Will it work

Puerto Rico is expensive if:

1. You have a Puerto Rican salary.

2. You compare it to a Latin American country.

You would be making twice as much as the average Puerto Rican household so unless you want to live a life of luxury you should be fine. (But don't expect a life of luxury.)

You will be fine!  $40,000 is a good life style here.

Thanks for the info.  I'm looking for an easy life in the mountain towns.  There's so much mixed information on these forums depending on people's points of views.

Anyone with any experience in some of those towns I've mentioned?

I lived in the mountains in Puerto Rico for eleven years. I do think this is a viable option for a mid-range income. We rented a house for about $500.00 a month. Still, if there is a lot of commuting, it can be a serious hassle. I thought it was worth it to raise our children in the country but we had to drive them to school everyday. If your child knows Spanish and if you don't mind public school education, it could work out for the long run. I recommend that you do more research on the area: crime, roads, traffic while keeping in mind where you would work. It can be lonely if you don't know anyone or Spanish, but Cayey is beautiful. Good luck!

40k a year for three, living in the country should be more than plenty if you keep it simple. You'd probably want to look into any town close by the southern town of Ponce, the western town of Mayaguez or to Arecibo in the north as this will allow for a close hop to shopping, Hospitals and such while being secluded in the country. That's how I roll actually, you'll need a source of emergency power and water reserves for the much too common storms here! You'll  need a car too, but the 40k should do, best o' luck to you.

Hi herbert,

My bf is in mayaguez, but we are looking at land in Cayey.  I found, what appears to be really cheap compared to other posts for land.  I work from home, so need internet, but I also make 40k/year.  Do you know much about Cayey?

Cheers,

Liz

Hey Liz,
As far as I know Cayey is popular with folks here for having a stretch of road full of roadside pork restaurants and a country setting very much like Mayaguez. Cayley is much more closer to San Juan which depending on your needs may or May not be better. One very particular thing about PR is that back when the government owned the land line phone company that goes by the name of Claro now, they gave phone access to every last remote corner of this Island. Basically anywhere you go you can have very good internet access as long as it is with Claro, but while I wrote that I had forgot about so many other cell phone companies that offer a over the air hot spot, so you'd be covered anywhere you go on the island. Real estate is dirt cheap these days as the creole recession is still in full swing, it's a real buyers market out there. 40 K should be plenty for two people in either Cayey or Mayaguez as long as you guys keep it simple.
Best of luck to you guys, welcome home and stay safe.
H/

Thank you Herbert!  I'm so glad I found this blog!  That's good to know about the real estate.  It's definitely more expensive than other places I looked, but...it's a beautiful island...what can I expect?!?!  Mayaguez is more expensive from what I've seen.  But, I'm doing the research...and already getting excited.  Thanks so much.

Cheers,

Liz

I grew up here in Cabo Rojo which is the town or city as they're called here next to Mayaguez. I know for a fact that houses in "urbanizaciones" or newer sub divisions were extremely overpriced up until a year ago and the builders have been all over the 6 o'clock news lately saying how they are refocusing and building smaller and cheaper now just to be able to sell. I've seen on TV, just last week, about a expensive-luxury-multi story apt building in San Juan that's was transformed into subsidized rentals for the poor as they just could not sell it.  One more thing Liz and I hate to say it but you guys having an accent and looking like newcomers could be inflating the asking prices too. That's another cultural thing here, everybody asks way more than they'd sell for as haggling is expected.
H/

Hi Again,

The good thing is that my boyfriend is Puerto Rican.  I've only looked at land online as I'm trying to prepare.  First, I wouldn't live in a subdivision to save my life!  I'm a country gal!  However, I've looked at land and, compared to other places it is more expensive, but just posted online.  I will have to get the native haggler involved when we look at purchasing   I can see that it seems like there is a lot available, that probably has a lot of room to negotiate.

Thanks!!

Liz

You'll be alright then, check out www. clasificadosonline.com  thats like the online marketplace for individual sellers of anything in PR and just sit back and watch him haggle. Best of luck.

Thanks!!

Herbert Homebody wrote:

As far as I know Cayey is popular with folks here for having a stretch of road full of roadside pork restaurants

Actually that's in Guavate, in the mountains south-west of Cayey.

Cayey looks like a nice place to live, I've been there many times on business and I have a positive impression of the town. It's not as hot in summer because it's up in the mountains.

As for internet, telephone cables may be all over the place but the service of Claro is notoriously bad. There are a couple of topics about internet in PR in this forum, read and learn.