bkettren
American expat in Puerto Rico
Forum posts
51
Contacts
1
About me
American, Married
Lives in Juana Diaz
Speaks We are learning Spanish slowly.
Registration: 30 November 2016
Head count by ReyP
Lets see a show of hands of all people that are considering or have definite plans to move permanently to Puerto Rico.
We are half there. My wife and her mother moved to PR in June 2017. I am stuck in Texas waiting for our ranch to sell. I take trips to PR as often as I can. Read More
Cost of living in Puerto Rico 2015 by expat.com
Hi all, We invite you to talk about the cost of living in Puerto Rico in 2015, with an updated price listing. Don't forget to mention in which city of Puerto Rico you are living in. How much does it cost to live in Puerto Rico? > ...
Good point Rey! When I was in Aibonito in January it was 58 degrees one morning. All of the locals were complaining about the cold! In the condo we rented in Maunabo I installed ceiling fans. They have made it cool enough (borderline) to not use ... Read More
taxes for importing our stuff? by dblahusch
I'm wondering how much, if any, folks (from USA) had to pay to pick up their belongings from the shipping container. We are using UPack, and I'm wondering if there is a way to find out what these taxes will be. ...
We used UPack for our move in June. We had a shipping manifest (basically a rough description of what was in the boxes we put in the container). We had just normal household stuff so we didn't do the EEI form (nothing worth that much). We ... Read More
New PR Drivers License by frogrock
Hi gang, I just went to DTOP to give them my change of address. They gave me a new license It looks different from my original PR license, which was two years old. I forgot to ask for the the one which is official identification for travel and the ...
Thanks, Rey, that's what I thought, but just wanted to check with others before getting in there. I'll update when I'm done. Read More
New PR Drivers License by frogrock
Hi gang, I just went to DTOP to give them my change of address. They gave me a new license It looks different from my original PR license, which was two years old. I forgot to ask for the the one which is official identification for travel and the ...
Thanks, Frogrock. This is Brad's wife, Katie, and I'm heading into Guayama to get my driver's license this week. Did you have the REAL ID license before? The reason I ask is that when I was registering my car, I asked the lady about ... Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Totally agree, Annabfalter. The longer we are here, the more obvious it is that it was an rare occurrence. At this point in time it is more apparent that it was an isolated incident, and that our car happened to be in the path of it being flung ... Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Seoulguy - This is Brad's wife. I'm a retired healthcare provider, so really no worries, as my 85 year old mother is in better health than we are ;-) More importantly, her mental health has improved drastically in the 5 weeks we have been ... Read More
moving furniture from mainland by Jyee
Iknow its pricey but have any of you priced it out ? wondering what an average price looks like? we also own a 1957 chevy that we want to bring but cant find any info on the TAX that well have to pay for it, were wondering how they determine the ...
We used U-Pack, and just used one "pod" (6' deep by 7' wide by 9'tall). It cost us $3,100 from San Antonio. We only brought boxes of stuff. We looked at using a U-pack trailer, using 17' deep on it and the quote was ... Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Thank you Karenqc! Everyone's support is wonderful ! Our experiences (and my wife's since she is there now) have all been great with this one exception. This is behind us now, and will soon be forgotten. Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Sitka, Brisket huh.........sounds like you still have a lot of Texas in you. When ever we get the craving for brisket, we will have to take a long drive to Isabela! I will miss the variety of things in HEB markets......but the view will make up ... Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Sitka, Now that's a mess!! But Labs can't help themselves. We had a black Lab mix when we lived in Idaho. It brought a brown bear back to me once. Whenever it got scared it hid behind me, even though the dog weighed 130lbs. That was one of ... Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Thank you all for your kind words! Like a wise man once said,... "sh*t happens". My wife's first question was "could it be iguana"? Unfortunately it wasn't. We won't take this as anything to spoil our plans. Read More
Not a great welcome! by bkettren
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ...
Thanks ReyP, My wife was parked in the correct spot. She has been there since June 18th. It seems that the pool, which our parking spot is next to, was also contaminated, and is closed now. Maybe this was not directed at us personally, and we were ... Read More
Not a great welcome!
My family is in the process of moving to Maunabo, PR. My wife and her 85 year old mother have moved to Maunabo, while I am waiting for the sale of our ranch to close in Texas. Middle of August it should be done and I will be moving there then. We ... Read More
Are Puerto Rican's full US Citizens? by ReyP
See article http://time.com/4691046/puerto-rico-american-citizens/ Are Puerto Rican's full US citizens? Can US unilaterally strip their citizenship? Some of the above and many other questions appear to be central to how the US deals with Puerto ...
Thanks Gary. I very much understand your statement. Too many times I have seen other forums get overrun with emotion. I would not want that to happen here. Read More
Are Puerto Rican's full US Citizens? by ReyP
See article http://time.com/4691046/puerto-rico-american-citizens/ Are Puerto Rican's full US citizens? Can US unilaterally strip their citizenship? Some of the above and many other questions appear to be central to how the US deals with Puerto ...
Gary, I know that the expat forum states "The Expat.com forum is dedicated to expat related matters.Topics related to politics or religion won’t be accepted." This statement is obviously intended to keep arguments from ... Read More
Are Puerto Rican's full US Citizens? by ReyP
See article http://time.com/4691046/puerto-rico-american-citizens/ Are Puerto Rican's full US citizens? Can US unilaterally strip their citizenship? Some of the above and many other questions appear to be central to how the US deals with Puerto ...
ReyP, I know you are a logical thinker, so I would like your ideas on the subject of an independent PR. Considering the debt that the PR government has, and the unlikely prospect that any entity would provide more loans to an independent PR, how ... Read More
Are Puerto Rican's full US Citizens? by ReyP
See article http://time.com/4691046/puerto-rico-american-citizens/ Are Puerto Rican's full US citizens? Can US unilaterally strip their citizenship? Some of the above and many other questions appear to be central to how the US deals with Puerto ...
Since I was not born in PR, I can only watch the debate over PR statehood or independence as a humble observer. I have talked with a few people in PR regarding this choice and there seems to be quite a bit of debate as to the pros and cons. The ... Read More
Taste of Rum
arrrr thar matey! Can't bring the parrot......it got drunk and fell off the plank! It be drinkin with Davey Jones! Thanks ReyP! Wish I was in PR right now to do some tasting! Read More
CRIM question by bkettren
When we bought our property in Maunabo in January we were told we need to register the property with the CRIM (property taxes) before the end of 2017. The new deed was registered with the Puerto Rico department of Treasury right after the ...
Thank you both for your replies. The real estate agent who lives in Maunabo has offered to go with me to the CRIM. I am definitely going to accept her offer. My problem is that her English isn't great, and my Spanish is very limited (but ... Read More
CRIM question
When we bought our property in Maunabo in January we were told we need to register the property with the CRIM (property taxes) before the end of 2017. The new deed was registered with the Puerto Rico department of Treasury right after the ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
Adlin20, It sounds like you did a great job on your house. It is a nice example of what can be done, and the rewards of implementing it. ReyP, We are in the process of liquidating our "stuff". We have decided we need to be ready to move ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
I have been watching some of the emerging battery technologies lately. The new saltwater battery has some very interesting potential. Passive hot water heaters are great! I had one when I lived in southern California and it worked very well. Also ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
I will route all of the wiring into a utility room. This will allow me to have exact control of what I want to be powered by the PR grid and what I want to be powered by solar. I will use power transfer switches to insure that the solar power can ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
It is a bit complex, but here is a rough example. A 200w panel buts out 200watts in one hour at peak efficiency (it is really less than that). If a location gets 5 hours of sun a day, that one panel would produce 1KWH. At 30 days in a month, it ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
The solar panels are Grape Solar GS-S-195fab3. The spec sheet says aprox. 18% efficiency. I bought them about 6 years ago as a pallet load from Costco for $7,500. I was planning on using on the ranch, but since we had power to the property already, ... Read More
Purchase Price Vs. Listed Price, Plus Other ?'s by Live2sparkle
Hello, I continue to read all the posts and it is exciting to read all the information, but also overwhelming and scary too! Every time I read posts, a million more questions arise, but I try to refrain from bombarding everyone with my worrisome ...
The property we just bought was listed at $85,000. We bought it for $75,000. I saw many properties for sale while driving along the coast. Listed prices are all over the place. I observed properties of the same size and close to each other having ... Read More
Environmental issues by ReyP
As I see news related to the environment I will post it here.
When I lived in Southern California multiple beaches were closed now and then because of sewage problems. When I lived on the east coast beaches were closed now and then from sewage problems. In Texas beaches are closed now and then from sewage ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
I almost forgot...a couple of things I didn't put in my original post. If you are married, your spouse needs to be at closing to sign the deed. My wife Katie flew out the last week to see the property and be at the closing. The sellers had no ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
Thank you all for your advise. We are very excited to explore the possibilities that this property provides. I have 26 200 watt solar panels I was planning to use on our ranch. I plan on bringing them to PR to use for our project. Combined with the ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
We plan to move as soon as we can sell our ranch in Texas. I also have to sell all of my equipment... 2008 1 ton dodge (only 40,000 miles) tractor, concrete mixer, dump trailer, shop equipment, etc. So it will probably take a couple of years, ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
No ReyP, I plan to live out the rest of my life on that hill! We will be happy to have you and your wife over for dinner when we both get to PR. Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
ReyP, agreed, we got a great deal! The property was overgrown and hard show for the real estate agent. I have always been an outdoor person so I pushed my way through the 7 feet and taller ferns and vines to get to see the property. The agents were ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR by bkettren
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ...
I'll try to answer the questions; We paid $75,000. The property is at 500 feet elevation. About 2 acres of it is flat and ready to build, and the rest of it is hillside. We paid cash. I drove completely around the island to find an area that ... Read More
Trip Report on my quest to buy property in PR
I just returned to the mainland after a great three week adventure to buy land in PR. The trip was a major success! My wife and I now own about 13 acres on a hill overlooking the ocean in Maunabo. During my time in PR I stayed mainly in low ... Read More
Drinking Water? by TravelingJ
I assume the water out of the tap is drinkable? Do people use a filter? Let me know what you do on the island for drinking water without contaminates (chlorine, minerals, fluoride, etc). I currently have a reverse osmosis system in my house on the ...
I just returned from PR yesterday after a three week visit. I drank tap water in San German, San Juan, Mayaguez, Ponce, and Guayama. Best tasting was Guayama. I had no health problems with the water anywhere. Read More
Greetings from North Florida by Bajablondie
Hi there, My husband and I are in the process of buying a home and "semi" retiring to PR. We have been to the beautiful island before and fell in love with it and the warm friendly people. For now, PR will have to serve as our ...
Oh... I almost forgot...BajaBlondie, Do you know what type of cactus they used in Yelapa to make Raicia? Read More
Greetings from North Florida by Bajablondie
Hi there, My husband and I are in the process of buying a home and "semi" retiring to PR. We have been to the beautiful island before and fell in love with it and the warm friendly people. For now, PR will have to serve as our ...
BajaBlondie, My wife and I stayed in Yelapa back in 2003. It was such a wonderful place. Yelapa is a model of the type of environment we long for. PR is also the target for our semi-retirement. We are thinking of creating some type of eco ... Read More
Congress Letter about PR political status by ReyP
You may want to read this. http://rec-end.gfrcdn.net/docs/editor/INFORME%20DEL%20CONGRESO.pdf
ReyP, My wife makes cheese and has found that raw milk works much better. Most commercial milk is ultra pasteurized, and won't work to make hard cheeses. Read More
Things are getting difficult by ReyP
Many municipalities are out of money to pay the payroll and many are in debt http://www.elnuevodia.com/english/english/nota/questionableadministrationofmunicipalitiesuncovered-2273662/ Development bank has no money ...
The next year will be interesting. The new governor will have to implement the cut backs etc. to services etc. Will the cut backs cause riots as were seen in Greece? Will the new governor then be blamed for everything? After reading the ... Read More
Grumpy today by ReyP
Shoveling snow today, back hurts and you guys are working on your tan. I'll get my revenge and make it snow in PR as soon as I get my weather making machine finished. I want a piece of Lechón!
ReyP, Now that's a good idea! That would motivate the sellers! About the code......Once upon a time, in a past life when I had a 9 to 5 job, I used to use a custom set of Kewl Tools I put together on Linux.....there is always a way in. Read More
Grumpy today by ReyP
Shoveling snow today, back hurts and you guys are working on your tan. I'll get my revenge and make it snow in PR as soon as I get my weather making machine finished. I want a piece of Lechón!
Here in southern Texas it is 22 degrees and windy. I knew we didn't move far enough south back in 2008! We hope to remedy that as soon as possible. In a couple of weeks I will be in PR searching for our next plot of land to turn into home. ReyP ... Read More
Cloudy days by bkettren
I was curious about the most number of sequential days when the sun does not shine in PR? When we lived in northern Idaho we could have multiple weeks or even months in which the sun did not come out. Now we live in southern Texas and the most ...
Thank you all, That was what I was hoping to hear! Read More
Cloudy days
I was curious about the most number of sequential days when the sun does not shine in PR? When we lived in northern Idaho we could have multiple weeks or even months in which the sun did not come out. Now we live in southern Texas and the most ... Read More
New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here 4th quarter of 2016 by Julien
Hi all, Newbie on the Puerto Rico forum? Dont know how to start? This thread is for you ;) We invite you to introduce yourself on this topic, to share with us your expat story if you are already living in the country, or to tell us more ...
Thanks again!! Roasting a pig sounds like it might be a great way to meet the neighbors. I just need to greatly improve my Spanish! I was worried that a eco B&B might offend the local culture. My wife and I want to adapt to the local culture, ... Read More
New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here 4th quarter of 2016 by Julien
Hi all, Newbie on the Puerto Rico forum? Dont know how to start? This thread is for you ;) We invite you to introduce yourself on this topic, to share with us your expat story if you are already living in the country, or to tell us more ...
Thanks, We currently have a few goats and chickens. I will have to wait and see what works in PR based upon the type of land we end up with. Read More
New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here 4th quarter of 2016 by Julien
Hi all, Newbie on the Puerto Rico forum? Dont know how to start? This thread is for you ;) We invite you to introduce yourself on this topic, to share with us your expat story if you are already living in the country, or to tell us more ...
Hello everyone and Feliz Navidad, My wife and I are planning to purchase some land in the mountains of PR. Our goal is to move to PR and build a house on the property as soon as we can sell our 60 acre ranch in Texas. Our desire is to purchase ... Read More