Mistakes expats make in Puerto Rico

NomadLawyer wrote:

Another disastrous mistake expats* make is relying on counterparties to honor contracts.

Curious observation.  This was my experience in the Middle East.  When entering into any verbal agreement, the parties would close by saying "In Shallah" or "God willing".  It's amazing how often God isn't willing.  Contracts between members of the same clan (a literal family clan) were usually reliable, but outside of that, most often they were not performed.

In Dubai, the meaning of "In Shallah" seemed to change, to something more along the lines of what my grandmother might have meant when she said "God willing".  That is, it was more of an expression of hope than one of powerlessness and irresponsibility.  No surprise that Dubai is much more successful than Iraq.

I haven't had the experience yet of contracts in PR.  I have been amused that real estate purchase agreements are effectively verbal agreements.  As a southerner, I assumed that meant that verbal agreements were pretty solid -- that a handshake was binding.

NomadLawyer wrote:

Stable, prosperous and just societies are only possible where contracts are honored by everyone. This fault is fundamentally why PR will never achieve its full potential.

Agreed.  According to the World Justice Project:

Effective rule of law reduces corruption, combats poverty and disease, and protects people from injustices large and small. It is the foundation for communities of peace, opportunity, and equity – underpinning development, accountable government, and respect for fundamental rights.

Of possible interest to expats, the WJP produces an annual Rule of Law Index ranking countries of the world.  It does not rank PR (or Switzerland Nomad) but I think patterns shown are interesting:

https://worldjusticeproject.org/our-wor … 016-report

Selected rankings:

1.    Denmark
10.  United Kingdom
12.  Canada
18.  United States

25.  Costa Rica

62.  Panama

71.  Colombia

80.  China
86.  Iran
91.  Ecuador
92.  Russia

Tseweam wrote:

in new York you cant live on that. just average rent here is 2500 to 3000 a month as average mortage the same. I don't have a mortage here and I struggle to live on 3300 a month. biggest killer here is average property taxes are about 10000 dollars a year plus 2000 dollars to insurance one car. my friend pays 35000 dollars a year in property taxes alone. but I know some things cheaper there. my friend trying to tell that my money goes furer there vs living on long island new York. I be glad wont be paying for the heat there vs here. hoping can do without air conditioning too. here I wont use it. its so expensive. and use windows as ac. keep open all year

Those are huge numbers, take a look at the post I did for a budget and make changes to fit your situation.
3k income is plenty money in PR. You can find many rental units in the 500-900 a month and even lower in the country side. It all depends on your life style. While for me entertainment, like going to movies, a drink and dinner is fine around 150 to 250 a month you may need 1k.  It all depends on your life stile.
I can live just fine in PR with just 2k

Tseweam wrote:

ok can I do without the wall for a while . hoping for dec come bought house in april. biggest cost is the 1930 ford model a car at 10000 dollaRS WITH a 7000 import tax estimate a Honda insight at 3500 with a 1100 tax. plus a container for 3500 for clothes books and tools no furniture or applainces  would need a freezer  dryer lawn tools  carpet paint shed . shed kits got so expensive at 4000 dollars for basic 10 feet by 12 feet kits. what happened to selling metal or plastic sheds? thinking what items could wait on in order to get down there then 2000 dollars for compost soil is bad. nothing is going to grow in sand. how many homes there need top soil or can they use whats there what ever soil home has. bringing the Honda isn't bad. its the other car. do most homes have a separate freezers? or do you not really need one? ok you mean if garage was completely enclosed in cement it would become oven inside and overheat the car sitting inside. and hoping only a fan is needed all year round no ac. meant sheds cost that in new York. can you find any for less any type of shed. I must get there soon as possible. for now neighbors watching the house

You must be in love with those vehicles to be bringing them. The dirt of the houses typically is good enough but adding a little top soil does not hurt or maybe some manure. If you live in an area with basically sand very few things are going to grow yes.
Sheds are not too secured, they can be broken into easily, I would keep good tools inside .
Fishermen tend to have a chest freezer, must people do not buy in super large quantities to need two freezers and a trip to restock is not that time consuming.
The heat I referred to is the effect on people. We throw parties in the car ports for the breeze, if they are enclosed people are just sweating and not enjoying the party, when we party there is a lot of music and dancing.  Using the car port keeps the house clean, the friends cooler and the car port is easy to just hose down after the party and everything is nice and clean in the house.

Bryson74 wrote:

I have kind of stopped trying as people expect me to speak in English anyways and don't give me a chance.

Yeah, same happens to me. They look at me and think "Gringo!" and if they can they start speaking English. I never met a local who started to talk Dutch (my mother tongue) to me though, that would be fun.
Now out the boonies where I live there are many who don't speak English so I get a chance to practice my Spanish every now and then.

sandrarduncan wrote:

You are living somewhere where its more expensive then most places on the island.
As ray has stated no one has a $400 month water bill. You have a problem then.  If you rent , get the hell out.

Punta Santiago in Humacao is expensive?