Quintas Don Félix Gil

The most affordable way into the market, and the only one with the bonus

Quintas Don Félix Gil is in La Romana, on the southeast coast, about an hour and a half from Punta Cana and two from Santo Domingo. Two- and three-bedroom apartments, financing backed by Fiduciaria Popular, payments from US$300 a month, and US$500 to reserve a unit.

It is the only project in this showcase that falls under the Dominican low-cost housing threshold, and that changes the arithmetic completely. On almost any other property you add about 4% to the price. Here the 3% transfer tax is waived and the state can pay you back between 6% and 8% of the value.

Who it suits: someone buying their first and only home in the country, who will live in it or have a first-degree relative live in it, and who is not planning to rent it out for the first five years. If your plan is rental income, the bonus does not apply and the numbers have to be redone — I would rather tell you that now than after you sign.

What to check in this case

This is a project under construction held in a trust, so ask for three things before signing: the trust agreement with Fiduciaria Popular and the estate number, the approved plans and building permit, and the purchase agreement with the late-delivery penalties written in. If the contract does not say what happens when delivery is late, that silence is not an oversight. And one clarification I would rather make myself than have you discover: this project does not have CONFOTUR. That said, by price it qualifies as low-cost housing, which is a different route: if you buy it as your first and only home and through the trust, the 3% transfer tax is waived and the Housing Bonus returns between 6% and 8% of the value. The requirements are strict — current with the DGII, lived in by you or a first-degree relative, and no renting or selling for five years — so do not assume it applies until you verify it in your own case. The annual IPI tax does not enter the picture at all: at this price the property is far below the exempt amount.