Category Archives: Puerto Rico Property

Pensando en Puerto Rico

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Now that most of our chores and worries related to the rentals are taken care of  (both rented out again), and the summer is starting to wind down, our minds have slowly been drifting back to Puerto Rico. When we are busy with work, rentals, summer activities and just keeping all the balls in the air it’s a little easier to forget that we have a property waiting for us down there.

We hope everything is ok with it after Hurricane Irene slid past. We have no idea what three months in the rainy season of the tropics could produce by way of plant growth or if there is a (new) leak in the roof or any other number of things. The good thing is that it is so far away that there is really not much that we can do about it anyway…

Thanks to the Kruses for stopping by from time to time to check on the place and make sure it is still standing. 🙂

Now we are thinking when we should go down again. Probably sometime during the wintry months…Over the holidays when we have lots of days off work, perhaps? Over Britton’s birthday which is in the middle of January? In the midst of the worst month: February? Quizas.


The house/property

Having the curse/blessing of efficiency and productivity even when at rest or on vacation we’re also starting to plan what we want to accomplish with the property while we are there next. I think we’ll at least finish the studio cabana but probably also start cleaning out the wooden house. Maybe even get rid of the rest of the bees since they only had enough time to take one of the four colonies when we were there last. 

The other reason I’ve been thinking of Puerto Rico is I’ve started reading Esmeralda Santiago’s newest book Conquistadora which is all about Puerto Rico in the mid 1800’s. I read When I was Puerto Rican and loved it and this newest one, while a fictional novel and not a memoir is also pulling me in. It is so rich with detail and a great story of a Spanish woman named Ana’s desire to make a life in Puerto Rico as her ancestor conquistadors did. So of course it makes me miss la Isla del Encanto. When I finish the book, I’ll write a short review here, but so far it’s really enthralling!

We’ve also been thinking of when we want to make our permanent jump across the pond to move to and live in Rincon. I think we’ve decided that we want to pay off one more rental property and save up a nice round number of dollars- the amount dependent on what we want to do with the property. We figure this will take less than 2 years.  Or if Britton manages to take his job because of an expansion in his company to Puerto Rico it might be even sooner! All in all we are still thinking of Puerto Rico as much as ever, just the type of thoughts have changed from if  and can we to when and how!

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Falling out of Summer

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The weather has had a pretty big change here.  As I say that Puerto Rico just experienced Irene!  So I suppose change is all relative.

Once a year Cassie and I like to camp out in our backyard in a tent that was given to us as a wedding gift.  I spent quite a bit of time camping up in the mountains when I was growing up.  While it was fun, it’s one of those things that I have done quite a bit so it isn’t something that I feel I need to do.  Sleeping outside under the stars with Cassie is a lot of fun and we don’t have to drive, pack food, pack clothes and figure out all the details involved with a ‘camping trip’.


Our Tent

I used to also camp out in my backyard as a kid and across the street at my friend Matt’s house.  It was a lot of fun and I am sure parents enjoy it because your sleepover (loud kids) is outdoors!

We figured we had better get our once a year backyard camp out done because we have entered into the Fall season (maybe not officially, but you can feel it).  The weather is cooler, the veggies are ripe and the growing season is slowly coming to an end.  We’ve been getting more food from our garden lately too.


Fruit, Vegetables and Eggs

With the change in season we are starting to think about Puerto Rico too!  I hope there isn’t too much damage to the property, but if there is we can just fix and mend like we usually do!  We really enjoy our summer here in Colorado, but the winter is so long it will be nice to have a place to go where we can plant, pick garden and camp out!

I hope all our friends are doing well in PR after Irene.  The few Facebook posts we’ve seen indicate it wasn’t too bad and I hope that is the case.  I’d actually like to be down there for a tropical storm / hurricane at some point.  Just for the experience of it.  Not a major one of course!

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Latest Vacancy -Filled!

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I know this isn’t the norm for rentals all the time, but apparently the rental market is super hot right now. We had another tenant give us his notice that he is moving out of state for a job and would be vacating the house at the end of the month.

I posted an ad for the place figuring we’d have a month to find a good tenant. We had such a huge amount of interest with great candidates/applicants that the vacancy was filled the first day! We already have a signed lease and all the paperwork done!


The house when we bought it

Not only did we again improve the lease language, but we even increased the rent and still had a huge turn-out of interest. Makes me think we probably could have asked for more, but we are happy with what we got. It’s times like these that make you think being a landlord is a breeze.  But it’s the other times when something breaks or you have difficulty collecting that you want to pull your hair out. It’s a balancing act for sure. I know that renting out property is not for everyone, but for me, I really enjoy it. Especially when things go so well.


The living room after we painted and had the wood floors redone

I really like houses in general -I like walking through them, imagining living in them, seeing their potential. Homes are so intimate and yet necessary. They are so much more than just “a roof over your head”. Where we live is where life is! I find it kind of cool that we provide a home for people- one of the most basic necessities in life.

Plus there is the ability to help the worn out, tossed out houses (like foreclosures) shine into warm, beautiful homes again. When we fill a vacancy- a vacant place- we fill a void with a soul again. And I like the makeover part just as much -even if it drives Britton crazy. 🙂 I am really excited about our Puerto Rico property for these very reasons. I’d love to turn the old dead throwaway property into something wonderful, vibrant, and useful again. I am ready to  fill that vacant space with life –our life, transplanet!

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Poll: What should we do with the Rincon Property?

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Please take a second and vote in this poll! It will be interesting to see what you all think we should do. Britton and I have lots of discussions about this (like should this be a five year plan or two year), but we’d like you to weigh in on it as well. If there is another choice that you would recommend that isn’t found on this, you can either comment on the poll or in our blog comments! I have also created a new page about our place in Rincon, Puerto Rico if you need to remember what we are talking about. You can find it here (also on the side bar where it says “Our Place in Rincon Puerto Rico) . Thanks!

For this poll you can choose more than one answer since it is basically dealing with two different questions: 1) what should we do with the wooden house and 2) should we start a guesthouse business?


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