½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

We are working with Casa Bella now and honestly the communication is a challenge with them as well, which even included being told old pricing would be honored then a week later not - this was a $10,000-$20,000 price hike and the delays with our rep Im afraid will result in more price hikes …we have already invested 5+ months of communication and at this point I’m not interested in starting over…

Thank you so much for responding, Jill.  Can I ask which model you are building?  Have they even broken ground yet?

Leslie,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write.  I will reach out to all of them and see what happens!

It's such a beautiful area.  We can't wait to live there.  Are you living there now?

Not yet.  Our plan is to retire in PR in 5 years.

Has anyone had eco precast build there home? How did it go? Any problems?

Has anyone used casabella to build there home? Any problems?

I've been working with them for a few months now. They are very slow to respond and generally not very helpful. I finally was able to get someone to go out to my site to do an initial assessment. Well, that was worthless. He told me to hire an engineer, to get the land ready for construction, and to call him back. I'm now working with an architect to get a preliminary design.

I don't know what it is, but i find it very hard to get anyone interested in building this house.

I actually was able to get a human being on the phone to talk to at Casabella.  I followed her instructions, sent a land survey, google maps location, answered questions, etc.  I have heard NOTHING in response.  We would be ready to build tomorrow....it's quite frustrating.

How does one pull a permit in Florida for new construction without calculations showing the windspeed the structure can withstand? I think YouTube's a little off.

We have been working with them since may….very slow and was told they would honor their old prices for us then that was not held up. We have been on a bit of a rat race trying to get everything to be able to enter the contract with casa Bella - we have spent over $10,000 in tests and land prep and don’t have a contract signed yet!

No we have not broken land yet, we haven’t even signed the contract yet! We had land preparations and then the next battle for time and money will be getting water and electricity so they can begin the build, once the contract is signed they won’t be able to start until all the permits are pulled which can take 2 months from what I am told.

How’s it going with casa Bella? We are considering using them

I’ve had several communications with them and every time I request an action item there is no follow up in their end. I’ve sent in our location coordinates, our survey, our FIMA documents and still no action from them to schedule even a visit.

I think we will move on…

I'm meeting with the architect today. We're gonna try and do a custom design using Eco-Precast.

Please let me know who u use and how it goes. Thank u!

I really like her. We've only met twice but she seems very professional. Feel free to text her and tell her Jennifer Mayo referred you.

Arch. Eliza Burgos - 7876677323

Is she the engineer putting ur plan together? Who will u use for building?

She's an architect, but yes, she will take care of everything I need. As for a contractor, i haven't decided yet. It all depends if we use Eco-Precast or not.

Thank u! Would love to hear how it goes! Good luck

Greetings all...I believe The problem with CasaBella is the lack of labor, as you might know, this is not only a problem in Puerto Rico but in the States as well. If you go to CasaBella Facebook page you will see a post asking for independent contractors for hire, plus the fact that I have been in the same boat as you regarding the slowness of the process is clear evidence that the problem here is hand-labor. I have been in touch with a couple of Puerto Ricans that signed a contract since June and they are still waiting for their permits, the truth is the permits don't take that long, the company is purposely postponing the permits process and is using this as an excuse. On the other hand, I think they are a good company under regular circumstances but under this "new normal" there is not much they can do.     I wish it was easier to bring  10 or 20 construction workers from Central or South America to build my house in the island.  The same way a few months ago the agriculture industry in PR brought people from Mexico to help during the picking season, this would be a win / win situation for everyone (Casa Bella, Contractors and us).

Can I ask who at Casa Bella you are working with? The problem is not allowing to get a contract signed means I have to pay higher rates on the contract.

Her name is Kristal.

I sincerely hope you have a contract. Price hikes are common in Puerto Rico but extremely unprofessional and not legal. All change orders must be approved by the home owner prior to being charged. I would also hope that you are paying as things are completed. Far too many companies lack the organizational skills to manage funds throughout the project. I would always recommend paying as things are completed.

Wish you the best of luck, we are here to help, should things go south.

Hey Richard, on the topic of migrant workers, it is a 6-7 month process generally. The company must apply and pay $5,000 per applicant that they wish to bring onboard. We are currently in the process, hoping to bring some more employees on board! Finding hard working employees that want to work is definitely the hardest part right now. Regardless, that is no excuse for overbooking and not setting realistic expectations.

Hello Rey,

What's the current average price of yard of concrete? And, what's the normal for slabs and roof in PR (i.e. 3,000 psi, 3500 psi?). Doing some due diligence for new construction in Cabo Rojo. The nearest ready mix plant is in Hormigueros.

it seems like everyone forgets that covid effects everthing. Trucks, laborers, delivery staff all are human and all can get ot got covid. that means everything for everyone get pushed back including the little things.  I can'y get the paints to paint an office building in NJ. Everything gets hit.

Hello, we are in Fajardo and would like a contractor.  Can anyone recommend one or two?  I know a name was mentioned at some point, but can't find it.

Bold, can you send your phone number?

Muchos Gracias!
Rob H

Are you still waiting for Casa Bela? Can you provide an update?

Yes we are still waiting…Casa Bella had off since December 17 or so and literally just returned to work. We are waiting for our plans to be approved to sign the contract. Have you had any progress?

We started talking with Casa Bella in July.  We are modifying the Paula model.  The process has been slow.  So far we have met with Kystal to discuss the building process, they did an inspection of our land to verify that they could build the Paula model on it,  we have sent the modification we want to the Paula model for them to design the blueprints and we have completed our soil report. 

They have just returned from the holiday vacations.  They are telling us we should have the modified plans to review by the end of the month.  Then hoping to move forward with signing the contract. 

We are hoping to move forward soon, but as we have found that nothing moves fast in Puerto Rico. 
   
What model are others going to build?  Has anyone been able to talk with owners that have a finished Casa Bella home?  I look forward to keeping updated on everyone's progress.

Have you been able to make any progress on building your home?  We are currently working with Casa Bella on modifying the Paula model.  It has been a slow process.  We are currently waiting for them to build the new blueprint with our changes.  They have said we should have those plans by the end of the month. 

Goodluck with your build.  Please keep my informed on your progress.  I think everyone on this site is having problems building.

Thank you all you have been a wealth of information. I too will be building soon and will keep posting our progress.

abarrios74 wrote:

Thank you all you have been a wealth of information. I too will be building soon and will keep posting our progress.

We are currently in a process of building a house in Rincon.
We were told by our architect that due to a tropical rainforest climate possibility of mold formation is high. The AC was not recommended due to a high electrical cost and vented windows were recommended instead.
I personally can not stand the look of these vents . If to have regular windows installed instead and keep air flow this way, it would be better. Does anyone have a suggestion, possibly based on their own experience?
Thank you

Has anyone worked with eco precast?

Good Day, thank you in advance for posting such helpful information. My wife and I are wanting to build our forever retirement home. We have purchased a lot and looking to start the process with an architect/engineer. We interviewed the first engineer over the phone and we thought his prices were high. He quoted us over $38,000 to get started with the plans, plus anywhere from $18,000-$36,000 to inspect the site once a month during construction. Plus permit cost and the cost for a dirt report/inspection. This all seems rather expensive for getting the project started and then comes the construction cost.
Would you be so kind to give us some sort of an idea of cost for a 2100-2300 sq ft home? Possibly a 4 bedroom with 2 bath?
Also are the construction prices the same for unfinished area such as garages and patios?

Thank you.
Rick R

These prices are ridiculous.  We paid a total of $ 14 k to our engineer for a 3200 square foot house with 5 bedrooms. That was 2019. A lot depends on the location.  If you use a construction loan the bank will send their own engineer after each phase of the construction.

This is a guide of my cost so far for a 1000  SF house in P.R.

Precio por pie cuadrado/ Construction price for SF    $100
       
Pies cuadrados / Sq ft     1000

Costo del proyecto / average cost of construction   $100,000

Below based on $100,000 construction cost / labor & materials
       
Arbitrios /taxes    5%           $5,000
Poliza / insurance    3%           $3,000
Sellos ($6 por cada mil / $6 for every $1000 in construction) / government stamps    $6          $6,000

Ingeniero-Planos Engineer plans - 6% of construction cost    6%    $6,000
       
Total     $120,000

Doe not include water, electricity set up ~$8000

Land preparation ~$10,000

Other $12,000

My 1000 SF will end up costing between $140,000 - $150,000

I hope this helps

elilynlee wrote:

Has anyone worked with eco precast?

I:m working with them

$36k is way too much. I am happy to connect you with my engineers/architects that I refer my clients to. They are super reasonable and extremely reliable. Also, for those square footages it wouldn’t be a bad idea to purchase plans, unless you plan on going custom.

Just messaged you.