The Caribbean Hideaway You Can Easily Afford

The Malecon (promenade), just a short walk from my neighborhood, is where everyone goes for their evening stroll.

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008
Vieques, Puerto Rico

Read more about finding a home in paradise in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

The very first time my wife and I glimpsed what would become our home on the Caribbean island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, we left with bags of fruit and some good advice.

We were investigating a property in the town of Esperanza when a friendly voice piped up from behind the fence telling us not to buy that house but the other one. A smiling couple pointed down the street to what could only be described as a grey concrete bunker in serious disrepair. In the yard, an old rusty car rested on four cinder blocks, chickens tormented an unhappily-chained dog, and various sheds and shanties held an assortment of implements and creatures, including ghost crabs and rabbits.

“ Este casa es muy caro” came the happy voice again. They had us there. The tiny house we were looking at was pretty expensive at $350,000.

The couple invited us onto their property and filled several shopping bags with juicy mangoes, acerolas (a type of island cherry), and avocados.

We were so impressed by this friendly gesture and with the price of the bunker—only $168,000—that we decided to buy it. Our new bunker was basically a two-bed bungalow, with one bath, a kitchen/living room, and a covered patio out front on a half-acre plot. And only a short walk from the Malecon—the promenade, which is the social center of Esperanza.

Besides bolting the toilet down and fitting windows, the only expensive improvements we needed to do were to raise the roof about a foot, add the patio (behind the house), and an outdoor shower. Altogether, we put about $70,000 into modernizing our bunker, but we could easily fetch $300,000 for it today. That’s a one-year profit of $62,000.

But it would be foolish to sell it now, as it’s making a tidy profit on the rental market. There are many defense contractors working to clean up lands formerly used as training areas by the U.S. Navy and are willing to pay higher prices for rented accommodation than the locals. Our two-bedroom home is pulling in $1,300 per month from the defense contractors. The cleanup, on lands that are now part of the largest nature reserve in the Caribbean, is expected to take up to 10 years—so this lucrative built-in rental pool should be around for a while.

There are many truly affordable homes in this sleepy Caribbean town. You can find some property examples on this website. I spotted a three-bedroom, two-bath concrete home in need of a bit of finishing work for $180,000. Alternatively, $207,000 will buy you a five-bed, two-bath home that could be turned into a charming B&B.

Michael Franco
For International Living

Editor's note: Our newest free report, Where to Invest Your Dollars in 2008, tells you everything you need to know to profit from the real estate market in Vieques right now...and why the next 12 months will see the biggest price increases this little island has ever experienced.

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