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Moving to DR with dogs

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Cria
  8/2/2016 10:55 EST

Hi I hope you can all help please.
My husband and I are 71 and 55 respectively.
We are interested in retiring to DR, we are farmers and our bodies and beginning to creak !!
I keep reading that you mostly suggest renting before buying and I can see the sense
of this BUT with 4 dogs I belive we will have trouble renting somewhere with enough land or a landlord who would be happy having this disfunctional family !!
Any suggestions ?

Mikeytraveller
  8/2/2016 15:49 EST

I would strongly recommend NOT TO BUY right away! You will have no trouble finding something to rent. I would think there are at least a few people on this forum that could put you in touch with the right people. Cheers, Mike.

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Planner
  8/2/2016 16:57 EST

I agree, you wont have much trouble finding rentals who take dogs. What area are you thinking about?

Cria
  8/3/2016 05:43 EST

Thanks Mike
I had thought it would be impossible.
I have to say I can think of nothing worse than moving twice !!! But I like to take advice.
If you don't mind me asking, why are you specifically against buying first ? Sorry if this seems a stupid question.
Thanks
Ginny

Mikeytraveller
  8/3/2016 07:08 EST

I have lived here for over thirteen years and can assure you that the culture shock will get you. You need to try an area out to find out if you like it first before buying it or you may be stuck living in a place you don't like. In addition when buying a property here you need to do major due diligence, This is not to scare you as I have bought property and very happy, But if you don't use a good lawyer and check every last detail things can go very wrong. I wish you the best of luck, Mike!

Cria
  8/3/2016 08:29 EST

Thanks Again Mike
Would you mind if I contacted you privately please ?
Ginny

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Cria
  8/3/2016 08:35 EST

Hi Planner
We are looking into this at the moment.
It will depend on whether we can live beachfront or in the hills with an ocean view.
The above will depend on what we can afford.
Also where is safe. But North coast.
Ginny

Mikeytraveller
  8/3/2016 10:03 EST

Sure, go right ahead Ginny!

Planner
  8/3/2016 13:01 EST

North coast is a good choice. There are lots of areas to choose from.

We say rent for year for a variety of reasons. The biggest - you buy and dont like it in that location or here period. The real estate market here is not fluid! You could be stuck living somewhere you don't like for a long time while you try to resell the house.

Better to rent in an area for 6 months, get the lay of the land so to speak then find the house or property you want to buy!

And yes - make sure to get a good lawyer! Ask for referrals to a good one from several different sources. DOnt just accept the recommendations, interview the lawyers, get costs in writing up front. AND never ever pay everything up front!!!!

Sereno
  8/3/2016 18:30 EST

Finding a place to rent should not be a problem. Finding a landlord that excepts what your dogs may do may be a problem. It depends on your dogs. Barkers? Diggers? Howlers? Pee in the house or on plants that will suffer? Quick to bark at any noise or anyone near? Who lives next door that might become a problem?

We have horses, a donkey and now 3 dogs. One died this week from Ehrlichiosis. A tick born virus that we just learned about the hard way. The remaining 3 have tested positive and being treated as well as our horses. You having an animal background should understand that animal care is a must at learning about new possible problems. Having a "poison kit" also is a must. We have had our dogs poisoned and died via rat poison in meat thrown over the wall to kill them to rob us.

OK. I'm a little upset with the passing of our dog and treating the rest. And yes... we have a very strick flee/tick and everything for our animals. But this one just came out of .. ???

I suggest that you find a rental and get all the information and legal help BEFORE you sign a lease and BEFORE you bring the dogs.

Good luck.

Cria
  8/4/2016 10:04 EST

Thanks Mike
I had thought it would be impossible.
I have to say I can think of nothing worse than moving twice !!! But I like to take advice.
If you don't mind me asking, why are you specifically against buying first ? Sorry if this seems a stupid question.
Thanks
Ginny

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Mikeytraveller
  8/4/2016 16:55 EST

Hi Ginny, I think planner, myself and stereno did a decent job of explaining, but here I go again. There is no way one can buy a property anywhere in the world without first living there to know what the true conditions are. This is particularly true here as there are very few laws regarding how your neighbor acts , weather there is water or not, perhaps the electricity in that area is bad etc. In addition, due diligence in purchasing a property here can take months, and if it doesn't it wasn't due diligence. Rentals are a dime a dozen, I know as I handle rentals here in Costambar. Believe me moving twice versus living in an area you hate or worse losing a significant amount of money in a bad real estate deal is no comparison! Do it right the first time and then enjoy the retirement you want. Cheers, Mike

Cria
  8/5/2016 04:36 EST

So sorry to hear this. We had a similar problem with a tick born disease in Southern Spain ... nasty.
Strangely I was lying in bed the other night thinking how I could train the dogs not to eat anything other than what we gave them, as I feared there could be problems with poisioning. What is in the 'poison kit' you mentioned .. charcoal ?
We have 3 Springer Spainels and a yappy little Bichon Frise, so noise could be a problem. This is one of the reasons we are looking for something not in a gated community. Plus it is many years since we had neighbours !!
Take care
Ginny

Cria
  8/5/2016 04:53 EST

In a nutshell Mike ... thank you.
I think we have been lucky in the past. We stuck a pin in a map when we moved from England to poverty stricken southern Spain in 2005 and then again when we moved to rural France in 2010.
Do you think I will find a quiet villa with and acre + which allows dogs to rent then ?
Looking at Las Canas, Gasper Hernandez area, unless warned off it !!
Thanks again Mike
Ginny

Cria
  8/5/2016 04:53 EST

In a nutshell Mike ... thank you.
I think we have been lucky in the past. We stuck a pin in a map when we moved from England to poverty stricken southern Spain in 2005 and then again when we moved to rural France in 2010.
Do you think I will find a quiet villa with and acre + which allows dogs to rent then ?
Looking at Las Canas, Gasper Hernandez area, unless warned off it !!
Thanks again Mike
Ginny

Cria
  8/5/2016 04:53 EST

In a nutshell Mike ... thank you.
I think we have been lucky in the past. We stuck a pin in a map when we moved from England to poverty stricken southern Spain in 2005 and then again when we moved to rural France in 2010.
Do you think I will find a quiet villa with and acre + which allows dogs to rent then ?
Looking at Las Canas, Gasper Hernandez area, unless warned off it !!
Thanks again Mike
Ginny

Cria
  8/5/2016 05:00 EST

Hi Planner .. we are now thinking of Las Cana and Gasper Hernandez area ?
Ginny

Planner
  8/5/2016 08:06 EST

You should be able to find a large property you can rent or lease! It should not be an issue with your dogs.

Large property with 4 dogs should not be an issue. As long as they are trained and dont infringe on you neighbors why should there be a problem! The issue here often is dog running amok, no training no owners taking proper care of them.

Raven0013
  8/5/2016 21:08 EST

You could find what you are looking for in and around Cabrera.

Cria
  8/6/2016 07:06 EST

That is good news Planner.
Thank you.

Cria
  8/6/2016 07:09 EST

Thanks, I like the look of that area too. But was told that I should try and be nearer more facilities ... like Cabrante ??
Ginny

Sereno
  8/6/2016 09:29 EST

Mikey did a good job and brought up some issues that have been discussed in other threads.

We live in an upscale but not gated area outside of Sosua in Playa Chiquita. Nice area but like most, has some issues that we address head on and take care of. Waiting for someone else to "fix it" just does not work.

We have not had city water for over 3 years and had to put in a well, filters and 3 RO systems for our home, rentals and animals. We also harvest rain water.

Our elec. is almost impossible with very bad surges, brown outs and outages and bills that keep going up while we unplug just about everything. We are about finished installing a new large 120/240 Outback inverter, new batteries and large solar panels. Our bill dropped US $400. this last month. We still have to install 8 older/smaller solar panels that should get us off the grid completely with generator as a backup.

Crime prevention is always high on our list and our dogs are a large part of our security. We only have 1 near neighbor that understands that when our dogs bark it is time to get up and see what is going on. We feel that they have been a huge deterrent concerning would be robbers.

We visited the D.R. for several years before we bought/built and rented before we did our final move about 20 years ago. Renting is easy and getting out of a lease is a lot cheaper then owning and later realizing that you are now "stuck" in an owned home and area that you can not get out of.

Lots of good advice given here.

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