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Susan: buenas dias good morning,my name is susan miller and I speak ,abla un poquito, un poqito el spanol, but it didn’t stop myself and my husband still from moving here to Las Terrenas or buying property here 4 years ago , my husband and I live in Kentucky outside of Luisville Kentucky and 4 years ago getting clos to retirement age,my husband was getting closer, he had turned 60 and we thought ,where could we live in the winter that would be warm ,near the ocean and have a thriving community of restaurants and shops and ,you know a good grocery store where ,you know you could buy a diet coke those are the kind of things that I wanted. And so again, 4 years ago looking around, we’ve traveled a lot we’ve been all over the world, I’m sort of a retired professional speaker and I’ve been to Australia 5 times New Zeland, all over Europe Canada, and something ,you know, I hadn’t seen anything I really liked ,and then… so, who we are, live in Kentucky, looking for a place for the winter and then ,how we got here…
Why did you choose Las Terrenas?
Susan: Why we chose Las Terrenas was on the web site, looking for international retirement places and I saw an article written by a man named Daniel Haussman and he wrote all about Las Terrenas . We had just come back from Panama for my husbands 60th birthday we went to Panama for 2 weeks thinking we were going to buy there, it just wasn’t right ,that’s when we saw this web site ,we got home and I said ….Las Terrenas, let’s go, we still have our money we didn’t buy anything ,so, we went, we came down here, met Dany, and as soon as we got to Las Terrenas ,as soon we were supposed to go to Las Galleras,Cabarete, we were supposed to go all the way up and down and just look, look ,no! We got to Las Terrenas we said: A QUI! Here it is ,you know ,And soEureka, we found it. So, Dany was the best and the house that we ended up, that we bought ,he was actually living in at the time ,he was our realtor and he was showing me other properties but, finally one of his buddy said: Dany, show them your house. OH no ,they are not gonna want to see this, that’s because he was living there for free .So, we came and looked at the house and as soon as we got here , we drove in I didn’t even have to see the inside ,I said PERFETTO! So we bought our house and CASA PURAVITA was what it was named ,it was actually built by a man who owns the PURAVITA KITE SPORTS and so he had built it with an Italian architect and we really liked the openness . So, that’s how we got here. We bought the property, and …..
So, when you can you came and you bought the property here ,you then decided, ok, you can’t live here all year round, so you go back and forth . So, what actually inspired you to do what you do here now? You rent your place, so you do a little bit of the realtor stuff , and then the pillows.
OK ,that’s what you want, ok, absolutely. So, when we bought the house the way we knew we could afford to maintain this property and our property in Kentucky, cause, we got a nice house on the Ohio river and we love being there, hum, so, we rent our property through HOME AWAY VRBO.com trip advisor, and we are very blessed that we have a lot of bookings and so that’s the income ,it comes from our rental property although most of the money that we make from that goes back into maintain it and then building another property ,so we really haven’t seen a profit yet . UHM. And so, and then we were coming down, or ,I was coming down for maybe a total of 3 months out of the year but only 2 weeks at a time and now I decided I want to stay here at least 4 months out of every year and I can’t just sit on a beach ,I love to read but I can’t do that . So, the next thing we did, we built an apartment so we used the money from the rentals and we built the SKY TERRACE where I’m sitting right now.
we were saying that you built this beautiful apartment that you now live in.
So ,this was built though, I designed it ,no architect there was never a plan ,but I’m so blessed that I have ,uhm,I think that the best thing about being in Las Terrenas are the Dominican and the Hatians people and they are FANTASTICO, and the Haitians are the hardest working people I’ve ever seen . So, my MAESTRO Fredo Danberville, and he’s got a wonderful French back round before his family moved toHaiti ,his town is Damberville and so …He, I was so blessed to meet him ,and so he is the one I said can we build this? And he said : No problem, so everything I said, so I designed it and he built it .He and Seno, and Ricky, and then we had Salensio and I mean we had like a dozen people at a time working on this building and it took basicly 4 months.From start to finish everything. And we built this so my husband and I will be able to stay here, I stay here all the time when we’ve got the house rented. So, that’s what we do, and the other thing that would be good to say is we have never regretted one minute of moving, of buying property in Las Terrenas. It’s the best thing that we ever did.
You’ve had a positive experience all the way around.
I mean there have been problems the problems would be things like flooding, on our particular property because we are next to a swamp. HELLO!!! It’s going to flood .And so we solved the problem. And once we had a LADRON come in a thief and took our 200$ television we brought down, not for us we don’t watch it but the guest, so, what did we do? We put the bars the iron bars .Now we do bars that look so pretty and we never had any other problems. And the people and this town and what is so wonderful is that the ability to come and have so many restaurants to choose from. Our realtor Dan Huassman ended up opening the best American speaking place in the entire island Big Dan Polars Bar and you know it’s like CHEARS .The TV show CHEARS that was set in Boston ,well Dan’s is the CHEARS of Las Terrenas ,everybody knows your name. So, when you walk in you can always find someone. I don’t even have that in LuisvilleKentucky. I also feel perfectly safe, I’m here a gringo woman, older woman and I walk usually everywhere at night totally by myself I have never had one problem. Nobody messes with me and you realize that if anybody ever stops its usually a moto concho driver ,and he’s just seeing if I need a ride, if he can make a 25 pesos coin to take me somewhere. And so, you realize that it’s just safe.
in the time that you’ve been here in the last 4 years you’ve also created this wonderful pillow project that I’d like to hear about.
I’ve always been involved down, or actually up in LuisvilleKentuckywith mentoring a number of children, teenage girls and one boy. The Saturday club and I’ve done that for 15 years and we get together every Saturday and I’ve watched these , and they are from ,they are “at risk kids”. Very poor neighborhood in Luisville, all African American all black kids. Latasha,Denise and little Darin and Denisha and Devana so I’ve had them.. and I missed that coming down here ,feeling like I could work with kids , so what could I do? And then it became well what could I teach these kids so that they would have a skill they could make money. There is some money in Las Terrenas and I thought what could we do to make that I could teach them that they could sell. So we started a company, I’ve just started a company called LOVE THE PILLOWS .com . Most of them are, they are like this .So I bring down beautiful fabric, now this is an indoor ,but what we are doing is we are making larger pillows with gorgeous fabrics and we’ve taught already 3 14 year old girls to use a sewing machine and then they are sewing these together and then stuffing them and then we are going to be selling them . They get paid to make the pillows and then I’m doing a 20 % of the profit after I take off the material cost, and 20% of that is going to go to the school “squelita el mantial”which was started by a wonderful woman here in Las Terrenas her name is Lidia Dickenson and I’ve got a team now, Lidia started the school and then Noemi Liat is a wonderful person and she’s my, also a Dominican woman .So that’s what we do and then we are starting a store, Noemi already got the store front, so it’s a team, team work . And then I met a guy yesterday who is going to do my web site and work on it for free and it just helps everybody.
This is one of the wonderful things about Las Terrenas is that you can meet people that come from all over the world and connect and get together and create .It’s synergy it really is .
So now I’ve met Orly, and Andrea and Giuseppe and by the way, they are very good looking men beautiful woman, muy guapo ,hermoso Hermosa, bellissimo. So, I meet them last night and they are my Nuevo amigos my new friends . And so that’s what happens, so if you are thinking, gosh I’ll be all alone , no call me we’ll talk I’ll be your friend .
Being that you actually have decided to come to Las Terrenas I guess it’s been a little over 4 years now and have invested in the Dominican Republic do you have any advice regarding investing in this country, for friends listening to you now. Anything they could do or not do maybe.
Ok good idea ,again I think that anything you invest in terms of property, this town of Las Terrenas I hope it’s not like a Cancun but when they first took Cancun there was nothing there and then Cancun grew and anybody who had bought property in Cancun or anywhere on that coast in Mexico you know they quadrupled at least their money. Well Las Terrenas, we bought right before the new highway was built connectingSanto Domingo and now with that new high way it’s an hour and a half 2 hours max to drive. So, any property that you can buy, I wish that we had bought more property 4 years ago and really that to me is the best investment you can make is buy land even if you’re not ready to build on it yet, and once you’ve got that land ,then you can hire someone like my Haitian Maestro and somebody that can… They are wonderful crafts people here and they are all doing their own little thing, so you got your iron man that can make the iron, you’ve got all these different crafts men the tile work and so forth. And so that would be my best investment advice would be to buy property right now before it goes ariba and it will. If in terms of businesses ,there are a lot of different little businesses opportunities and a friend of mine is opening a mini mart here and I’m real excited about, that’s my friend Naomi Liat who is volunteering with the pillows and so she has a minimart and I know that it’s going to work .This is a huge tourist place and its remarkable. So, my advice would be ,buy property, sit on it ,get title ,do not buy anything without title and now the government is requiring deslinde which is gps of your titled property so just make sure you do that and talk to many people to get their advice in terms of location .
Mistakes that can be made are the usual that can be made anywhere in the world, in other words ,if you don’t get the proper information, if you don’t talk to the right people ….
Make sure that you talk to an attorney , we’ve got who I think is the best in town Cezar Calderon with Gusman and he’s wonderful and so we feel really good about his legal advice which has been non existint because we have no problems no problem. So, investment do the property it’s your best bet, and see if you can foresee where the next area is going to be .It’s kind of like, once Costa Rica was gone you couldn’t buy anything, now Las Terrenas is almost in this area Samana peninsula so you kina want to be looking where is going to be the next area to invest in.
That’s great advice, and so anything that comes to your mind that you would like to share as a final closer any anecdote or story .
A lot of people say OH the police be careful the police are so terrible and if you come here you’re gonna see guys with guns and they are everywhere, and when I first came, I was like, I’m from Kentucky what are these men running around with guns then you realize usually they don’t have bullets and it’s just to look tough and but the police.. here’s what happened: Last year ,I bring my dog Sally with me when I’m here for 4 months and it was Christmas eve we promised my husband Steve, I said Sally and I will be home for Christmas and our friend Miguel, in his SUV we are driving down the high way and we get to the last or second to the last toll both . It’s my dog Sally ,and her crate, and a suite case and me and we are drving to the airport to grt the flight to go home for Christmas back to Kentucky and Miguels car breaks down at the toll booth ,it will not start, we are13 kmfrom the airport and there’s nothing, I’m like NO!!!!we push the car out of the toll booth area and then I grabbed a piece of paper that I had in the car and I wrote “perfavor aereoporto, please airport and I’m standing outside, so I go stand on the road ,a few cars are going through, holding my sign and people would come by and see, and no, and my dog is with me ,and so they are like no no, and I’m like what am I going to do …all of a sudden these police come through and they’re in their truck and they stop and Miguel is like she needs… no problem, police say “get in”and so we put everything in the back of the truck, I get in the back seat behind them, they put the siren on and they go flighing down the high way we get to the last one, they get out and move the cones and andale, andale, andale, and they get us there and I’m like my heros!and they got us to the airport on time . And so, I made my flight home for Christmas and so the police are now my friends . I had their picture taken with me and Sally, I can show you, and I carry it with me all the time so if I’m ever pulled over I’m gonna say: mis amigos ,these are my friends and maybe it will be the same people . That’s what happens in Las Terrenas ,you meet wonderful people and they always like to help you .
It’s been great talking to you, thank you so much for sharing your stories with us and hope to see you soon again ok bye .
Ok, bye, so I should jump in the pool