Lessons Learned Buying Real Estate in DR 🇩🇴

The Dominican Real estate market is experiencing EXPLOSIVE growth.

It’s not oversaturated.

It’s not overpriced. 

There’s heavy demand and pricing and development is tracking with that demand.

Will there be a correction?

Absolutely!!

Historically real estate ALWAYS has down years .. but the long term value of real estate climbs.

LONG TERM!!

Key word there .. buy and hold, you’ll be fine .. I truly believe that and it’s a data driven belief.

But buying in DR is not the same as buying in the US.

Let me cover the key differences and how you can navigate them to find the BEST possible deal here.

These are my lessons and learnings being on the ground.

I’m NOT the end all be all .. I simply surround myself with the experts!

1. THERE IS NO MLS!!

The MLS in the United States is the ‘multiple listing service’.

This is a database with nearly every listing in the country.

Properties NOT on the MLS are the exception .. and they’re relatively rare.

When you go into Zillow, Trulia, Realtor or any other app like it to search for property, those sites draw the sold, for sale or pending listings from the MLS.

It’s convenient, it’s easy, it gives you the ability to shop from your couch!

And it doesn’t exist in the Dominican Republic

Some will tell you ‘there’s this site’ or ‘it’s coming’.

Listen, when it does .. I’ll be the first to tell you.

But right now, there’s no reliable centralized site to use.

Point2Homes is a site that has many listings! They actually list properties in many countries!

However many of the listings in DR are expired, no longer relevant or duplicative.

Point2Homes struggled SO much with the DR market .. that they pulled out recently!! They no longer will be listing property here.

That’s not a knock on DR .. but it’s a hint for all of you looking to buy!

BEST SITES: The largest and most reputable local realtor sites in DR are likely the most updated, current and recent listings.

But they only list that brokers listings .. not every listing in the market. You have to go to EVERY site!  

There’s a better way .. I’ll share shortly.

2. EVERYONE IS IN REAL ESTATE

I mean EVERYONE!

You may have some familiy members if you’re Dominican that ‘do real estate’ .. and they also sell tours, run a store and cafeteria out of their homes.

Dominicans are hard working people .. if there’s an opportunity to earn they’ll take it and in the overwhelming majority of the cases, it’s with good intentions.

But they’re clueless.

Listen, we had the experience of a familiy member ‘in real estate’ helping us find our first rental home .. and it was a mess.

Those here who know better told us it wouldn’t work as soon as we say ‘we hired a family member’.

They had that look of ‘knowing’ that it didn’t go well.

Unless they’re one of THE BEST realtors in the game, they’re not worth working with.

And the best are full time, all the time, hustlers … period.

3. EXCLUSIVE LISTINGS

This is probably the biggest difference between the US and DR markets.

In the US, we’re used to talking to an agent, that agent takes our criteria, plugs it into the MLS database and you get listings sent to you.

House A may be listed by Tony

House B may be listed by Suzy

And your agent is Mike

It doesn’t matter - Mike will contact Tony, Suzy or any other listing agent and schedule a showing, handle the contract, and split the commission.

That CAN happen here too .. but it’s not the norm.

Here’s the DR market

You get connected to a realtor named Pablo

Pablo has exclusive listings that he is going to send to you.

Pablo would MUCH prefer you buy his listing because he gets full commision.

In fact, Pablo may not work with you UNLESS you buy one of his exclusive listings!

It all depends on which of the above agents Pablo is

If Pablo is ‘in real estate’ - let’s call him ‘Tio Pablo’

• He’ll give you exclusive listings

• He’ll work to convince you on the exclusive listing

• If you’re not buying an exclusive listing, Tio Pablo is out

If Pablo is a top realtor…

• He’ll give you exclusive listings

• He’ll work to convince you on the exclusive listing

• If you’re not buying an exclusive listing, Pablo will tap his network and find the deal for you and work with the realtor that can close it

Look, even if Pablo is the BEST in the area, it doesn’t mean he’s tapped into EVERY listing .. but he’ll be tapped into a wide network of listings and deals that he can get exposure to.

Whichever Pablo you have, the culture of real estate here is to sell their listing. It’s not a ‘split the commission’ environment.

But the pro realtors understand American/Canadian buyers and know how to work with other realtors where necessary.

MY BEST ADVICE

1. Find a top realtor - I have been asked enough that I have a referral network I can provide to you. Here’s a link to fill out a form and I’ll connect you to a realtor I trust (they will pay me a referral fee - full disclosure)

2. Review the exclusive listings from that realtor - the top realtors have many options and they work with reputable developers. So take their listings seriously. They have reputational risk if they’re not providing you with the best deals. Nothing is guaranteed but you’re safest using a top realtor

3. If the exclusives don’t serve you, ask the realtor about specific projects you’re thinking about, or ask about other options that the realtor can expose you to outside of their exclusive listings

4. At this point, if the realtor isn’t finding what you need, move on to another! Nothing personal - they may be doing their best but you may not be finding what you need. Of course you shouldn’t settle!

MY LIST OF ‘DON’TS’

1. Don’t be unrealistic with your budget - asking for a beachfront condo for under $100,000 is CRAZINESS .. even at $200,000 it may be tough but it’s more doable. Beachfront isn’t cheap .. we’ve all missed that boat unfortunately (I wish I bought one in 2014!!)

2. Don’t ignore a top realtor’s advice. For context, top realtor means tons of annual transactions, award winning, closers. If you see something that’s in your budget and present it to them, the best realtors will work with you if you want it. But if they warn you off the project, don’t immediately dismiss it as ‘the realtor just wants me to buy their exclusive’. That could be what’s going on, but listen to them and their advice. Again, the BEST realtors know what you should and shouldn’t buy. They have their ear to the ground.

3. Don’t expect great realtors to be great nurturers. They’re the best because they know how to negotiate and close a deal. As an American, I find myself sometimes feeling like they’re ‘pushy’ or ‘aggressive’ and, well, they are! But the best simply want to hear your needs, tap their listings or network and get the deal done. They’ll attend the closing, they’ll walk you through the contract, they’ll answer your questions. But they’re going to move you through the process.

On that last point, I remember once dealing with Comcast on an issue. I got this service rep on the phone who was SO kind and understanding. He was apologetic for the issue and worked hard to resolve it.

We spent about an hour on the phone, he put me on and off hold to work on it and in the end, he couldn’t resolve it and had to elevate it.

While the person was nice and patient and sweet, I remember being mildly annoyed that no resolution happened.

The guy it was elevated to was a dick! We were on the phone for 30 seconds and he was just short, rude and had no interpersonal skills.

Within 3 minutes, he solved the issue.

That always stuck with me.

I’d MUCH prefer a result from a prick than a really sweet path to no results!

But that’s just me.

For some reason, that reminds me of the DR market for real estate haha.

Not that I’ve encountered pricks, but the best move .. they get stuff done.

They don’t sit on their hands.

Hell, it’s the same with US realtors now that I think about it! But because it’s another country with the differences I outlined above, and we’re used to the US real estate market, the ‘get it done’ energy here feels like scammy sales practices.

Just be sure you qualify your realtor as one of the best. That they are with a reputable firm like Tu Casa, Cana Blue, Keller Williams, ReMax, etc etc. And that they have a track record of successful transactions, and a LOT of them.

I hope this helps reveal some of the differences with investing here in DR. I know for me it’s been a journey and learning experience for sure!

Let me know what you think .. have you had similar experiences? Would you add anything?

Reply and share!