A contact can be made personally through our offices located at Bravo Murillo 297, Portal 10; 28020 Madrid, Spain, by calling by telephone 34915792185 or through an Email to burton.novack@fernova.es Furthermore, the company has an office and representation directly in the Dominican Republic. The typical steps for the purchase of a property in the DR through our organization would be the following:

• The client selects the property from our web page at the price listed.
• An agreement is made with FERNOVA for the method of payment.
• A form is completed with all the data of the interested client.
• Another form is completed “Acuerdo de Reserva Provesional de Inmueble” (Agreement for the Reservation of the Property.)
• With the information of the completed, aforementioned forms, a fax or Email is sent to the interested client (buyer) for his revision and approval. If all is approved by the buyer, he or his legal representative and the representative of FERNOVA sign three (3) originals. The buyer keeps one (1) copy and FERNOVA two (2) copies.
• The buyer then delivers a check en US$ or the equivalent in Euros to FERNOVA S.A. for the amount agreed upon as a deposit on the conditions stipulated. The buyer may also make a bank transfer to our account in Spain or the DR.
• For the closing of the operation and the handing over of the keys a Final Sales Contract will be signed. This contract will be signed in front of a Notary Republic in the RD. If the Buyer chooses not to travel to the DR, there are two options:
  • The Buyer may go to the Consulate of the DR in Madrid or Barcelona and with our representative, sign the Final Sales Contract in the presence of the Cónsul General of the DR for the correct legalization of the operation.
  • The Buyer may name a legal representative with power of attorney to sign the document in territory of the DR before a local notary. The legal authorization must be made through the necessary diplomatic channels to have validity in the DR.

• 10% when the agreement is signed
• 50% divided en five parts payable monthly from the following month of the original signing of the agreement.
• 30% when the property is completed and the keys handed over. A date is established when the works are contemplated to be completed.
• 10% when the official title of the property is delivered.
• The possibility exists that in place of this form of financing a bank loan may be substituted.

• The complete costs, including all the steps of the registry and emitting of the title can be estimated in US $1,000.- for the legal costs plus 4.3% for transfer taxes over the assessed value of the property. These taxes are paid on the basis of the greater value established between the local agency of the Dirección General of Internal Taxes and the value declared in the “Contrato de Venta Definitivo” (Final Sales Contract). These values may vary and the amounts are presented only for illustrative purposes exclusively since the real value will probably be greater than those estimated by the authorities.

• There is a distinction between two types of renters. If it is a company that is renting the property a fiscal retention must be made to the amount of ten per cent (10%) based on the total amount of the rental.
• If the renter is an individual or a “person fisica” the total amount of the payment of the rental is made to the owner, without any retention. For the owner the amount received for the rent should be added to any other type of income that is received in the DR and taxes are paid in accordance with the total amount of income accumulated. In accordance with the “Dirección General de Impuestos Internos (DGll) from October 1, 2004 individuals or “personas fisicas” are exempt from the payment of taxes up to the amount of DR$240,000 pesos dominicanos (approximately US$8,000 calculated a rate of exchange of DR30.00 x US$1.00)
• For more details regarding taxes you may go to the following web pages: http://www.dgii.gov.do/dgii/PDF/ISR.pdf
  http://www.dgii.gov.do/dgii/principalesimpuestos.html
  For the present exchange rate of the dollar and other currencies go to the following
  web pages:
  http://www.bancentral.gov.do/tasas_cambio/TAC4009_BC_2006.pdf http://www.bancentral.gov.do/tasas_cambio/TMC4001.PDF

• Some Spanish clients have asked if a Property Registry exists. In the DR a Property Registry does exist and functions in the same way as in Spain. The only difference is that in Spain the references of the apartment or property are noted in a square of the Notary Escritura. In the DR the Register denotes the official title in two pages, detailing the characteristics and measurements of the property. If it is of interest, FERNOVA can provide the client with a list of lawyers specialized in legalizing the purchase of properties.

• STEWART TITLE has established offices in the DR to insure property titles, which is optional. Those interested may contact their offices for additional information.
• Contact: Lisette Balbuena General Manager of Stewart Title in the DR at Torre Empresarial AIRD, 7mo piso, Av. Sarasota No. 20; office tel. 809-472-2929; Fax 809-4720505; US Phone: 210-568-7212, E-mail: info@stewartdr.com; Web: www.stewartdr.com

• In general, if the owner decides to collect himself the rentals, the real estate agents collect only one (1) month’s rent as a commission for getting the renter.
• If the owner decides to hire a specialized company to administer the collection of monthly payments of rent, a normal monthly payment for this service is a percentage between 5% and 10% of the amount to collect. FERNOVA can provide a list of companies that can provide this service.

• The DR has international banks such a Scotiabank and the Citibank and the Banco Popular (DR) that have agreements with the Bank of Spain and other North American and European banks to facilitate electronic bank transfers.

• The policies that insurance companies offer are “Fire and Related Lines”
• Included in this general term are Fire, Explosion, Earthquake, Hurricane, Flood, Strikes, Malicious Damage, Smoke, Impact of Vehicles and Collapse of Structures. These insurance policies cover the replacement costs in the case of construction. 
• If there is a claim for damage of something described in the policy, the insurance company pays the value of the cost of repairing with materials of equivalent quality or similar to those damaged.
• With reference to catastrophic risks (hurricane, earthquake and flood) these are subject to a deductible of 2% of the insured value. If the policy has two parts, one for the construction and the other for the contents, then the deductible of 2% is applied separately. For example, if a building is insured for 10,000,000, this part is subject to a deductible of 200,000 (the rest is assumed by the insurance company)
• Under a policy that covers the building construction, the contents of the building may also be included in the policy. This applies to an apartment building, for example

• To insure possible damage to properties is not obligatory in the DR
• Nevertheless, if you do insure, it must be through an insurance company established in the RD and authorized by the Superintendent of Insurance in the country.
• The five principal approved insurance companies in the market on the basis of their volume of receipts collected are: Seguros Universal, Seguros Banreservas, Seguros Palic, Seguros la Colonial and Proseguros

• The cost of Property Insurance can fluctuate from year to year since it depends on the reinsurance international market. At this time, the average cost is around 8.50 for each thousand pesos of coverage. Therefore, for a property with a value of 1.000.000 pesos you will pay and average of 8.5000 pesos plus an IVA (16%)

• The idea way to acquire insurance in the DR is through a professional insurance agent. The professional insurance agent knows the best policy for a particular risk and is familiar with the services of the different insurance companies, including their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the agent follows the market to know and acquire the best prices for a particular application.
• Recently, the Spanish insurance company, MAPFRE has opened an office in the DR: contact. Kenia Polanco, Business Director of MAPFRE DOMINICANA DE SEGUROS, S.A., Ave, PH Ureña 150, Rep. Dominicana. E-Mail: kpolanco@mapfrerd.com; Web: www.mapfre.com and electronic transfers.