Most of what is written about Act 60 is written by tax advisors. This page is written by a real estate broker who has spent twenty years closing homes for families moving to Puerto Rico. It covers the part of the decision the tax memo does not: where you will actually live, what the market looks like at each price point, and how a Puerto Rico purchase differs from one in the States.
For the tax framework itself — including Act 38-2026 and the December 31, 2026 application date — see our Puerto Rico Tax Incentives (Act 60) page and, above all, your own Puerto Rico tax and legal advisors.
Owning a home in Puerto Rico and being a bona fide Puerto Rico resident are two different things. A residence is usually a central piece of a relocation plan, but the purchase by itself does not establish residency or Act 60 eligibility. Presence, tax home and closer-connection rules are decided with your CPA and attorney; our job is to make sure the home you choose fits the life those rules require you to build here.
In practice, that means most of our Act 60 clients want three things from a property: a primary residence they will genuinely live in most of the year, a community where their family settles quickly (schools, security, neighbors), and an asset that holds value in a small, supply-constrained luxury market.
Puerto Rico is an island of seventy-eight municipalities, but the Act 60 relocation market concentrates in a handful of communities. These are the ones we show first, and why.
The reference point for relocation buyers. Gated, master-planned communities, the Dorado Beach resort, TASIS Dorado and Dorado Academy, and a short drive to San Juan. Inventory is limited and much of it trades privately. Best fit: families with school-age children and buyers who want a resort-style, low-density life. Explore Dorado real estate →
The urban option: oceanfront condominiums, walkable dining and hotels, and the closest thing Puerto Rico has to a Miami-style high-rise market. Best fit: couples and professionals who want to be in the city, lock-and-leave ownership, and the ICON, Vanderbilt and Ashford Avenue buildings. Explore Condado real estate →
Where much of San Juan's established business community lives. Large single-family homes in guarded neighborhoods, top private schools, and quick access to both the metro area and the airport. Best fit: executives running a Puerto Rico operation who want a house, not a condo. Explore Guaynabo real estate →
Resort living at the foot of El Yunque: golf, marinas and beachfront communities such as those around Coco Beach and Grand Reserve, thirty to forty minutes from San Juan. Best fit: buyers who prioritize nature and space over proximity to the city. Explore Río Grande real estate →
For buyers who want character over amenities: historic homes, art-deco buildings and neighborhoods with a real street life. Explore San Juan real estate →
Rincón, Aguadilla and Cabo Rojo attract a smaller, surf-and-sunset group of relocation buyers — more land, more privacy, a two-hour drive from the capital. We work the West Coast as well; ask us what is currently available.
Across those communities the purchases fall into three patterns:
Whatever the pattern, our advice is the same: buy the property you would want even if the tax decree did not exist. Incentives change — Act 38-2026 is the latest example — and a home that only made sense because of a tax rate is a bad home.
Buyers from the mainland are surprised by a few things. None of them are obstacles; they simply need to be planned for.
Most of our relocation clients follow a similar sequence: a first visit to compare communities, a second, targeted visit once the family has narrowed to one or two, an offer and due diligence, and a closing coordinated with the legal and tax calendar the client's advisors have set. Where clients need to be in a home by a specific date, we start with that date and work backwards.
Antonio Cartagena has been a licensed Puerto Rico broker since 2005 (Lic. C-13471) and Lizvette Robles is a licensed broker (Lic. C-23765). We are a two-person boutique, which means the people you meet on the first visit are the people who negotiate your purchase and sit with you at the closing. We coordinate with your attorney, CPA and lender so the real estate decision fits the relocation plan — and we say no to properties that do not.
Yes — and within a deadline. A Resident Individual Investor decree requires acquiring a Puerto Rico property as your primary residence within two years of obtaining the decree, individually or jointly with a spouse. For applications filed from January 1, 2027, the property must be held directly or through a trust — not through an entity — and title must be recorded, or pending recording, in the Puerto Rico Property Registry. Ownership alone does not establish bona fide residency, which is a separate test; but residency alone does not satisfy the decree either. You need both.
Dorado for families with children who want a gated, resort-style community; Condado for buyers who want the city and a condominium; Guaynabo for executives who want a large house near the metro area; Río Grande for space and nature. We help clients compare all of them on a single visit.
Yes. Local banks lend to relocation buyers, with underwriting that differs from the mainland. Start the conversation with a lender early; we can make the introduction.
In the communities relocation buyers want most, yes. Much of Dorado's luxury inventory trades privately. Working with a broker who is active in those communities is the practical way to see it.
Puerto Rico enacted Act 38-2026 on March 10, 2026. Applications submitted on or before December 31, 2026 remain under the framework applicable to that group; applications on or after January 1, 2027 are generally subject to a 4% preferential rate on qualifying interest, dividends and certain post-residency capital gains. See our Tax Incentives page and your advisors for details.
We focus on the real estate side. We work alongside your attorney and CPA and can introduce you to professionals who handle decree applications.
Tell us your timeline, your budget and the life you want to build here. We answer the phone: (787) 717-6443 · [email protected]
Twenty years of closings, written down. Start with the stage you are actually in.
This page is general information from a real estate broker, not legal, tax or investment advice. Act 60 eligibility and tax treatment depend on individual circumstances, decree terms, residency requirements and continuing compliance. Consult qualified Puerto Rico legal and tax professionals.
Antonio Cartagena, Broker (Lic. C-13471)
Lizvette Robles, Broker (Lic. C-23765)
(787) 717-6443
We answer the phone. Tell us your timeline, your budget and the communities you are considering, and we will tell you what is realistically available.