1. Things First, Visit Join The Community

The first thing you should do when you arrive in Puerto Rico is to connect with the local community. Come out to one of the many crypto meetups, you'll find people are very welcoming and this will be the key to your next steps. Weekly Crypto Meetup in San Juan.

2. Hire The Sherpas

Ask your new friends how to get things done. Everything in PR is relationship-driven. Need a house, everyone has a realtor or three to connect you with. You can hire someone to set up power, water, electricity, and internet for a few hundred dollars if you don't speak Spanish yet. If you need a notary, lawyer, office, or anything else, ask your friends and they will be able to help you out.

3. Be Present in PR When You Look For a Place to Live

Tourists are not of interest to real estate agents. People who aren’t here or just seem to be passing through don’t get their calls returned or much attention. The first question every agent asks is if you are in Puerto Rico already and if not to call them back when you are. Because of the gated community nature of Puerto Rican neighbourhoods, you need to be available to take tours with the agent.

4. Pick A Neighborhood Best For You / Your Family

If you are single or in your 20s and enjoy nightlife then downtown San Juan is the place to be. Great neighbours like Miramar are close to everything, but just outside the tourist strip in Condado beach.

If you have a family and want more space, then suburbs such as Guaynabo are a great choice and only a 20-minute commute from downtown San Juan. This is where most of the amenities such as IKEA, Best Buy, Sam’s, Costco, churches, and tons of restaurants are located.

5. Lease and Then Buy

Once you have selected the neighbourhood best for you, the best way to get moved in fast is just to find a basic place you can rent for 12 months. This will set your residency on the fast track and give you a place to put your stuff, park your car, and work out while you look for a place to buy. PRO TIP: Don’t look online, the real estate online is mostly to show off recent places realtors have sold and doesn’t reflect what’s currently on the market.

6. Buying or Shipping a Car To Puerto Rico

If you are living in the suburbs having a car in Puerto Rico is key. You can buy a car locally at one of the many dealerships, but the cost is $10,000 to $15,000 more per vehicle based on shipping and the supply/demand imbalance. If you would rather keep your current car, there are a number of services that will help you transport your car to Puerto Rico from the US mainland.

Though note there is a sales tax when your car arrives, so the more valuable your car is cheap it is to ship vs. buy a new car. The break-even is likely a car with more or less than $25,000.

7. Use The Puma App

Once you have your car and go to the gas station for the first time you will notice that, unlike on the mainland, they don’t use credit cards at the gas pump. So the trick is to download and use the PUMA app and you can pay via scanning a QR code at the pump instead.

8. Opening a Bank Account

Some of the banks aren’t welcoming to new accounts which are opened by ACT 60 investors. I found SOL COOP the most accommodating.

9. Faith Community Options

Each time my wife and I have moved to a new city it's not until we connect with a faith community that we really feel like we have found our new “home”. So I highly recommend checking out the different faith-based communities in Puerto Rico. There are a variety of Christian, Catholic and Jewish places of worship within close proximity