General Info

[QUOTE=Helpmann]At the mercy of the political class? Are you kidding?? If you're in Argentina, DR, Colombia, Brazil, or any country below a sovereign risk rating of "AA-", you rent and you keep your money in a US bank. That's just common sense.

-Helpmann :)[/QUOTE]

No I'm not kidding. Nor will I fall into an internet pissing match.

Agreed regarding your point about the general risk level ("AA", I'll take your word for it) for any country in LA or elsewhere in the 3rd world is very risky and unpredictable. Regardless of actual politics.

I'm just sayin that the recent history of Argentina (past 10 years) tells one that there's "MORE OF" a penchant towards debt default and private funds seizure. It's their history. You can't erase it.

All the best, Schwmm

[QUOTE=Schwmmr]No I'm not kidding. Nor will I fall into an internet pissing match.

Agreed regarding your point about the general risk level ("AA", I'll take your word for it) for any country in LA or elsewhere in the 3rd world is very risky and unpredictable. Regardless of actual politics.

I'm just sayin that the recent history of Argentina (past 10 years) tells one that there's "MORE OF" a penchant towards debt default and private funds seizure. It's their history. You can't erase it.[/QUOTE]Anyone who would buy illiquid assets in an non-investment grade country needs to have their head examined. Also, anyone who would give such a one-sided opinion is doing the members of this forum a disservice.

-Helpmann :D


[i][size=2][color=blue]
AAA..... Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, UK, USA...
AA...... Japan, Ireland, Spain...
A........ Israel, South Korea...
BBB..... Mexico, Russia
BBB-.... Brazil, Iceland
[B]-------------------------------J U N K -------------------------------[/B]
BB+..... Colombia, Greece, Panama (1989, US Invasion)
BB....... Costa Rica, El Salvador ('80-'92, Civil War)
BB-...... Serbia, Venezuela (2002, Renationalization of all Hydrocarbons)
B+....... Bosnia, Cambodia ('67-'75, Civil War)
B........ Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Honduras (2009, Political Crisis)
B-....... Bolivia, Grenada, Jamaica, Argentina (2002, Default of International Debt)
CCC+.. Ecuador (1999, Default on Brady Bonds) [/i][/size][/color]

[QUOTE=Helpmann]Anyone who would buy illiquid assets in an non-investment grade country needs to have their head examined. Also, anyone who would give such a one-sided opinion is doing the members of this forum a disservice.

-Helpmann :D


[i][size=2][color=blue]
AAA..... Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, UK, USA...
AA...... Japan, Ireland, Spain...
A........ Israel, South Korea...
BBB..... Mexico, Russia
BBB-.... Brazil, Iceland
[B]-------------------------------J U N K -------------------------------[/B]
BB+..... Colombia, Greece, Panama (1989, US Invasion)
BB....... Costa Rica, El Salvador ('80-'92, Civil War)
BB-...... Serbia, Venezuela (2002, Renationalization of all Hydrocarbons)
B+....... Bosnia, Cambodia ('67-'75, Civil War)
B........ Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Honduras (2009, Political Crisis)
B-....... Bolivia, Grenada, Jamaica, Argentina (2002, Default of International Debt)
CCC+.. Ecuador (1999, Default on Brady Bonds) [/i][/size][/color][/QUOTE]

Damn you're angry about this. Sorry dude. Must of hit a sore spot.

And I didn't even do what you just accused me of.

Oh well, it's been fun.

[QUOTE=Helpmann]Anyone who would buy illiquid assets in an non-investment grade country needs to have their head examined. Also, anyone who would give such a one-sided opinion is doing the members of this forum a disservice.

-Helpmann :D


[i][size=2][color=blue]
AAA..... Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, UK, USA...
AA...... Japan, Ireland, Spain...
A........ Israel, South Korea...
BBB..... Mexico, Russia
BBB-.... Brazil, Iceland
[B]-------------------------------J U N K -------------------------------[/B]
BB+..... Colombia, Greece, Panama (1989, US Invasion)
BB....... Costa Rica, El Salvador ('80-'92, Civil War)
BB-...... Serbia, Venezuela (2002, Renationalization of all Hydrocarbons)
B+....... Bosnia, Cambodia ('67-'75, Civil War)
B........ Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Honduras (2009, Political Crisis)
B-....... Bolivia, Grenada, Jamaica, Argentina (2002, Default of International Debt)
CCC+.. Ecuador (1999, Default on Brady Bonds) [/i][/size][/color][/QUOTE]


A year ago by S&P and Panama seems to be OK
[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/22/recession-government-borrowing#zoomed-picture[/url]

[QUOTE=Questner]A year ago by S&P and Panama seems to be OK
[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/22/recession-government-borrowing#zoomed-picture[/url][/QUOTE]Yeah, Panama has a "positive" rating outlook from both S&P and Fitch. Also, Fitch gives Panama at BBB- rating, which is investment grade (S&P rating is BB+).

-Helpmann :)

Thank you, Jackson, for not deleting "dominicanwatchdog.org" from Jaososua's post. I'd been pondering the DR as a possible "expat haven" for my retirement; some "WWW-window shopping" of Costambar (Blackbeard's neighborhood) real estate revealed that a modest villa would be within my means. But Dominican Watchdog threw a well-deserved monkey wrench into those ponderings....

[QUOTE=Jaosousa]
Also from Dominican Watchdog: "Too many tourists killed in the Dominican Republic(Update 5), Crime statistics from December also shows that Dominican Republic is now one of the most dangerous tourist destinations in the Caribbean with 23 foreigners killed."

[url]http://dominicanwatchdog.org/dominican_news/page-Too_many_tourists_killed_in_the_Dominican_Republic[/url][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Westy]Thank you, Jackson, for not deleting "dominicanwatchdog.org" from Jaososua's post. I'd been pondering the DR as a possible "expat haven" for my retirement; some "WWW-window shopping" of Costambar (Blackbeard's neighborhood) real estate revealed that a modest villa would be within my means. But Dominican Watchdog threw a well-deserved monkey wrench into those ponderings....[/QUOTE]

Admin should add a thread about living in the Dominican Republic. I have never had a negative experience in the country but as stated before, I am a very careful person and I do not stay enough time in DR to be hit by negative probabilities. I have though about moving to Santo Domingo, there are a few well paid jobs in the city for people of my profession that can help me have a decent life in the city. The big plus of the city compared to Puerto Rico is the chica scene but almost every other aspect of living in Santo Domingo are minuses.

[QUOTE=Helpmann]Anyone who would buy illiquid assets in an non-investment grade country needs to have their head examined. Also, anyone who would give such a one-sided opinion is doing the members of this forum a disservice.

Helpmann :D

[i][size=2][color=blue]
AAA..... Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, UK, USA...
AA...... Japan, Ireland, Spain...
A........ Israel, South Korea...
BBB..... Mexico, Russia
BBB-.... Brazil, Iceland
[B]-------------------------------J U N K -------------------------------[/B]
BB+..... Colombia, Greece, Panama (1989, US Invasion)
BB....... Costa Rica, El Salvador ('80-'92, Civil War)
BB-...... Serbia, Venezuela (2002, Renationalization of all Hydrocarbons)
B+....... Bosnia, Cambodia ('67-'75, Civil War)
B........ Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Honduras (2009, Political Crisis)
B-....... Bolivia, Grenada, Jamaica, Argentina (2002, Default of International Debt)
CCC+.. Ecuador (1999, Default on Brady Bonds) [/i][/size][/color][/QUOTE]Don't mean to [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord140][CodeWord140][/url] you off but despite bond rating Cuenca Ecuador was rated as best place to retire by MSN money. So Bond ratings don't tell the whole story. I do not mean to question your expert opinion.

[url]http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/RetireInStyle/the-worlds-best-places-to-retire.aspx[/url]

[QUOTE=Westy]Thank you, Jackson, for not deleting "dominicanwatchdog.org" from Jaososua's post. I'd been pondering the DR as a possible "expat haven" for my retirement; some "WWW-window shopping" of Costambar (Blackbeard's neighborhood) real estate revealed that a modest villa would be within my means. But Dominican Watchdog threw a well-deserved monkey wrench into those ponderings.[/QUOTE]I own a home in Costambar and have never had a problem. Also as you say prices are dropping and will probaly drop further. But I follow strict rules that I apply, being this is my safe zone. I never take guests to my home. And I remain low key with the locals there. I only stop there when I need a break from Sosua.

With that said it is also a very boring place. Sometimes I feel funny having an apt across the street from Costambar beach, but never wanting to go there.

I paid 40k USD years ago and it balloned to 120k at one point. But now I won't sell at a depreciated value because it was a long term investment.

But there was a guy on DR1 who projected that the DR could become the next Mexico. As tourism declines in Mexico because of the drug violence, so could the DR as it becomes the next major staging spot for drugs destined for the states.

As I understand it, some of the people being deported with NewYork connections are now competing with the local Dominicanos for future rights.

I'd like to second Boricua's proposal in favor of a "Living In The D.R." thread.

The notion of living in a "Caribbean paradise" does tempt me ... and it would help if the price were reasonably cheap. The Puerto Plata area looks nice, and real-estate there certainly isn't expensive. The "endless summer" tempts, too. BUT - no bed of roses is entirely free from thorns.

A source I've gotten used to using is the [i]International Living[/i] website and magazine. They haven't given a lot of attention to the DomRep lately, but their "e-letters" from 2007 and 2008 included several that dealt with the coast between Cabarete and Sosua ... aye, me buckos, Monger Central!

The [i]IL[/i] Quality-of-Life rankings for 2010, though, brought the DomRep in at #73 - way below countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica ... Oddly, they rated "Climate" rather poorly; maybe their air conditioners weren't working. Other items that got low marks include Infrastructure, Risk & Safety, the Economy, and Leisure & Culture. "Cost of Living" was just barely ahead of the USA, which surprised me; but it's "indexed" to a lifestyle equivalent to the USA, and based on the US State Department's Index of Overseas Living Costs. (And US-Embassy-personnel "home security" standards boost the price of rentals pretty strongly.)

But the articles I read point out that beach-access real estate in the DomRep is a great bargain, and they do praise the beaches and the beautiful scenery. (I don't [i]think[/i] they were talking about the type of "scenery" we enjoy around Blackbeard's pool & patio, though.) And it appears that the Dom Rep exempts retired expats from paying income tax on their foreign-sourced pensions ... if Sir Charles is reading, can you confirm this?

I can see "minuses" to the DomRep - the roads, the driving, the crazy motoconchistas - and there are always risks to being "rich" in a relatively-poor country. (The 2010 CIA Factbook gives a GDP-per-capita figure of $8300 per annum - that's about two months of my pension, after taxes - and a Gini index of just under 50.) But as I said about "beds of roses"....

How does the expat resident get along with life in the DomRep? What kind of prices, or rental costs, could you expect for desirable real estate? What about shopping, transportation, and the multitude of things you might go out doing when you're not in bed? Any particular "must see" items; conversely, any places you "must avoid"...?

I would appreciate a thread about Living In The Dominican Republic, and I would be eager to participate in such a thread.

Thanks for the reply, i googled it and it sounds like 2 weeks prior need to take pet to vet for checkup then should be fine.

I work via internet so I work from home, thinking about going to DR for a few months, but was wanting to take my dog with me for protection and because I really don't want to leave him with someone.

I figure he's a good deterrent for 9 out of 10 prowlers, of course nothings full proof, but he would not be left alone very much really, and he's a good night watchman lol.

I guess along the lines of longer stays, what are the internet options and cost, for dsl unlimited access or wireless unlimited access?

[QUOTE=Jaosousa]I live in New York and I have seen people carry onto the plane a small pet container with a small dog, from JFK to Santo Domingo and also the from Santo Domingo to JFK.

From what I saw, appears it is no big problem to travel with a dog as long as the paperwork is correct.

Be careful with a dog in DR. Thieves will poison dogs in order to break into a house more easily. Thieves will steal chihuahuas, these really small dogs are popular pets in DR.

Growing up in the States, I was always told not to give dogs chicken bones. In DR, the dogs eat everything, chicken bones, no problem. Lots of fleas in DR, so if you bring your dog, I would have a supply of Frontline for fleas and/or Revolution or Advantage (fleas, mites, some intestinal parasites). I buy Advantage and Revolution online, no prescription necessary and the products are shipped from Australia (total pet supply com).[/QUOTE]

Good post.

I would disagree that the coast between Cabarete and Sosua is monger central. Lots of areas to monger in Dom Rep.

With your pension you could live nicely in Dom Rep.

If you are inclined to live in Dom Rep, I would suggest doing a tour around the island so that you know how the different areas differ.

North coast has earthquakes, south coast has hurricanes, inland has floods.

Many foreigners like the north coast. With a $4k month budget, I would probably rent an apartment in Santo Domingo and make that my base. I would rent a car when I wanted to travel someplace. When you live there, you will make friends with people who have cars, so it may not be necessary to own your own car. For a retired person, Santo Domingo is not bad. Some of the other places, there are less people, more wide open spaces and could be a little more dangerous for an older person.

I have not been to the south west yet, Barahona and Bani. I have not been to Costanza yet, mountain town with cooler night time temperatures and cool fresh water streams.

I enjoy watching the TV show "House Hunters International", several times they have done shows from the punta cana/bavaro area of Dom Rep, with some nice condominium apartments.

[QUOTE=Westy]I'd like to second Boricua's proposal in favor of a "Living In The D.R." thread.

The notion of living in a "Caribbean paradise" does tempt me ... and it would help if the price were reasonably cheap. The Puerto Plata area looks nice, and real-estate there certainly isn't expensive. The "endless summer" tempts, too. BUT - no bed of roses is entirely free from thorns.

A source I've gotten used to using is the [i]International Living[/i] website and magazine. They haven't given a lot of attention to the DomRep lately, but their "e-letters" from 2007 and 2008 included several that dealt with the coast between Cabarete and Sosua ... aye, me buckos, Monger Central!

The [i]IL[/i] Quality-of-Life rankings for 2010, though, brought the DomRep in at #73 - way below countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica ... Oddly, they rated "Climate" rather poorly; maybe their air conditioners weren't working. Other items that got low marks include Infrastructure, Risk & Safety, the Economy, and Leisure & Culture. "Cost of Living" was just barely ahead of the USA, which surprised me; but it's "indexed" to a lifestyle equivalent to the USA, and based on the US State Department's Index of Overseas Living Costs. (And US-Embassy-personnel "home security" standards boost the price of rentals pretty strongly.)

But the articles I read point out that beach-access real estate in the DomRep is a great bargain, and they do praise the beaches and the beautiful scenery. (I don't [i]think[/i] they were talking about the type of "scenery" we enjoy around Blackbeard's pool & patio, though.) And it appears that the Dom Rep exempts retired expats from paying income tax on their foreign-sourced pensions ... if Sir Charles is reading, can you confirm this?

I can see "minuses" to the DomRep - the roads, the driving, the crazy motoconchistas - and there are always risks to being "rich" in a relatively-poor country. (The 2010 CIA Factbook gives a GDP-per-capita figure of $8300 per annum - that's about two months of my pension, after taxes - and a Gini index of just under 50.) But as I said about "beds of roses"....

How does the expat resident get along with life in the DomRep? What kind of prices, or rental costs, could you expect for desirable real estate? What about shopping, transportation, and the multitude of things you might go out doing when you're not in bed? Any particular "must see" items; conversely, any places you "must avoid"...?

I would appreciate a thread about Living In The Dominican Republic, and I would be eager to participate in such a thread.[/QUOTE]

most homes have metal bars on the windows and metal gates to somewhat block thieves. just be careful about leaving your dog in the yard or near an open window where would be thieves could offer the dog poisoned meat.

i am in the process of getting more information regarding a mobile internet router for my laptop with claro. bq ribs sent me some information yesterday.

you may want to visit the claro or orange webpage to get more information regarding internet service, speed and cost.

i am sure other guys on this board have more information regarding internet speeds and costs.

[quote=ave white boy]thanks for the reply, i googled it and it sounds like 2 weeks prior need to take pet to vet for checkup then should be fine.

i work via internet so i work from home, thinking about going to dr for a few months, but was wanting to take my dog with me for protection and because i really don't want to leave him with someone.

i figure he's a good deterrent for 9 out of 10 prowlers, of course nothings full proof, but he would not be left alone very much really, and he's a good night watchman lol.

i guess along the lines of longer stays, what are the internet options and cost, for dsl unlimited access or wireless unlimited access?[/quote]

[quote=Helpmann]Anyone who would buy illiquid assets in an non-investment grade country needs to have their head examined. Also, anyone who would give such a one-sided opinion is doing the members of this forum a disservice...[/quote][QUOTE=Ayyyypapi]Don't mean to [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord140][CodeWord140][/url] you off but despite bond rating Cuenca Ecuador was rated as best place to retire by MSN money. So Bond ratings don't tell the whole story. I do not mean to question your expert opinion.

[url]http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/RetireInStyle/the-worlds-best-places-to-retire.aspx[/url][/QUOTE]If you're going to start encouraging mongers to buy homes (illiquid asset) in a country which devalued its currency by over 50% just 12-years ago then be my guest.

[b]NOTE: One of the problems with these articles is that it is a "snapshot in time" (1-year) for people who plan to make a 10-20 year lifetime investment.[/b]

-Helpmann :D

Step 1. Get a vasectomy
Step 2. Keep all of your cash in a FDIC bank in the US
Step 3. Rent an apartment
Step 4. Buy a car
Step 5. Buy a gun
Step 6. Plan out an escape plan back to the States if you decided to skip "Step 1"

Helpmann ;)