Rio Mar/Rio Grande Condos

I am some what familiar with that area. If you don't mind over paying then that's a good location for you, it's still a minimum if 30 mins from San juan Airport.
I have stayed in that area several times. Its ok.  You really need to stay in an area for a yr old so before you buy as you have no idea what you have to deal with. Not just there but everywhere here. We moved to 5 locations living here. We are now done with the islands bs and shortly moving to belize

My family and I stayed in Rio Mar a number of times and decided to buy something.  We looked at a number of things and ultimately bought a house a short distance from the resort a number of years ago.  It is now our second home.

Bottom line is that Rio Mar is a very good option and the El Yunque / Rio Grande area is one of the best on the island, IMO.  In addition to Rio Mar,  Bahia Beach and El Conquistador are resorts with housing communities.  The first is five-star and very expensive and the latter is just recovering from the hurricanes but could be interesting.  Dorado is hideously overpriced and Palmas is a failed retirement community too far from everything that has struggled from its inception. 

The units in most of the buildings are really nice.  You need to understand about the Community Association and the use of resort amenities, which changes from time to time.  There is an active market for condos in Rio Mar but the comps are pretty fuzzy.  You have to negotiate a bit as sellers in PR always think their properties are worth more than they are.  I would go in 15-20% below asking.  Also, talk to more than one broker (I know most of them).  You need to get them competing. 

The crime in the area is much lower than perceived.  The Puerto Ricans complain about it incessantly but except for the murder rate, which is all about the drug trade in areas of San Juan,  it is actually lower than most mainland cities.  We have been there for about 15 years and have never had a problem.

I would be happy to help with any other questions.

Hi I have to agree with just about everything you said. Im currently shopping around the west coast Aguadilla, Aguada, Isabela which im more familiar with. However I also like the east like luquillo and Fajardo. Whats your opinion about Ceiba? If you were to do it all over again where would you live on the island?

Other than going through the airport, I have not spent much time in Ceiba.  There is a good concentration of restaurants in the area because of the marinas and El Conquistador.  There are also some nice-looking condos, at least from the outside, in the Ceiba / Fajardo area.

If we had to do it over again, we would do the same.  We are very happy with what we found (see pic on left)  and have actually bought additional property nearby.  The El Yunque area is very close to the island's most beautiful areas while also having access to good stores and restaurants.

JoeJon,

Check out Law 60 (formerly Law 21/22). I believe you need to take some action this year if you want to take advantage of the tax breaks in 2022.  Tals to a PR lawyer because it is quite complicated.

Thanks for the response. I have been weighing this decision  since the end of last year and I do need to get the paperwork going soon for the 2022 year.  I spoke to PRelocate and Grant Thornton.  I trade stocks for a living and 2020 and 2021 have been exceptionally good years for pretty much everyone who trades and if I were confident I could replicate this it would make the decision easier. I stayed at Rio Mar a number of years ago and thought it was great. Bahia is definitely out of my price range but am aware that it is nice. I think the Coco Beach golf course has some condos but can't find much info on them.  I would prefer taxes to be only part of the reason and not the only reason for living in PR.

The concerns I have are the government has already changed the fees and not grandfathered prior Act holders and my understanding is these laws aren't too popular, so I wouldn't be stunned to see major fee increases that essentially make the Acts worthless.  A lot of comments I see from locals online aren't the most welcoming. I am also concerned about statehood so I am hoping clarity comes soon. I suspect that cooler heads will prevail and PR won't be a state because you would have to overlay the already high PR taxes with the Federal taxes but I don't know.  There are also all the frictional costs and headaches of moving.  Selling my house, furniture and car in the states and then buying down in PR. And if things didn't work there is a cost to selling and moving back.  I am worried that everyone is thinking like I am and bidding up a limited supply of real estate which might not have a market if the Acts are repealed or PR is a state. That's why I looked at Rio Mar because it seems like second homes and away from the traditional places like Dorado and Palmas that have property prices that can fluctuate wildly.  And simple stuff like having a workable internet and power that doesn't go out during the week. I guess a hotspot might keep the internet going and I have to figure out what I will do about power. I don't think most Rio Mar condos have generators (though I think one building does). I have a Labrador Retriever. I haven't gotten a good answer if every Rio Mar HOA allows dogs. Realtors haven't been responsive so I am piecing this together by lots of Google searches.  There is also the issue of transporting a dog back and forth.  And I suspect getting simple stuff done like buying a car or going to the bank will be a challenge given that I don't speak any Spanish.  Even getting a drivers license and setting up electricity and water seem like they might not be simple procedures.

And then there are issues like how quickly will insurance companies pay and how easy is it to find contractors to rebuild if there is natural disaster damage.

While each of the 6 or 7 clusters of villas in the resort have their own rules, the Hotel and at least several of the clusters are pet friendly in Rio Mar.  I agree with your logic, and given your objectives, Rio Mar would be a good choice for you.  If statehood should come, which I doubt,  the property values will rise dramatically, Not so much because of the tax situation. Still, masses of retirees will look at PR with more confidence than they do now, and you will see a high appreciation. 

No Spanish is not generally a problem.  There are many new car dealerships close by, and you will have no problem finding an English car salesman.  Banks in PR generally suck (technical term), but they have English speakers to serve you - to the extent they serve anyone. 

There is a group of apartments at Coco Beach (now Hyatt Grande Reserve).  56 very high-end units were built when it was a Trump property over 10 years ago with 7 figure asking prices.  Only 14 were sold as a larger development plan did not go through.  The rest were mothballed.  A grand new development plan was in progress as a part of the rebranding with Hyatt.  The new developers had bought the golf club, hotel, and most of the apartments.  COVID has stalled any progress, but some of the units come up for sale from time to time.


Getting a realtor's attention is a challenge because they get floods of questions from tourists coming through to see things but are not serious buyers.   When you are ready, I would be happy to introduce you to one or two who specialize in Rio Mar.   The best site to see listings is "point2point"  Private Message me for that.

$250 condo fee ? Is that a lot of money? I'm just wondering. Living in the states and having a condo in Palmas that does not sound high?  What do you get for $250?  Thanks

250 bucks is the gate fees. For that you get to wave to the gard as you enter the grounds.  And to swim in the pool.  So after the 250 you have to buy a house and pay for water and electric. I worked for a realestate company in Palmas at one time. They have a gatted community with in the larger community. Gate fees for it were like 5k a month. Then you just need to buy a home in there..

$5K a month in Palmas??  I have a home in Palmas no where near $5K a month not even a year at my development. The HOA fees includes the yearly fee for the main gate security, landscaping lightning, road etc for common grounds for the main development and the monthly fee for my specific development cover security, pools, landscaping and ground maintenance as well as roads, lighting etc. well worth it.

AND, Palmas cleans up the sea weed and dead fish off the beach. Not too shabby.

One question. If you live in Palmas the gated community do you live in the inner second gated community? I was told that there is an exclusive part that is very expensive.  Now I could be totally wrong about this I'm only human and my source could have been miss informed.  Either way it is a very beautiful place and very peaceful community.  To expensive for me but I also have also had very bad. problems with neaigbors. You will never experience that in there.

The master Palmas development is made up of several sub-developments created by different builders who built out their neighborhood with different styles and price points ranging from condos to luxury houses.  Most if not all of these neighborhoods are separately gated.  The entire complex went bankrupt 8 or 10 years ago and some neighborhoods recovered better than others.

Yes there is main gate and many of the developments there is a 2nd gate.  To be transparent there are developments whose HoA could be over 5K a year  but they also get additional amenities .  Mine is much less than 5k a year but well worth it.

I have a house fir sale 4 min down the street I'm selling with an ocean view in Fortuna Luquillo. 110 k  needs a bit of work but it's a deal at that. Has a good sized lot and I changed out all the wiring down to the plugs and put rocker switches. It well worth a look.

Do you have photos?

I do. Best to go to point 2 homes Luquillo Puerto Rico it's the  only one for 110. JK reality I think is the realtor I'm listed with.  He has a vid I took as well.  Also I have a fixer home in Ceiba for 65 it has views of the islands off shore.