Dominican Republic Real Estate - Investing in Paradise The Dominican Republic is one of the most beautiful Caribbean destinations and is also one of the most exciting emerging property markets in the world. Government incentives to attract high quality sustainable tourism continue to successfully support the countries economy and industry and there has never been a better time to buy a property in The Dominican Republic. For those who are looking for a guide to property buying in the Dominican Republic, you should know that, in the past twenty years, a very large number of people have been looking for real estate they could use when traveling to the country for holiday purposes. This trend is accelerating and the demand for quality property is increasing significantly. The most recent development is widely recognized as the largest dedicated leisure resort development in the world and perhaps the last great investment opportunity. It is continually courted by premier international leisure resorts. Understandable when 8% guaranteed rental yield (net of management fees) is available for the first 5 years, even for second home buyers. The foreign nationals are capable of spending enormous amounts of money on hotel resort complexes and apartment projects. Many buyers of homes and condo’s intend to turn them into second homes or vacation properties. This is mainly because there are many people looking to spend long periods of time in the Dominican Republic. Of course, they are also interested in very expensive villas and estates! And why shouldn’t they be, when the Dominican Republic real estate market is often the target of very wealthy people across the world? The properties for sale in the Dominican Republic can offer them heaven on earth! The Dominican Republic is approximately 600 miles South East of Florida and about 4000 miles from Western Europe. With flying times to one of the international airports such as Punta Cana or Santo Domingo of 1 ½ hours and 7 hours respectively, the whole country is easy to get to. The Dominican Republic enjoys a year round tropical maritime climate and it is at the border of the tropical zone. Sea breezes refresh the inland areas, evening out temperature to average 74F (23’C) in the early mornings to 89F (32’C) at mid-day. There is little difference between winter and summer temperature with July averaging at 82’F (28’C) and January at 76’F (23’C). The lowest temperatures occur in the mountain areas, where temperatures have dropped to 32 (0’C), and record highs have been registered at the frontier with Haiti, 102F (39’C) in the summer. The months of May to November are regarded as the rainy season and most rain falls in the northern and eastern regions. The Dominican Republic is similar in size to Scotland or the U.S. state of Maryland and is the second largest island in the Greater Antilles. At this writing there are 26 signature golf courses in the Dominican Republic, with more on the way. With its spectacular location and grand vision it is destined to become one of the most prestigious international championship standard Golf and wind-surfing retreats in the World. “I assure your highnesses that these lands are the most fertile, temperate, level and beautiful countries in the world”- reported Christopher Columbus to the Queen of Spain after discovering this beautiful island. Named by its Spanish settlers “ Hispaniola”, the island became the hub for the expansion of the Spanish empire into the new world. The city of Santo Domingo (originally named “La Isabella”) was founded in 1496, and soon became the seat of the first cathedral, hospital and university in all the America’s. After gaining independence from Spain in 1821, the eastern part of the island, what is now the Dominican Republic, was occupied by Haiti. This occupation ended on February 27, 1844 with the proclamation of the National Independence. Since 1966, the republic has held ten democratic elections, alternating the power between the three main political parties. All this has created good and stable conditions for foreign investment. The market continues to grow at unprecedented rates resulting in steadily increasing real estate prices and solid rental returns. Guaranteed rental has become a buzzword within the property industry but few schemes could compare with the structure or yields offered by developers here in the Dominican Republic. Furthermore the government offers 10 years of tax incentives, no tax on rental income, no capital gains tax and no property purchase tax (Normally 4.6%). The most active investments in the Dominican Republic real estate market come from travel and tourism related sectors. The government knows where their future lies and have established very investor friendly laws, designed to encourage foreign direct investment. With this in mind, you can see why the foreigners have been so active in this segment for years. Because the values of the properties on the Dominican Republic real estate market are constantly rising, it is strongly recommended that people to invest in this market very soon. Foreign nationals and other real estate purchasers in the Dominican Republic will surely make money on their real estate investments by buying properties in this beautiful country and selling it later to the newcomers for very handsome profits. You just have to visit this market and you will see for yourself. Its in the air, everywhere. This is not a trend of the current times, but also one of the futures. Many real estate experts believe that the road properties for sale in the Dominican Republic have taken will continue for a very long time. This is the oldest, newly discovered land in the New World. Yuri Yeleyko is the Director of www.VillaCaribas.com . VillaCaribas offers real estate investment tours and luxury properties in the Dominican Republic to both English and Russian speaking investors.