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If you search the forums, you will see lots of opinions, experiences, and warnings about rental investments.

The answer to your topic question, is it difficult to rent your investment property, is a resounding "It depends!".

1) The location is important, not just what city/town it's in, but specifically where in that town the property is located.
2) The property itself - apartment vs. villa, the size, how many it sleeps, and the way it's appointed and maintained make a huge difference.
3) Rental rate - you have to advertize a competitive rental rate.
4) Marketing - how are you going to advertize your property? AirBnB? VRBO?
5) Management - are your renters supported if the water heater goes out at 10:00 at night? How quickly can you respond if they lock themselves out?  If renters have issues that they do not feel you have handled well, they will write a bad review! Especially early on, you need good, strong, positive reviews to drive future business.

We owned an apartment here in Las Terrenas for 3.5 years. We had it on AirBnB, where we were a SuperHost and had a 4.94-star rating. We made a little money, but not nearly what we could have if that money had been invested elsewhere. Even with an onsite property manager who handled all the pesky little details for us, it was a PITA and not something we would do again.

Thank you for this insight.  When you say should of invested elsewhere, do you mean property in another location or not buying a property to rent at all.  A different type of investment totally?

We would have left our money in the stock market. We would have had a better return and a lot fewer headaches!

As far as the location goes, I think we were in one of the best developments for rentals in Las Terrenas. And because LT is a prime vacation spot for Dominicans, we were full during the pandemic when international travel was down. Our best rental history was from September '20 to July '21.

I may have to start to rethink my plans.  Thanks again for sharing your experience.

What ddmcghee said!

@ddmcghee Hi ddmcghee,

We are looking to buy in Punta Cana to live part time and rent out as Airbnb when we aren't there. I don't know if that would make the investment more worth it in your opinion. But what I would really like to know is what is the taxation situation for airbnb in the Dominican. I read somewhere that it was 27% after earning a certain amount for non-residents. Any information would be helpful. Thank you

OK, Airbnb does have it's place for getting rental business, but be very careful of the problems involved.  Profits are greater on short term rentals, but the headaches of party folks are MUCH greater.  If you are living off island and can not monitor the unit, it will be a problem.  Rent property in your own city is a mess, but just imagine what this can turn into.  Be careful.

@ddmcghee...based on your experience, what is a reasonable yearly profit to be expected from a 2/2 in last Terrenas?

@ddmcghee...based on your experience, what is a reasonable yearly profit to be expected from a 2/2 in last Terrenas?

- @RoCamilo

@ddmcghee...based on your experience, what is a reasonable yearly profit to be expected from a 2/2 in last Terrenas?

- @RoCamilo