Months into their hunt for a home in San Juan, Valentina Valldejuli and her partner, Rafael, rotated from browsing regional realty sites to searching Facebook Marketplace.
Valldejuli was born and raised in Puerto Rico and has actually lived her whole life in SanJuan
The 29- year-old “Modo de Vida” art director, informed CNBC Make It that it was vital to discover a two-bedroom in the city to be near to her household.
“I love that anywhere you’re on the island, you have the beach nearby. I live in this center of an area, but I can just take a ten-minute drive and get to the beach here in Ocean Park in San Juan,” she states.
Hato Rey is the monetary district in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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In October 2020, the couple discovered a Facebook Marketplace listing for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, for $1,000 a month.
Valldejuli states that since the cyclone season in Puerto Rico is just becoming worse as the years pass, the most crucial thing for them was that the apartment or condo has what they call “tormenteras,” or storm shutters, and for the structure to have a backup generator, too.
“The moment we saw this apartment, we just fell in love,” Valldejuli states.
She included that although the lease for the apartment or condo was just $1,000 a month, there was a catch: it didn’t featured a fridge or an oven.
The kitchen area didn’t come geared up with an oven or a fridge, however the couple wanted to jeopardize and purchase the home appliances themselves.
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After getting authorized for the apartment or condo, the couple paid a $1,000 down payment, the very first month’s lease, and about $1,200 for a fridge and $600 for an oven.
“We wanted to jeopardize to get those home appliances since we like the area a lot. We had actually currently seen 4 various locations, and it was extremely tough to get a location this huge and [in that] rate variety,” Valldejuli states.
The couple put the 3 bed rooms to great usage by making one their main bed room, turning the 2nd into Rafael’s workplace and music studio, and utilizing the 3rd as Valldejuli’s office.
Valldejuli explains their design as a mix of boho with a mid-century ambiance and a bit diverse.
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“I’m a photographer and a graphic designer, and I wanted to explore what interior design would look like from a perspective of a photographer and a graphic designer,” Valldejuli states.
The art director explains their apartment or condo design as a mix of boho with a mid-century ambiance and a bit diverse.
