Advice on buying Dominican Republic Property

There are no restrictions on foreigners purchasing property in the Dominican Republic so having found your ideal property; you will enter into an agreement between yourself (the purchaser) and the seller. You will be asked to sign a “Contract of Sale” before a Notary who will authenticate it. The Contract of Sale will contain the legal description of the property, price and conditions of sale (Notaries in the Dominican Republic are required to have a law degree)
 
The authenticated Contract of Sale is then taken to the nearest Internal Revenue Office for payment of the appropriate taxes .The property purchaser will have to pay property purchase taxes in the region of 7.5 of the value of the property purchased. If the property purchased does not exceed 5 million pesos, they are not liable for any future yearly property taxes (exempted from the IVSS tax).When the property exceeds 5 million pesos, and they will be liable for 1 property tax (IVSS) on the value of the property above that amount.
 
The Contract of Sale and the sellers Certificate of Title are deposited at the Title Registry Office in the jurisdiction where the property is located, and the sale is recorded. The Title Registry Office issues a new Certificate of Title in the name of the purchaser and cancels the old certificate issued in the name of the seller; this may take a few days or a few months depending on the Title Registry Office where the sale is recorded.
 
Your agent in the Dominican Republic will make sure that this process is done smoothly, making sure that  all of the following are checked out before closing .
1 Copy of the Certificate of Title to the property
2 Copy of the survey to the property or plat plan
3 Copy of the seller’s identification card or passport
4 Copy of receipts showing all taxes being paid should they be required (IVSS) or the copy of the certificate stating that the property is exempt from the IVSS tax
5 If the seller is a company, copy of corporate documentation authorizing the sale and a certificate from the Internal Revenue showing the company is current with its income tax returns.
 
Your agent will also make sure of the following,
If the property is part of a community (condominium)
1 Copy of the community declaration
2 Copy of the community regulations
3 Copy of the approved construction plans
4 Certificate from the community showing all dues are paid
5Copies of the last three community meetings
 
If the property is a house
1 Copy of the approved construction plans
2 Inventory of furniture etc
3 Copies of utility bills, and receipts showing the seller is current with his payments
4 If there are works being carried out on the property he will make sure that all the people involved are paid off buy the seller, and the workers have their legal severance papers, otherwise the buyers may find themselves liable for payment later.