How we evaluate
property, price and
risk
Every DominicanVest report follows the same structure: what the asset is, what it should cost, what it can realistically earn, and what could go wrong. Here is what sits behind each of those.
Most property information is written to sell
A brochure is an argument for a purchase. It states a projected yield without stating the occupancy it assumes, quotes a price without the comparable sales that would test it, and describes a location in adjectives rather than in distances, infrastructure and completion dates.
None of that is dishonest by itself. It is simply not analysis, and it is not what someone deciding where to place significant capital actually needs.
State the assumption, then test it
Our method is unglamorous and deliberately repeatable. Every figure that matters is traced to where it came from. Every projection states the assumptions it rests on, so you can disagree with them explicitly rather than discover them later.
Where the data is thin, we say so. An honest “we could not verify this” is more useful than a confident number with nothing behind it, and it is the sentence that most distinguishes an independent report from a sales document.
What every analysis works through
The depth varies with the engagement, but the sequence does not. Each stage feeds the next, and a problem found early changes what is worth spending time on later.
- 01
Location fundamentals
What is actually around the asset, measured rather than described: distance to the airport, the beach and daily amenities; road and utility infrastructure; what is approved or under construction nearby; and how the immediate area differs from the wider market it is marketed as part of.
- 02
The development and the developer
Track record on previous projects, delivery history against announced dates, construction stage and what remains, the structure behind the project, and whether the entity selling to you is the entity that has built before.
- 03
Pricing and comparables
What comparable units have actually transacted at, not what they are listed at; price per square metre against the relevant segment; and where this asking price sits within that range, along with what would justify a premium.
- 04
Rental and income assumptions
Achievable rates by season rather than peak-season headline rates, realistic occupancy for the segment and location, management and platform costs, and how the projection changes when occupancy or rate is lowered.
- 05
Full cost of ownership
Acquisition costs and taxes, closing and legal fees, HOA and maintenance charges, utilities, insurance, furnishing where relevant, and the ongoing obligations that turn a headline yield into a net one.
- 06
Ownership structure and legal position
How title is held, what the buyer actually acquires, the structures commonly used and their implications, and the registration and diligence steps a purchase depends on. We flag what a qualified local lawyer must confirm — we do not replace one.
- 07
Risk assessment
Delivery, liquidity, concentration, regulatory, currency and exit risk, each stated plainly with the conditions under which it would matter. Risks are ranked by consequence, not by how easy they are to describe.
- 08
Conclusion and reporting
A written view with its reasoning visible: what supports the case, what argues against it, what remains unverified, and what would change the conclusion. Sources are cited throughout so any part of it can be checked.
Rules every report follows
Every figure is sourced
A number in a DominicanVest report is traceable to a transaction record, a filing, an operator, a published rate or a stated estimate. If it is an estimate, it is labelled as one.
Assumptions are stated, not buried
Projections show the occupancy, rate and cost assumptions they depend on, and what happens to the result when those move against you.
Gaps are named
Where a figure could not be verified, the report says which one and why, rather than substituting a plausible-looking number.
No conclusion is for sale
We take no commission on any transaction and hold no relationship with any developer, agent or portal. Nothing in the method has a financial interest in the answer.
Sales material vs. independent analysis
A single headline figure, assumptions unstated
+ A range, with the occupancy, rate and cost assumptions behind it shown
Compared against other asking prices
+ Compared against transacted prices for genuinely similar units
Purchase price, with fees mentioned in passing
+ Full acquisition and annual holding costs, itemised
Described in adjectives — “moments from the beach”
+ Measured distances, infrastructure status and approved nearby development
Not considered
+ Delivery, liquidity, regulatory and exit risk, ranked by consequence
Absent — the document is an argument
+ Stated explicitly, including what a local lawyer must verify
Compensation depends on the sale completing
+ A fixed research fee with no transaction dependency
Typical Developer Brochure | Independent DominicanVest Analysis | |
|---|---|---|
| Projected yield | A single headline figure, assumptions unstated | ✓+ A range, with the occupancy, rate and cost assumptions behind it shown |
| Pricing evidence | Compared against other asking prices | ✓+ Compared against transacted prices for genuinely similar units |
| Costs | Purchase price, with fees mentioned in passing | ✓+ Full acquisition and annual holding costs, itemised |
| Location | Described in adjectives — “moments from the beach” | ✓+ Measured distances, infrastructure status and approved nearby development |
| Risk | Not considered | ✓+ Delivery, liquidity, regulatory and exit risk, ranked by consequence |
| Unknowns | Absent — the document is an argument | ✓+ Stated explicitly, including what a local lawyer must verify |
| Incentive | Compensation depends on the sale completing | ✓+ A fixed research fee with no transaction dependency |
Limits of the method
We do not provide legal or tax advice
We identify what needs checking and what a structure implies. Confirming it for your circumstances is work for a qualified Dominican lawyer and your own tax adviser, and we say so rather than blurring the line.
We do not forecast prices
We analyse the drivers that make a market more or less likely to hold value. Anyone quoting you a specific appreciation rate several years out is guessing, however precisely it is written.
We do not present estimates as records
Where a figure is modelled rather than observed, the report distinguishes the two. Conflating them is the most common way an analysis misleads without stating anything false.
We do not recommend a specific purchase for a fee
Our work tells you what an asset is, what it should cost and what could go wrong. The decision, and the responsibility for it, stays with you.
Have a property you want
examined properly?
Tell us what you are considering. We will tell you honestly what our analysis can establish, what it cannot, and whether it is worth commissioning at all.
Independent · No commissions · No referral fees