Hi retire1,
Welcome to the forum and hopefully to Puerto Rico soon.
We always recommend that you rent first before you buy. Real estate is cheap now and will get somewhat cheaper in the next few months due to the exodus of people from the island as jobs are not there and electricity in a lot of areas is still missing after 90 days.
Renting also gives you an opportunity to be boots on the ground and find out where you really want to live and the life stile and makes you happy. It also helps with locating the right property since a lot of the properties are never advertised and are found simply by driving around the neighborhood and word of mouth.
As to close to a VA hospital, it depends on your health, if you only need visit a few times a year, it may pay off to be far from the hospital and get a better housing deal. If you are in bad shape, then close by is the way to go.
I would suggest you check with the social security office, it is my understanding that SSI (supplemental) is not payed to people living in the island which may represent a pay cut for you, yes I know SSDI is different but I am not an expert in that area and it is better to check.
Here are some possible Metro area prices for 1 bedroom 1 bath condos. Note that the site is not updated often so some of these may no longer exist. http://www.clasificadosonline.com/UDREL … pose%EDdas
When checking make sure they have power and that the place meets your disability needs, things like the bathroom, the halls and kitchens being too narrow and lack of an elevator may be deal breakers. Also you may want to consider how you will do when power is lost, some people in condos today have not been able to use an elevator in 90+ days.
