Testimonials here are directly from our clients…

SALES & RENTALS:

January, 2025:

In the fall of 2023, my wife and I chartered a catamaran in the BVI’s with some of our closest friends.  It had been several years since our last Caribbean vacation / charter thanks to COVID 19, but we quickly fell back in love with the islands. During that trip, we began seriously contemplating ways we could have a place of our own in the islands.  We had always thought about owning a place or living on a sailboat, but it always just a bridge too far.  Thanks to online real estate apps, however, curiosity quickly turned into a realization that this dream could become a reality.

On our flight home, on our leg from Tortola to San Juan, I was sitting in the window seat looking south, as we flew past Vieques.  I was struck by the beauty of the unspoiled beaches on the south shore of the island.  Hands down, some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and I have spent a lot of time on a lot of islands.  I had known about Vieques for decades, that the US Navy had shut down their operations and closed their facilities on the island, and that there was an extensive ongoing cleanup effort on the island.  I did some research on the state of affairs and the status of the cleanup effort on Vieques.  It became evident, that it was an affordable location that had not over developed, and that the future looks bright for the island. The infrastructure was getting rebuilt after the devastation of hurricane Maria, and the military cleanup efforts had come a long way.  I also discovered that Vieques was quickly turning into an eco-tourism destination that prided itself on beautiful, undisturbed beaches, abundant natural resources, friendly people, and great food.

When we got back home, we decided to book a two-week trip in the spring of 2024 to explore the island.  During that trip, we rented an AirBNB, a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and spent our mornings exploring different parts of the island, each of our afternoons at a different beach, and each of our evenings at a different restaurant.   At 4 pm each afternoon we usually had a beautiful unspoiled beach all to ourselves.  By the end of the two weeks, we realized that Vieques was the Caribbean paradise that we had dreamt about. We had fallen in love with the island and the people, not only as a place to have a vacation home, but also very possibly as the place where we would want to retire. It has become the place that we want to spend a lot of time throughout the rest of our lives. Vieques has some of the best beaches, sunsets, and natural resources of any place I have ever visited and just enough development to make it comfortable, but not enough that the island has lost its soul.

When we got back from our trip, I reached out to relators on the island, looking for a buyer broker that could help us find a place that would work for us. At the same time, I began getting familiar with the real estate market there and on the surrounding islands looking at various houses, what their prices were, and studying the information on previous sales in the region.  If you are not familiar with the real estate market in Puerto Rico, and specifically Vieques, you need to be educated. It is very different from the typical real estate market I was used to in the United States. Realtors, titles, asking prices, contracts, transactions, loans, and closing costs all work differently.

After getting frustrated with the first realtors that we had contacted on the island, we turned to our friends on the island for advice.  Many of them highly recommended Lin Weatherby and Vieques Rainbow Reality. I reached out to Lin, and she connected me with Gustavo Marin and we began looking for a home that fit our desires and budget. We looked at several properties, made several offers, but nothing came together.  Then one day in July, a property that we were familiar with, in a location that we absolutely loved, came back on the market after having been under contract for an extended time. I immediately contacted Gustavo and asked about the property.  He stated that it had a title issue, but to give him 30 minutes as he knew the attorney that was addressing the title issue, the lender that was involved in the previous deal, and he would be back in touch. He quickly got back to me and said there are some outstanding issues, but that they were minor and he believed we could make the deal happen.  So we made and offer and several days later, after lots of hard work on Gustavo’s part, we had a signed contract on what for us, was our dream house in the Caribbean.  A house that we could afford and make ours with sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, exposed to the constant trade winds, on the top of a ridge, and central to all of the wonders of Vieques.

As I previously stated, the market in Vieques is complex, and Gustavo helped us every step of the way navigate through the complexities from finding an excellent loan officer and real estate attorney for closing, to making an offer, negotiating the terms of the deal, and closing the transaction. Gustavo and Lin gave us expert, honest, unbiased advice each step of the way and without their knowledge, experience, and dedication to seeing the sale through to the end, our dream would not have become a reality. They have developed an amazing team of partners over the years who are professional in everything they do and go above and beyond to make things happen even when last minute issues arise that threaten to cause the deal to fall through.  Today we get to call Lin and Gustavo both neighbors and friends.  There are no other realtors on Vieques that I would recommend as highly as Gustavo and Lin at Rainbow Reality.

Jeff & Sue Morris

December 2024:

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September 2024:

Thank you Lin, Jessica and Hildamar for all your work in making this closing possible.  It was a long process and it could not have been completed with out all of your professional dedication and work.

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July 2024:

We met the Rainbow reality team on Vieques when we decided to make it our home. Jessica has since become not just our realtor, but our friend. She found  the perfect acre of land at Monte Santo and went out of her way to make sure everything was perfect for us. When Ivan surveyed the property, she walked the property line w him and took video to send us back in the Florida Keys so that we knew that we were getting the exact land we want. She told us how and where to get the deed and taxes taken care of by connecting us w a great lawyer. And she introduced us to her teammate Gustavo, who has the most incredible eatery on the island, Playa Negra!! He’s become a friend, too, and helped us with many tips on buying and building our future container home. Rainbow represents the very reason we came to love Vieques- good people caring and sharing the island experience.

Mike and Sally

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October 2022:

Greetings,

My ethnicity is part Mexican, most of my friends came from Puerto Rico. The only reason and I mean only reason I would consider a rental one day is because of Miss. Lin.

I have watched HGTV for years and I’ve yet to see someone as  hospitable, caring, & down to earth person that really listened to what the customer wants.

You just want to ask for a hug 😂 she’s so awesome!

Miss Lin should have her own T.V. show.

You are a blessing and don’t ever let that shining light go out.

Continued Blessings,

Maria

July 2022: Lin Wetherby was so helpful in navigating the nuances of acquiring an acre of land where there were a few legal aspects to satisfy first. Rainbow Realty works with a top notch legal team that made these hurdles easy to surmount. Thank you Lin, Ron, and Hildamar for making this process possible.  ️ ️ ️ ️ ️

We are very grateful to you for your help and look forward to seeing you soon.

Daniel M.

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MAY 2022: Thanks Lin and Rainbow team! You guys rock! Excellent service!!!

Mariel Bermudez Torrens

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April 2022: Lin and the team are amazing! They work hard for you and know what they are doing. They will get the job done. Lin is very personable and communication with clients is impeccable. I live off island and she was able to take care of everything so I didn’t have to stress and take unnecessary trips overseas. I can’t recommend Rainbow Realty enough.

Julian O.

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