New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here

My husband and I are moving to Bayamon in June and cannot wait! We still have so much to do. I am nervous because I know zero Spanish. We will be living on the Coast Guard base so hopefully we have the community and neighborhood to support us as new residents of beautiful Puerto Rico. Any suggestions will be gladly heard

Thank you so much, Gary, for the welcome!  Yes, winters can be brutal especially just this last one.  You end up feeling like you live in a cave or something because it too cold to go out and do anything but just the normal errands you must do.  We spend a lot of time at the library, lol!

Our first year to PR was about 6 years ago and we traveled and stayed all around the island.  We really like the dry area down in Guanica and Cabo Rojo but fell in love with the surfer vibe and laid back atmosphere in Rincon.  I will certainly browse around some older topics to understand more.

Hi, Jesscarney!  Glad to see others have found this blog, too.  We are wanting to eventually be full time in PR and will start out with long term rentals in Rincon area.  I would think that there would be others in Bayamon area that speak English so you should be OK.  I hope to learn Spanish, myself.  You'd be surprised to know that you will pick up a lot just being there and looking at signage, lol.

I wish you all the luck on your move, how exciting for you!  Please share your experiences on the move before and after, if you would.  I would love to hear about as I know others would, too.  Bless!

Hi, Jesscarney and welcome to Expat.com!
You're gonna be fine without knowing Spanish but if you really want to experience "La Isla del encanto" learning (some) Spanish would be a good plan.
The USCG Bayamon housing area looks nice and I'm sure everybody there will speak English. That also goes for Fort Buchanan which is close by.

Should you have any specific questions just start a new topic and we'll try our best to get you the answers!

Hi,  everyone, I have never been to the area. But I have been reading and trying to find out if this move is fesible for me. I am single and work in law enforcement. I want to find my slice of paradise while I can still have some energy to enjoy it. Can anyone give any suggestions on where I should stay and the places I should visit? I want to start planning my trip there to see if its for me.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Laura

Hi again, also can anyone tell me if , I will be able to find employment there very easily?

Hi Laura and welcome to Expat.com!
To start with your last question, finding a job won't be easy. The unemployment is high (15%) and the economy is a mess. You said you work in law enforcement so I assume you'd want to join the police dept.? Do you speak Spanish? Since that's the language we speak here it would help a lot.

I'd suggest you read older topics in this forum. Many topics have been discussed and you can learn a lot about life in Puerto Rico.

Coming over for an extended visit is a good plan. Visit a couple of cities : San Juan, Ponce Mayaguez. Drive along the coast and visit some smaller places.The west coast and specifically Rincon is popular among US Americans. If you have time left get up in the mountains a look at some of the villages up there.

Try to get an appointment with the recruiting dept. of he Police and see if you would have a chance to get a job.

Should you have specific questions please start a new topic and we'll try to find the answers for you!

Hi all:
If you want the real deal about living in PR. Check out my article "Living in Puerto Rico" here: retirementandgoodliving.com/living-in-puerto-rico/2/
Also you can view my blog for more information: oasiswritinglink.blogspot.com
I wish you all the best!

Hi 1Cynthia,

It would be much appreciated and lovely if you can share some information here on the forum.. as it will create an interactions which will be nice

Thank you

Wish you a grand day

Maximilien

Yes, 1Cynthia, I'd love to hear anything you'd like to share!  Bless~

Hello All:  My name is Dan and I have been living in PR for one year.  My wife is active duty military and we are 1 year into our three year tour.  Things have been interesting here - I plan on posting some of my observations.  Thanks to all in this forum - the information has been very helpful!!

Welcome, trekrider520!  I looking forward to further postings with your observations.

Hola, soy de Guayanilla, PR. En estos momentos estoy radicado en Miami. Busco establecerme en Buenos Aires, estoy viviendo una relación a distacia y ya entablamos que yo me mudare a Bueno Aires. Necesito ayuda con información de trabajo, y permisos de trabajo. Si pudiera lograr una contratación desde acá Miami sería una ventaja para la visa de trabajo. Mi experiencia es en la industria hospitalaria, más en artes culinario y repostería. Les agradecería cualquier consejo o ayuda.

I don't know if this is the best forum for seeking info on moving to Buenos Aires, Chefjd, but good luck.

Chefjd, this would be the right forum to post your question: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=2150
It's the Spanish language Argentina forum.

Also, please avoid to post the same text more than once, please.
Thanks and good luck!

Peace and Love!  Skai Juice here...loving living here in Paradise.

Check out my non profit organization...a children's organic farm here in Luquillo.

puertoricofarm.com

Thanks

Peace

skaijuicepr, Welcome!  Your organization looks great and what wonderful thing to promote.  Bless!

Thanks!

Well Hello to everyone here... Currently I live in the states in Virginia. I visited Las Marias, PR in April and am headed back in Sept.  Right now I'm researching trying to find out all I can about the culture, various places, crime rate, housing etc. I'm considering moving to somewhere near Las Marias up in the mountains where it is quiet, peaceful, with lots of outdoor fun and excitement not far away... I look forward to connecting with people here to get a better understanding of how this paradise can be and how it's going to change my life.

Suggest you start by browsing the threads here, lots of info. Alternatively start a thread with a single question under any of the categories here.

Welcome, BearNVa.

Thanks you 2.... Vglass I looked at some of your photos... very nice...

Yeah, do the research. Go way back and read the posts..You will find most if not all of your answers there. The questions you ask have been asked over and over and over by many others. Many of us have responded many times on the same subjects. Do your homework and come back to us when you are through.

Welcome, BearNva!  I'm learning a lot of information from this forum/blog from many experienced expats.

Oh, and Victor, I love your photos on your website.  Excellent!

We are new to the PR Forum. My name is Andra, age 34. My husband is Ray, age 59. We live in Arkansas. He is a Chicago native but has lived here for 30 years. I was born and raised here. We have 3 children at home, ages 16, 14 and 5. My husband is ready to find the retirement home of his dreams in PR. His best friend, Chris, also has a life long dream to move to PR...and myself and the kids are along for the ride! I plan on sending both of the men to look at the different areas before we decide where we'd like best. We like quiet....we're not made for the city. We raise chickens and a garden here and feel must find an area that will allow us to do the same there. Beach sounds great...as long as chickens are allowed...LOL. Mountains sound great, too. We don't know Spanish but will have to start learning now. He longs to be close to other Americans. We have a houseboat...but have no idea how to get it to PR. A shipping company maybe. The houseboat could give us a place to sleep while we hunt for a home. The same idea goes with the RV...a place to sleep while we look. We are looking in the price range of $120.000. Any ideas on what areas to look closest at? Right now we are looking at Rincon but also the island of Vieques. I don't like hot and humid, though.

apr2pr: Sounds exciting. I live in Rincon and chickens will not be  problem there at all.

Thank you victorlglass. That is good to know. Do you know...are there area in PR where chickens would not be allowed (other than San Juan)? Thank you again.

Thank you for posting, 1cynthia. I have been reading your blog.

PR isn't suitable for a houseboat. It wouldn't survive the marine conditions here. Shipping it would be prohibitively expensive anyway.

Hi Guys

Wow...you sound like us eight years ago. We are on the eastern side of the island In a little town called Naguabo in barrio El Duce. We're about 400 feet above sea level on the side of a mountain with lots of cattle farms. You folks didn't sound like gated community folks and neither are we. Times are tough here. If you would accept rural, like "you need to fight back the jungle" rural, your budget would go a lot farther. Are either of you handy? Having basic building skills is a huge benefit. Whatever you get will need work. It may not be apparent right off the batt but believe me it's on it's way. The good part is that you get to live here. When we first came we rented as we looked, took us about three months of four days a week. A rushed decision could tie you down to a money pit. We ended up way out in the boonies on about three acres. Lots of fun but lots of work. If I had known then what I know now I think I would have settled for less land. Lots of luck!

Thank you for your input, NomadLawyer.

Thank you Dolt! Yes, we are handy. We built all our or sheds, our shop, 2 green houses, chicken coops,goat pen, etc. I believe I can grow all the food I am used to growing on about an acre but don't really want to go less than an acre. We have 3 acres here and even it is too much to keep up with. We use rain barrels here. Grey Water to the gardens, Some solar. We did have goats but MAN are they annoying. Cute but annoying. Our town is about 500 people, so rural is our wish.

We have found a lot of info about RV parks. The National Park are supposed to be $400 a month. Many of them have security, swimming pools, laundry, food, etc. That might be the way to go starting out. I wonder if we found land in the country, would we be able to get our RV there. I hear roads might be rough.

You are very welcome, AR2PR. Good luck with everything.

Hi Andra and welcome to Expat.com!

The Rincon area sounds like a good choice if you guys want to be around Americans.

As for finding a place to live, http://www.clasificadosonline.com is a good place to start searching online.
Go the Real Estate section, choose "area West" and "Finca" (Finca is a (small) farm property with or without a house).

It might be cheaper to sell your RV and rent a place for a couple of months. (clasificadosonline.com also lists places for rent.) Transport of the RV wouldn't be cheap and you most likely will have to pay taxes when you "import" the RV.

Good luck!

Keep in touch. If I can be of any help either now or when you get here let me know. Sounds like you have realistic expectations which is a rare occurrence!

Thank you NomadLawyer.

Thank you for the info and kind regards Gary. I am curious why so many of the properties we have been viewing online say they have unregistered titles. I have read that a property should have a registered title and we should also get title insurance and a lawyer before making a deal.

Thank you Dolt201. You sound like my kind of people. A few more questions (for now anyways), with the price of electricity being so high....do they sell solar panels there? We got ours at a local farm store...just small ones.  We are too cheap to pay so much for so little. More likely would look for a way to live "off grid" if possible.

AR2PR wrote:

I have read that a property should have a registered title and we should also get title insurance and a lawyer before making a deal.

Yup, that's the way to go!