There is a ''new to me'' suspect, that may be buying officials to ''clean-up'' Sosua!

[Sidney]

He is a very large, desperate builder/developer, that believes a ''clean-up'' will boost his sales of expensive coastal real estate.

[whynotme]

i guess we are playing jeopardy in reverse

[weyland]

I wish I was "desperate" enough to be able to bribe very senior officials.

[eldorob]

He is a very large, desperate builder/developer, that believes a ''clean-up'' will boost his sales of expensive coastal real estate.

I don't understand your statement. If you were a BabyBoomer with cash, are you going to take all your money and buy a 500K condo in an area that is becoming known for Sex Tourism, or are you going to go somewhere else that doesn't have that?

I'll bet land owners and developers (both dominican & gringo) have been behind this from the very beggining. I don't see that as a stretch.

[deezl]

will a 'clean up' drive real estate prices up or will the local economy be so damaged that they can swoop in and buy the land on the cheap?

I'm thinking it's the latter because the former makes exactly zero fucking sense. You don't drive real estate prices up by killing the tourist trade and squashing the local economy.

[JD426]

Im thinking of buying a nice condo, and its as far away from Sosua as you can get...
Would not invest in Sosua, even if the money was given to me. Not sure what kind of Condo Buyes there developers are looking for. I thought the market was pretty tight right now anyway. I dont see anyone dishing out $300-500K investing in Sosua, unless these are people with more money than brains.

will a 'clean up' drive real estate prices up or will the local economy be so damaged that they can swoop in and buy the land on the cheap?
I'm thinking it's the latter because the former makes exactly zero fucking sense. You don't drive real estate prices up by killing the tourist trade and squashing the local economy.

thats the real agenda..its been talked about here many many times... it doesnt look like just a theory any more either.
If you had a "business" that was worth, say 1 Mil USD in its Glory , and now you no longer have customers,(which has happened to some already) .. .What do you really have left ?
A location, ie real estate....thats all you got left to sell... and soon there will be a Selling Frenzy.

[eldorob]

You don't drive real estate prices up by killing the tourist trade and squashing the local economy.

We are but a knat on a cows big ass compared to the money they probably want to attract. They don't want us as their economy. And yeah, some businesses will close. But the beaches and the palm trees will remain. And as the economy comes out of the dumps, empty buildings will gain new owners and Life goes on.

Im thinking of buying a nice condo, and its as far away from Sosua as you can get....

Alaska?

[deezl]

We are but a knat on a cows big ass compared to the money they probably want to attract. They don't want us as their economy. And yeah, some businesses will close. But the beaches and the palm trees will remain. And as the economy comes out of the dumps, empty buildings will gain new owners and Life goes on.

But here's the catch - you have to get the tourists to show up. As far as I know, Sosua has had a decent little thing going for the past decade or so. Sure, maybe it's not the kind of tourist trade that most would prefer to build an economy around but for better or worse - it worked. Now you think you can pull tourists out of the inexpensive and significantly nicer and better equipped AI's (that they can't even fill) in Puerto Plata or (with a level of ambition that can only be deemed 'batshit fucking insane') bulldoze half the town and spend the next ten years building a first class destination to draw the Punta Cana crowd?

Good luck with that.

Of course, the alternative from a buyers perspective would be to drive down prices, buy up the land, and then let things go back to exactly what they used to be. It may not result in huge multi-billion dollar profits, but if you fucked the previous landowners hard enough you could certainly do pretty well for yourself.

[eldorob]

They can show up. All it takes is good Marketing. A year or so back the DR announced it was going to start a Google North Coast advertising blitz aimed at Euros & Dollars. I think as the RE market tanked, they backed off. I'm just guessing cause I did see some advertising then it seemed to go away.

The RE market is in the tanks everywhere. But that's cyclical, and when it starts to come out there will be a pent up desire for retirement destinations. If the Minister of Tourism office doesn't screw it up, then absolutely, it can work.

But what they don't want is some drunk chubby gringo from Minnesota pissing and spinning in the middle of Pedro Clisante waving his little cock around while surrounded by Policia (Any resemblance to current or past ISOC members is intentional)

[weyland]

But what they don't want is some drunk chubby gringo ... pissing in the middle of Pedro Clisante waving his little cock around

Then that is very short-sighted of them. That sort of thing can be a tourist attraction wherever you may be in the world.

[JD426]

They can show up. All it takes is good Marketing. A year or so back the DR announced it was going to start a Google North Coast advertising blitz aimed at Euros & Dollars. I think as the RE market tanked, they backed off. I'm just guessing cause I did see some advertising then it seemed to go away.

The RE market is in the tanks everywhere. But that's cyclical, and when it starts to come out there will be a pent up desire for retirement destinations. If the Minister of Tourism office doesn't screw it up, then absolutely, it can work.

But what they don't want is some drunk chubby gringo from Minnesota pissing and spinning in the middle of Pedro Clisante waving his little cock around while surrounded by Policia (Any resemblance to current or past ISOC members is intentional)

Our own Artie Piscano.. he single handedly brought down this whole thing of ours in Sosua , just like Artie in the movie Casino..
only instead of keeping records, he pissed in the street.
LOL

[Jimmydr]

The recession has everything to do with DR's shitty economy.

[psriches]

And don't forget about the benefits a "clean up" would have to the numerous ex-pats that you guys don't see, that live in and around Sosua.

I'm not talking about the "single guy" ex-pat's. I'm mostly referring to the ex-pat families with kids. They believe a clean-up would improve the quality of life in Sosua.

[psriches]

But here's the catch - you have to get the tourists to show up. As far as I know, Sosua has had a decent little thing going for the past decade or so. Sure, maybe it's not the kind of tourist trade that most would prefer to build an economy around but for better or worse - it worked. Now you think you can pull tourists out of the inexpensive and significantly nicer and better equipped AI's (that they can't even fill) in Puerto Plata or (with a level of ambition that can only be deemed 'batshit fucking insane') bulldoze half the town and spend the next ten years building a first class destination to draw the Punta Cana crowd?

Good luck with that.

The AI's would fight them to the death. The whole point of an "all inclusive" is to keep the guest on the property.

Sosua really only attracts the Casa Marina crowd.

[steviewonder]

And don't forget about the benefits a "clean up" would have to the numerous ex-pats that you guys don't see, that live in and around Sosua. I'm mostly referring to the ex-pat families with kids. They believe a clean-up would improve the quality of life in Sosua.

I might be willing to discuss the so called improvements of life with these families if they weren't so scared of what they think they're going to find after the sun sets in Sosua. And I don't mean only in the center of Sosua. Hell 99.9% after 7pm wouldn't be caught dead in Playaro, for the fear of simply driving home in the dark afterwards to their gated communities.