Hi All

We are two South Africans who have been thinking of emigrating to the Dominican Republic and would like to get in touch with down-to-earth people who live there who can help answer some of our questions.

We have looked at countless websites that never respond to queries and find it difficult to get a true picture of the situation. For instance, prices of everyday goods and consumables such as milk, gas, clothing and so on. What is the best way to buy property without getting ripped off, how to avoid pitfalls of moving to a new country, etc.

Can anyone help please?

Gerry & Maggie

Prices you might pay in typical town:
Milk 80c litre cartion,
Eggs 10 for a dollar.
Rice 50c/lb.
Plantains 20 for 1 dollar.
Chicken whole 1 dollar 20c per lb.
Yams 5 lbs or more for 1 dollar.
Mangos 10c to 30c each.
Cabbage 4lb for 1 dollar
Shrimp 4-5 dollars a lb.
Fish whole 2.5 dollars a lb.
Gas 6 dollars a gallon.
Carrot 4lbs for 1 dollar.
Coconut 4 for a dollar.
Coach trip 150 miles 6 dollars.
Of course in many parts of the country t is no heating or air con required.
Clothes can be imported from US freight etc.charge 5 dollars a lb. Local colotes shirt 6 dollars.
Beans - dried 80c lb.
Take away meal 6 dollars.
Rum from 5 dollars abottle.
Coconut milk 1 dollar a can.
Beer about 2 dollars 80 for 1 litre bottle jumbo.
US return airline trip 300 dollars / Europe from 700 dollars.
Residence permits initial budget 1500 dollars / person.
Reasonable house from 90,000 dollars coast / 50,000 dollars interior up to millions.
Minimum wage and charges maid etc. 250-300 dollars/month.
Take your time choosing area and housing. May be better to rent for first year from300 dollars/month as you will end up getting a better deal when you have done thorough research.
Condo fees -water / drainage, security , garden, pool, etc.from 100 dollars a month.
S.

Thanks abc - it appears that living in the DR is quite a bit cheaper than living in South Africa, which is really good news for us since the SA rand doesn't stretch very far in the world today.

Your suggestion about renting for a few months first seems like a very good idea and will give us a chance to find a decent lawyer, etc. We were considering the area around Jarabacoa as our first choice. Ideally we want a piece of arable land of about 10 hectares (24 acres) with a decent enough house on it. Is water a problem in that area or in the DR in general? Do many people have boreholes?

Many thanks
M

Glad to be of help. Yes six main ways to get water. Access - possibly through some other peoples land to stream and small pump.
Many people have boreholes.
Many people collect rainwater - for example an area of ground covered in polythene / butyl above house. Works on mountain with reasonable rainfall.
Water truck to fill tank.
Small sea distillation / osmosis.
http://www.desware.net/Small-Scale-Desalination.aspx
Public service.

In addition most people buy 5 gallon bottled water for drinking rather than full process water to drinking quality. Cost about 1 dollar 25 cents.

S.

Interesting that you selected the DR of all places for emigration. If you can indicate your aproximate age, actual goals and motives and what is it the you wish to achieved as to why the relocation perhaps we all can better guide you in the right the direction.

To answer your question, we are in our mid to late 40's. Without getting into a whole political argument here we decided a couple of years ago that it was time to leave South Africa. The writing is on the wall regarding this country's progression to the same state as Zimbabwe and, to cut a long story short, the DR features highly on our list of suitable places.

South Africa is a high crime environment, but not just petty crime; serious crime where you can get shot and killed or blugeoned to death for a cellphone or your car. We are also not as "free" as the rest of the world might like to think. I'm not even going to start on the excessive taxation and corrpution because our purpose is not to run SA down but to find a more peaceful place to live.

We wanted to buy a smallholding or farm here to grow various exotic fruit and vegetables for export and to expand our endangered parrot breeding centre but you cannot buy a farm here unless you are prepared to carry a gun with you continuously and are prepared to use it to kill in order to protect yourself and your family. However the laws are such that if you shoot and kill an intruder in your own home you are liable for murder or manslaughter. This is just not the way we wish to live.

Our backgrounds are quite diverse: sales, marketing, publishing and law; geology, environmental management and landscape design. We are in the process of setting up a number of online businesses so that we would not be dependent on the DR for income, but we would still like to pursue our goal of farming exotic fruit and vegetables and the endangered parrot breeding centre. Besides that, if any of our skills can be useful there, we are happy to use them.

Hope that answers your question.

M

Growing export of topical veg from DR. Be prepared for some security investment or live simply.
Co-operative or semi co-operative ventures seem to work well as smallholders feel they are not workers but responsible owners.
A success story:
http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/200446/boshart
S.

Dear Abc
Thank you for that piece of information.That is more up Margarets street permaculture etc.I am interested in the more entrepreneurial side of business in the DR.Are there any shortages of products on the island?I get the impression that in the 90's tourism was huge but somehow it waned.Is that correct?From what we can see it appears that there are many similarities to south africa in that most of the problems mentioned in the newspaper are pretty much the same as here.Someone once told me that you can live reasonably well on $2000 per month.Would you agree with that?
Once again many thanks for your valuable input.

Tourism is huge No. 1 destination Carrib. Also developing as home port for cruise liners.
Shortages - mushrooms are imported and expensive - it must be possible to grow them in the mountains perhaps evaourative cooling during the day or caves.
Some fruits are not easily available - fresh lychees, rambutans thumb bannanas, certain types of melon,durian. Also some spices lemongrass etc. A lot of potatoes are imported and there are some excellent Peruvian types not available here. Some industrial goods seem to be short for a while then someone sets up and makes them.
A modest house in many areas is available for 300-500 dollars/month on 6 month contract. Since the climate is good in many parts not much time is spent indoors year round. so many people do not have somhting lavish. Access to a pool is considered desirable in an appartment. 6 dollars a day per person should cover food, cooking gas, electrictiy etc. Wine is expensive from 5 dollars a bottle so are imported drinks- Wiskey red label 15 dollrrs a bottle, Cggnac 40 dollars, Champagne 60 dollars, special rums from 20 dollars( babencourt etc). So it depends on your tastes. Many people in this part of the island use a Quad, Motorcycle, Scooter or Mule in preference to a car. New motorcycles start at 800 dollars.
One Canadian couple I knew budgeted 700 dollars a month including some restaurant meals, drinks in bar etc. but they owned the house.. Onthe more luxurious side ( for me anyway ) fresh lobster is 6 dollars a pound. Pork fillet / prime steak not bought in bulk without fat would be 5-6 dollars a pound 4 oz. portion 1.5 dollars. Bacon from 3 dollars a pound - prepackaged imported double. Fresh coffee from 2.5 dollars a pound, sugar 40 c. lb. Drinks in European style nightclub overlooking the ocean, dress code etc. from 4 dollars. From conversations with South Africans I have had there are different problems. Everything is on a smaller scale outside the capital but distances are not great. There is less of a master/servant relationship things get done in Dominican's good time and this may not be when you expect. So outside 2 main cities do not expect vast supermarkets - in many areas buying off tucks or buying from people you know who bring your requirements round may be more the way. There are areas with mainly locals but no vast townships. Crime is low but car theft is a problem - buy a cheaper less desirable car unless it is always garaged etc. 2o yeers ago many people kept parrots but the local ones are endangered and you see less on sale at roadside etc. Love birds etc. are available.
S.




Without entertaining or entertaining at home/on the beach

Once again great help!
In the countryside if you want to build a new house or storage facilities etc is there much red tape and building supplies any problem?