Owning a Vacation Home in Caribbean

So going back to after our Honeymoon but before our first trip to Cabrera, I first discovered some videos on YouTube of a retired couple, Judy and Richard, who had already been living in Cabrera for a couple years as of Spring 2014. They were a wealth of information and seemed like very honest people who had known Barry Soloman right about the time Barry launched DRescapes.com and were prominent characters in Barry's interviews with expats videos. They had purchased an ocean view lot above the city of Cabrera and I remember watching the videos over and over and showing them to Thomas.  I kept thinking, "I want to hang out with them! We would have so much to talk about!" We were avid fans and watchers of all of DRescapes video and no one featured in the videos ever 'spoke' to me like the Judy and Richard. I remember someone on the DRescapes tour with us in Summer 2015 asking about the retired couple and Barry indicated that they were still around, but no, they hadn...

There is a beautiful ocean view from the parking lot... but no one seems to notice! La Sirena (the Mermaid) is a chain store much like Walmart. It has fresh produce, groceries, appliances, mattresses, etc. The prices are also very good. There are more La Sirenas around than the other stores mentioned earlier. We were also able to pay by credit card here without any additional charge on goods.  So, that is an option for those not wanting to carry loads of cash.  There have been some violent muggings and even murder in the Puerto Plata La Sirena parking lot recently. Thomas has been there three times and I was with him once. There wasn't any parking lot security that I could see, but the lot is barricaded off from the street so there could be security.  I would suggest  going there in midday and not carrying obvious amounts of cash.  Super Pola store front...they all look the same Inside a La Sirena Also, owned by the same company as La Sirena is...

If you go on to IKEA.com you will be surprised (at least I was) to find one country in the Caribbean listed there.  The Dominican Republic!  They actually have one store in Santo Domingo and then 'distribution centers' in the East and one in Santiago which is closest to the North Coast.  Basically, you order online at the SD store and they ship it for free to a distribution center, or ship it to your door for not too much (I have not done this yet...but plan to).  The prices seemed at first to be WAY too high...but, upon further inspection it would seem it depends on the item.  Appliances at IKEA-DR no way!  They are ridiculously expensive...mattresses too...but, some things are about the same. So, we drive down to our IKEA check out some of the items we see available at the Santo Domingo IKEA and then go from there.  The website is great...since you most likely have to order online. Haven't been here...but, here's a photo...looks the same as the on...