So we’ve been looking for properties in Puerto Rico online for a while now. We’ve found a few that we are pretty interested in, but it really depends on what we are looking for in a property.

1) On the one hand, I could see buying a property that we could both live in and use as a guesthouse to earn income. It would be fun to live in the same place that you work! A gorgeous tropical guesthouse with a pool, ocean views and a couple of acres. Most of these are very expensive. In fact, they are between 2 and 3 times the cost of a single family home (like the second example).

A Guesthouse Possibility with ocean views (thanks Nick and Miri for checking it out!)

2) On the other hand, I could see just a single family residence with about 1-2 acres of land that is about 5-10 minutes from town and the beaches. I would like to have enough land that we could grow fruit, have a vegetable garden and some chickens, maybe start a CSA or small farm.

Small House with about 1 1/2 acres near beaches/town

3) Then, there are beachfront properties which are about as much as an inland guesthouse (double to triple the cost generally of the smaller houses). They are pretty cool, but never have much land (usually less than a 1/4 acre) and I’ve heard the maintenence costs are higher due to the sea salt and higher levels of hurricane and tropical storm damage. Plus, they are not usually set-up to be used as guesthouses and we wouldn’t be able to afford them just to live in.

Beachhouse -Beachfront property

4) There are also other properties like the one we put an offer in on in Lares that is very remote in the high mountainous jungle, but with quite a bit of land. For example, for about the same price (approximately $150k) as the second example -a 1 1/2 acre 3 bd/2 bath house in Aguada that is 10 minutes to the beach like the second picture, we could buy a property with between 6-15 acres, two dwellings and natural springs or wells. The downside? About an hour to the beach and the rest of civilization.

Country House on 6 acres

At this point we really need to hone in on our “dream house” or goal because if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s hard to know if you’ve found it. With our houses here in the Greeley area, we knew what we wanted; for our personal residence: a single family home, two car garage, 3 bed/2bath (that is now 4 bed/3 bath due to basement finish), AC, fireplace, walk-in closet and a view. When we bought it, it didn’t have AC, a fireplace or even a yard, but it had the basics to make it nice (and now has everything we originally wanted). Same thing with the two rentals. Small, nice single family homes, two car garages, 3 bed/2bath in town.

I just recently finished reading Ben Stein’s book called “How Successful People Win: Using Bunkhouse Logic To Get What You Want in Life” and the very first premise is very logical.  Know what you want. Then, ask for what you want and work to get it.  Our idea of what we want is still fuzzy and vague.

After the Lares deal fell through we contemplated whether or we would have enjoyed living there or not.  I was reading XN’s blog, and noticed that she wants to live in the San Juan area when she moves to Puerto Rico from the New York City area. It made me think that maybe what we are looking for in Puerto Rico is similar to the life we know here, because we are very certain that we don’t want to live in the San Juan area, just as we are certain we don’t want to live in the Denver area–it’s just too big.

So, I’ve also lived in a super small town growing up (300 people) and I think I would be more comfortable in a remote area, but Britton has always lived in Greeley, a mid-sized (~90,000 people) city. I think for that reason, I loved the Lares property more than Britton did/does. However, I also like living in Greeley, so I think I would like something similar to what we have now: a mid-sized agricultural area where we could ride our bikes, garden, and raise chickens but would like a little more land, and a lot less cold in a totally new (Puerto Rican) culture. Not too close, not too far away, as the real estate agents like to say. That is getting closer to knowing what we want, but still is pretty vague.

Maybe it means taking another trip out there with the sole intention of finding another property that just feels right, putting in an offer and taking the dive…What do you think? Did it take you a while to find the perfect spot? Do you think finding a mirror area (similar size, amenities, lifestyle, etc) is smarter than finding something dramatically different? What’s your story?