Chile Forum

Any thoughts out there on flipping houses in Vitacura (Altura 8500)? I've spent some time in the area in my past visits and feel there is some potential there. My wife grew up in this area and would love to live back in that area if we were to move to Chile. There is so much construction going on in and around Santiago, lots of track housing and apartment buildings. Because of Vitacuras location, reputation, solidly constructed homes, and current density it seems to be a prime place to go in, renovate/add onto these small houses and put them back on the market. There seems to be plenty of new apartments available in this area but not many new houses. Is the market viable to do this at this time?
Would love to hear anyones thoughts or experience on this topic!
Thanks . . .

That may be a good idea, but your timing sucks.
Spare money is drying up fast all over the world (except in Russia).

Thanks Mikie0, this was my suspicion as well. Though I am thinking
that their may be 1 or 2 more years where this may be a profitable
idea before things slow down more. I'm an american my wife is Chilean we currently live in the states but would like to move to Chile. I'm an architect and have done some flipping here. Just looking for a way to make some money for a year or 2 as I work on my spanish and adjust to the Chilean culture. Would love to hear some more thoughts out there.
Thanks

A lot of foreclosures and auctions going on right now in Chile as people with UF contracts can not afford to make their payments. We have dealt with 3 this month. That may help or hurt you, depending on how much time you are looking for.

admin wrote:A lot of foreclosures and auctions going on right now in Chile as people with UF contracts can not afford to make their payments. We have dealt with 3 this month. That may help or hurt you, depending on how much time you are looking for.

This might be a really good time for cash purchasers. I wish I'd bought (in full) a house back in 2001-2002. With a lot of people being squeezed out, this might be a "do over" for me.

But, if I wouldn't buy if I were essentially going to be a "renter" tied to the UF index with a mortgage. Too much risk with that.

Mark

xxx

admin wrote:A lot of foreclosures and auctions going on right now in Chile as people with UF contracts can not afford to make their payments.

We've started looking at foreclosures (remate judicial) as possibly a way to get more house for the money (there are listings in El Mercurio). My wife plans to attend a couple auctions with our lawyer to really understand how the whole thing works, but it looks like there are some good deals to be had. Would love to hear more about your experience.

In other news, we've just sent our paperwork to get our permanent residency. You guys cross your fingers for us as I'd really like to get this done once and for all.

Good luck Otv, I'm more interested in the purchase of long term rentals and believe that you may be slightly early. Still, every deal stands on its own feet and bringing your atty with you seems a good way to get your feet wet safely.

yea, just because something is up for auction, does not mean the title is clean. There are a lot of risks to buying at auction. All kinds of strange deals and under the table contracts go flying when properties are in trouble, as owners try to save their rear end at the last moment. It is not for the faint of heart, and I really would not recommend it to someone that does not have cash to burn. It is not something you put your nest egg in.

I have the resources to do this on hand, and I would never venture much more than my pocket change at auction. When we deal with auctions for clients, we park one of our law students at the court house with a sleeping bag and a cell phone for days to follow all the paperwork through the system. When we are tracking a particular property, we also spend a lot of time coordinating with the banks or creditors involved behind the scenes, talking to the owner, and anyone else that might tip us off about what is really going on. For example, did the owner sign some last minute contracts on the property, or use it to secure more debt? Who else is getting burned by this default?

That does not even touch the standard problems that apply such as conducting the normal title search, finding out if the property is even something you would want to own, and so on. Just because you say can pick up a property for say 30% less than the market price at auction, does not mean that the property is really worth that. There are many times other reasons the owners let the bank or creditor have it, such as the place needed to be torn down.