88% of Construction Projects Are Delayed in THIS Location

Welcome to the Grubernation Weekly Newsletter!

I share information, tactics and tips for moving abroad, living your dream and EVERYTHING in between.

In this week’s edition:

• Revealing Where 88% of Construction Projects are DELAYED!

• An Expats Thoughts on the New Orleans Terror Attack

• Update on my Punta Cana condo purchase

As I write this, I just wrapped up another consulting call with a family looking to move to Dominican Republic. I was able to help them understand the dynamics on the ground and provide them info I will NOT provide publicly - including how to do things like get into Cap Cana for free, the inside scoop locally on different developers and much more. If interested in a paid consultation with me, just click this link and book a time.

88% of Construction Projects are DELAYED

I recently visited my condo in Punta Cana that is under construction.

Initial estimates were that it would be done in the spring of 2025 but that’s been pushed back to the fall (see the video below).

I’m being told to worry and I am dismissing every person that says that for a few reasons.

1. I understand my risk and have mitigated that accordingly

2. I have done my due diligence as I outlined in this video

3. The people who rent my house in the Michigan

Let’s dive into that third point a bit.

We rent our home in Michigan fully furnished and with all utilities included.

The market for that type of property has been people displaced by fire or flood, someone going through a divorce and people waiting for their new home build to be completed.

You know what’s common amongst those having their primary residence restored or building a new one?

Their completion dates were delayed - ALL of them.

I get a TON of panicked messages from people freaked out becasue they heard of delays in completion dates for projects others have invested in. Or perhaps are experiencing a delay themselves.

The REAL issue is that this is happening in another country and not the US.

Of COURSE you and I will hear about every delay in a project here in Dominican Republic.

But you know what you don’t hear shouted from the rooftops?

When someone gets their project without issue - on time and at no extra cost - which happens.

“Yeah but Jamie - that’s the exception and not the rule .. you KNOW that”

Side note - one of the most annoying messages I receive is someone telling me what I know and don’t know. Disagree, but stop short of telling me I know.

(Rant over 😅 )

Someone right now is reading this email because they want to know where in DR the 88% of projects are delayed!

Ok - I’ll tell you.

That statistic is from the United States!

Did minds just explode?

Did worlds just collide?

Did a black hole get torn in the universe? 

According to a 2021 survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in collaboration with AutoDesk, firms reported that 88% of their projects had delayed completion dates.

“But Jamie that was 2021 and just after COVID”

Fair point - but did you REALLY think it was 88%? Nearly every one of them? Or does even that feel high to you for the United States?

But I’ll concede - let’s get more recent:

• 2022 - a Cornerstone Projects survey showed 50% were delayed

• 2023 - Lexology showed 40% experiecing delays with 35% of those projects being cancelled outright or have not been rescheduled

• 2024 - data is thinner, but in March 2024 the Project Stress Index meausing construction projects shows a 2% increase in delays over the prior 30 days

Let’s got a layer deeper with some major project examples shall we?

• Uptown Residences in Denver CO

  • 461 condo units started in 2009

  • Original completion date - mid-2024

  • Revised for mid-2025

• Pacific Park in Brooklyn NY

  • 22 acre project with high rises and affordable housing

  • Original completion date - 2016

  • Revised for 2035

• 161 Maiden Lane in NYC

  • 58 story seaport condo tower

  • Original completion date - 2018

  • Projected is halted indefinitedly

  • Multiple lawsuits and safety concerns

• Sandhurst Las Vegas NV

  • 36 story condo tower in downtown started in 2005

  • Cancelled in 2007 despite sales being completed

  • Land remains abandoned and undeveloped

I can keep going but here’s the point…

We can CLEARLY see that standards in the US for building, inspection and financial issues that arise are superior.

We can also clearly see that developers delay or abandon projects in the US probably more frequently that most of us care to admit.

But it’s the US! It’s the place we feel safe and are convinced is superior to everywhere else.

And in many ways, it is - undisputably.

But let’s not panic every time we hear of a construction delay in DR just like you wouldn’t when it happens in the US.

Ask yourself some questions:

• Did I invest more than I can risk losing in this project?

• Has the developer done other projects in country?

• Are they still communicating with me?

• Are they well funded and/or sold out of most/all units?

• Did I work with a GREAT and reputable agent?

I wanted to simply turn down the temperature a bit on the rhetoric related to delays.

If COVID justifies an 88% rate of delayed projects in the US, it doesn’t do that for DR?

If labor shortages are reasonable excuses for a US developer, why aren’t they for one in DR?

If a reputable developer delayed your project in the US, why wouldn’t a reputable developer in DR get your same patience or confidence?

I believe the real conversation on construction here is government imposed inspections for electric, plumbing and more. It’s ensuring shower floors are not completely level. It’s ensuring water heaters are vented. It’s ensuring electrical boxes are fully secured in the wall.

Can we agree to band together to work on that?

Maybe even an SEC style department that protects investors more aggressively?

But PLEASE stop this shotgun approach to shit talking Dominican developers because we choose to hear ‘delay’ and equally call it a ‘scam’.

It’s the same messed up and limited mindset that says ‘Punta Cana is not REAL Dominican Republic’.

In both scenarios, DR is synonymous with scammers and poverty.

While of course both exist here, they do everywhere!

Instead, I’d prefer DR be known as ‘developing’, ‘surprisingly upscale’, ‘improving infrastrcture’, ‘beautiful people’, ‘abundant’.

We can acknowledge and attack the wrongdoers while stopping short of linking the reputation of the worst kind with the overall reputation of the country.

That’s my hope from this newsletter.

I’m sure there’s a ‘you know’ email coming haha. And that’s fine - some cant help themselves!

I would LOVE to hear from you if you (or someone you know) had a good experience with their developer and project. It was delivered near or on time, it cost what you were contracted to pay, etc.

Send me THAT instead of trying to find the negative and somehow believe that you’ll convince me to go that way.

Fool’s errand my friends 😉 

An Expats Thoughts on the New Orleans Terror Attack

What a tragic start to the year.

I wasn’t looking for it, but of course the news crossed my feed.

My heart goes out to all of the familymembers of those killed in this vicious attacks and I wish a speedy physical recovery to those injured (I can’t imagine how long it’ll take to recover emotionally).

The low hanging fruit of an event like this or the Cybertruck bomb in Las Vegas for an expat here in DR or anywhere else is ‘that stuff just doesn’t happen in this country’.

But that’s NOT where I want to focus this article.

Instead, I want to offer unsolicited advice on how this story can impact your path to becoming an expat/immigrant abroad.

It’s easy to see something terrible like this or any number of mass and school shootings and say ‘I have to get out of here’.

I would caution the majority of you not to.

At least .. not yet.

Here’s a quick story.

17 years into my career at Progressive Insurance, I got my dream job as an executive.

My family was moving from Boston to Ann Arbor Michigan and I was going to be set for life based on the income, stock options and bonsues I’d be taking in.

We’re talking $400-$500k/year in total compensation which isn’t too shabby.

Within 3 months, I realized that I wanted this job for the wrong reasons.

I had already been feeling disconnected from the work I do before getting promoted, but I was convinced I was just not in the right role. That my skills and abilities were not being fully realized and the bigger position would fulfill what felt like a hole in me.

In reality, I was simply craving a different type of life and the career path I was on didn’t align with me any longer.

Add to that, my new boss and I hated each other. Really didn’t matter how I felt about her, she was the boss! So I got the brunt of that too.

I was ready to walk out in 2018 - just like you may be ready to run to DR or another country now.

Had I done that, I would have been running FROM something which would be very unhealthy and likely unsustainable.

Don’t get me wrong .. it would have felt GOOD to bust through those doors and kick my boss and the job aside. For probably a few weeks.

But then I’d be under pressure to figure out how I’m going to sustain my freedom outside of the job.

Instead, it started me on the path to buying real estate, and then building a community and a brand and businesses on the side that could pay me enough to not need the job any longer.

In all honesty, when I quit in 2021 I still hadn’t come close to replacing my income, but I had proven a concept and knew I needed to dedicate more time to it in order to grow it and sustain my family and lifestyle.

Add to that $120,000 in savings to play with and I took the leap.

The difference?

I was running TOWARD something instead of FROM.

As you internalize what is unfortuantely the latest mass murder event in the US and it gives you fuel to want to build a life in a culture that doesn’t have these events, here’s what I’d suggest you do:

• Start saving until you have 1 year of base expenses in an account

• Research all the ways you can earn USD remotely (jobs, businesses, etc)

• Spend some money and time trying and testing different ways that speak to you

• Prove your ability to earn income on the side remotely

When you’re at the point of proving the concept, you have a decent sense that more time on task will lead to more income and you have a year saved .. THEN move.

A few exceptions:

• One spouse has remote work that can pay your expenses? Move

• You already have the above in place? Move

• Your job will let you go fully remote? Move

• No kids? Pfft .. move! 😆 

For everyone else, use this event to motivate you to start to build something to run TOWARD instead of following that instinct to run FROM.

Then trust me on two things:

1. That will increase your chances of sustaining 10 fold!

2. It will NOT be easy - so expect to take massive action (apply to 200 jobs, figure out how Amazon FBA truly works when you lose money on it the first 6 months ,etc)

Best to everyone impacted and I hope you realize your dream sooner rather than later. Take my advice on this one .. trust El Gringo!

Update on My Punta Cana Condo Purchase

I visited my condo project in Cortecito right before Christmas and got a full tour of the site in my hard hat (and flip flops haha).

You can check out the behind-the-scenes above

If you’re interested in Boardwalk Properties for this or other projects, the developer I chose to invest with, then fill out this form.

If you need a realtor for any other projects, I’m happy to refer you to one I trust by filling out this form.

Happy New Year to all of you. I’m looking forward to creating even more compelling and valuable content for you in 2025. Thanks for being along for the ride!