Investing in Buen Hombre is an increasingly attractive option for both expats and Dominicans from both the bigger cities and those living inland. Dominicans that migrated to the US are among the growing crowd now buying and building. They are attracted to the natural surroundings with its blue sea and fairly untouched green hills. The entry point to invest here is a lot less than what you have to spend for a property in more known and developed areas like Punta Cana, Cabarete, Las Terrenas, Puerto Plata etc.
Challenges when buying property in Buen Hombre
Buen Hombre offers a more uniquely Dominican Relaxed and rustic atmosphere than these now developed tourist towns, but it comes at at a cost:
Water is scarce
First to take into account is the scarcity of water. You might not have noticed as your hotel might be equipped with a large water tank, or the hotel might get water in by truck a few times a month. The village is without a reliable water source. Water arrives via the public tube once a week at best, twice a month or less might be the case as well. You will see the blue plastic tanks all over the village as its where many people store the water they get delivered by truck now and then.
For a new investor or home owner you need to consider firstly if the property you want to buy gets water from the public tube of if you need to rely on paying for water to be delivered by truck. A handful of wells do excist in Buen Hombre but that water will be slightly salty limiting its use.
If you plan to build the first thing needed is to dig and build a cistern to store water, you cant mix cement without water. Constriction sites do halt from time to time due to lack of water.
Electricity supply is unreliable
The village just got its electricity supply a few years back. Before then the villagers would use gas-powered lamps at night and there are plenty of stories of the fires they could cause. Now there is power but power cuts due to maintenance and repairs are very common. They can last for days, especially when its been raining a lot. When there is power it fluctuates a lot causing damage to electrical equipment.
A lot of the land that is for sale in Buen Hombre is far away from the current power network.
There are various solutions or remedies to the problem. Many have battery banks and an inverter to draw from when power disappear. Solar power is the best option in the climate. Such an installation will also stabilize the current protecting your appliances and electronic equipment.
No public network for sewage
In Buen Hombre the water and electricity situation teaches you to be self reliant. You also have to take care of your own waterwater. The normal “Dominican” way of dealing with this is a simple septic system. Its basically a cylyntrical whole dug deep into the ground. Its filled with large rocks that will increase the temperature there to help “digest” the nasty stuff that will go into this hole from the “outhouse” built on top.
Most bigger houses will have a more sophisticated system involving a septic tank. You could separate the grey water and the black water before it goes into the tank. Possibly using the grey water for irrigation in the garde, with or without treating it first. A properly designed septic tank does not cause any smell.
Where does the garbage go?
Some locals burn their garbage, including plastics. Others drive it up to a landfill on top of the village. Learning to compost and reducing how much plastic you bring home is valuable in Buen Hombre.
Poor internet connection
Many visitors work online these days and almost everyone expect to be able to connect with friends and family via the internet at any time. In Buen Hombre it might not be just that easy. If the village is without power the regular internet connection might just go offline as well. If you stay in a hotel the internet goes away unless the owner has installed a battery backup which is rare. The regular internet providers provide poor service in Buen Hombre, the only with decent speed and uptime is satelite providers like Starlink that do offer a good service also in Buen Buen Hombre and the region.
Poor road access
As a fast growing village most new houses only have a dirt road access, and much of the land that is for sale have a poorly built one. These roads where built fairly improvised and dealing with drainage from rain has not been taken into account. This means that water will flow over the roads in streams, often sit on the road making huge puddles of water that can last for weeks. The road gets muddy and soft, so any car passing over will either just get really dirty or possibly even stuck. Take a good look at the road access for any property before buying. This should not be a deal breaker, but dont expect public funds to fix this and expect a long process between neighbours to fix roads. Many buy land here as a pure investment and are not particularly interested in spending money on roads if they have a small property. There are bigger projects being realized in some areas, where the investors might be more willing to fix parts of a road.
Key to evaluate the road the leads to your dream property in Buen Hombre is understanding how it handles the rain.
Having a 4×4 with decent offroad capabilities might be the solution. But its not fun having the clean the mud off the car every time you take it to the local “colmado”. A 4×4 will only prevent you from getting stuck in the mud.
Legal issues? Does the property have a “titulo”, is there a land conflict in the area?
Much of the land in Buen Hombre has a limited history. Meaning it was public land until fairly recently. For this reason the paper trail of previous owners might be short or lacking. It is very common that the current owner has not seen much of a reason to make a proper deed (titulo) often because its a cost that is not that necessary. Land might being sold with a simple “acta de venta” without a deed backing it. This could be just fine, or it could mean you are buying a problem, every case is different.
Land from an inheritance
Much of the land is owned by people who inherited it. Many of these cases still have the inheritance not settled making it more complex and possibly risky to buy. If the property you are buying is in the name of a deceased, some will claim you can buy with the signature of all the children. The problem is that nobody really knows how many legal children the deceased had without the “Determinación de Herederos“, a public document that states who the legal heirs actually are. Many avoid doing this process of as you have to pay a 3% tax on the value of all the land part of the inheritance. Part of the process is locating birth certificate and death certificate in addition to copies of all the deeds + copies of the id paper, the cedula, of the heirs. Sometimes one of the siblings delay this process to prevent others in the family from selling land, although there are legal procedures to force such a process.
Buying without subdivision
Most buy land where there is a “titulo” but the land has not been subdivided (deslinde). Only in few cases will you find normal sizes land with its own separate deed. Ask experienced people about this and take local advice as long as you have several sources.
Buying without a deed (titulo)
If you want to buy land that has no title. You need to invest more time to checking for possible conflicts. Talking to the neighbours and village mayor might be a good place to start to get an idea about possible issues in cases like that. You also need to get a land surveyor, an “agrimensor” to check if the land in question had a title or any other issue. If its all clear you can buy it and proceed with a process called “saneamiento” to obtain a final deed, a “titulo”.
Buy now or wait?
Does this seem like a lot to deal with? Others have gone this path before you so its all very doable. And the reward can often be bigger where the road has a few bumps to deal with on the way. Land in Buen Hombre is still fairly cheap, it will not stay like that. There is getting less land left to buy from the original owners. And buying from other investors and speculators will raise the cost. The moment the road access improves to a particular piece of land, the current owner will raise the price.
Planning a trip, curious or just a friend?