Foreign.

You're listening to the Master Passive Income Podcast Network.

Hey, everyone, and welcome to the Breakthrough Investor Show.

My name is William Palmer, and we focus on breaking through limitations and barriers to get you to that next level of investing.

And in today's episode, Charles Rose Jr.

Is going to be talking about how he bought an investment property in the Dominican Republic and some of the barriers he had to break through in order to make it a success.

Let's get started.

Welcome to the Breakthrough Investor show where.

We guide you to financial freedom and.

Break barriers in your investing to give.

You the secrets to success.

And now, here are your hosts, Charles.

Rose Jr.

And William Harmer.

Hey, everyone, it's William Harmer with Breakthrough Investor, where we help you break through to that next level as an investor.

And with me always is Charles Rose Jr my awesome co host and fellow real estate investor.

Charles, today we're going to be interviewing you about your Dominican Republic property that you bought and super excited to dive in.

Just going to get that out there real fast and really looking forward to getting into today's episode.

But I guess maybe I should back up a little bit.

How's your day going so far, man?

It's going good, man.

It's been a long week, but productive and so definitely can't complain there.

But yeah, man, I'm, I'm always excited to, to get on, on the show with you and record and just, you know, whether we bring someone on to share their story or we share some of our own stories and lessons we've learned to help others.

It's always amazing to do this with you, William.

Yeah, always excited.

And I've been really wanting to learn a little bit more about how you purchase this property, why you purchased this property.

I know your wife is from the Doctor and you're from the Bahamas, and so I like, well, how did this work with buying a property out of, out of country, et cetera?

And is it possible for other investors in the US to do so?

Oh, man, absolutely, man.

So I do know you're interested.

I remember when I first told you, it was like, no way.

I always wanted to do this.

You were like, you're like, hey, can I buy one in the same?

You know, build, you know, building this?

Yeah, man, you can.

Totally can.

So, so I'll tell you why we did it.

So, you know, you know, we are investors at heart.

And so, you know, we love investing and most of our investments are here in the US but so, so back in 2023 and you know the story, William, but I'll Share it briefly just for our audience to hear.

So back in 2023, I was at a point where I got terminated from my job due to immigration reasons.

And my lawyer advice was like, no, you need to leave the country until we get everything cleared up.

So it was kind of devastating for me when I first heard it.

But then I remember I was like, oh, Charles, don't forget that you're a real estate investor, right?

You're with a side job, so it's okay.

You're gonna be okay.

So you remember that?

Yeah.

And so, you know, because, you know, you sometimes you're so used to that steady income.

You've been there, William, making that steady income.

You know, our investment income is like up and down, up and down because we, you know, always buying stuff.

Right.

So, but anyway, so we, so we went to the doctor and it was, it was a four month period, us being over there.

So what happens when you put an investor in somewhere?

We're going to invest.

Yeah, we started looking.

Wherever we're at, we started looking.

And so, and my wife and I, we always wanted to buy a property in the Dominican Republic.

As a matter of fact, when we went to the Dominican Republic back in 2019, that kind of put a fire in us to like start investing in the US you know.

And so I think I mentioned that, you know, before on one of my episodes where it's like, you know, I had.

There was this guy in the Dominican Republic, 23 years old.

I think I was 26 or 27 at the time.

He was 23.

And he, and he's investing without it.

And he didn't have much money at all.

I'm like, man, if this guy can do it in a third world country, here I am living in the land of milk and honey, the usa.

I can do it too.

So here we are, you know, fast forwarding back to being in a doctor and we're here for four months.

So we started just looking, looking for properties around and you know, we were like, well, first of all, like, oh my gosh, these property values have gone way up from the last time we were here.

So from 2019.

In 2019, dude, we were finding like three bedroom, two bathroom, apartments in the doctor and houses around $30,000.

Brand new.

Brand freaking new.

Oh, my goodness.

I'm like, yeah, because when you hear like a $30,000 price house, you're thinking of like an old 19.

Absolutely.

1920 house.

Yeah, the.

These, yeah, these were like, some of these were brand new.

And I mean, yeah, it was like Pretty wild, man.

I'm telling you, man.

And, but now, you know, those same comparable apartments and houses are closer to 100k, right?

And so, yeah, and so we were like, oh, my gosh.

We're like, yeah, you know, this is booming here in the Doctor.

So as investors, you know, we want to find the lowest price, of course.

So, you know, we started looking and looking and looking.

So we found this one project where we can get an apartment for around 6,70k, brand new.

It wasn't finished yet.

Right.

So when you.

That's the cheapest time to buy apartments in the Doctor is, you know, before.

Before it's finished.

Right.

Or before they even started.

There's even.

Is even more cheaper if you put a down payment before they even start the construction.

So.

And then as, as the, as the units become available and the prices go up and up and up.

And so so we found this project and they would, and they would.

They were scheduled to be, you know, they were scheduled to, to complete our apartment, the one that we were looking at, you know, within two months.

So you're like, oh, this will be great, you know, because we could, you know, spend some of the time there before we leave.

And so we, we went ahead and, you know, we looked at, looked through it, ran the numbers.

We were like, okay, we'll make this a short term rental.

We'll stay here when we come to the Doctor and visit family.

So random numbers.

Even ran it through Dustin to check it and make sure the deal checked out.

And, and then, so, yeah, we say we're gonna move forward with it.

So we put that down payment and we were so happy.

William, my goodness.

So, yeah, you just went live on Airbnb, didn't you?

I mean, you sent me the link and I was like, well, I'm definitely going down the stage.

I know, right?

Yep.

I'm waiting for you to book, man.

It's gonna happen.

Don't worry about it.

It'll happen.

I believe it.

So, yeah, so we just went live and.

But, but before that, William, my goodness.

So, you know, and, and that's why, you know, as investors, we have to have grit.

Right?

I mean, and I know, William, you have a story to share pretty soon about that project you've been working on for a long time.

Get into it.

Right, Right.

You know, like, you know, on paper, we love these deals.

A lot of times we feel like we could turn it around in like a month or two or, you know, we.

We're thinking three months max.

Right.

And so this one was a Journey, William.

Oh, my gosh.

So we, like, I told you, you know, the apartment's supposed to be ready in two months.

We put a down payment on.

We were there for four months.

So we were like, okay, we'll be able to spend, you know, at least half of the time there.

So.

First issue we ran into, William.

First issue we ran into first, the.

The.

The international wire got returned to us for the.

For the money.

So we were like.

We were freaking out.

We were like, oh, my gosh, is this some, like, Monday laundering or something like that?

Like, we were, you know, we were trying to figure out, like, you know, what's going on.

And then we did some, you know, we obviously, you know, we did research on the company and everything, and.

And they even had a physical office.

And so we're like, okay, yeah, something.

Something seems, you know, you know, they.

They check the boxes.

Right.

Plus, you know, the bank we were working at, you know, we're, you know, we're doing business with them on other transactions.

So.

Okay.

So then we had to send the money back.

Now, one of the good things about that, William, is we end up.

Because the.

The.

So you buy the property in Dominican pesos, which fluctuates.

Right, right.

And so at that point, the Dominican pesos value went down a bit.

Oh, so you actually saved stronger.

Yes.

So, yeah, so we literally saved.

I believe it was a thousand bucks.

It was.

It was a thousand bucks.

I'm just rounding up, you know.

Gotcha.

Yeah, yeah.

900, whatever it was.

So.

So we saved some money, you know, when we had to send it back because the.

The price in pesos did not change.

But.

But.

But the value of the pesos went down.

So we were like, okay, that's a good thing.

Right.

And so we send the money back again.

And then.

Then we found that the department wouldn't be ready in two months because, you know, weather, you know, it was raining a lot of days and this, that and the next.

So.

So they had those issues.

Right.

So weather delayed it.

Right.

So then it was like, okay, well, you know, maybe we could spend at least one month there.

Coming down to that, last month we were ready to close, and.

And then we found out that their government made an error on the title work on all of the units that were.

That were ready.

So what?

Yeah, the long story short, they had the wrong parcel number.

They had a parcel number.

They pretty much had parcel numbers for a complete different city in the Dominican Republic.

Oh, man.

That would definitely hold up your paperwork.

Yes, yes.

Because the banks are not going to close.

Right.

Incorrect paperwork.

Right.

And you.

And you can't blame them.

Right.

And that's one good thing about working with a bank, especially, like, if you're doing business internationally.

The bank is kind of like, you know, they're really good for helping you to screen it to make sure it's legit.

Right.

Because they know this bank that you use, this was a local US bank, not a Dominican bank, Right?

This was a local Dominican bank.

Oh, it's a local Dominican bank.

Okay.

I know.

And one of the questions people ask William is, you know, how, you know, can I use a Dominican bank as a foreign investor?

You absolutely can.

Absolutely.

100%.

Being living in the US is even stronger, too, because they.

They can run your credit.

They can do all those different things.

I thought my wife would be the stronger candid because she's a Dominican citizen.

But technically, I was a stronger candidate because of my job in the US and, you know, all that stuff like that.

Right.

We want to take this time to tell you about our real estate investing course that we are giving away completely free.

This course has helped countless people become real estate investors, including us.

And now is your turn.

That's right, Charles.

Text the word rental, R E N T A L to 33777, and we'll give you the NPI Real Estate Investing course completely free.

And if you got anything out of this show, please share it with at least one other person to help them invest in real estate also.

Okay, so to open that, did you just take money from the US bank and transfer it over to the bank in the doctor once you opened it?

Okay.

Actually, yep.

That's essentially what we did.

And so, yeah, and so we were able to do that.

But, yeah, so.

So.

So the bank would not absolutely close.

You know, the.

The.

My Realtor was like, you know, there's a.

There's another bank that would close, you know, if they get a letter, you know, from the government, you know, explaining the situation, blah, blah, blah.

I was like, nope.

I was like.

I was like, you know what?

I want to.

I want to get the paperwork right before, you know, to avoid any issues.

So, William, it.

So this was.

So this whole process started in October of 2023.

And, you know, we found that we had the title issues in, like, January of 2024.

Right.

And so the.

The government, we were.

It was taking.

Took forever, William.

It felt like it was.

It was every month.

Every month, every week.

Sometimes, you know, asking like, hey, did you get.

Did you get the revised work?

Did you get the rise paperwork.

Like we went back and Ford, William all the way and the paperwork finally got done in like September of 2024.

Right.

So during, during that process, were you out any money and were you out a deposit or anything like that?

Or is it all kind of on hold?

Because they have messed the title work up so bad.

So everything was on hold, you know, so they still had my deposit in my down payment and everything.

The down payment, I think was something like 20k or something like that.

So they, you know, so they still had that for, you know, that whole time.

And so it was like, it was like a long process.

So they finally got it done in, in like September of 2024.

And well, and then when they got it done, it took a while for them to get it to the, the bank and everything.

So it was, you know, government moves slow on.

And here's what else happened because we had locked in an interest rate at the Dominican bank back in October of 2023.

Well, those rate locks, as you know, you know, they don't last, you know, a year, right?

Yeah, usually like three to four months maybe.

Max.

Exactly, exactly.

And so.

And the interest rates over there are higher than the U.S.

you know, in general.

So we had locked in an interest rate for 8.99% original.

And that was a really good rate for the doctor.

You know, I mean, that was even lower than, than what they had.

We just, you know, we happened to catch a special at this local bank.

It sounds pretty high, but, you know, when you amortize that over, you know, 30 years and you're dealing with a much smaller transaction, it's not so bad at all.

So.

But interest rates had jumped up, William, you know, to like 12%.

That was like the average interest rate, even with an excellent credit score.

Yeah, that hurts your cash flow when you're thinking about renting this and even long term, etc.

I know, yeah.

And so we told our banker, we was like, well, you know, please find out what you can do.

Talk to your managers, explain our situation.

So long story short, William, we were able to.

So, so the manager was like, okay, we can give you a better interest rate.

You know, we can get you at.

What was it like?

There was 10, 10 point something.

10.5 or whatever.

That's great.

I mean, you wouldn't have got that if you hadn't asked, Right?

So.

Exactly.

Yeah, we'd had to pay.

Yeah.

Because it was like, I guess it 12 to 15% was.

That was what.

What they were, you know, that's what people are paying in interest rate right now.

And so they got us like somewhere around 10.5.

And then we had to open up a US dollars account.

So I, I didn't even know that like you could open up a Dominican account and a US account.

So the reason why, why they give you a better interest rate with US Dollars, because the US dollar is stable.

Yeah.

The Dominican pesos is fluctuating.

Right.

So, so, so that's kind of why they did it.

And so yes, it did take, you know that that is a hit on our cash flow.

I think it raised, I think it, I think it raised our payments up by about a hundred bucks.

So you're, you're saying.

So I've got $70,000 loan.

So it was a $90,000 purchase.

$70,000 or a $90,000 purchase?

20% down.

I just did $20,000 down.

And then 10 and a half for 30 year.

That's a $640 a month payment, not including taxes and insurance.

So.

That sound about right?

Yep.

You are so right, William.

Like that our payments with taxes and insurance and.

Well, actually you don't pay any taxes because of the value on this property.

It's under, I can't remember, don't quote me on the number, but under 500,000 or whatever.

Really.

And it's a special project as well.

So.

So yeah, so you're, you're exactly right.

I think we pay close to like 690, I want to say, with insurance.

Wow.

A month on it.

And so, so it's still, you know, still cash flows really well with our projections.

And also the other thing too, William, because my wife is a Dominican citizen, there's a special program that goes on.

Let's go on.

Like if you get a house under 100k, the government gave you 6% back.

So, so we're also.

Yeah.

Help me fill out my paperwork when I come down there.

I know, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just put it, you know, but only one, you know, one, one person.

So maybe her mom or sister.

Right.

Can do it for you.

Hey.

Right.

That's awesome.

So yeah.

When you, when you ran your numbers on this, were you thinking it was going to be short term the whole time?

Short term?

Yeah.

The long term numbers will not work.

So in the Dr.

William, people do not make a lot of money, right?

They, they, you know, some, some do.

Like I, I find that in those type of countries, in third world countries, there's just the rich and the poor.

Right.

I mean there's no middle class.

There's no middle class in between and for you to be making.

But even in the more wealthy areas, like the rents, the rent, the long term rent still isn't that high just because of, you know, the geographical location.

So long term rents in that area would max.

You probably be able to get like 400amonth.

So we'd be negative cash flow if we do a long term rental in that area.

Right, right.

So you're, when you do that, when you calculated your Airbnb, how did you, how did you work out management?

How did you work out maintenance?

How do you work out furnishing?

How, how'd you factor all that in?

Yeah, so, so, so furnishing.

I just treated it as like almost like the capital expenses upfront.

Right.

So like pretty much when we rehab a job, you know, when we get to that work up front, you're not going to essentially put that in your cash flow unless you're taking a loan on that amount.

Right.

A long term loan on that amount.

Right.

So you know, all that, you know, the furnishing and all that stuff, you know, upfront, I'm not even calculating my cash flow.

That's my upfront investment, like my purchase.

But I do, you know, just like how we do all of our deals, you want to at least keep, you know, anywhere from like, you know, 10, you know, about 10% in there for repairs.

You know, you want to keep, you want to.

Vacancy factor obviously has to be higher for a short term rental.

Right.

And so I went on air DNA and figure out like the average occupancy in the doctor was anywhere between.

It was, it was about 60 to 80%.

Okay.

Yeah.

So I think I used, I think I used maybe like 70% or something like that for my occupancy.

So you.

My vacancy, vacancy factor.

Yeah, you have to put it higher for Airbnb Properties.

And so, yeah, I mean, so, so we, we, we looked at, you know, we ran the numbers and, you know, looked pretty good doing it that way.

And.

Yeah, man.

So it was, it was, it was pretty exciting to, to do this.

And it was a, it was a long journey, William.

Oh my gosh.

Like I sometimes I felt like, is this thing going to even close?

You know, so we finally.

Guess when we finally close it, William, we finally close it the day before Thanksgiving.

No way.

So just before.

That's a, that's a year long process.

Pretty much.

That is about a year.

Yep.

You.

Because you know what, we actually signed the contract right around Thanksgiving in 2023.

And you know, the Purchase sale agreement and all that stuff.

And.

But the down payment.

Yeah, right around that time.

So a year to close it.

This whole process.

What was, what was something that you wished you would have known going in that you didn't know beforehand for going out for investing out of the country?

Okay, so that's a really good question.

And, and remind me to talk about the furnishing a little bit too when we went over to furnish it.

But yes, that's a really good question.

So man.

So it was so much to learn through the process is so much I didn't know.

Right.

And, and first of all, according to like a lot of you know, realtors who I spoke to and, and different people in Dr.

To say this is not a normal process.

The main issue is the title of paperwork.

Like if.

So if something goes wrong with the government, just like over here, the government in almost every country and it's worse than third world countries.

It takes a long time to correct stuff.

Unless you know someone, it pays to know people, you know.

So like in the Bahamas I'm very blessed to where my family know a lot of people in, in the government and everything.

So things usually work a little bit faster for the bah problem information.

So it can work to your advantage or your disadvantage if you don't know anyone.

But in a doctor, I don't, I didn't have those kind of connections.

So, so that's why, you know, it took a long time.

So one of the big things that I learned a lot of times it, you, you have to have the right person sharing the process, especially if you're going to invest overseas.

It could be a frustrating, long process if you don't have the right person.

We were blessed to have a, a really good realtor over there and that made the process, you know, this was.

Call it a black sworn event maybe that's a strong word for it.

But the realtor right there, he was so patient.

He was, you know, you could feel him pushing.

He always communicated good guy and so that was super duper helpful.

So you know, one of the big lessons I would say is make sure you have the right person.

So thankfully we, we spent some time really before we even decided to, to to you know, purchase something.

We spend a lot of time working, you know, to find a good realtor.

Right.

Because, because it's, you know, that's, that's kind of your partner, you know, in property.

When we buy properties over here, we, we find a good property manager first.

But every country is different.

Right.

And so the Property managers in the Doctor Is not, not necessarily like the Realtors.

The, the, the property managers in the Dr.

Isn't like the property managers in the.

U.S.

so it's like a role reversal almost.

Where in the, in the US Your property manager is like the quarterback of your football team.

The, the real estate agent is maybe your receiver.

Right.

Whereas the other way around in the Doctor where your real estate agent is your quarterback and then your property manager is your receiver.

Exactly.

And, and then, and as I'm, I'm still learning the process and how it would work because we, so we have not been working with a property manager.

I will say that.

Because we have family in the Doctor so we're going to self manage it with them.

Oh, okay.

I was going to bring that up.

I was wondering.

Yeah, yeah.

Ever going to self manage it with them.

So.

But, but definitely the, the realtor is the quarterback during that acquisition phase.

Right.

And they have a lot of connections.

And I mean our realty, he's given us so much good connections for, you know, cleaners and this and that and like, you know, hey, is this price reasonable?

I mean, he's being really, really good.

So I would highly recommend working with a really good realtor up front.

I made, made some good relationships with some other realtors too.

One of them is actually going to come to our room club meetings too.

Like, no way.

Awesome.

Yeah, he's a Dominican guy and he, he, he does work in the, in, in the doctor and the U.S.

so he's a realtor in both places, which is quite cool.

I was like, oh man, that sounds like a cool job.

I know, right?

I know.

So he travels a lot in between and I think he's going to be.

Happened to be passing through Charlotte, you know, during that time.

He's a young guy, real good guy, so he'll be meek at our next meeting.

Awesome.

Fantastic.

Well, I know you're a super organized person.

Does that help with having to coordinate all this other stuff?

And I asked because you.

Anybody listening?

You can't really see it, but in the corner of my screen you see this big whiteboard where I have to write everything out.

And I remember the first time Charles saw that, he laughed.

He's like, use a whiteboard.

Charles is far, far better at organization than I am.

But does that help you with managing the cleanings?

I know you got family helping you out down there, but it's still, it's thousands of miles away.

So have you found that that particular gift, so to speak, has really helped with 100%.

Yes, yes, yes.

It does help.

It makes you more efficient.

It just makes a smooth, clean process.

Even communications.

You know, I even set up, like, a different channel for communications on it.

Documentation.

You know, we use STESSA to track the numbers and everything.

So it is so helpful to stay organized.

And I try to do it even with my financial documents.

The banks over there, they.

They.

They told my realtor.

They was like, this guy is the most, like, organized guy and efficient guy.

I second that.

I'm not trying to brag, William, but that they were so surprised because, you know, on the island, it's a relaxed culture.

Everybody's so relaxed.

And so he was so surprised, like, when he asked me for a document five minutes later.

Five minutes later.

Sometimes even less like, you know, like five minutes later, if.

If, If.

If I got to go to my desk to do it.

But I have a lot of things.

I have everything organized, and I can access most of my documents on my phone, you know, and so, like, when he acts or something, boom, I had it.

Then right away, like, he was so surprised at how quick I had it.

The only way you do stuff like that, too.

And I sit there.

I'm.

I am not the most organized person.

I'll be the first one to say that, but I have watched Charles do this, and it is.

It's impressive.

It makes me want to actually just sit down and drink a cup of coffee and watch him do it, because it is very impressive.

I'm in Florida, too, and I had to do that.

I was closing those duplexes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was like.

I was like, yeah, I gotta send this to the.

To the.

When William probably thought, okay, well, I won't see Charles anymore that day.

But I was back, like, five minutes, and I was like.

Like, I thought you were working.

I was like, yeah, I sent it already.

Yeah.

So much.

So much quicker and smoother than I am in that.

That's awesome.

Well, before I forget, you wanted to talk more about how you did the furnishings of this.

Of this property.

So how did.

How did this work?

Oh, yeah.

So.

So we actually.

So we were like.

We wanted to go to the doctor for the Christmas break for my wife could see her family.

But then.

So we could also set up the apartment.

And so we went over and so first of all, shout out to my.

My family over there.

Right?

My.

My family.

Some people say family in law, but I call it my family in love.

Right.

You know, I'm.

I'm blessed to have, you know, because some people have some in laws who who are really outlaws, you know, blessed.

Have a really awesome family, you know, through my wife.

So anyway, so they did a lot of the work before we come.

Like, a lot of the, you know, all of a lot of the furniture was there.

When we got there, a lot of things was in place.

And so we, we just really kind of had to put the finish in touch.

Oh my gosh, William.

Like, you'd appreciate this because you do a lot of work yourself.

Like, so it was different, like, and maybe because it was a low cost apartment, but a lot of things were unfinished in terms of like the connection.

So so pretty much we, you know, we had to install the acs and the electrical for the ACS had to be installed.

Wow.

To do a lot of these different things, like, even like with the washer dryer unit, you have to do a lot of the electrical work.

Even like the gas line.

All those things still, like, wasn't installed.

The apartment didn't come like, you know, fully ready.

And so that was a lot of work.

And people over there are completely different, William.

Like, you know, normally, like, you get a contractor to do work.

Like the contractor gets, you know, you pay them a price for the materials.

Everything over there, you have to buy the materials and then they come to install.

Oh, man, that was hard for me to deal with.

That can be problematic.

Like, oh my gosh, like going back and forth to the store and like, you know, like they asking you for, like, you don't even know these things.

And my Spanish is like, probably.

I wouldn't say it was as basic.

And it's definitely not advanced.

And I don't even think it's intermediate.

I probably like somewhere between like basic and intermediate.

And so I always had to have like a translator.

Well, I definitely would need one.

You're going with.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No.

And sometimes I went by myself.

It was like something simple, like just one thing, but it was like a big list.

You know, I needed a translator to come with me.

And then, you know, my, my, either my.

My mother in law.

I almost said my, I almost said in Spanish, my mother in law and my, my sister in law in love.

Right?

My.

And.

And they, they came with me and they don't even know what these parts are.

So it's like, you know, so that was like a, A huge barrier too.

So it would.

But nevertheless, it was stressful, but it was fun the same time.

And so we went through so much stuff.

Oh, and we even had an incident where.

That's why I just, I just, I.

I Don't.

I think I, I could definitely appreciate the process in the Doctor more.

I'm not the Doctor, the usa, because like we even had a situation where.

So with the washing machine.

So the washing.

We had to bring an electric electrician before and then the installer is separate.

So it's two different.

That's three different people.

One, one, one.

To deliver it and put it in place.

Then you have to bring the electrician to do electrical work.

Then you have to bring the installer.

So we had an issue where the, where the washing machine stopped working.

And it was a lot of finger pointing.

The.

Oh, it's this person's fault.

This first.

Yeah, the installer was like, it was the electrician fault.

They don't know the electric.

Paul is like, we did the right thing and oh my gosh.

So we had to deal with that.

We were thinking almost, we had that we thought we had to replace the unit.

But thankfully the company where we got it from, they, they ordered a part, the part that got damaged.

And we honestly think it was the electrician fault.

Like when we like look at it because, because the installer was showing us.

Installer had some electrical background.

And so long story short, you know, they just replaced the part that was damaged.

Now the washing machine was working, but that was like 1200 bucks, you know, as a washer, dryer machine.

So anyway, so it was a long journey.

It was, it was stressful, but it was fun and exciting at the same time.

And so that was a lot of work.

So that's why, you know, when you have these properties, you have to have the right person on the ground for you.

Another thing is, you know, you probably, you probably don't have to go through all of that if you pay more money upfront to get an apartment that's finished.

Right.

So I would say, you know, for some people, I would not recommend getting an unfinished apartment unless you have a team on the ground for you, especially like a local team.

Because it could, it could, it might not.

It can be very stressful if you don't have strong people on the ground, but you do.

But, but doing it that way, we saved a lot more money because I was talking to the, the developer.

I have a good relationship with him, you know, real estate, you know, all our relationships.

So I was talking to him and I was telling him about all the things, you know, he was like, yeah, you know, he said, he said he's, he's probably going to charge like $20,000 more to have them fully ready.

So I was like, oh, my goodness, like, you know, I paid 70,000, so can you imagine, like, you know, paying 20,000 more for that stuff?

And I think I might maybe paid, I don't know, maybe three or four thousand to get it ready.

So they can pay.

You can pay a lot more to get it ready, but for some people, it just might not be worth the stress, you know, because you might end up paying more if you do it on your own and don't know what you're doing.

Right.

Yeah, it really pays to have that.

And I think if it sounds like the way that I would go about this, let me know if this sounds like a good idea.

But I was going to go there, and I wanted some on the ground help, etcetera, People that would come and do this kind of stuff.

I would actually go through the realtor and ask for contacts and share those and then start building that before ever actually buying something.

So that way it's like, all right, I have an electrician, I have a plumber.

I have a finishing guy for xyz.

So that way, that stuff, you.

You have those contacts lined up, and then, yes, as soon as you're ready to go, you just say, here's the keys.

Go do this.

And it seems like you might even be able to pay your realtor on the side to just kind of help manage if he's interested in that.

Yes.

And.

And.

And most of them would do that.

You know, some might even do it for free for you as well, too, because, you know, they.

They're happy to, you know, to help you in your business, because the more, the better you do in your business.

Well, then you can buy more properties or you can recommend them for others and stuff like that.

So, so.

So definitely, you know, I, you know, learning all these things, I would definitely do it different.

And, you know, William, I try to be organized with everything.

So.

So I have, like, I already have a process in place for, like, if this happens again.

I have all the electric.

I have all these things like that.

And even, like, I mean, just small things, like, okay, it's probably better to do all these stuff before putting the furnishings in.

Yeah, yeah.

It was a lot of work and made a lot of mess, you know, because we had, you know, the drill holes in the ceiling and this, that.

And a lot of dust and.

Yeah, so it was like, okay, only.

Thing that makes it better was in the doctor.

So.

Yeah, yeah.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

So.

But, yeah, no, it was.

It was a good journey.

A lot of lessons learned.

I don't you know, those of you, listen, I'm not trying to scare you away from doing it.

It is an incredible opportunity.

It's amazing.

These are just some of the things that I learned that I'm being transparent about sharing it with you.

But, you know, again, you know, my situation was very, very different.

One of the cool things about going through all of these steps, as I learned so much more William, and I learned how to cross these hurdles.

So, you know, I'm sure our next project will be like a piece of cake compared to this, because like I said, this one was like a, you know, a Black Swan event.

And so usually it's not that.

It usually is not that hard.

Like, a lot of times, people get them ready.

Like, with everything I'm.

You just ready to plug and play, just turn on the utilities.

A lot of people buy them like that.

So my recommendation would be to get it like that.

Unless you already have, like, a local team established and you want to wait, you know, to get all those things to get it ready.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Well, fantastic.

We're drawn down to the end here, but is there anything in particular that you.

That we haven't mentioned that you think would be good for our audience to hear?

Yeah, so.

Absolutely.

So I think, you know, so what I would say is, is when you want to.

When you're ready to invest out of the country, right?

Since we're talking about investing out of the country, I just want to encourage you, as we talked about, and some of these things may be a bit of a repeat, but it's so important to have the right people in place, right?

And relationships are so important.

So in.

In.

In the US and for our students at Master Passive Income, we always teach them to build the business first.

Well, that's no different in the Dominican Republic.

Building the business versus the important thing, right?

Having the right team, again, the doctor you definitely want to have the right realtor in place up front.

They are going to be your quarterback through that acquisition process, right?

And.

And so you want to make sure you work with a realtor who isn't, you know, you know, those ones who just want you to buy for the money.

You want.

You want to work with a realtor who.

Who want to buy based on what you need, right?

You want somebody who's a servant.

Servant, like.

Like this realtor we spoke to, because we.

We had.

We spoke to other realtors.

You know, they say, oh, this guy is, you know, he's.

He's living in the US he has plenty of money.

So they try they're trying to, you know, offer you like the most expensive projects.

They're trying to make the biggest commission check.

But I told him, I said, hey, for this first property, I won the lowest possible price for a three bedroom, two bathroom.

I want the, you know, complete lowest, you know, I want to, I want to get my feet wet before I get something bigger.

And he honored that.

He respected that and he searched really, really hard.

When other realtors, you know, some realtors told me that you won't be able to find, you know, that what you're looking for, they say you won't be able to find it.

And he searched and he found it.

I remember what some of those realtors came back to me and was like, you know, you know, you still, you still looking.

I told you won't I find?

I said, yeah, well, I actually found this project.

Is it, well, oh, I could have show you this.

I said, well, you didn't show it to me, you know, so, so I would say definitely build the business first and have a strong team in place.

And it's such an amazing journey to do it.

Like, can you imagine like William, owning a property in a different country and being able to vacation there and rent it out?

You get the best of both worlds.

Absolutely.

And the tax write offs too, like you're traveling to your property.

So I mean, that's all a tax write off.

So that sounds like, sounds great to me, William.

I'm glad you mentioned that you can write it off.

I actually just spoke to my CPA because I was like, you know, hey, I explained him.

He said yes, he said you could absolutely write that off.

So it's really good benefits like that too.

Yeah, so that's, that's one of the huge advantages to real estate and why you and me both love it.

Definitely want to buy more of that.

And thanks so much for sharing, Charles.

This is my first time hearing the majority of this story.

I feel like you were like, I want to wait and I want to share this one with the podcast and our listeners.

And I'm glad you did.

I really appreciate that.

And again, thanks for coming on and thanks for sharing your story, man.

Absolutely, William.

Always great to share with you and, and again, you know, shameless blog.

I'm definitely looking forward for us to share your story soon.

So we're going to do it out here pretty soon.

Yep, yep.

All looking forward to bring all the, all the good, the bad and the ugly.

And I like to share the mistakes made because I feel like a lot of people share all the good.

And yeah, that's what I love about when you share as well, you share some of the mistakes made as well.

Well, so, oh, yeah, everybody's like, oh, well, they've got everything figured out.

It's like, well, there's always bumps in the road.

It just depends on how you deal with it.

So I'm looking forward to bringing that as well, just to show that this stuff happens and it all depends on.

How you deal with it 100%.

Yes, I'm definitely looking forward to showing that, man.

Thank you.

Thank you for interviewing me, man.

Absolutely.

I have so much fun doing it.

We talk all the time, but I still love interviewing you.

But everyone, thanks for joining us for a breakthrough investor.

And Charles, we'll see you later, man.

Awesome, man.

I'll see you, buddy.