Well we gave up on the Ceiba house we were planing to purchase.
The plan was to sell some stocks and use the money to buy the house cash. However there were a lot of delays (since July) due to the seller realtor and a problem with the land measurements being incorrect. I finally got a message earlier this week that the issues with the title have been ironed out and the property has been registered with the correct numbers. Since the market has gone down over 20% since my initial offer in July, I told them I was not buying the house since I would need to sell 20% more shares to get the same amount of money.
Here are the new plans:
We have decided to go ahead and look for a plot of land instead, this will give us the freedom of building a brand new house with a pool and in a modern style using modern construction (phone lines, Internet, cable TV connections in every room, flexible tubing), big balcony, pool and surrounding area that matches the house and tile, etc. Depending on what we decide, it is likely to cost us 80-120 for the construction, permits, and taxes. So for about 200K we can have a very nice place in an acre of two of land and build with the options the wife wants.
I contacted by friend that is a realtor (Carlos) and asked him to look for plots of lands in the 1 to 2 acres size. I also contacted my brother to ask his wife, she and her sisters have about 20 acres between them in an area I like, they will contact me later with prices. I don't like dealing with family and business but it is an option.
My realtor friend called me that there is a plot of land about 2 acres in size, right next door to the Ceiba house I was planing on purchasing. we are familiar with the area so that one gets a golden star. The 2 acres are selling for 65K which I find very reasonable.
I told my realtor friend that we will be arriving in 2 to 3 months, to have 4-5 properties (lots) that meet my needs to see. I told him they need to be in the area of Fajardo, Ceiba, Naguabo or Humacao (most of upper east coast).
I really like just getting the land now and build whenever I decide to go to PR, besides …. the money I get from selling the house in MA, I can use to build the house in the new plot so I don't have to touch the stocks if at all possible.
We plan to rent for about 6 months while the house is build and we will be there to supervise the work so there are no costly mistakes.
So we will be in PR in 2 to 3 months looking at some lots.
Rey