The Buying Process
● Get a reputable company like Covenant Realty Punta Cana to understand your goals
● Find the right agent that meets your goals
● Find a property
● Sign a reservation or offer
● Make the deposit with legal fees, in the Dominican Republic they don’t have title companies. Instead there are real estate lawyers
● Preferably find one in the area you are purchasing in.
● The real estate agent does the legal due diligence.They have about 30 days to complete it.They look over everything in the contract to make sure everything is good.
● Sign contract
Legal,Title, & Ownership
- Dominican Republic allows foreigners to have complete ownership
- Titles are Fee-Simple which is the maximum ownership of the property
- Properties and assets are transferable upon death
- Can you buy with legal Entities?
–Yes you can, you must provide all documentations of your company and get it notarized and apostille to get it recognized in the Dominican Republic legal system
- Lawyers complete Due Diligence and draft Contracts which means the lawyers go through a thural investigation of the title to make sure there is no liens or encumbrances of any kind or opposition from anyone who wants to claim ownership and who’s selling has the right to sell it to you
- It’s best to get a lawyer who works in the area you’re looking to purchase because they’re familiar with that locality which makes it a better service for you
Contracts
- Resell
-Only one contract is needed “The Purchase Contract’’ when both parties sign the contract that gives you the legal right to the property
-the lawyer takes the purchase contract and puts it in the Dominican legal system and in about four months you will get a title in your name. Throughout the process you are the owner as stated in the contract
- When will you need two contracts?
-Preconstruction requires two contracts. You need a contract where the promises or conditions are established.
-Lawyers know that if something is already covering or protecting you in the Dominican Law then there is no need to put it in the contract. The contract is for everything else.
-There is a clause stating anything not mentioned in the contract is going to go to what’s already established in Dominican laws.
-Lawyer guidance is very important
– A contract should be equitable
Banking, Finance and Taxes
- It’s a fluid situation, it changes
-General parameters will loan to foreigners but not every bank will
- What they look for is a good credit score 700 or above
- debt to income ratio to be low
- Taxes of the last couple of years
- bank statements
-Because of Dominican law if you’re married they’re going to ask for information on your spouse as well. You should also be aware you may be asked for a marriage certificate to be translated and an apostille to be qualified for the loan.
Banks are providing US dollar loans which is recommended because the rates are better in US dollars than they are in Dominican pesos
It’s good to shop in the price range where you can put down 50% because that’s most likely what you’ll qualify for
- Mortgage Insurance?
-There is no mortgage insurance, but Dominican banks will take out a life insurance policy where they are the beneficiary and get collective rates on.
- How much are these rates?
-You have to get tested to determine your health and consider your age to determine the loan value to decide how much your policy will cost
- How much is the closing cost?
-Less than 5%
If you’re getting a loan it can range from $700, 2%, or even 3%. We can tell you who offers what if this is something for you.
- Cash Deal
What should you expect to pay in closing costs?
-1.5 % of the value of what you’re purchasing
-3% Title Transfer tax, it has to be paid as a closing cost
- Property taxes are 1% annually of the value of your patrimony over the
-Every year, the Dominican government establishes a threshold and everything below that threshold is not taxable, everything that goes over that threshold is taxable.
- 2023 established threshold is RD$9,520,861,00 so if you buy a property for $155,000 you don’t have to pay taxes on the property ever but if you buy two properties for
$155,000 then you do have to pay taxes because the threshold is combined together.
- Is there a way to avoid paying these taxes ?
– There is if you purchase a property that has been deemed to be by the administry of tourism a property that has a positive impact on the tourism industry.
- Property Management and Administration
- What is property management for condos and what does it cover?
- HOA adminstares the maintenance of the property
- Property Management is who you hire to manage the rent or take care of any maintenance needed and might even do the bookings if it’s short term rental or contracts if it’s a long term rental. Your property management assignment will vary depending on what use you want on the
- Short term rentals are usually nightly rates
– The cost is 25%-30% you keep about 70%-75% of that revenue
- Insurance
-Less than 1% annually of the value insured
-Investigate if HOA or condo fees include some insurance
- Options: Seguro Universal (Banco Popular), Mapfre (BHD Leon),
