Beachfront villa close to Cabarete with FINANCING

Don’t have the money for your dream villa?  Don’t worry, the owner of this amazing oceanfront property close to Cabarete   and located on the beaches of Sabaneta is offering a great finance package for qualified buyers. For more financing options in the Dominican Republic, visit our finance page from lenders in the Dominican Republic.

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New Sosua Villa for sale

This brand new villa is located in a quiet community close to Sosua on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. It consists of 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, hall, kitchen, dining room, parking place for 2 cars, swimming pool, separate small house for the pump of the pool and separate place for a washing machine. The property is surrounded by a nice garden and situated in a community of 4 houses. Located just a 5 minute walk from the beach and a 7 minute walk from the centre of Sosua, through the road from the ocean.

Las Terrenas real estate- Villa for sale

This beautiful villa in Las Terrenas for sale, is located at 5 minutes from the beach, in a safe residence close to all facilities. Purified lines, well-ventilated and luminous living rooms with a fully equipped contemporary kitchen. Everything in this dream house are carefully though out and meticulously arranged. Finishing touches are amazingly decorated with style. Don't miss out this unique opportunity! More villa and land options for sale on the north coast of the Dominican Republic can be found at Remax in Samana real estate.

Sosua villa for sale

2 story Sosua villa for sale on the north coast of the Domincian Republic. If you are looking for something out of town, this could be the property for you.  This two bed/two bath is located in a quiet residential area, yet close to local amenities. For other options visit in the area visit Remax Sosua real estate.

5 bed Cabarete oceanfront condo

This 5 bedroom Cabarete penthouse offers great luxury with marble floors and oak closets.  The project benefits from it’s own private beach, several pools and a beach club.  For more information visit the listing page.

Why Sosua/Cabarete in the Dominican Republic vs. Punta Cana? by Arthur Byrd

One of the most frequently asked questions we get is why would someone buy property in the Cabarete/Sosua area instead of on the other side of the island, the place most North Americans know as the “All-Inclusive Capital of the DR,” Punta Cana (PC).  The question itself reflects the marketing bias that has always presented the eastern end of the island as a fabulous beach and golf destination, but recently positive attention is being diverted to The Dominican Republic’s (DR) north coast as more and more Baby Boomers and vacation property buyers search for the very best beachfront bargains.

The real difference in considering the area east of Puerto Plata vs. estate comes down to what kind of experience a person wants.  Punta Cana is on the Caribbean, tranquil waters with sandy beach dominated by large All-Inclusive hotels.  For a few days of sun and golf it is a fabulous destination, but for escape from winter cold and for more long term residency offerings, the Atlantic facing north coast is a far better choice.  Below are just a few reasons the two areas might as well be on different islands they are so different:

• The Atlantic brings year round wind off the ocean producing world class wind sport opportunities such as kite boarding and wind surfing.  The wind also keeps the climate cooler and more bug free thus creating pleasant living conditions for the growing expatriate population roughly divided into third proportions among Canadian, American and European citizens.  Punta Cana on the other hand is calm and sunny with less vegetation and without the exotic mountain vistas where the mountains ripple down to the sea on the north coast.
• A more interesting climate and scenery on the north coast also combines with more cultural experience as there are real towns here to enjoy.  Cabarete is largely a tourist town having grown up by the incredible growth of Kite Boarding in the area whereas Sosua is both a working Dominican town and a tourist destination.  Residents and tourists freely move about on bus and taxi systems or rented cars and find countless restaurants, beaches, shops and tours whereas in PC the hotel experience governs most contact with the island and its residents; in fact, there really isn’t even much of a town of PC but rather a region populated with hotels.
• Another important difference is hurricane vulnerability and again the two areas differ greatly.  Most storms hitting the DR come up from the south or east making the southern and eastern ends of the island such as PC more vulnerable to the more destructive storm surge.  The north coast has three things in its favor regarding hurricanes:  1) three mountain ranges in the center of the island (the highest peak being 10,400 feet from sea level) tend to disrupt storms passing over the island leaving heavy rain to the north coast but not storm surge, 2) Puerto Rico to the east and Jamaica as well as Haiti to the west work in conjunction with the mountain ranges to break apart storms that might pass over the north coast, and 3) deep ocean water to the north of the DR do not favor the development or sustenance of hurricanes and serve as an additional assets in our protection.  You can see old growth palm trees all up and down the north coast illustrating natural factors very much working to our protection here.
• Many other reasons abound ranging from heavy governmental investment in North Coast infrastructure (roads, sewage treatment, beaches, full time electrical grid, expanded International Airport in Puerto Plata with many direct flights to the US, Canada and Europe, security, etc.) but perhaps the most compelling reason to consider the north coast for second home or retirement property is value—prices and selection on the north coast simply cannot be beat and offer the most affordable beachfront and ocean facing mountain properties in the Caribbean.  Take a look below as just a few choices:

BL6020AB - Great buy on a Cabarete beachfront lot with miles of sand to walk:

AP6126AB - Brand new Cabarete apartment listing and a great price on quality; natural stones, wood, and really cool design—first one of this model closest to the beach:

AP6094AB - Stunning Cabarete beach front penthouse finished with marble, granite, mahogany one bedroom condo:

AP6098AB - Lovely 2 bedroom fully outfitted Sosua condo in 185 acre complex with full service gym, restaurant, water park for the kids, and gorgeous ocean vistas.

AP6026AB - Terrific 3 bedroom beachfront Cabarete condo for less than $US300,000

HG6063AB - Absolutely immaculate Cabarete house with pool and it comes with a Nissan Murano that only has 45 thousand miles and is pristine:

HG6041AB - Incredible tropical Cabarete villa for rental return or luxury living at a great price:

There are great bargains available right now in Dominican real estate in both Cabarete and Sosua; Sally and I can help you find your own little slice of paradise, it’s more affordable than you think.

Contact Arthur and Sally Byrd.

Beachfront Cabarete condo

 250 sq. m., 2 bath, 3 bdrm apartment - MLS® $750,000 USD

Cabarete Bay , Puerto Plata  -  An absolutely gorgeous condo! Beachfront with third story views overlooking world famous Cabarete Bay, this condo is stunning. Mahogany woodwork everywhere, marble and imported tile floors, granite kitchen with stainless steel appliance, huge bathrooms and a double balcony you could have a cocktail party on with views to die for. An unbelievable place to live. For more property options, visit Cabarete real estate for more options or visit our Dominican Republic real estate law pages for an in-depth coverage on the buying process.

1 Bedroom apartment Cabarete Bay - $US57,000

34 Brand New high quality beachfront condos by one of this areas more respected developers. Just east of Cabarete off the main highway lies your chance to LOCK IN pre-construction prices before price inflation escalates cost in the next generation of inventory in this area. Now is the perfect time to act on this while selection is good.

For more property options visit Cabarete real estate for more options or visit our Dominican Republic real estate law pages for an in-depth coverage on the buying process.

The Americans are coming to the Dominican Republic

Beginning in 2010 and now extending vigorously into 2011 we are seeing a sudden resurgence in property buying interest from American buyers.  For a couple of years the American television media had many people convinced the sky was falling and economic health would take a generation to return, but as usual predictions of American economic failure have proven dramatically overstated.

In the past few months Canadians and European buyers have continued their steady, reasonable assessment of the north coast and contracts to purchase nearly tripled this past year over last.  Now, joining this enlightened wave of value conscious shoppers we suddenly see American interest showing enthusiastic revival, especially since for years most Americans rarely looked past Punta Cana when considering Dominican destinations—the north coast has now been re-discovered.

The reason for this shift is two-fold:  1) buyers from The United States now feel more confident today than in the past couple of negatively hyped years; and 2) the message has finally reached mainstream US interest that the DR north coast (Cabarete and Sosua) is the best place to acquire part time tropical residency properties.

2011 will show shrinking inventories due to conservative building over the past two years, but prices at this current moment still offer a genuine value buying window of opportunity.  Smart people looking to diversify assets out of mere paper holdings are staking a claim to the Baby Boomer influence now enriching Caribbean real estate markets. The attractive pricing, accessible international airport of Puerto Plata, and continued infrastructure investment here by the Dominican government are validating the wisdom of that strategic investment vision as interest surges.

To those of you making the trip to the sunshine this winter to find your tropical paradise, congratulations; to those of you still deciding, it’s time To Do Something Soon.

Here are some ideas that are getting lots of interest right now:

Dominican Republic Condos:

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1958 AP6121AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1756 AP6094AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1793 listing id AP6097AB

NOTE:  Here are the three complexes featured in our recent House Hunters International Dominican Republic episode

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1804 AP6099AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1539 – AP6059AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1345 – Listing id AP6052AB

Dominican Republic Villas:

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1971 HG6067AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1873 HG6055AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1757 HG6041AB

http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/search/show.php?id=1817 listing id HG6046AB

Hope to see you soon in our little corner of paradise. Feel free to contact me for more real estate options in the area.

Arthur Byrd

GPS in the Dominican Republic

Clients often ask me for directions around the area and in general, particularly around the Sosua – Cabarete area, it is quite easy. However, finding your way around to other parts of the Dominican Republic can be quite tricky. Roads are badly posted and building number more often than not absent. In general, finding your way along the north coast from Sosua to Las Terrenas is fairly straight forward as there is only the main road and you just keep driving east (Carretera 5).

The only places that we still find problems navigating around are the large cities such as Puerto Plata, Santiago and Santo Domingo. Becoming more readily available over the past couple of years are an option of Garmin based GPS Maps for the country.

Until recently, I was using the maps provided by Ola.com.do, however with their renewal prices at $US170, it is expensive. Hence I switched to the maps provided by Dominicana.cc which are available for $US89.  I have had the new maps for only a couple of days and to be honest, it is a bit disappointing.  I haven’t had the need to go to the cities this week, but locally,  it does not seem to have the level of detail as Ola, POI’s and smaller towns such as Sosua Abajo and Charimicos do not have road labels.

To display the maps, you have 2 options. Firstly the standard Garmin GPS unit (save money and buy a more feature rich, modern unit online on ebay / Amazon etc.) and buy the maps from Ola. The units they have for sale are overpriced in my opinion e.g. the Nuvi 200 they have packaged with their Santo Domingo map is currently $US255. The Santo Domingo map value is $US40. Making the Nuvi 200 an expensive $US215. The same unit is available on line for an average price of $US120.

If however, you are like me and hate bits of wires hanging around the dashboard and ‘untidiness’, the only other option are a range of after market in-dash units from Kenwood which have Garmin built in. As yet, I am still not aware of any factory standard in-car system that will read Garmin maps, which seems to be the only in-car routable maps available for the Dominican Republic.

The photos here are from a DNX9960 installed in my car. This is a very good unit which also adds full  ’hands-free’ functionality

for cellphones (inc. download of your phonebook from your cellphone), voice control for all functions (ensuring your hands are on the steering wheel) DVD player, multi-zone management (e.g. GPS on the front screen and DVD in the back), USB ports to read music from flash drives (I have a 8gb drive connected and 1000′s of songs!), bluetooth music streaming from your cellphone, rear-view camera, satellite radio and of course the usual FM/AM radio functions.

I spent quite some time finding the right GPS solution for the Dominican Republic for my needs, so if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line. Attached is a screen shots of the dominicana.cc map.

I plan to keep this post updated as I find fault or features with my new map. One that is particularly irritating me looking at this photo and when I am in the car is the head text saying ‘Driving on Road’…..well of course…I know that! The maps available from Ola would say ‘Driving on Ayuntamiento’.

Las Terrenas ocean view apartment

Situated just steps away from the beautiful beach of Las Ballenas and the famous Pueblo de los Pescadores The Fisherman’s Village which houses a delight of quaint European style restaurants.
This 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom spacious apartment is offered fully furnished to a high standard and includes a flat screen TV. Ceiling fans throughout and whisper quiet air conditioning in both bedrooms. Marble tile and solid hardwood floors throughout. The balcony has ocean and pool views with sun shades. The upper terrace has amazing ocean, pool, and mountain views and has the same footprint as the apartment, It has a sun roof, Tiki Bar and plenty of space for entertaining. The Condo is part of a 85 unit project with 2 pools with fully landscaped tropical gardens.  There is plenty of private parking and garage space available. Visit our main website Dominican Republic real estate for more condo apartment options along the north coast of the country