Caribbean Property
For many overseas property buyers who wish to escape the often dreary UK weather, owning a Caribbean property, where you can walk along the unspoilt palm-lined beaches and swim in the turquoise waters, is the perfect tonic.
Caribbean Beach Front Property
The Dominican Republic is the most popular location for overseas buyers who wish to buy Caribbean Property. The Dominican Republic is second largest nation in the Caribbean and occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The island is larger than the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, all the Virgin Islands and the entire French West Indies combined, and is generally regarded as very safe with crimes against tourists rarely reported. It has a distinct personality, geography, history, culture, climate and - for investors - tax regime.
Few could disagree with Christopher Columbus when on discovery of the island in 1492 he stated “This is the fairest land under Heaven.” Columbus was on a mission to find gold and overseas buyers have bought Caribbean property belief that they have found the lifestyle and investment property equivalent.
Caribbean Investment Property
Foreign direct investment in the Dominican Republic has grown from $91 million in 1993 to an estimated excess of $1 billion in 2005, and it is still growing. The Dominican Republic has obtained the highest growth rate of all Latin America for the past decade, averaging 8% annually, while sustaining one of the lowest levels of inflation.
Tourism has continued to flourish with nearly three million tourists visiting the Dominican Republic every year. The Caribbean has long been an exclusive winter watering hole for many UK travellers and remains a top destination for US holiday makers. These include American 'snowbirds' making their annual migration south from the frozen Northern USA and Canada. As a result of the strong tourism numbers and the relative shortage of quality property, some property developers are able to provide guaranteed rentals on property.
Overseas property lifestyle buyers can choose from high quality beach property and golf property. For investment property buyers, the Dominican property is as equally alluring and comes with a host of financial benefits. Apart from being the most attractively priced residential property in the Caribbean; there is no income tax on rental income, no capital gains tax and no stamp duty on the purchase of the property.
Increasingly, many overseas property buyers are choosing to retire to the Dominican Republic as local bank account interest is tax-free, enabling retirement savings to stretch that bit further.
Although the weather is often idyllic you should ensure that any property you buy is built to hurricane standards in the event such an occurrence should happen.
The allure of owning Caribbean property is timeless. It is a very attractive destination for lifestyle buyers who wish to indulge in the wide range of sporting facilities and investment property buyers who wish to attain attractive capital appreciation and rental income.
