New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here – 4th quarter of 2016

Ha Ha - he used to tow me in the pool in Tx, I'd grab his tail and he would drag me around the pool.  He loved it.

Now, if I could only teach him to stop drinking sea water!  He goes in the surf with the kids and surfers, drinks the salt water and gets beach scowers!  Dumb dog!  Oh well, he's a lover, not a thinker.

ReyP/Sitka,

Thanks again for the notes. Well I'll tell you that the west coast is seeing some serious waves! Couldn't sleep last night because of the banging of the waves, and tonight will be worse because it has been going all day. Surfers have been out all day from Rincon up to Aguadilla. Raining all day over here but still very cool place to be.

We did drive back up to Aguada and Aguadilla today to look at neighborhoods (and the surfing). If there was any doubt that we wanted ocean views, there is no doubt now after seeing and hearing the water for the past few days. We still have an open mind and will continue trekking south tomorrow from Rincon. We did stumble on a place on the water between aguada and Rincon (https://goo.gl/maps/gsfEhrD6NBz Dropped Pin) that was for sale. Right on the water and with 4 small apartments. One-story place and was in a great location. Got lucky again and there were guys there cleaning the place. They let us check the place out. Guy there said owner was asking $650K. Sure someone could talk him down and we drove around all day talking through what we could potentially do with such a place, but after a few hours of fantasizing we decided that it wasn't something we'd want to jump right into (that is when we actually decide to buy). I don't know the island well enough to gauge if it was overpriced but I'm assuming it was some at least.

Between Rincon, Aguada, and Agaudilla, I'd rate Rincon and Aguada higher. All seem to have their own character but we liked the beaches at Rincon and Aguada more, plus the laid back vibe (although we also liked the metro area too). Beaches seemed nicer in Rincon and Aguada as well, and there are enough stores and other comforts of home around. Plus that drive from Aguada to Rincon is neat with the tree canopies and hills. Also from the locals we spoke to in both areas, they all said that Rincon is overpriced and a better deal could be found in Aguada. For example we saw one place on point2homes for $250K. We drove by the oceanfront condo (right off the main road) and it was surrounded by some pretty large nice oceanfront houses, something that would make us feel safer in any investment.

But take all of this with a grain of salt because this is just an exploratory trip. We'll keep gathering data and then mill over it all once the vacation ends. Looking forward to experiencing the south, central, and east parts of the island.

You sound like a kid in a candy store, This one, no this one, or maybe that one, LOL.

My standard recommendation applies:
1) Decide where you want to live
2) Move and rent for 6 months to a year and look around for the house of your dreams
3) Do not rush, that perfect house will be in the market for 6 months to 2 years.

By the way,  if you ever want to make an offer, an ofer is made with no money and no paperwork. If the owner accepts the offer then you put down the money and sign the offer letter. Offer money is 5-6%. This needs to be contingent (in writing) to a house inspection and property valuation. If all in acceptable conditions and within the offers value then you purchase. Otherwise you walk away and ask for your money back since the property did not meet the requirements of the contracted offer. If you walk away for other reasons you loose your deposit which is 5-6% of the offer.

A property like that for 650, I would ask for the books and tax records on the money they are making off of that commercial lot. This will give you an idea of how often they are full and what is the take. If the owner does not have them then he is doing things under the table so it is his word versus reality. These are rooms not condos, so no kitchens and no pool that I saw, which to me means that you are looking at 70-120 a night per room when booked, otherwise 0 times 4 rooms.

Some positives about the property, lots of restaurants around the place and walking distance to the Beach (balneario).

I told you that the west area is surfing city USA. They hold competitions there, not into it so do not know the name but well recognized. I find it funny that US west coast and PR west coast are both surfing areas. Yet most of the winds on west USA are west to east and in PR is East to west.

You need to see a good sunset in the west.

Like the water temperaure?

So much information to digest!  I was hoping I could make a trip there in March, but that is still up in the air.  In the meantime, I am just taking in all the information that everyone is sharing.  It is so great that there are so many helpful people on here!   

The "California Vibe" sounds appealing, but not so much when it is called Gringoland!  It has always been a dream of mine to live beachfront, but I realize that the costs may preclude me.  Also with rising water levels, plus hurricanes and flooding, beachfront properties are more at risk, I think.  That is a huge concern of course.  I didn't realize that winds generally are east to west.  Wouldn't that mean that the east side of the island would be at more risk for issues of hurricanes, flooding, etc?  Or maybe hurricanes can come from any direction, and you can't predict which area would be most affected.  In general though, do you think that damage to homes due to flooding or storms is more common on some coasts vs another?  Just curious.   

Ckang keep us updated on areas that you are liking best, and what sorts of things you are discovering!  We all can benefit from the experience of others!

Huracanes move east to west and they can told south or north. When it tilds south it passes typically south of Ponce and acabo Rojo ant then they tend to told again north very suddenly which puts Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba at risk. This is very common. The other common path is it start a east North East route which takes it about 40-75 miles north of San Juan and by mid length of PR or toward the end of PR it turns north heading toward Florida and Bahamas. It is fairly rare to hit Puerto Rico, it happens between 17-25 years. This causes it to turn north and will exit between Dorado and San Juan. In the old times houses were made out of wood so destruction was extensive on a direct hit. Now most are concrete so they are hardly ever damaged except for possible flying objects so best stay inside. We always have a fool or two surfing or watching the waves, so death are typically because of that. Another is potential floods from rivers may wash a car or two or a fool swimming in the river at the time. Coastal areas flood, dips in high areas flood. Occasional there are mud slides that make a road impassable, not that takes several houses, that is super rare. Mud slides can occur without a huracane due to saturation and hill steepness.

I been thru several huracanes in 20 years, most glanced the island or never touched, and 1 hit directly.

Stay inside, go to good altitude 50 feet or more above sea level and wait a day for the flooding to go down, keep many candles, flashlight, generator and store water to drink and flush the toilet. Can food and fruits handy. You will be fine.

As to gringoland, people call it that because it mostly caters to English speaking people, restaurants have English menus, Puerto Rican's are tolerated, only people able to speak English and Spanish can get a job.

Floods can damage furniture and home appliances and occasionally can erode some of the cement but it needs to be moving fast for that to happen. Cars do the worse in a flood that is why I say wait a day before you go out.

Many lines down since in PR we rarely run power and Internet below ground, water gets shutdown if they think it may be contaminated and in hills the electric pumps may not be working so no water.

Could be a couple of days or couple of weeks before you get power and Internet.

Locals have learned their lesson and have generators and cisterns for water.

Hot chocolate with saltine crackers or cheese like Gouda melted in the chocolate cup makes people feel good while they wait for the huracán to pass.

Lots of people also pass it at church, kids love it because they have lots of other kids to play with.

We are cautious but Not worried, we gone thru many.

We always loose a fool or two, a cow and 3 chickens.