Moving Day: A Tour of Our Dominican Republic Home and Why We're Downsizing

Our 2-Year Home in Punta Cana

For the past two years, my family and I have been living in a spacious 5,000 square foot home in Punta Cana Village, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the Dominican Republic. The location has been ideal, especially for families. Just steps from our front door is a baseball field, playground, and soccer fields. The Punta Cana Village Soccer Club and pool are also nearby.

Our home's location offered incredible convenience:

• 3 blocks from PCIS (Punta Cana International School)
• 4 blocks from La Cana, the restaurant and shopping district
• Walkable to everything in the neighborhood

Tour of the Home

Let me take you on a tour of this beautiful yellow and blue house we've called home:

Ground Floor

• Grand entrance with an open atrium
• Large open-concept living and dining area
• Fully furnished (we rented it furnished)
• Indoor/outdoor living spaces throughout
• Kitchen with all amenities
• Half bathroom
• My office/4th bedroom with en-suite bathroom
• Maid's quarters with separate entrance
• Laundry room and pantry

Outdoor Area

• Fenced-in backyard
• Small pool (newly built when we moved in)
• Outdoor dining area
• Multiple balconies and patios

Second Floor

• Upstairs living room
• Master bedroom with large closet, bathroom, and balcony
• Guest bedroom with bathroom and balcony
• Kids' room with two beds, closet, bathroom and balcony

The home features 4.5 bathrooms total - one for each bedroom plus the half bath downstairs. A unique aspect is how open and airy the house feels. We kept doors and windows open 24/7 upstairs to enjoy the indoor/outdoor living.

Costs of Living Here

Our monthly expenses for this home included:

• Rent: $4,000/month
• Electricity: $500-600/month
• Total housing costs: ~$4,600/month

This doesn't include other expenses like school tuition, food, transportation, etc. Living in a premium area like Punta Cana Village can easily cost $5,000-10,000+ per month for a family, depending on lifestyle.

Why We Decided to Move

After two years in this spacious home, we made the decision to downsize and move. There were three main reasons behind this choice:

1. The House Was Too Big

At 5,000 square feet, the house simply felt too large for our needs. While the space was great for entertaining and hosting guests, it required significant effort to maintain. Even with cleaning help, it was a lot to keep up with. My wife and I realized we prefer a more compact living space - our home in the US is about half this size and feels perfect, maybe even still a bit large.

2. Lack of Air Conditioning in Common Areas

One major drawback was the lack of air conditioning in the main living areas. The large open atrium and living room had no AC, which is common for homes of this style in the Dominican Republic. While the indoor/outdoor living is nice, it made it difficult to comfortably relax as a family, especially during hot summer months. We wanted a home with AC throughout.

3. Budget Considerations

The monthly costs for this home were significant:

• $4,000 rent
• $500-600 electricity
• $4,600 total just for housing

This doesn't include other major expenses like school tuition, food, transportation, etc. While we were fortunate to afford it, we realized we could reduce our housing costs and allocate that money towards investments and other priorities.

Our House Hunting Process

Once we decided to move, we began looking at other options in the area. We worked with local realtors and also spread the word to friends that we were house hunting.

We found a beautiful penthouse condo for $3,000/month, but the lease had some concerning terms we weren't comfortable with. This experience reinforced the importance of carefully reviewing rental agreements.

Ultimately, we found our new home through a personal connection. Someone we knew was moving away for a few years and looking to rent out their house. We were able to negotiate a great deal on the rent.

Our New Home and Budget

While I can't share the exact rent out of respect for our new landlord, I can say we've significantly reduced our monthly expenses. In our previous home, we were paying $4,600 just for rent and electricity. Now, our total monthly expenses including rent, utilities, cleaning help, food, activities for the kids, etc. comes to about $5,500.

This doesn't include some annual expenses like school tuition ($17,000/year) and health insurance ($3,000/year). But overall, we've been able to substantially lower our monthly outlay.

The Benefits of Downsizing

Reducing our monthly budget allows us to do two important things:

1. Save more money to invest
2. Allocate more resources towards content creation for my YouTube channel

I truly enjoy creating content and connecting with my audience. By lowering our living expenses, I can invest more time and money into producing high-quality videos and potentially developing other content like ebooks or courses that could be helpful to my viewers.

For example, I've invested about $10,000 so far in producing my "Grub with Gruber" restaurant review series. While I hope to eventually get restaurants to cover production costs, right now I'm funding it myself to build up the series. Having a lower monthly budget gives me more flexibility to make these kinds of investments in content.

Challenges of Downsizing

Moving to a smaller home does come with some challenges:

• We had to purchase some furniture, costing $10,000-15,000
• We went from a 4-bedroom to a 2-bedroom home
• Our kids currently share a room, which may not work long-term

However, the new place already feels more like "home" than our previous house. The old place was furnished more like an Airbnb, while now we have our own furniture and can really settle in.

Why We're Still Renting

Many people ask why we continue to rent rather than buy a home here. There are a few reasons:

1. High property costs in Punta Cana Village. Homes in this area typically cost $600,000-700,000+.

2. We'd need a large down payment to make the monthly mortgage payments reasonable.

3. Mortgage terms in the DR are less favorable than in the US - higher interest rates, shorter terms, and often variable rates after a few years.

4. We like the flexibility of renting. If our situation changes, it's easier to move.

5. I personally prefer investing in income-producing assets rather than tying up capital in a primary residence.

Our long-term plan is to eventually buy land and build a custom home here. This would allow us to get more value for our money. We could potentially use equity from our US home as a down payment.

For now, renting allows us to live in our ideal neighborhood while we save and plan for the future. It's a personal decision that works for our current situation.

Final Thoughts

Moving and downsizing has been a big transition, but one that aligns with our current priorities. We're able to maintain our lifestyle in a great community while reducing expenses and freeing up resources for other goals.

I'll continue to document our journey here in the Dominican Republic, including our experiences with renting, potentially buying property in the future, and navigating life as expats. I truly appreciate you following along and welcome any questions or feedback in the comments.

If you found this helpful, please consider subscribing to my channel and giving the video a like. It really helps support the growth of the channel and allows me to keep producing content. Thanks for watching!

Article created from: https://youtu.be/h_h6ZxcPyGw?si=k-PMr47Kf0yE5yC4