We just spent 2 weeks in PR on a retirement scouting expedition to see if we would and could want to live there. The answer is yes, we would. But housing looks like a serious difficulty. Help?
There seems to be a shortage of affordable reliable housing; i.e. rentals less than $1,000 mo. in San Juan.
I've been through all the usual sites - Craigslist, Zillow, Classificados, etc.
Classificados has the largest number of rental listings but many of them have no photos, it's not clear what the terms of the rental[s] are, and the listings are undated. I can't tell if they were posted last week or last year. Maybe someone else here knows how to better decipher the rental listings on Classificado, some key element I'm overlooking? For example, here is one I found today that interests me but lacks a lot of useful information and only includes an email address for a 'Mr. Martinez'. http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDRen … ID=1443396
Anybody have experience dealing with apartments on Classificados? (yo no hablo espanol )
We liked PR for the most part. We traveled by bus, foot, rail, and unexpected rides. Public transportation is actually worse than I had read, we never did manage to find one of the bus terminals in San Juan we were looking for. Very well kept secret those distance bus terminals, nobody seems to know where they are and if you do find one there is no schedule, no office, no information, no map, no nothing. Very challenging.
I know it is unfashionable and wildly inconvenient, but we are fairly committed to not owning a car so that limits our housing search to San Juan where there is a semblance of public transportation.
I have a lot more if anyone wants to chat, but finding an affordable place to live is a first priority. Get there, and then figure the rest of it out after that.
- Thanks to anyone who can shed light on the rental quandary!