Moving to las Terrenas in July 2016

If you are coming for a year, why bring all your stuff? Why not rent furnished?

Health insurance - I have 2 plans about US 37 or US 47 per person per month includes dental and prescription. I will message you other details on it.

Online work - just continue.

Realtor - you need someone who knows the local market. Ask your friend what she knows!

Hi Planner,

We set the intention for a year, but if things go well, we will adjust our plan....and stay. There are many things to consider the next couple of months (sell our house? sell my husband's company?).

Insurance: great! We would need insurance for 2 adults and 3 children (16, 6 and 5 years old).

Work: will do!

Realtor: check!

Thanks!
Karin

Siempre.  If you can bring it all inexpensively then ok, but, it is likely to be expensive unless you are staying permanently.

I agree with Planner.

Don't bring your stuff , especially if only staying or possibly only staying a year. Almost anything you would bring you could buy here.

Bob K

you will hear from the team.  English only on this site.

oy my godd... You caught me !!! Going to jail now?

Yes... off to jail with you.

Seriously do you want to repost in English????

Bob K

Great idea.... jail...... LOL  please English only here. WE do throw in the odd spanish word -  we are trying to train you all..... or yoall.........

It's ya'll (you all)

Actually since she is talking to all of us it is stated as.... all ya'll 

Bob K

Ya'll crack me up......

It has been a few hectic days here, so I hadn't checked the forum.

Does anyone know an expat currently living in Las Terrenas?

And: Tonydr...wondering what you wrote?

You are living in the netherlands and dont speak dutch?

HI Tonydr,

I didn't get to read your post before it was removed....
So...it was in Dutch! I thought Spanish...
Have been in the Netherlands since I was 13, so yes...do speak Dutch

so i wrote you in dutch but expat removed it. Its not allowed to speak in dutch here in our expat community. I live in Las Terrenas.

you can always write me a private message in dutch...I would love to hear everything you can share about Las Terrenas...

PMs you can write in any language you want.
For forum posts ONLY English

Bob K

really ????

My wife and I are planning on moving to Las Terrenas permanently and dont know if we should sell everything we have here or bring it. We are looking for what is going to be the least expense.

You can get almost everything here.  The cost of  packing it up and shiipping it here is high.  You can likely sell it all, or  store it, get here rent for a while a furnished place. Make sure you love it then go to the next step.

Once you decide to stay, get residencia then you can bring in a container of personal goods  tax and duty free. You still pay shipping but by then you will know what is worth shipping and what is not!  Do your homework while you are here.

Buy most of your stuff here.  It is different than it was 11 years ago when we did it.  Then you could not find much here. 

If you are shipping a tax free container ship what you need.  If I had to do it again today I would ship very little.

Bob K

Planner,

I will be visiting Las Terrenas from mid Sept -mid Nov this year.

I am interested in different health insurance options while I am there.

Please advise.

Thanks,

John

Hi John, you are better to get travel insurance from home.

My wife and I are wondering how difficult it is to buy a house in Las Terrenas. Is it anything like it is regulation wise as here in the US? Can someone give me some info on this so my wife and I know what direction to go when looking for a place to live. How hard are they on credit scores down there?
Thank you,
Brandon

First off it is difficult to get a home mortgage here.  If you could the interest rate will kill you.  You are better off getting a loan at home.
Otherwise buying property is ease and buying the WRONG way (especially without living here a bit first) is just as easy if not easier. 
BObK

Bob K is right...everything is basically cash purchases here.  However, owners will work with you if they are motivated.  I assume you have spent a lot of time in Las Terrenas?  Don't buy anything right away.  (I'm a hypocrite...we bought pretty fast, and it was financed for a year to give us time to liquidate some assets...aka sell a rental house here in the states)  There's a lot of resources here and on the web. 
I had heard that mortgages are becoming more available in the Caribbean, but I don't know if that's reached the DR.  We are using our house as a vacation home and renting it to only those who have either A) been with us at the house, or B) have rock solid recommendations from someone we trust.  Otherwise it will be potentially our retirement home.  So for us, it made sense to buy sooner rather than later.

Mortgages for expats are next to impossible here. Credit score? You don't have one here. What you have at home is irrelevant here.

Why's it impossible if you don't have a credit score? How do you buy a house there then?

Expat s don't get mortgages unless they are private and at high interest rates. In 13 years here I know if 1.

You don't have residencia, you don't have a cedula then you can't have a credit score here. IF you have those then it takes years to build credit here!!!!

Your American credit score has NO meaning here.

So we should get financed here and use the money to buy a house there?

That would be difficult.  Domestic banks would rarely take the risk on an overseas mortgage object.  However, if you look around there is owner financing.  You want to have a local lawyer.  Bob K and I use the same one, we could recommend him.  But, first you need to find a property and be sure you can afford it.  Some listings even say "owner financing" It's usually a higher interest rate and a shorter term, but then many properties are not that expensive.  As Planner and Bob K repeat often on this forum.  Rent for about 6 months and use that time to find your permanent home if you choose and in the process, test out if you've found the right location.

When we refer to financing at home it is usually  people who have equity there and use that to finance or guarantee a loan.

Usually a home equity loan back home.

BObK