New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here – 1st quarter of 2017

Once you drive in the island you will be glad you're not on a moped, one because of the drivers down there and the other the weather, right now it's been raining almost every day. I will suggest to the airbnb as Rey mentioned. Look for a room to rent after you decided what part of the island you want to stay at. I think you will find a room easier to rent for a short time than a house.

bugbunkie wrote:

I was under the impression that you are already living there by all the information you provide to people on here. I was looking forward to meeting you when we move. I guess we'll have to wait another year. We stayed in boqueron and ventured to neighboring towns. It was amazing and we are so ready to start a new life there. As stated before, we haven't decided on what town or purchase /build. We heard mixed stories on hiring a contractor to build for us. But we are heading there once our place is sold.
See you next time you are there.
Ron and Bev

I lived there from birth to age 20, have family there including my first son and 2 grandkids. I visit often, I ask questions and listen to other members, also good at searching the Internet. My ETA is 2018 to the town of Ceiba where my father was born.

Hello, I am new to the forum.  My wife and I are moving to Luquillo in May to a family home we have owned for nearly 40 years.  We are excited to leave behind the cold weather here in the Chicago area.  I cane across this website while doing some research and joined right away.  Our property is in Mata De Platano and we have been a part of the community there since my Father In Law started the home owners association 40+ years ago.  We look forward to meeting other families in the Luquillo area.  We have watched Luquillo grow up over the years. I work for Aon Hewitt and will be transferring to our Hato Rey offices.

If anyone has a recommendation of a good home remodeling contractor or company, please pass it along as we will be doing some renovations to a kitchen and master bathroom.  By the way, Pro Windows in Luquillo has outstanding products and service.  I have used them to replace the windows and doors in our property and could not be happier.

I hope to be active on the forum

Regards

Welcome.  Alot of good people and info here.
Ron and Bev

Hello, I am new to the forum. As a teen I lived in PR and haven't forgotten it. Now retired and living in Los Angeles,  I would like to spend a couple of winter months a year there. I would like to choose an area where there is a friendly art community. Are there any areas where there are more artists, gatherings, art classes/workshops?
Shelley

Not absolutely positive, but I suggest you look at  Santurce or another section of San Juan.  There are more  activities in general. There is a nice art gallery on the second floor of Casa Cortes in Old San Juan. I know an artist who lives in Piñones and where I live there are artists, poets, an art gallery, a monthly Art Walk,  a mosaic studio,  and art exhibits at the local country club.  We are planning to start a bohemian night inspired by turn-of-the-century Paris salons.  You can help, if you choose to live here.  I live in Palmas del Mar in Humacao on the east coast.

Welcome to the forum shelleygloria,
Art is everywhere in the island but to my knowledge the heaviest concentration are in Santurce as Frogrock mentioned, San Juan, and Ponce.
If I had to pick the two main ones I would have to go for Santurce and Ponce. Ponce has always been a center for the arts and it is famous for its museums.
If you are also interested in African art/culture Loiza merits a few visits.

I had thought about Loiza, but I couldn't find any rentals there. Thanks for the info.

Welcome to the forum! Rincón have q lot of expat living in the area and is a big community for the artistically inclined folks.

Check the friends of Rincón FB group for information and other artists in the area.

shelleygloria wrote:

I had thought about Loiza, but I couldn't find any rentals there. Thanks for the info.

I would commend visiting all of the areas above and making new friends. You will need to drive, sure.

Hello!  My husband and I will be Puerto Rico on June 13 for one month to scout out some locations for a future move.  We like Condado but would love hear about your neck of the woods!
Marie

Marie Golak wrote:

Hello!  My husband and I will be Puerto Rico on June 13 for one month to scout out some locations for a future move.  We like Condado but would love hear about your neck of the woods!
Marie

Hello Marie,
Welcome to the forum and hopefully Puerto Rico soon.
Condado is a great place to live, you have shops, plenty of tourist to meet and other Expats, you are also close to San Juan and all the cultural activities and festivals plus a good artistic community. 2 basic negatives are the cost of housing is rather high and while the beaches are good, they are not the greatest
You can also look into Isla Verde (closer to airport) and would have about the same experience at lower cost.
20-30 minutes away along the easter side of the island you have Canovanas, Loiza, Luquillo and Fajardo with boating, scuba and many other water sports.

Hi everyone! I'm Steph, I just moved to Isabela with my husband Jason from Dallas, TX. Jason's job at DXC (CSC) transferred us here, and I'm an artist. We'd love to meet people in our area!

Hi Steph,
Glad to meet you. Hope all is going well and welcome to the forum.
Soon other members in your area will extend their welcome also.
Rey

Hi Steph
Welcome to PR.
We are from CT&TX.  Right down the road from you in Hatillo. Isabela is a nice area too.

Sitka

Hi and welcome to the forum and the island! We lived in the DFW area for many years. We are in the west part of the island, Sabana Grande.

Hello everyone.  I am new to this forum.  And honestly, new to any forum - so I hope I am doing this right.

My husband and I are looking to build a retirement home in the Rincon, PR area.  We fell in love with Rincon back in 2010.  Now that we are closer to retirement we are looking into land or house in that area.

I was born and raised in NJ but of PR descent.  My husband grew up in NJ but comes from Mexico.

We would appreciate any advice and suggestions.  Thank you!!

10YRStoRincon wrote:

Hello everyone.  I am new to this forum.  And honestly, new to any forum - so I hope I am doing this right.

My husband and I are looking to build a retirement home in the Rincon, PR area.  We fell in love with Rincon back in 2010.  Now that we are closer to retirement we are looking into land or house in that area.

I was born and raised in NJ but of PR descent.  My husband grew up in NJ but comes from Mexico.

We would appreciate any advice and suggestions.  Thank you!!

Welcome to the Forum and hope soon to Puerto Rico. You are doing things correctly in the forum. This is the place to introduce yourself and get started.

What is the timeframe for the final move?

Since you have fallen in love with Rincon, that is the general area you should look into. You stated you want to build your home so it is a matter of locating a lot of the correct size for your needs. The obvious choice is to talk with locals and drive around looking for a lot. Not all lots will be advertised and not all lots will have a for sale sign. So you may want to check with CRIM to locate the owner and speak with him about a possible sale of the lot. Some may have the land just sitting there and not have a plan for sale but would likely listen to an offer. Getting a piece of a lot is also possible but it requires that the lot be partition and land surveyed and owners tend not to like that due to cost and delays, they rather sell the whole thing. Not all properties are registered with CRIM, which means that they would need to be registered in order to get a tittle.

You can always contact a realtor if you are in a hurry.

Remember that you can purchase the lot and keep it for several years, you don't have to build immediately. So you could break the expense over the years. Probably pay for the land cash. And a few years later take a loan for the house.
Rey

Luquillo Bill wrote:

Hello, I am new to the forum.  My wife and I are moving to Luquillo in May to a family home we have owned for nearly 40 years.  We are excited to leave behind the cold weather here in the Chicago area.  I cane across this website while doing some research and joined right away.  Our property is in Mata De Platano and we have been a part of the community there since my Father In Law started the home owners association 40+ years ago.  We look forward to meeting other families in the Luquillo area.  We have watched Luquillo grow up over the years. I work for Aon Hewitt and will be transferring to our Hato Rey offices.

If anyone has a recommendation of a good home remodeling contractor or company, please pass it along as we will be doing some renovations to a kitchen and master bathroom.  By the way, Pro Windows in Luquillo has outstanding products and service.  I have used them to replace the windows and doors in our property and could not be happier.

I hope to be active on the forum

Regards

I have to apologize, somehow I missed your post.
Welcome to the forum, we love for our members to be active and help each other out with contacts, recommendations and their experience. Since you are a local, you can be a great asset to the forum.

Sorry I can not recommend anybody, but one of our members lives in Luquillo, his avatar is Johnnyhulk, he moved to the island over a year ago, maybe 2 and he is a great guy to meet. There are several other members in the east coast and they are all very friendly.

Hope you find the right contractor and your place ends up looking great!!!
Rey

Thank you for the advice and information!!

Hello All,

My name is Robin and my boyfriend and I have been exploring the possibility of moving to PR. Although we haven't been there we're drawn by the Las Palmas area in Hautulco mainly due to the marina and the golf and tennis clubs. I've lived in Hawaii and love the climate and the slow pace of life. We'd like to rent first and I've looked through classificado web-site but don't see much available for rent. We're putting together a trip in October and would appreciate any input regarding looking at property in Las Palmas. Thanks!

freebird66 wrote:

Hello All,

My name is Robin and my boyfriend and I have been exploring the possibility of moving to PR. Although we haven't been there we're drawn by the Las Palmas area in Hautulco mainly due to the marina and the golf and tennis clubs. I've lived in Hawaii and love the climate and the slow pace of life. We'd like to rent first and I've looked through classificado web-site but don't see much available for rent. We're putting together a trip in October and would appreciate any input regarding looking at property in Las Palmas. Thanks!

Hello Robin,
Welcome to the Forum and hopefully Puerto Rico.
Palmas Del Mar in Humacao is a great place to live, it has many communities and several different types of homes. Lots of pools and many facilities inside that are fun. However it is an expensive area to live which will likely not affect you much if you are able to live in Hawaii. As a matter of fact if you can afford it, one of the models of houses in Palmas has its own personal marina connected to the backyard.

It will be very important NOT to plan to have a local job in PR, unemployment is 15% or more and likely you will also need to be fluent in Spanish for a lot of the jobs.

There are marinas and marina clubs all over the island, Fajardo has some of the larges Marinas since it is the gateway to the other islands, it is 3 towns away from Humacao (from Humacao, to Naguabo, to Ceiba, and then Fajardo) probably 15 minute to 20 minute drive.
One of our most active members and a dear friend of mine, "Frogrock" lives in Palmas, however I think she is visiting the states at the moment so you may see her online in a couple of weeks or so.

Rentals in palmas occur frequently but it is a matter of timing, But renting before you buy is a great choice since it gives you an opportunity to decide if PR and Palmas is for you. You should just come to visit and explore several times before making the jump, also visit several other areas of the island.

Unlike Hawaii where English is the primary language, in PR it is the reverse. In Palmas it will likely not be an issue but outside of there knowing Spanish will make life easier.

One warning .... If you have a pit bull pet or some mix of pit bull, you will not be able to transport it to the island.
Second warning ---- If you become a permanent resident of PR you will loose representation in congress and will not be able to vote in the presidential elections or congressional elections either, you can get into a lot of trouble if you try to work around this limitation.

You will instead gain the privilege to vote for a local corrupt politician.

Thank you very much for the info. Greatly appriciate it.

Robin,
I love Hawaii, too. I actually started my "move to Hawaii" fund in a coffee can at age 6, never even seeing Hawaii until after graduating from college.

It is expensive, and the closest  I could get at the time was Southern California, in San Juan Capistrano, a little Spanish town I visited and fell in love with at age 9.

Puerto Rico is the best of all worlds; a climate similar to Maui's (at about the same lattitude), the ocean and charming Spanish heritage. Plus, it's affordable.

I don't know Spanish, but am working on that. My apartment is in Old Town, but don't live there year round yet. Working on that, too.

I lived on Kauai for four years when I was 18. Carried two jobs. It's very expensive to live there.

I'm originally from Newport Beach in California. I'm visiting here now and just took my boyfriend to see the Mission in SJC. I have been toying with the idea of having a boat here but it's so congested. The traffic is awful.

I've also been looking into Mexico but they have their own issues too and the price of real estate is expensive for being in Mexico. I've been following the problems in PR and have felt that maybe it's a good time to invest in property there. But I would for sure rent first.

I'm fine with the language and would like to be more fluent in Spanish. 

Is there any talk of making PR an actual state?

freebird66 wrote:

Is there any talk of making PR an actual state?

Yes there is a schedule vote on June 11 for the people to select if they want to remain a colony, become independent or ask to be a state. Last one was 2012 but the wording of the ballot was very confusing and to this date people are fighting the meaning of the results. But previous to that the vote has been 47% remain a colony versus 46% for statehood the rest has gone to independence.

The new ballot is a straight forward single question where you select one of the 3 choices, so the message should be clear whatever it is.

Hmmmm...... seems close. Wouldn't the tax advantages be wiped out if they became a state?

Yes the tax advantage would be wiped if it became a state. Unlike places like Florida where there is no state tax and you pay only property tax plus sales tax and federal, in PR if it became a state you would pay state tax, sales tax, property tax, and federal.

State tax in PR is high currently and sales tax is 11.5%, electric is almost as high as Hawaii, electric is .22 per KWH.

Currently if all your income comes from within PR you pay Sales tax, property tax and PR tax, but no Federal.

If your income is a mix of PR and US income you pay them all but PR gives you credit for Federal, since PR is a different country when it comes to taxation. If it became a state, that would go away, you will pay all the taxes.

Because most people only make 20k a year or less, they would pay little in the form of Federal tax.

A lot of the members of the forum are retired or in the process of retirement with mostly income from IRAs, 401K, and Social Security, so most of the members do not pay PR tax since the income is from the states. That will change if PR was a state.

Poor is close to 50% and they see statehood as a way to get more money from the federal government in the form of benefits such as food stamps and welfare. The politicians in power are pushing this idea to the people as a way to sell statehood.

PS. Property tax is very low currently, it is around 1/4 than in most states, but they are looking at it and that may change.

Your input is great. The way I see it since I'm a real estate investor by trade is that it can go three ways for property values. If PR does become a state that would infuse the new state with badly needed funds which could temporarily lift values but in the long run if they don't use that money for job training and getting the population to work it could hurt a recovery effort. If they remain a common wealth then property values could further erode. Good for us but bad for existing owners. One thing I know is that unique beautiful places will do well in the long run as long as they can lift the populous out of poverty. From your numbers, the third option seems off the table which would be bad if it ever passed.

freebird66 wrote:

Your input is great. The way I see it since I'm a real estate investor by trade is that it can go three ways for property values. If PR does become a state that would infuse the new state with badly needed funds which could temporarily lift values but in the long run if they don't use that money for job training and getting the population to work it could hurt a recovery effort. If they remain a common wealth then property values could further erode. Good for us but bad for existing owners. One thing I know is that unique beautiful places will do well in the long run as long as they can lift the populous out of poverty. From your numbers, the third option seems off the table which would be bad if it ever passed.

I am no expert, but it is my opinion that if PR were to become a state, we would see a lot of the same situation as we seen in Florida and Hawaii, where more mainlanders would move in and displace the natives causing the prices to go thru the roof where mosts natives can not afford to have a home. Why I say the mainlanders would move in? Because language in Schools, Courts and government would change to English (congress already said that and so did trump). English would be the primary language forcing Spanish out, this makes it easier for English speakers, It would be a state and people would learn about it in school instead of a brief mention that it gets today. More people would like to move in for a permanent home, retirement or vacation home in a state that is always warm with plenty of beaches and river ponds, lakes and forests. Lots of wild life for now but that will die out as the forests are cut down to put in more homes, malls and other businesses. Likely beaches will end up privatized to hotels and Inns, today you can not prevent the general population to use any beach in PR, the beaches are all public.

So I am not too fond of the idea.

There are certainly pros and cons to statehood. Personally, I would prefer PR to stay as a common wealth as I'm drawn to the experience of speaking Spanish and living on a beautiful island at the same time. Real estate prices are atractive too. But......if PR did become a state many people would perhaps prosper. Time will tell.

I'm planning on visiting for several weeks starting the end of September. I can't wait!

Thank you for your time and maybe we can meet up then.

Robin

Hi, when you visit Puerto Rico in September keep in mind you will be there at the height of the hurricane  season and the heaviest rainy season. Wet and hot but keep in mind that it just gets better starting around November when the hurricanes and tropical depressions subside. Late November until April/ May it is a very comfortable climarte.

Hi All,

This site has been very helpful with all that's been going on lately and in general research. My wife and I are buying house in Culebra. We will be there May 11th! We have been coming to Culebra now for 5 years escaping the Boston cold winter weather, and fell in love with the nature / people. We have met really great people and network that has helped us get to where we are now.

Wish us luck!

Jeff +  Sunny

Thank you for the info. I have been grappling with that thought. I have lived in the desert for the last 4 years and it is already startng to heat up and will last well into September. I was thinking it wouldn't be as bad as here with 120 degree heat. Unbearable.

Try 95 degrees and 100% humidity!

CasaSunny wrote:

Hi All,

This site has been very helpful with all that's been going on lately and in general research. My wife and I are buying house in Culebra. We will be there May 11th! We have been coming to Culebra now for 5 years escaping the Boston cold winter weather, and fell in love with the nature / people. We have met really great people and network that has helped us get to where we are now.

Wish us luck!

Jeff +  Sunny

Hi Jeff and Sunny,
Welcome to the forum he forum and it looks like to Puerto Rico soon.
Don't be a stranger, come back and share with us.
Rey

Thanks! Most definitely will come back some posts and photos.

freebird66 wrote:

Thank you for the info. I have been grappling with that thought. I have lived in the desert for the last 4 years and it is already startng to heat up and will last well into September. I was thinking it wouldn't be as bad as here with 120 degree heat. Unbearable.

Different type of heat, desert is typically over 100 and very dry, at night the temperature tends to drop 40 degrees easily.
In PR is rare to hit 98 more than a few days a year, but the humidity on average is around 75 and can hit 98% humidity from time to time. That is why big G, created all the nice river pools and refreshing beaches which together with some coconut water and some good Rum will have you forget the heat. Oh I forgot, at night typically the temperature goes down slowly, down to about 75 or 73. Mountains can get to 55 at night in winter.

Hello, everybody!! Myself EricBlocker, I am a newbie here.