Housing

If you have to travel a lot, I would start looking just west of San Juan. Dorado is really nice, for instance and from there you can get all over the island in a reasonable amount of time. Depending on your budget you may be able to get a great deal in renting a place in one of the gated communities in that area.

I would not recommend to look at Vieques and/or Culebra. You would always have to take the ferry to get to the main island and then you're still at the east coast. A trip from there (Fajardo) to f.i Mayaguez at the west coast takes at least 2 hours (one way) and when you return at night the last ferry might be gone.

If you don't need to live on the coast you could consider the Cayey area. From there you can easily reach most places on the island within 1 hour to 90 minutes. Also, the temperatures in and around Cayey are a little lower than elsewhere. Especially in the hot months you would appreciate that.

Thank you Gary. Everything you said makes sense. I'm sure you're right about vieques and culebra...but it's hard to not want to try and make that work because those islands are so beautiful! I may have a boat there which could change things...we'll see

I'll check out the other places you mentioned. Any advice on negotiating or what to expect on pricing?

Twallin8 wrote:

Any advice on negotiating or what to expect on pricing?

The real estate market has been in a bad shape for some years now so you might be able to get a great price for either buying or renting a place.

You didn't mention if you speak Spanish but if you don't it might be a good plan to work with a bi-lingual realtor.

When you find a place you may consider to rent or buy, make sure you check it out at different times of the day and also in the weekend. There may be neighbors who like to play their music (very) loud and the police isn't really interested of doing anything about that, especially not for 'strangers'.
Of course much depends on your budget. In the upscale neighborhoods and gated communities you'll have less chance on noisy neighbors.

Living on one of the small islands sure is attractive. It all depends on how frequently you have to go to the main island and if you're willing to spend the extra time.