Hi There! If you are reading this blog you may have stumbled upon my blog via social media, web search or perhaps via knowing me personally and knowing about this project that I am so passionate about. Either way, I am glad you are here and you are taking the time to read through this and learn a little bit more about Happy Living Punta Cana.
This blog post series will take you through the entire HLPC journey – beginning to end. It will take you through my experience of purchasing my first investment property in Punta Cana – everything from why I decided to go for it, what was my thought process behind it to how I decided on the apartment I chose. I will share everything- including the numbers and the breakdown of the monthly payments.
My goal with this blog is to educate other people, share my process and how I got to where I am and perhaps even inspire people who have thought about investing in property abroad. If you have any questions about how to invest in the Dominican Republic or are ready to get started, please contact me at pam@happylivingpuntacana.com.
Where the idea came from
Every great story has an origin story. People always wonder – where did the idea to start that business come from? How did it become successful? What was the thought process behind it?
For more info on my background and how I was about to purchase a property, check out the Origin Story blog post. To summarize, I have always been into real estate, ever since I read the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I purchased my first investment property at the age of 24 when I moved to Miami and ever since then, I have been really into learning about real estate.
Dominican Connection
Like I said in the other blog post, my parents are from the beautiful island of the Dominican Republic. Growing up, I always had so much fun going back and visiting the resorts and just having fun in the sun. I also lived in the Dominican Republic during my youth, so I have an additional connection to the island. A part of me always knew that the Dominican Republic was home and the more I visited, the more I wanted to make things more official, the more I wanted to have a place for myself. I wanted a small spot that I could call home whenever I decided it was time for some good Dominican food and a tropical break outside of Miami city life. I knew that I was going to purchase a place on the island at some point, the stars just needed to align, and I had to find the right one.
Market Conditions
Another key driver for the decision to make this investment was the real estate market worldwide. To paint the scene for you, it's 2020 and the pandemic has turned the world upside down. Given my real estate interest and background, I have always kept track of market changes and shifts. In Miami, when the pandemic started the market initially went into a selling frenzy (at low prices), the uncertainty of COVID made people place properties on the market and I was getting alerts left and right. However, as time went by and more and more people from out of state started moving to Miami, the opposite started to happen. The market started to get HOT and prices were skyrocketing. As someone ready to make their next investment, this was something to think about. I didn’t want to overpay for a place and later on not have tenants to rent out to. I was fearful that the out of town people that moved to Miami from places like NY and CA would eventually head back when the pandemic was over. Overall, it was an uncertain time.
These conditions truly made me want to consider an investment in Punta Cana at this time. I expected that given that it was COVID, there would be an opportunity to invest in a tourist location with discounted pricing. I assumed that developers would be willing to negotiate given that tourism was not fully open yet and they needed to get their investments/project paid for. I felt the time was right - opportunity was there.
For more information of the market conditions that I considered and that are prominent in Punta Cana, check out our post detailing the 4 reasons to invest in Punta Cana.
Choosing the right location
For those of you who have visited or are familiar with the Dominican Republic, you probably know there are many touristic parts on the island. The most famous and accessible is of course Punta Cana, but there are many other locations such as Puerto Plata, Samana, Boca Chica, La Romana (Casa de Campo). There were many options to consider as to where I would invest in, and I was not sure which one I wanted to go for. I’ve been to all of them before and they are all amazing in their own way, however for the business I wanted to set up, I wanted something very specific. Here were the top considerations for my location choice:
Accessibility – I wanted to select a place that was easy to access. Punta Cana has over 50 international airlines operating flights to and from the local airport, PUJ.
Activities and Experiences – Other than the beach, I wanted to select a location that had many accessible options for things to do. For this reason, Punta Cana was the top choice. For more info on activities and things to do for your time there, check out our Experiences.
Growth and Expansion – The last measurement is growth and expansion. Other areas in the country also have growth opportunities but nothing like Punta Cana. The investment in this area of the country is incredible – more on that here.
Once the location was selected, the next step was to reach out to a real estate agent and go to Punta Cana to start to view some options!
Overall, it felt like the right time to explore a potential investment in the Dominican Republic. I had a Dominican Connection from growing up that has always been there and only grew stronger and stronger. The market conditions seemed to be optimal for investing - although there was a lot of uncertainty, I was comfortable with some of this risk. Finally, doing some research on which location was right for me was essential in helping me make the decision of where I wanted to invest. Check out my next blog post to hear about what I did next!