My Mission in DR 🇩🇴

There’s this exercise I do with people who are struggling to figure out their way in life.

I ask “if you won $100,000,000 in the Powerball this week, how would you spend your time?”

Let’s get past the immediate ‘travel’, ‘see the world’, ‘buy my Mom a house’, ‘move to DR’.

All good .. but after a while, you’ll want to spend your time doing SOMETHING!

For me, I LOVE creating content and I can honestly say, if I won $100,000,000 tomorrow and money was NEVER going to be a worry again…

I’d be typing this newsletter, sharing on YouTube and posting on Instagram.

Once you know in your heart how you’d spend your time, the question becomes ..

‘How much of your day or week is spent doing that right now?’

When I had my day job, my side hustle was content and podcasting.

So I was lucky that I could say 20% of my time was doing the thing I’d do with $100m in the bank!

But the job had to go .. no way I’d spend another minute there after my Powerball win!

That created the path to being in this space of content creation full time!

Now, thanks to all of you, I get to create content documenting my day-to-day life in DR and it has created some really cool business opportunities.

But until this week, I’ve reluctantly taken advantage of them.

Until this week, I felt odd making money from creating content for all of you!

THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

The beginning of my path out of the day job was leaning into an identity as a real estate investor (who created content).

As time went on, I found myself building Gobundance Emerge - an entrepreneur membership community - which allowed me to earn a living without having to be the real estate guy!

But I do enjoy financial literacy, investing, wealth building .. and real estate!

Once I moved here, I sort of found myself talking about neighborhoods, construction projects, housing, investment opportunities, short term rentals…

Real estate!!

Many of you started asking for a referral to a Realtor here in DR.

But I would decline .. I didn’t have any!

And I’m a creator dammit!! Not a real estate guy!

The requests came more and more frequently and after chatting with a family friend and award winning Realtor, I told him I’d refer business to him.

We worked out a referral fee for me and off we went!

I would mention it .. but didn’t want to be THAT guy!

Some white dude that moved to another country and just started pumping real estate to the internet and making money off it .. while many locals struggle to make ends meet.

Let me correct my language .. I didn’t want to be PERCEIVED as that guy.

Because I’m not that guy.

Still, there were enough reqeusts that I’d mention the ability to refer a ‘trusted realtor’ to anyone that needs it.

• I set up a Google form

• I found a few more Realtors I’ve worked with and made the same arrangment with them - referral in exchange for a fee.

But hey .. I’m the content guy!

The dude that moved to DR and gives unbiased, clear, real life experiences living here!

I certainly do NOT want to jump the shark and become ‘the dude that pumps real estate on YouTube’

Then I got a couple of DM’s from followers…

And this one…

And my heart broke💔

I get a DM like this once a week.

But this week they just… hit!

I also get a TON of DM’s from people excitedly sharing the amazing experience they had buying here, how they moved into or AirBNB their property and how happy they are with their investment.

The issue and my potential role in ALL of this became clear!

While most people have no issue making investments here, there are many that have the issues above .. and it paints the picture of this country being full of corrupt, backwards, me-first real estate professionals and developers.

But that’s NOT the case!

The mission?

Change the reputation of the real estate industry in DR 🇩🇴

That’s big and bold I know .. but I’ve been blessed with a platform that’s English speaking and reaches the types of people that are able to invest, want to invest, but are scared to invest!

MY PLAN

First and foremost, educating everyone using my own experiences on my platforms is essential!

I’m not a ‘you should’ guy .. I’m a ‘how I’ guy

• I’ll document my purchase of a condo in Cortecito with Boardwalk Properties

• I’ll show the way the entity is formed, the contract language, the purchase agreement, etc etc

• I’ll share the different communities locally by touring and showcasing them for you

• I’ll continue to be active in DM’s

Second, I’ll share my Realtor network without apology

• I have NO expectation that people use it

• I will always prioritize my reputation and service to followers

• I’ll make money if someone closes and allow that to fund leaning more and more into the Creator I seek to be

I have a business opportuity which serves me .. hence my hesitation to share it for fear of coming across a certain way.

But when I understand the mission, it serves you .. and THAT changes my entire mindset!

The best aspects of my life come from service to others.

Reframing this and understanding my role, and the value I can bring to you releases expectation of ANYTHING coming to me .. which honestly is when I/we get the best out of life!

Anyway, this was part info on DR, part mindset newsletter haha.

Let me leave you with this value.

HOW DO AVOID BEING SCAMMED

There’s never a way to 100% guarantee you won’t be ‘taken’.

Reputable builders will increase pricing, will extend delivery dates, etc.

But here’s HOW I am mitigating my risk!

1. Find a GREAT Realtor - there are a TON here. That’s the REAL truth. I don’t have exclusive rights to the only good Realtors. GREAT means full time, well connected, award winning with highly regarded brokerages. Look at their content .. are they telling you the real price or are they bait and switching you? Are their listings current?

2. Listen to Who Your GREAT Realtor is NOT Recommending!! - Any Realtor, including the ones I work with, are going to promote projects they are working on, and the ones that pay them the most. It’s up to you to be clear on what YOU want. But more importantly is who the Realtor is NOT recommending! What projects have you heard about but your Realtor didn’t mention? Ask why and be sure they give you a GOOD reason. I test my Realtors ALL the time (they don’t know it 😄) by asking why. I’ve been delighted to hear them say ‘it’s a good project from what I can tell, but it’s the developers first one in DR and I don’t want to endorse until I see them complete it successfully’. Music to my ears!!

3. Look for Key Language in the Contract - if a developer doesn’t have a clear way for you to see how the price could go up based on inflation (like a public site they’re using that you can see too), and if they’re unwilling to provide a provision penalizing them for delayed delivery, I’d raise an eyebrow. There are plenty of good developers that WILL provide these assurances. Why not go with one of them? Again, lean on the GREAT Realtor.

I’m so grateful you’ve been along for this journey so far. So much more to come and I truly hope you get value.

Executing on this mission will improve the reputation, reduce the prevalance of bad actors, and bring more stability and prosperity to locals which lights up my soul!!

It’s gonna be a big lift! Thanks for supporting me through it 🤟

Speaking of a big mission ..

Our US Servicemen and women deserve the best care possible.

In today’s YouTube video, I share a DEEP dive on Veterans medical care here in DR being BETTER than what they can get in the US!!