas.
I have also read some posts about "gringo" pricing on this forum. How do I know if I am getting gringo pricing? Do most real estate buyers in DR purchase at asking price or is there a lot of room for movement?
Finally does anyone have advice on hiring a DR real estate lawyer who can guide me through the process.
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Nagua is or was a bit "out there". Now, since the new Int'l Airport "El Catey" and the new Hwy that will go up diagonally from the Santo Domingo to Sanchez (just East of Nagua), Nagua may actully benefit in the long run.
Yet, it is still a very rural town and you may find that it lacks a lot of services which can be found around the more internationally developed coastal regions. Still, I am not saying that I don't like it.
Having unoccupied land here in this country and keeping it is not an easy and risk less task. If land appears unguarded or unoccupied neighbors may over the years creep up on your land or somebody may just occupy it or sell it to various "customers" form abroad. You'd need to keep it fenced in and have it watched.
Yes, you are urged to use a reputable lawyer who is not connected in any way to the seller, owner(s) and their families and the whole deal. You may want to re-post a more specific question to that effect on the LEGAL section of this Forum and I am sure you will get several viable recommendations.
Price. Well, what is the land you are looking at worth? As you may have noticed here, in the more commercial areas (and Cabrera is now well within that), almost EVERYTHING is 4-Sale. Many may indeed just be flying a kite thou.
I am not partial to just haggle over every price or tell people to by nothing over only so and so many percents lower than the asking price was. But then, you'd have to know how much land is going for in the region. A good way to learn about this, is not just to compare apples and apples.... beach properties with beach properties, but to get a general image of what's going all in real estate in general in your target idea. Yes, beach properties may seem like the most desirable properties and thus to be the most expensive... but think again... who really want a beach property? I am not kidding, but most people in the yet not so developed areas do not really fancy to live ON the beach and you will find little shot gun shack communities all over many of these beaches.
Even living on the Malecon, was not the best address not so long ago in many cities, even Santo Domingo. The Malecones are only lately being re-discovered, to a great extent because of international influence.
So don't let yourself be fooled by your preferences.
In my opinion it could prove interesting if you could retain the trustable services of somebody who'd go out and bargain for to your interest, but such professionals ar yet though to find here.
In other words, be very careful and buy with a business mindset and not just because of a heart jump.
... J-D.
Beachfront in Cabrera or Nagua
