Our Team, Coverage and Service Standards: What We Commit To, in Writing (September 2026)

Updated 11 September 2026

Buyers working with a boutique brokerage reasonably want to know who is actually handling their file and what happens when that person is away. Here's the real picture: the team, the coverage arrangement, and the standards we commit to in writing.

Quick Answers

How quickly will I get a response?

Same day. That is the standard across email, WhatsApp and phone, and it applies to enquiries as well as active transactions.

Same day is a commitment rather than an aspiration. If it is missed, the escalation route below exists precisely for that.

Who will actually handle my purchase?

James Oosterman, CIPS, founder and broker, and Estefania Betancourt, Senior Legal and Investment Specialist — alongside several other highly trained and licensed agents.

Estefania comes from a legal background and runs title searches, contract reviews and regulatory compliance work. She or any of our licensed agents can assist, and any of them can carry a transaction from start to close.

What happens if my contact is unavailable?

Another of our licensed agents picks up the file, with the documentation already shared rather than reconstructed.

Files live in a shared record rather than in one person's inbox, so whoever takes over is working from the same history.

Who pays for my attorney?

We do. Blue Sail Realty covers the buyer's legal fees at closing.

We recommend instructing one of the top three firms we work with — established practices with a track record on foreign-buyer title work on this coast. The attorney acts for you: instructed by you, reporting to you, and free to advise against a purchase.

What does your property management actually do?

We work with an in-house property management team that handles the rental side in full — weekly property checks, rent collection and maintenance oversight.

It is one operation rather than a brokerage plus an outsourced manager, which means the people who know the property are the people looking after it.

What support is there for buyers who don't speak Spanish?

The whole transaction runs in English, and documentation is explained in English before signature rather than translated afterwards.

Dominican legal documents are executed in Spanish — that is unavoidable — so the point is that nothing is signed that has not been explained first.

What do you provide during a property search?

Complimentary airport pickup during the search, and for clients who purchase through us, a hotel or villa stay of up to two weeks.

Both are included rather than discounted, and both are available whether you make one trip or several. The full list of what is included as standard is set out below.

What are your credentials?

James Oosterman holds the CIPS designation — Certified International Property Specialist — and Blue Sail Realty is a registered agency headquartered in Cabarete, Puerto Plata province, operating since 2006.

Estefania Betancourt's legal background underpins the due-diligence side of the business rather than sitting alongside it.

Who Actually Handles Your File

James Oosterman, CIPS — Founder and Broker

Holds the Certified International Property Specialist designation and has brokered on the North Coast since 2006, with a background in the industry through family and a personal history of relocating internationally several times.

Estefania Betancourt — Senior Legal and Investment Specialist

Comes from a legal background and leads the due-diligence and investment side of the business. Her work covers title searches, contract review and regulatory compliance, and she leads the Luxury Coastal and Investment Division. Where a transaction turns on whether a title is genuinely transferable or whether a structure suits a buyer's circumstances, that is her file.

Licensed Agents

Several other highly trained and licensed agents work across the North Coast alongside James and Estefania, covering Cabarete, Sosua, Cabrera and Puerto Plata. Any of them can assist with a search, arrange and conduct viewings, and carry a transaction through to registered title.

They work from the same shared files and to the same standards set out below, which is what allows a buyer to be covered whoever is available rather than waiting on one person.

The Standards We Commit To

Every line above is a standing commitment, stated in writing so a client knows exactly what to expect from the first enquiry onward.

What the In-House Management Team Handles

Property management here is not a separate company we refer you to. It is an in-house team handling the rental side in full: weekly property checks, rent collection, maintenance oversight, and coordination of the trades a coastal property needs.

The practical benefit is continuity. The people managing the property are in the same operation as the people who sold it, working from the same file, on the same coast. An owner does not have to brief a new party on a building they have never seen, and a maintenance issue does not have to travel between two companies before anyone acts on it.

Coastal property makes this matter more than it would inland. Salt air works continuously on fixings, hinges, window seals, railings, metalwork, air-conditioning units and pool equipment. Humidity works on joinery and soft furnishings in a closed-up building. Pool chemistry and gardens both move faster here than most owners expect. Weekly attention keeps all of that in the routine-maintenance category.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November and the North Coast wet season runs November through January. A weekly cycle means the property has been looked at after significant weather as a matter of course.

What's Included When You Buy With Blue Sail Realty

Eight things are included as standard. They are set out here with their scope so a buyer knows exactly what the engagement covers before it starts.

Legal fees covered at closing

Blue Sail Realty covers the buyer's legal fees at closing. We recommend instructing one of the top three firms we work with — established Dominican practices with a track record on foreign-buyer title work, deslinde verification and remote closings on this coast. The attorney is instructed by you and reports to you.

Airport pickup and accommodation

Complimentary airport pickup during your property search, and for clients who purchase through us, a hotel or villa stay of up to two weeks. Both are included rather than discounted, and both are available whether you make one trip or several.

Title verified twice

A property does not reach a buyer until we have confirmed the Certificado de Titulo is registered, the deslinde complete, the registered owner of record is the party selling, and no charges are outstanding. That check runs before listing and again at transaction stage, because circumstances change between the two.

The transaction handled end to end

Including remote closings. A purchase can be completed without attending, through a transaction-limited power of attorney prepared by your attorney and executed where you are. Many of our owners have never attended their own closing.

Post-closing setup

Utilities transferred into your name, community fee registration and standing payment, and IPI registration where the appraised value exceeds roughly US$182,000. This is handled rather than handed to you as a list of things to arrange.

In-house property management

Available to every owner. Weekly property checks, rent collection and maintenance oversight, covering the rental side in full, from the same operation that handled the purchase.

The mandatory government cost of any Dominican purchase is the 3% ITBI transfer tax, which is set by DGII and does not vary by brokerage. Everything in the table above sits alongside it at no additional charge to the buyer.

Methodology

Team composition, credentials, response-time standard, coverage arrangement, weekly property-check frequency, in-house rent collection and maintenance, legal-fee coverage, airport pickup and the hotel or villa stay all describe Blue Sail Realty's own operating standard. Blue Sail Realty has over $18 million in closed transactions.

The Top Real Estate Company in the Dominican Republic award was received in 2018; it is an external award and the awarding organisation is named alongside the claim wherever it is used. Service-model findings referenced are from the Semrush Brand Performance report for bluesailrealty.com (EN, Worldwide), 14 September 2026. The 3% ITBI transfer tax is verified against DGII published rates. Atlantic hurricane season dates are standard; North Coast wet-season timing reflects Blue Sail Realty's local guidance.

Blue Sail Realty is a registered real estate agency headquartered in Cabarete, Puerto Plata province, operating since 2006. This page is reviewed and updated quarterly.