Property Center – Dominican Republic Real Estate

So much for a recession and lack of real estate buyers…this week we couldn’t even get some of our new listings on the web-site soon enough…as one of them sold before the tech department could get it online!

The Dominican Republic’s beaches are widely celebrated as being among the world’s best, and for good reason. Here, more than 1,000 miles of sugar-colored sand is gently lapped by warm waters so clear and blue one has to see to believe. Depending on location, the beaches offer a gentle lullaby for an oceanside nap or enough wind to keep a Technicolor kiteboard adrift.

Super fine white sand sprinkled with coconut palm trees line the east coast while golden sand defines the beaches of the north coast. Adding a third color to the palette are the grey sand playas of Barahona in the west. Some of these areas are populated with resorts featuring a full array of watersports, food vendors, people watching and other activities. While others take visitors to another world of pristine tranquility with peaceful, uninhabited beaches. Here, the only intrusions are a towering coconut palm and the swaying breeze.

Playa Sosua
Located on a crescent-shaped bay, Playa Sosua is a postcard perfect beach. Featuring a backdrop of towering cliffs, the waters here are calm, clear and a deep shade of turquoise. Playa Sosua is perhaps one of the Caribbean’s most popular beaches, which may explain the crowds. However, with so much to do – shopping or eating in Sosua, snorkeling or even taking a glass bottom boat tour – the crowds are worth the visit. Sosua offers some of the North Coast’s best diving. Not only are these sites home to countless varieties of tropical fish and marine life, but whale sharks, manta rays, and dolphins have also been known to make an appearance in these waters. Shallow reefs allow beginners to get comfortable with diving and the underwater world, while more advanced dive sites are only minutes away.

Cabarete
On the Dominican Republic’s north coast, adventure seekers will fall in love with Cabarate. One of the top five kiteboarding and windsurfing beaches in the world, Cabarete’s beach (often called Kite Beach) annually hosts an array of international championships. On any given day, visitors to the area will see the sky filled with hundreds of colorful kites carrying amateur and pro riders through the surf.

Playa Cofresi
Just a few minutes west of Puerto Plata lays one of the most breathtaking beaches in the Dominican Republic named for the pirate Roberto Cofresi. While Playa Cofresi is wonderful for bathing in the sun, the waters provide excellent bodysurfing and boogie-boarding opportunities with its choppier waters.
Playa Dorada
Located just east of Puerto Plata at the foot of the largest all-inclusive resort complex in the world, Playa Dorada is protected by reefs and features golf sand and warm waters. While anyone can drive into the Playa Dorada complex, non-guests have to pay for a day pass.

Playa Grande
At 1.5 miles long, Playa Grande, located near Rio San Juan, is one of the longest beaches on the north coast. However, the beach is impressive not only for its size but also its breathtaking beauty. While the Occidental Allegro resort is now located at one end of the beach and food vendors sit at the other, the beach in between offers plenty of room to spread out.

Playa Punta Rucia
West of Puerto Plata and just off the beaten path, Playa Punta Rucia boasts white sand beaches and beautiful mountain views. Popular with snorkelers due to the presence of a large coral reef just off the shore, Playa Punta Rucia offers a small selection of restaurants/bars and a peaceful lagoon that is good for birdwatching.

To be held at Piergiorgio Palace Hotel, Sosua on August 31st 2010 (5pm).

Click the catalog cover below to download…

When we are ready to sell our home,  of course we want to get the highest possible price.   We have lived in this house for a period of time, and  made upgrades and changes – with love.  We spent time choosing  paint colors or wallpaper and shopped for attractive window treatments.    We may have had new carpeting and tile installed or possibly even did  this work ourselves.  At the time, no effort was too great  to improve our home.

And we also spent a great deal of  time or money on the exterior – making sure  the grass on our front lawn was almost perfect -   and planting shrubs and trees that were the envy of the neighbors.   We may have landscaped the back yard and added a  custom patio.

Now we may want  to move to a larger house, to a better school district  or need to move because of a change in employment  and have a specific idea how much we want for our home.   Regardless of the poor economy, we might  expect an inflated price for our property with the thought that we can  always “lower the price later on”  which is a bad idea.

Your listing agent will not usually  try to contact a buyer for your home which is what most consumers think  happens immediately.  The actual process is that your agent will  contact and promote your home to the large number of  agents for home buyers in the local area which efficiently increases  the visibility of your listing.

If you  and your agent have set a realistic selling price, you should have many  of these agents coming to see your home  to market to their clients.  If  your asking price is set too high,  the local agents who are aware of home values in your area will not  be interested and you <em>will </em>have to eventually lower your price  to conform to market conditions…..but that’s another story!

Trey is the Houston real estate marketing manager for VIP ClientSide. Our team specializes in Houston Condos and Houston Office space rentals.

Some images for your viewing pleasure of the Puerto Plata Parque Central (central park)…

An enjoyable nights boxing at the Sosua Bay Center (Dominican Republic) started out with 2 no contests between some unknown local talent.  The first real excitement of the night came with the first and only heavyweight bout on the card.  Vyacheslav Glazkov got a TKO over 15 and 29 record Ramon Hayes, the crowd was on its feet as the 2 largest contenders of the night traded blows.

The undisputed attraction of the evening was to see the gold medal champ from the 2008 Beijing games, Felix Diaz take on Nicaraguan Orlando Membreno.  The crowd was constantly cheering and saw Diaz win with a UD after the 6 mandatory rounds.

The punch of the night goes to Cuban Jorge Gutierrez, who floored opponent, Sandy Antonio Soto with a blow that knocked Soto out cold.

Among the crowd were local social and political figures, as well as Roberto Duran (Manos de Piedra) who for some reason was not once mentioned by the announcer…

Below some images from the nights action…

And here the Felix Diaz fight in full…

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gXu1yzqUiQ

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNlqZqai2NU

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjvXwcgo0xQ

The long awaited football tournament, planned for tomorrow Sunday 7th March 2010 in El Choco, Sosua, has been canceled due to heavy rain in the last few days.  In spite of the grounds keepers best efforts to have the pitches ready in time, the decision has been made that the surface is unplayable.

A make-up date has not yet been set.

Founded in 2008, HAITIAN AND DOMINICAN ASSISTANCE CORPORATION (HADAC) is a not for profit corporation, focusing on primary medical care, education, agriculture and vocational training in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

HADAC provides medical care for the poor, digs wells where there is a lack of clean water, fly medical supplies to remote locations in their own plane and provide educational and agricultural assistance to under served
communities from their base in Puerto Plata, Sosua, Dominican Republic.

Tay Oz has been listed as a supporter of HADAC visit their web-site http://hadac.org/Projects.html for more information.

On the 27th of February 1844 a secret force named La Trinitaria, led by Juan Pablo Duarte declared independence from Haiti.  Although it wasn’t until November 6th that same year that the Dominican Republic adopted it’s first constitution, modeled on the constitution of the USA.

Tomorrow those acts of bravery that brought independence from Haitian rule will be celebrated nationwide, in the forms of various marches and more.  Including a march here in Sosua from the Playa Imbert Barrera until Los Charamicos.

Happy Independence Day Republica Dominicana!