Moving from the State to Puerto Rico

I've dealt with La rosa del Momte. They will rip you off at every chance they get. So will the others. The only advantage to using a Puerto Rican mover is that when your stuff gets there it doesn't sit long on the docks. It gets moved through quicker. The way it works is that a rep will come out to your house and go through the entire place and write down prices for everything. They provide you with the moving boxes which at the time I moved were $25 each. They estimate how many boxes you should need. Watch them closely when they price out the larger items (the movers will make custom boxes for that stuff when they come to pick up your furniture) like end tables and TV stands. We had a TV stand in the living room and one in the bedroom. They were identical. They priced one out at $35 and the other one at $75. Watch stuff like that closely. After they are all done, scrutinize the list closely. If you have any computers, pack them yourself in one of the moving boxes. If you don't they will charge you $75 to pack it themselves. Just tell them you aren't taking the computers. They will come up with a total which includes the cost of the boxes. Obviously if you use more boxes they have to charge you. When all is said and done they will require a 50% deposit. When you reach a final price, tell them that's the price you will pay and get it in writing. If you don't get it in writing they will tack on extra costs and when it comes time to deliver your stuff they will give you a different price. If you dispute it they will just say, "OK, we have your stuff. If you don't pay this balance we put your stuff in storage and charge you $300 a month storage fee until you are ready. Hopefully it won't come to that. Mark and number all your boxes before they pick them up. When they deliver your stuff and start unloading don't let anyone in the door without that box being checked off your list. You might as well go with La Rosa del monte because they are no worse than any of the others. Just be diligent and keep a close eye on everything. They have many ways to take advantage of you. On the bright side, they will get your stuff to you quickly. It only took 4 weeks to get our stuff from Virginia to PR.

Thanks Gregg for your great info.  I will call La Rosa Del Monte when we get to Fla. (where most of our stuff is) and then we will take inventory and have a few garage sales to widdle down our stuff.  We are not taking any furniture except a bed, small phonograph/cd player, some cds and dvds and records.  We may take a dining room set, not sure yet and mostly clothes and papers which can go into boxes.  It shouldn't be much.  We are Puerto Rican and I think that we can talk to these people without getting tricked, hopefully

So we will have all the stuff set and will leave it in the trusty hands of my brother-in-law since we are leaving for PR at the beginning of May and will send for the stuff when we get a place to rent.

I am hoping that everything will work out fine.  Thanks again for your help.

You should do OK since you don't have a bunch of stuff. But don't ever think for a minute that just because you are Puerto Rican that they won't try to screw you out of a buck wherever they can. I'm not just singling them out, it's the nature of the business. My wife is Puerto Rican and they had no problems taking advantage of her. She's the one that dealt with the movers. She caught them more than once trying to get away with cheating. Best of luck in your relocation. I hope moving to PR meets or exceeds your expectations.

We just moved most of our furniture from the Boston area to PR. We had done smaller moves over the years but this was a big one. We did it all ourselves through UMOVE. We saved a lot of money, worked harder than we should have had to and in the end had very little trouble seeing the whole thing through. Biggest problem was finding a good truck rental company here in PR.

Tonie0750, when you get moved to PR please could you possibly share some your experiences with how everything went?  I'd love to hear more~  Hope you find a school for your grandson.

Hi Schuttzie, I certainly will post my experiences with the move and finding a house, etc.  We are still here in Fla. trying to get rid of as much as possible.  We are not moving furniture except a bed and t.v.
We just have alot of boxes with personal stuff, records, linens, clothes, etc.

I have been researching online for a school which has curriculum in English for my grandson so he can finish H.S. since he doesn't speak Spanish.  The last resort will be online school and that may be the way to go.  I will let you know once we get there and start my search.

Oh, I so wish you all the best, tonie!  An online school may be the way to go since he only has one year left...less stressful to fit in right away.  We don't plan on bringing furniture, either.  Probably just a few clothes.  Got to get rid of winter clothes, haha!

We plan on looking in the Rincon area and have already seen a few homes online and looked at a couple in person this last February.  We'll probably rent long term for awhile.

It's a good idea to rent long term. That way when and if you decide to purchase a place you will be confident that you will be staying for awhile. . I'd recommend that to just about everyone who wants to relocate to PR. Rent first. Don't be in a hurry to buy. I am one of those people who didn't like it there and I thank God I didn't have to try and sell my house in order to leave. Best of luck to you. Oh, and please help the many stray dogs and cats you will encounter. Carry a bag of dog food and some water in your vehicle at all times and show a little kindness whenever possible.

I can see you are an animal lover, good for you, Gregg!  How long did you live in PR, if I may ask?

Only 1 year. It was all I could take. I didn't fit well with the culture and the prices on everything were way too high for me (among many other factors). My wife is from Mayaguez and she says it's a totally different Puerto Rico  than when she grew up. But we did manage to save about 20 dogs in our neighborhood , get them to the states where they all got adopted. We kept one for ourselves. I wouldn't recommend that anyone move there that doesn't have lot's of money. Despite how I feel, I sincerely hope you and others going there find the happiness and the dream that you are looking for.