Puerto Rico: Gold Mine or Fools Gold?
Sacramento, CA · Member since 2017 · 25 posts · 7 votes
Hello All,
What are your thoughts on the mass exodus of citizens out of Puerto Rico? Are you hopeful that the economy will pick up and investing in this market will be fruitful in the long run or are you staying clear of the area due to the economic crisis they are in?
Look forward to your thoughts.
Update March 2020: there are still great real estate opportunities available with huge returns on investments lots of buyers and investors taking advantage let's talk or email to get the deals going
Hi @Raul Villanueva, I would love to learn more on how you are finding your leads & if you have any insights on land development opportunities!
How is PR holding up during Covid? I would assume tourism is down, but the pitch for remote workers is up.
Just returned from a 2 week stay at the Wyndham Rio Mar resort and had a great time. Drove most of the island coast lines as well as the interior of the island. I am definitely interested in purchasing a vacation/rental home. I do like Ocean Park, Fajardo, Rincon and even Isabela. I would love to connect with any of you regarding leads or just sound advice. I work in DC with a very large nonprofit handling HUD federal grants and have two sub-grantees on the island which gives me a good perspective on the bureaucracy holding up so much of the funding meant for disaster relief and infrastructure. Proper stewardship of the billions of dollars of relief could help PR recover but will be difficult given the island's political climate and corruption.
@Jorge Rivera I'm currently living in Isla Verde and seeing lots of properties snapped up by investors and being repaired and cash flowing. Tourism looks to be doing really well where I am. The hotels are full or nearly full. The low airfares and maybe cabin fever have contributed to lots of visitors from the mainland. The folks here who have airbnb's that I know personally are booked solid! There was a dip last spring, certainly a painful April 2020, but it's good now. Are you aware of Act 74? It applies to hotels and airbnb's and has some great tax credits.
@Jorge Rivera I'm currently living in Isla Verde and seeing lots of properties snapped up by investors and being repaired and cash flowing. Tourism looks to be doing really well where I am. The hotels are full or nearly full. The low airfares and maybe cabin fever have contributed to lots of visitors from the mainland. The folks here who have airbnb's that I know personally are booked solid! There was a dip last spring, certainly a painful April 2020, but it's good now. Are you aware of Act 74? It applies to hotels and airbnb's and has some great tax credits.
Kathryn, I know this is a loaded questions but how are investors finding these properties? I stalk clasificados online and all of the worthwhile properties are optioned or out of date on the website. Do you have recommendations on a RE agent who works with investors who don’t live on the island? I’m from PR but live in the US and i go back 1-2x a year.
@Janice Zayas Thomas Oh so you already know how it works in PR! It's a bit of a different game here because many of the listing agents don't (necessarily) cooperate with buyers agents. Possibly because they didn't negotiate a large enough commission with their seller to be able to split it with the buyers agent. Meaning sometimes you have to track down a bunch of listing agents and they notoriously don't answer or return calls. That said, there are some good ones who are motivated and will work. One workaround I have heard is to have an agreement to compensate the buyers agent. So buyer pays their own agent and seller pays their agent. Then the buyers agent knows for certain they will get paid and will do the legwork needed to track down properties for the buyer. Keep in mind that it is a "hot" market in many of more desirable areas. Meanwhile, I am working on finding agents to partner with and feel confident in referring buyers to them, so stay tuned :-)
@Janice Zayas Thomas Oh so you already know how it works in PR! It's a bit of a different game here because many of the listing agents don't (necessarily) cooperate with buyers agents. Possibly because they didn't negotiate a large enough commission with their seller to be able to split it with the buyers agent. Meaning sometimes you have to track down a bunch of listing agents and they notoriously don't answer or return calls. That said, there are some good ones who are motivated and will work. One workaround I have heard is to have an agreement to compensate the buyers agent. So buyer pays their own agent and seller pays their agent. Then the buyers agent knows for certain they will get paid and will do the legwork needed to track down properties for the buyer. Keep in mind that it is a "hot" market in many of more desirable areas. Meanwhile, I am working on finding agents to partner with and feel confident in referring buyers to them, so stay tuned :-)
Thanks so much! This is really helpful! If I may ask, How much is a reasonable commission? 3%?
@Jorge Rivera I'm currently living in Isla Verde and seeing lots of properties snapped up by investors and being repaired and cash flowing. Tourism looks to be doing really well where I am. The hotels are full or nearly full. The low airfares and maybe cabin fever have contributed to lots of visitors from the mainland. The folks here who have airbnb's that I know personally are booked solid! There was a dip last spring, certainly a painful April 2020, but it's good now. Are you aware of Act 74? It applies to hotels and airbnb's and has some great tax credits.
Kathryn, I know this is a loaded questions but how are investors finding these properties? I stalk clasificados online and all of the worthwhile properties are optioned or out of date on the website. Do you have recommendations on a RE agent who works with investors who don’t live on the island? I’m from PR but live in the US and i go back 1-2x a year.
you can also use point2point.com that will get most of the sites pulled into one. Also find a realtor to work with, there is no real MLS, so there is a lot of properties that are just on agent sites. We found one this morning scrolling through Facebook and ended up going under contract on it.
@Jorge Rivera I'm currently living in Isla Verde and seeing lots of properties snapped up by investors and being repaired and cash flowing. Tourism looks to be doing really well where I am. The hotels are full or nearly full. The low airfares and maybe cabin fever have contributed to lots of visitors from the mainland. The folks here who have airbnb's that I know personally are booked solid! There was a dip last spring, certainly a painful April 2020, but it's good now. Are you aware of Act 74? It applies to hotels and airbnb's and has some great tax credits.
How does Act 74 help regular investors in PR?
@Eddy Jerez - Sounds like you are watching the market in PR and see what's going on! Act 74 is for tourism like hotels and airbnb's to get a portion of their investment back in the form of tax credits (30-40% but do your own due diligence) which is a great benefit to owning property in a market that is likely rising. I'm not sure I understand the question of how Act 74 helps regular investors in PR? Do you mean those who don't wish to invest in tourism projects? Like for long term rentals? You can check 132-2010 for long term rental tax exemptions. There are lots of other tax exemptions too, as well as like 95% of Puerto Rico being opportunity zone. Eddy, do you live in Puerto Rico?
Would anyone recommend wholesaling a house in PR or just Buy & Hold? If it is the later, how is financing look over there? Is there any programs similar to FHA or USDA loans for first time home buyers?
If there is any other investing options I missed out. Please let me know?
@Victor Ayala Tell us about the trip! Did ur opinion change for worst or better? Looking forward to hear ur experience
How do eviction work in Puerto Rico? Is it difficult to evict? Landlord friendly or tenant friendly?
@Jorge Rivera I'm currently living in Isla Verde and seeing lots of properties snapped up by investors and being repaired and cash flowing. Tourism looks to be doing really well where I am. The hotels are full or nearly full. The low airfares and maybe cabin fever have contributed to lots of visitors from the mainland. The folks here who have airbnb's that I know personally are booked solid! There was a dip last spring, certainly a painful April 2020, but it's good now. Are you aware of Act 74? It applies to hotels and airbnb's and has some great tax credits.
Kathryn, I know this is a loaded questions but how are investors finding these properties? I stalk clasificados online and all of the worthwhile properties are optioned or out of date on the website. Do you have recommendations on a RE agent who works with investors who don’t live on the island? I’m from PR but live in the US and i go back 1-2x a year.
you can also use point2point.com that will get most of the sites pulled into one. Also find a realtor to work with, there is no real MLS, so there is a lot of properties that are just on agent sites. We found one this morning scrolling through Facebook and ended up going under contract on it.
How do eviction work in Puerto Rico? Is it difficult to evict? Landlord friendly or tenant friendly?
@Jorge Rivera I'm currently living in Isla Verde and seeing lots of properties snapped up by investors and being repaired and cash flowing. Tourism looks to be doing really well where I am. The hotels are full or nearly full. The low airfares and maybe cabin fever have contributed to lots of visitors from the mainland. The folks here who have airbnb's that I know personally are booked solid! There was a dip last spring, certainly a painful April 2020, but it's good now. Are you aware of Act 74? It applies to hotels and airbnb's and has some great tax credits.
Kathryn, I know this is a loaded questions but how are investors finding these properties? I stalk clasificados online and all of the worthwhile properties are optioned or out of date on the website. Do you have recommendations on a RE agent who works with investors who don’t live on the island? I’m from PR but live in the US and i go back 1-2x a year.
you can also use point2point.com that will get most of the sites pulled into one. Also find a realtor to work with, there is no real MLS, so there is a lot of properties that are just on agent sites. We found one this morning scrolling through Facebook and ended up going under contract on it.
How do eviction work in Puerto Rico? Is it difficult to evict? Landlord friendly or tenant friendly?
I dont deal in evictions, but I would say its almost non-existent down here.
Yes, classificados, facebook marketplace, point2homes - those are all good places to find opportunities. Also word of mouth and in the group and our whatsapp chat.
I haven't had to do an eviction but it I've seen others do evictions and it seems very easy compared to California where I'm from. 3 weeks? People say it is tenant friendly, but I find it much more landlord friendly than Cali :-) lol.
I have a private lending company licensed in Puerto Rico. We see some great opportunities there and generally work with very experienced clients on the Island.