Retirement in Guanica?

You might want to look a little bit further to the west, at Parguera.  Same dry climate, but when we were looking there, we were told there's a small community of expats (mostly ex-federal employees) there.

House cost will be less in Guanica than in la Parguera thou. La Parguera is more tourists destination, during the week is very quiet, but it ges real busy in the weekend, specially in the summer time. Good thing you will be in between Ponce and Mayaguez, two major cities to go shopping.

And before I forget, it will be mosquito city both areas, specially in the rainy season. Keep that in mind. 

Are you familiar with Mimi's guest house? David is from Mass, and you must know of Mary Lees by the Sea. There are some Mainlanders sprinkled around the area. Ponce is about 40 minutes away. Yauco has shopping areas too and that is about 10 minutes, San German is a nice colonial town. We meet a lot of mainlanders when we go swimming in Guanica and Playa Santa

I heard there is even a winery in Guanica. Since it is a tourist area most businesses either understand or speak enough English to help you out.

The winery is in Ensanada on the road between Guanica and Playa Santa. They have weekend concerts there at one time .

The winery is in Ensanada on the road between Guanica and Playa Santa. They have weekend concerts there at one time .

Thanks!  I've heard of the winery and plan to visit when we are there in March.  We've been coming down in March for many years and we rent a place in San Jacinto near Mary Lee's.  Although we're very familiar with the area, we just aren't quite sure that we will be able to stay busy.  I'd really like to volunteer some time to animal rescue or any other good cause.  In the meantime, we're really looking forward to the winery   

adlin20 wrote:

House cost will be less in Guanica than in la Parguera thou. La Parguera is more tourists destination, during the week is very quiet, but it ges real busy in the weekend, specially in the summer time. Good thing you will be in between Ponce and Mayaguez, two major cities to go shopping.

And before I forget, it will be mosquito city both areas, specially in the rainy season. Keep that in mind. 

Perhaps.  I've seen some really attractive deals in the area.  Asking price a couple of summers ago on a 3200 sq ft 5 bed, 3.5 bath concrete home, on 38 cuerdas overlooking the water, was $600,000.  Admittedly, the house needed a good bit of work, perhaps another $50,000 if you didn't do the work yourself.  There are bargains to be found.

But her question was about an expat community, and my understanding is that she is more likely to find a sizable English-speaking community in La Parguera than in Lajas, San German, Santa Playa, Guanica, Yauco, or Ponce.  My experience in La Parguera was that almost all of the locals spoke English as well.  Of course, I'll defer to those of you actually in those communities.

Warner you have a lot more money than most, 600,000 even with 38 acres is not lunch money.

I didn't say I bought it Rey!  I'm just a poor college professor, after all.

My point was that if you could get such a huge house with 38 acres for $600,000, imagine what a more modest property (say a 3 bed, 2 bath 1700 sq ft rancher on a modest lot) would cost?  I've seen many attractive properties in La Parguera for between $100 and $200,000.

If you are looking at the la parguera area, $110-200K will buy tou a nice house. Don't expect to be on the water thou.