It’s time to settle on our Puerto Rican dream home! That’s what I’m thinking, but my husband must be worried about owning a house he has not yet seen. We have not shared the details with our friends, wanting to wait till everything goes through.
We fly in on Oct 11th and stay again at the home of our friends in the Wyndham Rio Mar. The next day we head to the bank in San Juan. Santosh still has not seen the house. The paperwork does not take a lot of time. We sign a bunch of legal documents and finally we are given keys to the home.
We take off in the rental car, I am excited to show Santosh the house. At the security gate, we show our deed to prove that we have a home in the development.
We pull into the carport and open the kitchen door. As we step into the living area, we discover that it is flooded. The drain in the atrium was clogged and it filled with water and seeped into the rest of the house. Some of the lovely wooden doors are damaged.
Our realtor introduces us to a contractor and we discuss what needs to be done. All the walls and the ceiling need to be repaired and painted. The roof needs to be resurfaced and water-proofed. The whole home is tiled and it is in decent shape. We plan to gut the bathrooms. We hope to keep the kitchen as is.
Santosh decides to to try and unclog the atrium drain. He buys a drum auger from Home Depot and tries to clear the drain. No luck. He then uses a drain bladder connected to a garden hose. After the pressure built up, we hear water gushing in the street. Turns out a child’s rubber ball had blocked the spout outside. My creative husband saves the day and $400.
We prepare the house for renovation, removing rusted fixtures, outlets, shelves and a TV mount.
I notice that the neighborhood cats have been watching us. Later we discover that our house is their local hangout. They still stop over to visit. I am allergic to cats so I am not a fan. But when the house is empty there is no one to stop them.
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today. So I plant mango, papaya and banana trees. And sow a few seeds.
We begin to purchase stuff for the home that we find on sale at Costco and stash them in our friends closet.
It’s a quick trip. We leave after 5 days. Despite the shock of a flooded house, Santosh is happy with what he saw. I guess the descriptions, pictures and the videos were not far from reality. Now comes the hard work, how do we make this house a home?
After the euphoria of the girls trip died down, I got to work – I needed to buy a house (and a tree laden with starfruit) in Puerto Rico. I had to get preapproved for a loan and make an offer on the house. Given a bank owned the home, and they had most likely had already written it off, we made a really low offer. They did not like the offer and counter offered by reducing the asking price by $10,000. We set a max price and were prepared to walk away if we could not come to an agreement below that price. Well, I really did not want to walk away but it might come to that.
After three more iterations, the bank came back with its final offer. Too high. We provided our final offer, the max we had set. Then we waited anxiously. I remember my excitement when I received a text from my realtor on Sept 1st 2018 congratulating us.
We did it! OMG! We just made an offer on a home over a 1,000 miles away. Was I nuts? Along with the excitement, there was definitely apprehension.
Because the seller was a bank, the purchasing process was simpler. There was no uncertainty related to ownership or liens. This can be a problem in Puerto Rico as homes pass from one generation to the next without proper paperwork.
One concern was that the house was being sold “as is”. There was an inspection by the mortgaging bank (which was also the seller) and we received a copy. No major issues. No roof, no basement means less things that can go wrong. Or so we thought.
Settlement was Oct 12th 2018, just seven months after I had embarked on this journey. Pretty impressive! I stayed on top of matters providing all the documentation as quickly as possible so as not be on the critical path.
Recall, my husband had not yet seen the house. The girls in the family had, but the boys had not.
What if Santosh is not happy with the house?
After we return from Spring Break in Puerto Rico, I say to my friend Alyse: “I now know where I am going to retire.” I’m not sure if she took me seriously, but I am committed to see this through. I read stories about how challenging the process of buying a home could be, given records on home ownership and liens need to be investigated and confirmed. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there. This tends to be my philosophy in life, don’t over think anything, we can figure out the details as we go along.
I start looking at Zillow and other property sites. My realtor Raul sends me listings and videos. My budget is low, I am looking for a simple home. The most important requirement is some land around the house to plant flowers, fruits and vegetables. I do not want to be in a touristy area, I want to live with the locals. Since the garden is so important, a beachside community is out of consideration.
Most homes in Puerto Rico are in gated communities for safety reasons. This would be optimal for us as we would be flying back and forth.
On 5/27/18, I send an email to several girls friends, saying “Hey there, I know I have spoken to most of you about how much we loved PR and that I want to buy a home there for investment/wintering/retirement purposes. Well, the relator facetimed a prospective home and I want to go see it. Santosh says he cannot take off work at this time, so rather than going alone, I’m inviting you all to join me….” I continue to explain what the trip would cost, the itinerary etc. I am thrilled that 3 friends and my daughters were able to join me.
It is an epic trip, we rent a small Airbnb in Luquillo, walking distance from the beach. We are worried about sharing the single bathroom, but find we all prefer the outdoor shower. Together.
We discover breadfruit (pana). At the Kioskos, a young man on a bike sells us these unfamiliar fruit. He is a good salesman. We take them home and work hard at prepping and cooking. We had so much, we end up sharing it with the family next door.
Raul took Supriya and me to look at the homes on my list. There was one house, a foreclosure, that looked terrible in the listing but was attractive because of the size of the house and the land. I kept it at the end of the list. Unexpectedly, none of the homes were exciting till we got to that last home.
It is hard to get to. You get off the highway then travel through narrow roads, sharp turns and steep intersections. Finally you reach a residential area with a number of gated communities. The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac.
It is a hot mess. The driveway is black with mold. The exterior needs TLC. The yard is over-grown. Actually it is more of a jungle.
Supriya and I walk through the carport to the side of the house. There is a dilapidated deck of sorts and then the side yard. The side yard is mostly a hill that meets the wall of the gated community. Towards the back there are two fruit trees that are over flowing with fruit. The first, we do not recognize. The second is a starfruit tree. Supriya, an avid gardener, exclaims “This is the house mom!”
I tell her we should see the house first. We walk in from the back and are immediately struck by the open design and sunlight streaming in from both sides. There is a garden atrium room in the front. The house has four bedrooms and two and half baths. It all needs work but looks structurally sound. I agree this is the home.
We facetime Santosh. He too falls in love with the fruit trees first. He identifies the first tree as a Rose Apple or Pomarosa.
The next day, we take everyone back to the house. Reena joins us as her flight came in the next day from Albany. We don’t have the realtor with us, but somehow manage to get through the security gate. We enter the home through the sliding glass door which does not lock. As we are exploring the house and imagining a future home, a security guard comes and yells at us in Spanish. We really should not be there without the realtor. We quickly grab some of the fruit and take it home with us.
It’s a short but fun filled four-day trip. We visit El Yunque, Old San Juan and several beaches. We meet men on those beaches who introduce us to Medalla, quenepa’s and passion fruit all of which we consumed in the ocean. It’s a new experience to chill in a still ocean with a cocktail in hand.
I promise Raul that we will make an offer on the home after I return to PA.
For our birthday’s in January and February 2018, my daughter Reena, who loves to travel, took us on a vacation. We chose Puerto Rico because, we wanted to go somewhere warm, the tickets were cheap and we have good friends who allowed us to stay in their home. A lovely home in the Wyndham Resorts, Rio Mar.
We arrive on Sunday morning and leave on Friday afternoon. It was only six months after Hurricane Maria, so evidence of her impact was everywhere. The trees are misshapen and bent over. We see storm debris in some places. But despite the recent destruction, the island is coming back to life, and it is amazingly beautiful. I learn that “Estamos Abierto” means “We are Open”, a testament to the resilience of Puerto Ricans.
On Sunday we walk on Luquillo beach and taste Medalla beer for the first time. We explore the kioskos (a long row of small eateries and souvenir shops). It is our first taste of the community outside the resort.
On Monday, we head to the El Yunque rain forest. Less than 10 minutes away, but with increased rainfall and elevation, the vegetation changes dramatically.
There are so many plants and blooms that seem somewhat familiar from my years in India and Zambia. We take a short trail, the Angelito Trail which ends in an amazing swimming spot on Rio Mameyes. The water is clear, there are fish, a swinging rope and rock pools with built in jacuzzi. I do not want to leave.
On Tuesday, our plan is to go on a tour of the Fajardo Bioluminescent Bay via kayak at 8PM. The rest of the day is unplanned. Dom, Reena’s boyfriend (now husband,) asked if we could visit his friend who was studying at the University of Puerto Rico on the east coast of the island. Puerto Rico is 100 miles by 35 miles. We decide it is possible to drive round the island in one day, visit with Dom’s friend and get back to Fajardo by 8PM.
So we take off on a road trip, stopping at scenic spots. As we walk, admiring the ocean from a cliff in Isabella, my daughter casually says “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a vacation home here in Puerto Rico?” My husband and I had discussed vacation homes and retirement homes but had never really settled on even a vague plan. I tell Reena that we are not ready to commit to one place and we want the flexibility to travel wherever we fancy each year.
Puerto Rico a small island with a lot of traffic slowing our progress. In addition, we are enthralled by the scenery changes due to micro climates. But, we do in fact make it back to Fajardo in time for dinner and the kayaking trip. Kayaking at night is an adventure and seeing the water glow when stirred was magical.
On Wednesday we go on a snorkeling and boating trip on a catamaran. Lots of rum drinks are enjoyed as we sail to the island of Icacos. It is picture perfect. On that day it snows in Philadelphia and we gleefully text pictures home.
I don’t know when it happened, but Reena’s suggestion starts to take life. Puerto Rico is the perfect vacation/holiday spot! It has all of my favorite things – beautiful gardens, tropical fruits, beaches, rivers, waterfalls, mountains and rain forests.
And it was real – not some manufactured Disney style resort. The people were friendly, I felt safe. I loved the feeling of being abroad but not really. I started looking at the real estate market. It appeared that there were some good home deals after Maria.
On Friday, we went to Old San Juan. We walked the Paseo de Princesa and enjoyed the historic El Morro Fort. We ate dinner at a roof top restaurant and had cocktails at the speakeasy La Factoria featured in Justin Bieber’s 2017 hit Despasito.
We leave on Friday afternoon after an action packed week. I had already spoken with a realtor and I drag Santosh to look at a couple of neighborhoods. This could really happen I think, I have found a spot I would gladly spend my retirement years. Temps range from 75 to 85 degrees every day, with plenty of rain, a gardeners paradise.
While I was dead set on taking action, I have to imagine the family was skeptical that I would actually pull this off.