Do You Really Want to Sell Your Dominican Republic Property?

Do you really want to sell your Dominican Republic property? Seems a stupid question doesn’t it! Why would you list your property for sale either privately or with an Agent if you don’t really want to sell it?

Well, strange as it may seem, not everyone who advertises their property for sale does really want or intend to sell. So why is their property ”on the market”?

Generally speaking, there are two reasons.  One is to “test the market” to see what their property value really is, and the other is just to see if they can find a buyer silly enough to pay the advertised price.  So what you may ask, but the problem is these false sellers distort the market and create unreliable expectations for those who genuinely do want to sell.

Most owners when deciding to sell will assess the value of their property based on, either what they see other similar properties are being advertised for sale, or they will rely on the Estate Agent’s recommended sale price. The problem in the Dominican Republic is that there are few if any, reliable records of actual sales.  That is to say what prices were actually achieved as against the publicly advertised price. And it is not unknown, particularly in communities, for true sale prices to be artificially inflated in order to maintain a mythical apparent value for the units within the development.

So, if you do really want to sell your Dominican Republic property how do you determine the price? 

There are a number of ways to do this. One is that in comparing the advertised prices on Real Estate Agents websites you can deduct the likely commission amount, normally at least 5%.

You can also ask Agents some very searching questions. How many similar properties have they actually sold in the past 12 months and what prices were really achieved?  You may well find the answer to that is NONE! That is a significant indication that the prices are not realistic.

If there are any new developments in the area with similar properties find out the prices the developer is asking and calculate the cost per sqm. Also, find out if the developer has achieved sales.

Finally, of course, it can depend on your individual situation.  Why you want or need, to sell. How urgent it is maybe one factor. Another may be what your costs are in retaining a property you no longer want. Work out how much your property is costing you. You will have utility charges, possibly condo or community fees, or perhaps you are paying someone to look after the property, and if you do not live in the country airfares and related costs to visit on a regular basis as well as general maintenance expenses.  Work out a cost per month and then assess how much retaining the property will actually cost if it takes 3, or 6, or 12 months to sell. 

What you propose to do with the net sale proceeds may also be a factor. Depositing the funds into a bank account is not going to produce much in the current climate but liquidity does have value. If an alternative investment opportunity becomes available, having cash in the bank enables decisions to be made quickly to your advantage. However, if the need for cash is urgent, taking a loss, to sell quickly,  maybe the only option.

So why list on Dominican Republic Properties For Sale By Owner? One reason is that it puts you in charge.  You can decide the price you want to achieve without any outside influences. 

Another is that many buyers do not trust Agents and would prefer to be in direct contact with the owner to have their questions answered and to negotiate a final price.

You also have information you are unlikely to receive from an Agent.  You can see how often your property has been viewed and, of course, anyone actually interested contacts you, so you have the opportunity to find out the level of interest in your property.

Finally, an Agent is not committed to selling your property.  If a potential buyer inquires about your property on an agent’s website they will also get details of all the other similar properties that agent has for sale. Agents are only interested in selling something and the Agent thinks an alternative is a better bet he will promote that property in preference to yours.  Advertising privately gives you the edge as you have access to the potential buyer and the opportunity to enhance interest in your property alone.

Listing on this website is free. No Fees or Commissions and no catches.

So if you do really want to sell your Dominican Republic property why not spend a few minutes adding it now and taking back control.