Can I buy an apartment building in the Dominican Republic and rent it out?

Yes. Foreigners can own property outright and rent it, long-term or short-term, subject to building rules. Long-term leases follow Ley 85-25 (2025). Short-term rentals must register with the tax office (RNC), charge 18% ITBIS and declare the income.

How much is the rental deposit in the Dominican Republic?

Under Ley 85-25 (August 2025), the deposit for a residential lease may not exceed two months' rent. It can be lodged at Banco Agrícola or Banreservas, where it earns interest for the tenant. If you keep part of it for damage, you must justify it in writing within five calendar days, with photos and repair quotes.

What return can I expect from rental property in Sosúa?

Local agency guides quote annual net income of roughly US$10,000–17,000 for a well-managed one- or two-bedroom holiday rental in Sosúa (2026), on prices of US$120,000–300,000. That is a mid-single-digit net yield, before your own time. Treat higher figures with care, and check them against occupancy and costs.

Buy a small building in Sosúa, live in one unit and rent the rest: does it still work?

The live-in landlord plan for Sosúa, re-run with 2026 prices: what a multi-unit building costs, what rents bring in, the 2025 rental law, the taxes on rental income, and a worked example.

From our archive. First written in 2011 as “Buy a place in Sosua and have a steady income too!”. Rewritten in October 2026: the original angle kept, every price, law and link checked again against the sources listed at the end.

“If I had the chance, I would have moved to Sosúa.” That is how our 2011 article began. It went on to describe a plan that sounds even better now than it did then. You buy a house or small building with several apartments, live in one, and rent the others. Your home pays for itself, and then some.

Today people call it “house hacking”. In 2011 it didn’t have a name, and the building we found was eight apartments, furnished, 550 m², close to the centre and the beach, for US$356,000. Here is the same idea run again with 2026 numbers, including the parts the original article was too cheerful to mention.

Then and now

	2011	2026
Eight-apartment building, Sosúa	US$356,000, 550 m², furnished	An eight-unit condo complex listed at US$499,900 (October 2026)
1–2 bed condo, central Sosúa (El Batey)	—	~US$120,000–180,000
2-bed villa, Los Charamicos	—	~US$200,000–300,000
Holiday rent, El Batey	—	~US$150–200/night
Rental law	1955 law, deposits at Banco Agrícola	Ley 85-25 (2025): deposit max. 2 months, 90 days’ notice

Sources: DRListings (October 2026), Caribbean Breeze Sosúa guide (April 2026). Asking prices.

The building costs about 40% more than in 2011. Over fifteen years that is modest: roughly 2–2.5% a year, below US inflation over the same period. Sosúa has not run away from buyers the way Punta Cana’s beachfront has.

A worked example

Take a six-unit building at US$450,000. Live in one unit and rent five, long-term, at an assumed US$650 a month each. That rent is in line with local long-term listings for small furnished units; check it street by street.

	Per year
Gross rent, 5 units × US$650 × 12	US$39,000
Vacancy and turnover, 20%	−US$7,800
Maintenance, repairs, furniture, 10% of rent	−US$3,900
Common electricity, water, internet, security	−US$3,600
Insurance (incl. hurricane)	−US$2,000
IPI property tax (1% on value above the exemption, if not exempt)	−US$2,700
Net operating income	≈US$19,000
Rent you no longer pay for your own home (equivalent unit)	+US$7,800

That is about a 4.2% net yield on the price, or 6% counting your free housing, before income tax and before your own time. It is a decent result, not the “income much better than the one you invested” our 2011 article promised. Change two assumptions, 10% more vacancy or a hurricane-season roof repair, and it falls to 3%.

Holiday rentals can earn more per unit. Local guides cite about US$12,000–17,000 net a year for a single well-run unit in El Batey. But you turn into a small hotelier: cleaning, check-ins, reviews, and an 18% ITBIS on every night.

What changed in the law: Ley 85-25

Our original advice was to “ask for an extra sum of money as a guarantee” in case the tenant damages the apartment. That is now regulated. Ley 85-25, in force since August 2025, replaced the 70-year-old Ley 4314:

Deposit: at most two months’ rent for residential leases. It may be lodged at Banco Agrícola or Banreservas, earning interest for the tenant.
Keeping part of it: you have five calendar days to justify any deduction in writing, with photos and repair quotes.
Contract: it must include the parties, exact address, an inventory of condition (with dated photos), the use, the rent and payment terms, the end date and a notice address.
Ending a lease at its expiry: at least 90 days’ written notice.
Disputes: these now go to the local civil court (juzgado de paz). The old Rent Control Commission is gone.
Subletting and Airbnb by tenants are prohibited without your express written consent.

Our 2011 tip to choose “good people” still matters. Now you can also check references and employment, and write the inventory into the contract.

Taxes on the rent

Long-term residential rent: declared as income. Residents file by 31 March (form IR-1).
Short-term rent: register for an RNC, charge 18% ITBIS on the stay and remit it monthly, by the 20th. Platforms do not do this for you.
Non-resident owners: payments to non-residents are subject to withholding (27% in general, 10% on rents paid to individuals, per Airbnb’s 2026 tax guide). Treaty rates can differ; Canada’s is lower.
When you sell: since Law 30-26 (June 2026), individuals pay 10% capital-gains tax on the gain, down from up to 25%. Companies pay 27%. A building held in an SRL is taxed differently from one in your own name.

Checks before you buy a multi-unit building

Title and permits for every unit. Many small Sosúa buildings were extended over the years without permits. Ask whether each unit is a separate title (a condominium regime) or the whole building sits on one title. That decides whether you can ever sell units one by one.
Actual rent roll. Get the leases, the payments and the deposits held. Tenants with leases come with the building under Ley 85-25.
Water and power. Look at the cisterns, pumps, the inverter or generator, and whether each unit has its own meter.
Structure. North-coast buildings face salt air and the occasional tropical storm. Pay an engineer to inspect before you sign the promesa.
Your own lawyer. Not the seller’s. See how a foreigner buys property in the DR.

Our 2011 verdict, revised

We wrote that “it is impossible that a business like this fail”. It can fail: through vacancy, a bad tenant, a big repair or a building without proper titles. But the core idea is still sound, and in Sosúa it is more accessible than in most Caribbean towns. You live by the sea, someone else’s rent pays your bills, and you own an asset that has kept its value.

Go in with the conservative numbers, and treat the upside as a bonus.

Sosúa is a planned area on Caribe Scout; we will publish measured rents there once local data is verified. See Sosúa.