Real estate buying is secure in the Dominican Republic, as long as the rules of the Property Registry Law No. 108-05 and its Regulations are being followed. The Realty Group will explain and guide you to this process. We work together with several excellent attorneys that are very trustworthy. If you don’t speak Spanish we have a close collaboration with an attorney (European) fluently in 5 languages.
Here under there is a summary of the steps of the process to become an owner of your piece of paradise:
After the verbal agreement is reached by the buyer and seller on the price, a binding Promise of Sale is prepared by an attorney (solicitor) or notary public which is signed by both parties.
The promise of Sale: This is a formal document, binding on both parties, and signed by them in the presence of a Notary Public. It generally contains a complete and detailed description of the entire transaction up to the time when the purchase price has been paid in full and the property is ready to be conveyed to the buyer.
In case of a cash purchase, it is simpler and cheaper to go directly from verbal negotiations to the signing of a Contrato de Venta, instead of taking the preliminary step of signing a Promise of Sale.
Deed of Sale (“Contrato de Venta”): This is also a formal document binding on both parties and signed by them in the presence of a Notary Public. It is used primarily for the purpose of conveying the property from the seller to the buyer.
Determination and Payment of Transfer and Registry Taxes: The authenticated Deed of Sale is taken to the nearest Internal Revenue Office where a request is made for the appraisal of the property. The Internal Revenue Office checks if the seller is in compliance with his tax obligations and selects an inspector to do the appraisal. The determination of the amount of taxes to be paid may take a few days or weeks, depending on the availability of the Property inspector.
Filing at the Registry of Title: Once the property has been appraised and taxes paid, the Deed of Sale and the Certificate of Title of the seller are deposited, along with the documentation provided by Internal Revenue, at the Title Registry Office for the jurisdiction where the property is located.
Certificate of Title: At the Title Registry Office, the sale is recorded and a new Certificate of Title is issued in the name of the buyer. The property belongs to the buyer from the time the sale is recorded at the Registry. The time for the issuance of the new Certificate of Title may vary from a few days to a few months depending on the Title Registry Office where the sale was recorded.
Next articles of the Realty Group will be about due diligence and about taxes, Expenses and Legal Fees on Property Transfers in the Dominican Republic.
