Our experience in purchasing a home in beautiful Puerto Rico.

Here's the story:

My wife and I put our home in Texas on the market in February of 2016.  After lots of discussion, we (which means my beautiful wife) decided that it was just too far from everything.  We live out in the country and even to go to the grocery store we had to drive 25 minutes 1 way.  This bi-weekly drive to the grocery store typically resulted in my wife telling me how far away we lived from civilization for the better part of half of an hour.

So as a loving husband, I call my real estate agent and tell her that we need to sell our current home, which I had custom built 2 years ago, and look for something that is closer to where other humans are.  As we were looking at about a million homes over the next few weeks, we stumbled across what would eventually have us moving to Puerto Rico! 

Now if someone had told me a week earlier that I would be moving to Puerto Rico in the near future, I would have told them that they had been sniffing too much glue and to stop it because it's probably killing a lot of brain cells.

One evening went to see home # 1,000,001, where other humans live in the surrounding areas, with our agent.  The seller happened to be home at the showing appointment time.  His wife was out of town and he jokingly told us that he didn't like leaving the house for showings because he didn't have anything to do.  He said he typically just sat in his car down the street for an hour but since his wife was out of town, opportunity presented itself for him to continue watching TV while we snooped around his home.  He said if his wife knew he was at home for a showing, he would be in trouble.  I told him I know where he is coming from and his secret was safe with me.  Of course, I see this as an opportunity to ask him lots of questions that a good husband looking to purchase a home for he and his wife should ask.  Like…what's the score of the game he was watching?  Eventually, I got around to asking him why he and his wife were selling.  He replied with a huge, happy smile “We are moving to St. Croix”.  Keep in mind, my wife can't hear me when I am 10 feet from her and ask her a question but this same wonderful woman who has blessed my life comes around a corner at Mach 3.5 from about 2 rooms away faster than I have ever seen her move when she heard something about moving to St. Croix!  So I had to ask because I know what is important to my wife “Are there other humans that live on that island?”  The seller looked at me kind of funny.  My wife's look was anything but funny.  I said “just kidding honey” and felt a little bit safer.

All of the sudden my wife was in charge of questioning the seller and her questions had absolutely nothing to do with their home for sale.  The seller told us how cheap it was to live in St. Croix and how wonderful and beautiful the island is.  With each word that came from the seller's mouth, I could see my wife slowly having me pack boxes in her mind.  I can read her like a book!   The conversation ended up with “we really like your home and will discuss it”.  This was the furthest from the real truth.  I knew exactly what my wife would be discussing within 4 seconds of getting back into our car.

The next morning I am looking online for homes in St. Croix because that is what a loving husband does when his wife tells him to.  I find lots of homes for sale in our price range and start to compile web links to them and email them to my wife.  She is searching online as well and this turns into lots of emails back and forth with more properties than I want to look at.  I looked at so many that I am literally having dreams of web links, pictures of homes with prices!  She went to a website that not only had USVI properties but also had a property in Puerto Rico listed for sale.  This property was much larger, seemed nicer and at a much cheaper price compared to the properties that we had been looking at in the USVI. 
I was quickly instructed to cease and desist immediately looking for USVI properties and to start looking in PR.

I start all over compiling web links to email to her.  I was thinking at this point that being a real estate agent probably isn't too bad.  Look up a bunch of properties online that fit your client's (or wife's) needs and email them over.  Surely they will like 1-3 of them and you just have to meet them there at the property and cash in on your 3%.  Sounds logical to me.  I decided not to ask my wife for any commission for all of my hard work clicking my mouse while sitting in my chair.  It was probably a good idea. 
Between the 2 of us, we found about 50 properties that we were interested in at least getting more information on. 

One of the many things about searching for PR properties that you have to keep in mind is that a lot of the properties listed online are ghost properties.  What I mean by that is some of them sold 6 months ago or a year ago, the seller decided not to sell after all and the listing agent never updated the online information etc.  Another thing is that the amount of information available online about a property here on the mainland is abundant.  This is not the case with the majority of properties online in PR.  There were a lot of properties that had only 1 picture, some didn't show the square footage, some didn't show how many bedrooms or bathrooms, some didn't show the size of the land/lot they are on etc. 

We needed more information on a lot of these properties to see if they would fit our needs.  What do you do when you need more information?  You call the listing agent of course!  I start calling listing agents for about 20 properties to get more info.  I told my wife that pretty soon my phone will be blowing up with return phone calls from eager listing agents and that I might need to find my backup battery for my cell phone.  Now keep in mind, I had left voicemails for around 20 different listing agents…6 days later, one of the 20ish agents called me back.  Knowing what I know now, this is not uncommon and one of the things that you just have to learn to deal with.  My wife thought it was crazy but I reminded her that we want to be somewhere different and that place would in fact…be different.  I decided to brush it off as comical and got a kick out of it.  My wife is still getting used to what they call “Island Time”.  Things just don't move as quickly, and sometimes not at all, as they do on the mainland.

The agent that called me back was extremely friendly and spoke perfect English which was good because my Spanish is shabby at best.  We actually had one of her properties as the “top 5” on our list.  My wife told me to make an appointment to see the property.   I said “Ok, I will call…wait, did you say SEE the property, as in-person?”  She said “Yes, I am going to purchase airfare and we will stay in PR for a week to look at properties”.  I said “Hrm, ok you should get a good deal on the tickets purchasing them so far in advance”.  I said “I only need to get hold of 19 or so more listing agents and that should only take another 4-5 months”.  She didn't think that was too funny and said that we would be flying to PR from April 16-23rd so I'd better “get with the program” on contacting these agents.  Great!  The problem is that they are on their own program and their program is not coming about anytime in April I was thinking. 

I called the agent back (she actually answered this time) and asked if we could make an appointment to see the property, letting her know that we would be there April 16-23rd which was a Saturday through Saturday.  She told me she would talk with the seller and get back to me.  She called me back a few days later and said she could show the property to us on Monday the 18th at 10am!  Yes!  I am making progress here…1 down and 19 to go.  The property was exactly what we were looking for from what we saw online.  Online pictures and description can vary from what the property looks like in person as we found out later.

We had a list of things that we would like to have in a property.
1.    Close to other human beings (no way I forgot that one)
2.    Ocean View but not directly on the beach
3.    At least 3 bedrooms and at least 2 bathrooms
4.    At least 2500 square feet of living area
5.    At least ¼ of an acre or at least enough room to grow some of our own fruits & veggies

Our price range was $350-400k but we would be most comfortable no more than $380k.  We could go $400k but the home would have to be just amazing and perfect!  We were paying cash so our budget had to be strict.  We also knew that we would have expensive moving costs and need to purchase a car once we got to the island.  My wife's car was a lease and it ended May 9th which ended up being perfect timing.  I have a pick-up truck (which I love!) and it was not a lease.  I looked on the website where you put in your Vehicle Identification Number to see the amount of taxes that it would cost if we decided to ship it over.  My 2015 GMC 1500 Crew Cab Truck which I bought brand new for $40,000 was valued on this website for tax purposes for $55,000!!  I looked around the webpage hoping to find a link titled “Sell us this truck for $55,000” but unfortunately there wasn't one.  The taxes I would have to pay to bring my truck to PR was in excess of $5,500.  It was going to cost an additional $2,800 to ship it via La Rosa Del Monte.  My wife and I decided that it wasn't worth it in the end.  We could use that $8,800 to go toward purchasing a car in PR.  We will just my truck here on the mainland in my Dad's barn and we would always have something to drive when we visit the mainland.  I will miss my truck dearly.  Dad says he will take good care of it for me!

I decided to do more research online and came across this website for expats.  I feel lately that I am a professional reader.  I have researched and read as much as possible.  I like to be prepared for whatever comes my way.  My wife informed me in early April that she would like to be living in PR by June.  I said “June of THIS year?”.  She said “yes, this year”.  That gave me about 45 days to become an expert in Puerto Rico which I thought maybe was possible but it only gave me 45 days to get in touch with PR realtors which seemed as easy as juggling chainsaws blindfolded underwater!  How am I going to do this was all I could think of for a few days. 

The website ended up being the link that I needed.  I started reading everything I could there and after a few days of reading, I reached out to some of the regular posters that seemed to know their stuff.  I PM'd about 5 people who all ended up being friendly and extremely helpful.  One of those people gave me the name and phone number of a realtor that he had worked with and highly recommended.  The realtor that he referred me to was named Carlos.  I got busy at work and ended up not taking my notes with me and only remembered the name Carlos.  So after I got home, I looked online and ended up getting a phone number for a realtor that I thought was the Carlos that I was referred to.   I called this realtor and he was very friendly and said he would be happy to help.  I thought great!   I needed help!  It ended up being the wrong one but I didn't find this out until the next day when I got to my office.  Over the next couple of days he emailed to me many properties based on what I told him my wife and I were looking for.   Every single property he emailed to us did not have an ocean view even though I told him other than not being infested with flesh eating aliens, was our #1 criteria. 

I started to panic.  I was less than a couple of weeks away and wasn't getting anywhere.  I ended up giving the “right” Carlos a call in hopes that he would be able to save me.  The “right” Carlos was awesome.  He searched only properties that met our criteria and emailed some to me.  A lot of them we had seen online already and we were able to weed some out right away.  He had found a couple of properties that we hadn't seen online.  We set things up to meet with him right after we got off of the plane in San Juan on Saturday the 16th.  He said in the interim, he would call the agents to make appointments.  It was really funny because he said to me “now sometimes it is difficult to get these listing agents on the phone so it may take me some time”.  I told him “No way, you don't say” lol.  I knew how that goes already and told him of my experience thus far on contacting listing agents. 

Over the next couple of weeks prior to our PR trip, we looked at many properties online that both Carlos found and we found.  We were able to narrow down to about 20 properties.  There were so many because although my wife had been to PR 10 years ago, I had never been.  We had no idea which area of PR we wanted to live.  We had an idea based on my research but still needed to see these areas in person.  Even at this point in our venture, I don't recommend purchasing a property in PR in a hurry.  I would recommend doing plenty of research on areas, staying in those areas both during the day and at night.  It was a little easier I think for my wife and I because we both knew exactly what we wanted in a home and in an area.  We just needed to check these areas out and we were hoping we could do this inside of the 7 days we would be on the island.  We did discuss and were 100% prepared to rent a property for a year or more before purchasing if we didn't feel comfortable after our trip. 

Carlos stayed in contact with us prior to our trip and we had many on-speaker telephone conversations with him asking him what was probably a million questions in all.  He never made us feel like we were bothering him with questions or phone calls.  He really thought we would like Dorado even though we told him we were leaning towards Cabo Rojo or Quebradillas.  We were leaning towards these 2 areas because we liked a couple of homes there and from the research that I did, it seemed a good fit for us.  We agreed to at least see Dorado just to make sure it wasn't for us prior to continuing to the west side of the island.  A couple of days prior to our flight to PR, Carlos said he had success in setting up some appointments for us to see properties.  I thought he was magical for being able to get that done.  I wasn't able to get it done and I was pretty persistent.  Good job Carlos!

It was the night before our flight left and we had packed for our trip.  My beautiful wife had booked our flight that left at 6am the following morning so we had to absolute pleasure of waking up at 2:30am to be at the airport on time.  I wanted to remind her that we would be caught up at the airport for 8 hours total, renting a car then driving from San Juan to Dorado in traffic (took an hour), looking at homes for a couple of hours then driving from Dorado to Cabo Rojo (took 4 hours) so booking a flight that left at 6am wasn't the best idea but I thought better of it for my personal safety.  I knew she would be exhausted though.  I am better at motoring through stuff like that than she is.  I also knew with her being exhausted that I needed to be caring, loving, supportive and the one that books the flight next time!

We arrived in PR at 2:30pm on the 16th and rented our Jeep that I had reserved without any issues.  I called Carlos while still sitting in the parking garage of the rental terminal and then realized we were a full hour earlier than expected.  Carlos was so great, he stopped what he was doing and said “no problem, I will meet you guys in Dorado in 1 hour”.  Gotta love Carlos!  We met Carlos in Dorado to view our first PR properties.  We were so excited as the anticipation of the past weeks had been building up in both of us.  Something to expect when looking at properties in PR is if they are in a gated community, you'd better bring something to read.  We were following Carlos in our Jeep and every house we went to was in a gated community.  The guards at these gated communities are in no hurry to say the least.  My wife and I laughed so much because Carlos would pull up to the speaker to talk to the guard when he could have just pulled up another 20 feet and had a face to face conversation with the guard.  Funny, I guess it is just another difference that we need to embrace.  After 5-10 minutes of the guard talking through the speaker with Carlos, the gate would open and in we would go.  We saw 3-4 houses and 1 townhome.  All were very nice but it wasn't the community feel that we were looking for.  I have to admit of all the places that we saw in PR, Dorado would fit what would closest match living on the mainland the most.  We wanted something different.  If we wanted to live like we were on the mainland, we could have easily just stayed on the mainland. 

Carlos recognized that Dorado wasn't for us so we parted for now and set up a time to meet on Monday to see properties on the west side of the island.  Remember the “wrong” Carlos that I called by accident first?  Well he called me and said he had lined up 15 properties for us to see on the west side on Sunday.  I had read that in PR it was common to work with many different realtors but it didn't feel good to me since the “right” Carlos was so helpful.  My wife pointed out that the “wrong” Carlos had also done work for us and we owed it to him to allow him to show us some properties.  She said whoever finds the property for us that we buy deserves the commission.  Hrm, Ok.  Sounds logical…kind of...I guess.  So I told the “wrong” Carlos that we would meet him tomorrow morning.

We then drive from Dorado to the condo we had rented near Combate beach in Cabo Rojo.  This was a long drive as my wife and I both were exhausted from traveling all day.  On the way, we stopped at a restaurant in Quebradillas.  It looked nice so we went inside and sat down.  In my research, I had fully expected service to be super slow and terrible compared to what is offered on the mainland but this place was great as far as service went.  The food was very expensive and not that great as far as taste goes.  My wife and I both ordered an entrée and both of us had water to drink and our meal was $59 before tip.  We left the restaurant and headed to our condo.  We arrived just before 11pm, took a shower and passed out from exhaustion. 

We woke up the next morning feeling like a million bucks and were excited to go see properties.  After we showered and enjoyed the morning breeze on the condo patio, the “wrong” Carlos called my cell phone and said “something came up and I cannot meet with you today”.  My wife's face showed immediate displeasure and I began to not feel safe again.  I reminded her about the “island time” thing and that we could use this day to recuperate at the beach.   Her face immediately changed with a pleasant smile because my sentence had the word “beach” in it.  I am so good!

We got up early with plans to go to the beach but then I remembered reading about the farmer's market every Sunday morning in Rincon!  I asked Marina (my wife), “would you like to go?”  I already knew the answer.  She loves fresh fruit and veggies.  Off we went to Rincon.  We got there late because we were sightseeing along the way amazed at all the mangos just laying on the side of the road.  Maryna wanted me to stop the car several times so she could pick some up but I was able to talk her out of it because we needed to get to the farmer's market before they shut down.  We arrived just before 12 Noon, browsed around and made some purchases.  We even bought a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice for $3 each and it was delicious.  We met many friendly people and told them of our plans to move to PR very soon.  Rincon is a very cool place.  One of the guys we met there described it as “summer all year round”.  That really was what it seemed like. 

After buying lots of fruits and veggies, we left the farmer's market and went to a local grocery store there in Rincon (I think it was called Edwards).  Very cool store and we picked up some things there that we would eat on for the week.  We then headed back to the condo to go to the beach like I promised.  We spent the rest of the day on Combate beach where I think the rest of the people of PR were at too because I don't think I have ever seen that many people in the same area in my life.  We were glad to see though that the people on the island are out enjoying the sun, ocean etc instead of sitting at home in front of the TV like we see a lot of people do on the mainland.  We ended up walking further down the beach…far enough that we had about a 300 yard stretch of beach all to ourselves.  The water was beautiful in color, very calm and warm as bath water.  For a few hours we swam, talked and enjoyed the life that we hoped was soon to come.

The “wrong” Carlos called Sunday evening while my wife and I were in the Condo.  He informed us that he would be able to work with us on Wednesday.  That actually worked out good because the “right” Carlos was going to work with us on Monday and Tuesday.  I had told the “right” Carlos that prior to contacting him that I had contacted a listing agent (the only 1 of 20 that called me back) and we had an appointment to see a property in Cabo Rojo at 10am Monday morning.  He said that was no problem but to please let that agent know that we were working with him so he could hopefully get commission if we ended up purchasing that property.  I told him no problem.  This property in Cabo Rojo that we were to see Monday morning was on our top 5 pick list so we were really excited to see it.  I had also found a property only a couple of days before our flight to PR in Quebradillas that was also in our top 5.  I had given the information to Carlos for him to try and set up a showing but the listing agent hadn't called him back yet…I know, I found it hard to believe too lol.  As luck would have it, only a couple of hours later the listing agent of the Quebradillas house had called Carlos back and we had an appointment to see it Monday at 11:30am.  It was going to be close to see a house in Cabo Rojo at 10am then be in Quebradillas at 11:30am but we thought we could do it although just barely.

We met the agent at 10:30am at the Cabo Rojo house.  It had everything that we were looking for but the ocean view was minimal and partially obstructed.  It was right in front of a large condo development and I knew this was not going to be “the one”.  The agent was really nice and helpful.  She offered to show us more properties that she has listed.  We showed our gratitude and told her that we were pretty booked up until Friday.  I forgot to mention, we had made plans with one of the couples that I PM'd from expats website to hang out with them on Thursday.  We wanted to pick their brains about life in PR and particularly Quebradillas. 

The listing agent told me she would email some properties to me that we could hopefully see on Friday.  Many thanks and we are on our way to Quebradillas via google maps which could end us up in Alaska from my experience so far.  Navigation systems and google maps are not totally reliable in PR to say the least.  Most of the time google maps will get you “in the area” of where you are trying to get to so allow extra time when going place to place if possible.
So I am Mario Andretti with my wife as navigator watching google maps on her Iphone telling me “you should have turned left back there”.  I am thinking “we're never going to get there by 11:30am”.  Almost all of the smaller streets in the area of PR we were in do not have signs.  I found it best to just ask what KM marker that I turn at was much more useful. 

The story behind the house we are going to see in Quebradillas is that it was not listed on any of the online websites that the “right” Carlos told me to look on.  It was listed on a site called Ovlix.  I heard about it somewhere on the expat forums so I decided to look.  Carlos said that Ovlix isn't used very much in PR and the property was probably not for sale anymore.  Marina and I were disappointed because we really liked it and it seemed to fit all of our needs.  As it turns out, it was still for sale and had been on the market for right at 1 year.  We were thinking there has to be something wrong with it for it being on the market for so long because it is a beautiful property and seemed to be offered at a fair price. 

After white knuckle driving from Cabo Rojo to the Quebradillas house, we arrive 15 minutes late at 11:45.  As we pull up in to the driveway, Carlos is talking to the listing agent and one of the owners of the house.  It is very common for the owner to be present for showings unlike on the mainland where it's almost taboo for the owner to be present so don't be surprised when you are looking at homes.  I would say out of about 20-25 houses that we looked at in PR that week, the seller was present at 80% of them.  Some of the homes that the seller wasn't there were only because it was a second  home and the seller was off the island at the time or the home was vacant.

We get out of our Jeep and I apologize for being late.  Marina whispered to me “you don't have to apologize…island time…remember?”.  Oh  yea that's right lol.  Maybe they did expect for us to be late, who knows.  I felt that an apology was in order regardless. 


The home was everything that we had hoped that it would be from seeing it online.  It was absolutely beautiful.  It was 3600 square feet on .81 acres with an incredible ocean view.  The house looked as if it were taken very well care of.  We had seen a lot of homes that looked dirty, run down and not in good shape overall.  The husband, his wife and their son were all home and were extremely friendly and welcoming.  Although, they didn't appear too excited.  Later, Marina and I had thought it was because of the time that their house had been on the market.  Wow, how many times had they gone through this showing process in that year and the house didn't sell.  I couldn't blame them.  We were as respectful as possible and really showed our appreciation for their time and of their beautiful home.  The husband told us that he was the original owner of the home and that they needed to move closer to San Juan to take care of his wife's parents who are aging and in need of daily assistance.  Very good people and I am hopeful that our kids feel the same way about Marina and I when we are at that point.  He went on to tell us how much he loves their home and how they have become a family in this home.  He was very helpful answering our questions about the home, neighborhood and PR in general and I was glad that he was present during the showing.  His kindness and friendliness was no different from just about everyone that we met while in PR.  PR has some of the nicest people that I have ever come into contact with. 


As we are all walking around the house together looking, we come to the laundry room which is about the size of a ½ bathroom here on the mainland.  Marina says “is this the laundry room? You can't fit a washer and dryer here!”  I said “yes, honey, you just use a stackable unit or a unit that does both.  I think they call it an all-in-one”.  At this point, I am thinking “you've got to be kidding me.  We are looking at this beautiful home with everything that we want and she's worried about a small laundry room?”  I have to admit that I was a little frustrated but a couple of minutes later everyone else started talking and I had my chance.  I leaned over to Marina and asked “are you really serious about the laundry room, this house is amazing and I love it…you don't?”  She said “shhh omg this is our house, it's the one.  I just didn't want them to think we like it so much that they won't come down on the price”.  I said “that's your negotiation tactic?” lol  We both laughed quietly and I was relieved that she loved the house as much as I did.  We are really in tune with each other and typically like the exact same things so I was going to be very surprised if she didn't like it.


We spent about an hour and ½ at the house looking at various things, talking to the owners about how stuff works etc.  In certain areas in PR, it is a good idea to have a back-up plan which includes a cistern and generator.  A cistern is just a back-up water supply in case of an outage and obviously a generator is a back-up electric supply.  The owner took time to show me how everything worked, turning the generator on, flipping big handle switches…you know…guy stuff.  I was very appreciative of the time he took and it really gave me a good feel for things.

We left the property knowing we would most likely be making an offer but we both kept our poker faces on as to not alert the sellers to this.  We wouldn't want to mess up Marina's tactical negotiation efforts about the laundry room.  **Insert “rolls eyes” emoji here** 

We went on to see several other properties on the west side including ones in Rincon, Isabela and a couple more in Quebradillas.  None of them held a candle to the one we liked.  Not even close.  We talked with the “right” Carlos that evening after property hunting was done for the day and told him we wanted to present an offer.  He asked us if we were sure because there were lots of other properties to see on Tuesday.  We said yes but island time dictates that we start the negotiation process now so hopefully by the time we have to fly back we will have gotten some of the process done.  We asked him to just write up the contract and we would sign it.  He informed us that most of the real estate transactions done in PR are just verbal until a mutual agreement was reached.  Woah, so we just make a verbal offer and that's it?  On the mainland as I am sure you are aware, when you submit an offer it is on a contract that way if it is accepted, you are locked in.  It is different but PR is different and we are ok with that.  Well…I am ok with it.  Marina is learning to be ok with it lol.  In her defense, she is a long time successful business owner and has had to be on the ball regarding her business so some of the way things work in PR are a business culture shock to her. 

Marina and I submitted our verbal offer Monday evening.
Tuesday we were back on property hunting duty all day with the “right” Carlos.  Again, we saw many properties that were great but only one that we saw could come close to the Quebradillas house.  This property that we liked almost as well was in Rincon.  It had a great ocean view and the house itself was in very good shape and was beautiful.  It was on the steepest hill that I have ever seen a house on.  Marina said “no way could I ever drive up this driveway”.  I can't blame her.  I mean it was super steep.  If you were unloading groceries and a cantaloupe fell out of the bag, it could roll for ½ a mile after the speed it would gain from rolling down the driveway and if it hit the water could cause a Tsunami.  Other than the death hill that the house was on, it was a great house but it was also $40,000 higher than the Quebradillas house so we scratched it off the possibility list. Later Tuesday evening, the “right” Carlos called us with a counter offer from the seller.  We countered back. 

Wednesday morning comes around and the “wrong” Carlos calls us and says he is going to be 1 hour late.  I tell Marina and she rolls her eyes.  She is getting the hang of it because I didn't have to remind her of the island time thingy.  When the “wrong” Carlos finally arrived at our condo, he is actually 2 hours late. All of our appointments are now 2 hours behind schedule which I have no idea how that is going to turn out.  He says “is it ok if you (talking to me) drive?”  I said “Sure, let's just take our rental Jeep”.  I thought it to be a little strange because I have no idea where I am going but I was ok with it.  Go with the flow right?  Marina and I are waiting in the Jeep as the “wrong” Carlos is getting things out of his vehicle.  When he finally gets in the backseat of the Jeep, Marina and I both realize why he wanted me to drive.  The “wrong” Carlos smells like he used whiskey as cologne.  He smells like he  has been drinking all night long.  Marina looked at me with 2 different looks at the same time.  I don't know how she did it but her look told me both that she was disgusted and pissed.  Maybe she is an expert at conveying her thoughts through looks or I am an expert at reading looks.  Either way, I knew what she was thinking and it wasn't good.  We ended up wasting an entire day with the “wrong” Carlos as he took us to properties that weren't even close to what we told him we were looking for.  All the while, we got to enjoy the strong, foul smell of someone who was obviously over-served.  He did tell us a couple of hours into the trip that he had some investors in town and they had struck a deal so they celebrated last night.  No kidding!  Marina and I felt like we were part of the after-celebration…yuck. 


As I said, all of our appointments were 2 hours behind schedule.  The “wrong” Carlos was getting phone calls and Marina and I could hear the other agents yelling at him over the phone because they had been waiting at the property for hours.  I felt bad for the other agents and it was an extremely uncomfortable day.  When the day was finally over, Marina and I were thankful to say the least.  We finished around 4pm and went to the beach to enjoy what PR has to offer.  Poor “wrong” Carlos had a 4+ hour trip back to the San Juan area.  He had told us right before he departed to head back that he would contact a few other agents to show us more properties that actually fit our needs.  He said they would be in contact with us in the next day or so.  We never heard from any of those agents or the “wrong” Carlos again.
It's Wednesday evening and we still haven't heard anything from the sellers on our 2nd offer.  We got a little nervous but were hopeful that we would hear from the “right” Carlos soon.  It wasn't until Thursday early afternoon that we received their counter offer.  We still hadn't reached a deal.  There was some confusion because on the listing it had stated that all appliances were included.  This was not the case.  Make sure to verify everything with whoever you are working with be it the listing agent or your own buyer's agent.  Take nothing at face value.  As we found out, a lot of the information provided on listings is just not accurate.  At this point, we are going back and forth on price a little bit and appliances but it was looking like we would be able to work something out.  Marina and I really wanted this house.  We got to talking that evening and she had told me that she felt at home in PR and she felt at home in the Quebradillas house.  I was really glad to hear her say this because I felt the exact same way and I wanted for her to be happy.  We had found our home in Quebradillas PR and we both not only wanted it but we both felt it.  I couldn't ask for more.


It's Thursday and we are supposed to get together with a couple that I met on expats forums.  Nicest couple ever!  Their car was in the repair shop so I told them we would come to their house and pick them up.  We showed up…on time, of course.  They were so welcoming and willing to answer our million questions about Quebradillas and PR in general.  This worked out perfectly because they live in Quebradillas and have for many years and could really give us a sense of the town and how it is to live there on a daily basis.  We spent the day snooping around Quebradillas with them and had lunch downtown.  We then took them to see the house we put an offer on and they liked it too.  We only drove by it and I did that covertly like a Navy SEAL because I didn't want the sellers to see our Jeep again.  For one, they may think we are stalkers!  And for two, remember we can't spoil Marina's negotiation tactic by letting them we actually like the house.  Thank goodness they weren't outside in the yard or anything and it went off without a hitch.  Marina is a beach bum in disguise as a sophisticated, beautiful, intelligent woman so she wanted to see any and all beaches within 600 miles of the house in Quebradillas.  Our friends were nice enough to take us to several beaches in Quebradillas and Isabela, all of which were beautiful.  We can't wait to have the opportunity to visit those beaches again.  We ended the day with our new friends around 4pm as we dropped them off back at their house.  Marina and I headed back to the condo in Cabo Rojo which was a pretty long drive.  We made it back just in time to hit the beach for a short period of time before it got dark.


Friday was our 2nd opportunity to actually have a day off from house hunting.  We spent that morning with a trip to Bahia Sucia in Cabo Rojo.  Absolutely spectacular views from the cliffs by the lighthouse and the water was a beautiful blue-green color.  We walked further down the shoreline and actually found a part where we could climb down a rock, only about 5-6 feet off the ground so it was safe, and we swam there for a couple of hours.  It was very relaxing and we now refer to that as our “private beach” as we never saw 1 person the entire time we swam there.  After our beach swim, we returned to our condo and showered.  We ate some lunch and decided it was a good idea to visit some local stores and see what all we could purchase on the island.  The less we have to move to PR in a container, the better.  We visited an array of different stores looking at furniture and all sorts of things.  We also came to a final agreement on price and appliances today on the house!  Friday was a really good day.  Since our deal on the house isn't finished yet, I can't share anything regarding numbers but as soon as we close, I will share those with you guys.

We got back to the mainland Saturday the 23rd at 10:30pm and again we were exhausted.  Our son picked us up from the airport.  He asked why we flew out so early going to PR and flew back to the mainland so late…in a nanosecond my wife gave me the look so I didn't say a word.  Our son got the message though  

Since we have been back to the mainland we both miss PR really bad.  We can't wait to “go home”.  That's our story of how we came to purchase our home in PR.  I will now share what has transpired since our return regarding the preparation to move, home inspection, attorney involvement etc.
I was in charge of all of the moving preparation.  Yaay me!

I called several moving companies to start the bid process.  I narrowed it down to 2 different companies which are La Rosa Del Monte and U-Pack.  U-pack doesn't transport cars so if you need your car moved to PR, you'll have to use someone else.  We decided due to cost not to transport my truck and are just going to purchase a car cash when we make the move to PR.  I was quoted $2,800 by La Rosa Del Monte to move my truck.  I'm guessing the cost varies on what type of car you are transporting.  In an effort to compare apples to apples, I had everyone just quote me moving an entire 28' trailer/container.  La Rosa Del Monte packs everything for you in the container.  They do not pack for you as in pack your boxes…only the container.  This is good for those, like me, that have no clue how to properly pack a container so that your stuff doesn't get destroyed during transport but there is an alternative with U-pack.  Although U-pack doesn't pack anything, you can hire professional movers to pack the container for you…which is what I did.  An entire container bid from U-pack was just over $11,000.  Add in the cost of the movers to pack the container which in my case was another $700 and you can get it done less than $12,000.  That quote was moving from Dallas, TX area to Quebradillas, PR door to door.   La Rosa Del Monte seemed to go off of weight (from the quote that I received) and at 9,000 lbs it was a little over $12,000.

I ended up going with U-pack mainly because of the transit time.  Since we are doing this rather quickly, I needed to have our stuff in PR fairly quick.  U-pack quoted me a transit time of 8 business days.  Rosa Del Monte quoted 6-8 weeks!  That is just too long for our move plan.  Today is May 11th and we are needing to be in PR permanently by June 1st. 


The way U-pack works is they drop a trailer at your residence and you are given 3 days to pack it up.  They then come pick it up and transport it to PR.  Once in PR after it's released they take it to your new residence and park it there.  Again, you are given 3 days to unload it before they come and pick it up.  The moving company that I hired to pack my container doesn't have anyone on the ground in PR so I will have to hire another company to help me unload it.  I can unload most of the stuff but there are larger, heavy and bulky items that Marina won't be able to help me with.  She's a little bitty thing and can't lift much.  So if any of you guys want to have a move-me-in party, let me know!  I can call the “wrong” Carlos and he can bring the drinks! He apparently knows where to get them.  Lol

The one thing that I will stress if you use U-pack or anyone really is don't schedule your movers for the same day that the trailer will arrive.  It's possible that the trailer will be late getting there and you could have movers standing around twiddling their thumbs at $100 per hour!  That would definitely get you “the look” from the wifey.  My trailer is scheduled to be dropped this coming Monday May 16th and I scheduled my movers to show up bright and early on Tuesday the 17th.  Add 3 days to the 16th before they pick the trailer up and 8 business days for transport and my container should arrive in perfect time.


Home inspection – We used a licensed home inspector in PR and she was extremely professional and thorough.  She also speaks perfect English for anyone, like me, who isn't fluent in Spanish yet. 


Appraisal – We are paying cash and opted not to do an appraisal.  I don't suggest that to everyone but in this case, Marina and I both feel like the property is worth what we paid for it.  At least it is worth it to us and that's all that matters.  If there is any question, I'd recommend doing an appraisal.  There's always that chance the property will appraise for less and you can use that as a negotiation tool with the sellers.   If you need additional negotiation tools, I can ask Marina what she would charge to come to the property with you and take a look at the laundry room.  She could save you thousands with her tactic!  Just kidding


Attorney – There will be an attorney representing the seller that I guess what would be most like a title company here on the mainland.  In PR they don't seem to use title companies so I would recommend hiring your own attorney to represent your interests so that you can make sure all of your bases are covered.  We hired an attorney to represent us and it was only a few hundred dollars.  That is a small drop in the bucket when making a purchase of this magnitude.  We are also paying our attorney a few hundred dollars more and doing a POA to sign everything for us at closing.  Closing is set for May 22nd but the sellers have until June 1st to move out and we don't want to have to fly to PR twice.  The few hundred dollars spent on the POA is much cheaper than 2 round-trip plane tickets and our time.
That is another difference in PR vs the mainland.  Our real estate agent tells us that it is customary to allow the sellers up to 2 weeks to move out of the property AFTER closing.  I know here on the mainland, once you close on a property, it's already empty and ready to move in to.  Differences in PR need to be embraced or they will drive you crazy. 


Deposit (Escrow money) – This one really freaked Marina out and made me a little nervous as well.  On the mainland you usually pay 1-2% escrow money that is held with the title company as good faith money that you are going to purchase the property.  In PR that amount is much higher at around 5%.  Marina didn't have a problem with the higher amount.  What she had a problem with is that it went into the bank account of the listing agent!  I almost had to call in the National Guard with riot gear to calm her down after the “right” Carlos told us that.  The $20,000+ went into an account that was named the last name of the listing agent coupled with the seller's name.  It looked like “Jones-Smith”.  For anyone worried about buying property outside of the mainland and people running off with your money then moving to China…this will freak you out.  It is all normal in PR and nothing to be afraid of as long as you verify with their bank that it is in fact an escrow account. 

It is also a good idea to have the “right” Carlos or another reputable buyer's agent representing you so that they can also verify that everything is on the up-and-up.  Make sure that the listing agent is a real agent etc etc.  This is another area where having a local PR attorney can really put your mind at ease.

There may be some things that I forgot to mention and I apologize if I did but anyone is welcome to ask me any questions or PM me if you need more info.  I will be happy to give out the names and phone numbers of anyone that I used during our transaction. 


Although it isn't completely finished yet, it is nearing that stage and both Marina and I feel comfortable and confident that everything will work out just fine in the end.


If you have chosen to move to PR, embrace the differences and enjoy the life.  I hope you love PR as much as Marina and I do!


Cheers,

Brian & Marina