Chile Forum

p.s

The Isla De Maipo website is super cute!

See: http://www.islademaipo.cl/historia.htm

I made the transition from big city Santiago to a smaller community with little foreign or local tourism but with easy access to more touristy areas of the chileno rich, mid and lower classes.

You must balance a less populated area with (1) frequency, ease and cost of transport back to Santiasco (2) distance to nearest department store(s), hypersupermarket(s), other services (3) walking distance, competitive costs, goods and services selection for the local supermarket(s), hardware stores, weekly feria, etc.

Good Luck.

loreleiah wrote:...
Is Viña del Mar in about the same price range as Valparaiso as far rent is concerned? What other city in the world would you compare it to?....

Valpo sort of compares to San Francisco, plenty of hills.

Re: rent. There will be some overlap but generally Vina will be a little more expensive than Valpo. And Renaca will generally be a little more expensive than Vina. They are all close together but each has a different character.

My first night in Valpo in Sept. 2006 my neighbor told me that "the real people" live in Valparaiso. I didn't ask if that made the people who live in Vina/Renaca the phoney people but I think that was the gist of it.

So to make an absurd generality I think Valpo is where the "real people" live , Vina is a tourist town where the residents have a little more money than the people in Valpo. And Renaca is the expensive yuppie place which also has a ton of tourists in the summer. There you have it, thumbnail sketch.


Here is a good real estate site to find rentals:
http://www.portalinmobiliario.com/

Thanks for the summary of those areas Chuck. I am looking more towards the border of Argentina, as I am not that comfortable living on the coast. That website is great, best real estate site I have seen in Chile so far since the search function actually works.

I am guessing the ads are placed mostly by real estate agents, no?

I read a post earlier of someone saying that realtors in Chile are useless. But I think that could be said of any country really. Every realtor I have been introduced to here in the U.S have been money grabbing -you know what.

Would you rather rent directly from the owner or go through an agent?

I take exception to those sweeping generalizations (about agents everywhere), I guess next it will be all lawyers are corrupt, what do you think Charles

loreleiah wrote:Thanks for the summary of those areas Chuck. I am looking more towards the border of Argentina, as I am not that comfortable living on the coast. That website is great, best real estate site I have seen in Chile so far since the search function actually works.

I am guessing the ads are places mostly by realtors, no?

I read a post earlier of someone saying that realtors in Chile are useless. But I think that could be said of any country really.

Would you rather rent directly from the owner or go through an agent?

Yes. The realtors are 98% useless. I've never bought a house or apt. in Chile, but there are past threads about that here from folks with their experiences. The admin has some good posts about all that. In Chile they have no Real Estate standards training or any training like you would find in Europe or the USA. Basically anyone who wants to can be a realtor - just stick a for sale sign in front of a house with your name and phone number on it. So you get a WIDE variation in level of service and ability.

As for renting, I think renting from the owner directly is better most of the time, it's cheaper, and if they like you they can be a bit more flexible on deposits, amount of rent per month etc. I've rented directly from an owner before and also through a "finder". The lady who I used to find me an apt in Vina was not a real estate agent per se, as in she sells houses, but she and her husband have a business renting houses and apt's to tourists and students short and long term. A finder like her will charge you 60 or 70 dollars to find you a house or apt to rent. Their fee can vary however, I've heard of half one months rent as a fee before.

I think it'd be a good idea to enlist someone local to help find a place. Me and my husband only have two weeks to spent in Chile and find a place to rent, so I can imagine it'll be challenging.
Plus our Spanish is funny at best.

Would love to find someone trustworthy down there to help out. The rates sounds very reasonable.

Do you think the lady you mentioned would be able to help us, even if we look outside of Santiago, such as in Curico, Talca and San Fernando areas? San Felipe also looks interesting.

loreleiah wrote:I think it'd be a good idea to enlist someone local to help find a place. Me and my husband only have two weeks to spent in Chile and find a place to rent, so I can imagine it'll be challenging.
Plus our Spanish is funny at best.

Would love to find someone trustworthy down there to help out. The rates sounds very reasonable.

Do you think the lady you mentioned would be able to help us, even if we look outside of Santiago, such as in Curico, Talca and San Fernando areas? San Felipe also looks interesting.

if you're going to be just two weeks a hotel would be better. I was talking about renting "ano corrido" - year around or "Deciembre-Marzo" - summer rental.

Don't worry you wont have any problem finding a hotel. Most of the desk people in hotels speak some English.

The Hotel Paris is a good choice I think for inexpensive lodgings in Santiago. But get a room there that does not have a transom over the door and make sure the door actually locks.

Or also in Stgo. the Green House on Recoleta, a very nice family owns it. Inexpensive. There is a wide range of places of all prices in Stgo. no problem finding a hotel.

Hotel Rokamar in Vina is good. The Best Western in Vina is good but more expensive.

As for Curico and Talca I've never been to those places but you shouldn't have a problem getting a hotel room. When you fly into Stgo. and you get a hotel ask about those towns, they maybe could give you some pointers about lodgings there or maybe someone here on the forum could tell you about those towns.

Sorry, I should have explained better. We're actually going to Chile for 2 weeks to look for a long term apartment to rent for the future. We will then return to the u.s and send most of our belongings to our address in Chile and take care of some things before we go back. I know it sounds odd but we figure it's the only way we can make the move. Since we can't start mailing things to ourselves without an address and have no one here who would be willing to mail our things after we leave. We are pretty much gringos here too. We also have two cats so they can't stay in a hotel while we look for a place.

Thanks for the Hotel tips, much appreciated!

loreleiah wrote:Sorry, I should have explained better. We're actually going to Chile for 2 weeks to look for a long term apartment to rent for the future.

I don't think you're going to get much accomplished in two weeks (if you're planning to explore remote towns). You'll be surprised how little you can accomplish in one day in Chile. The pragmatic option may be to rent an apartment in Santiago just to get yourselves there. Use it as a base to explore other areas after you've moved. It may also be more convenient for dealing with things that go along with moving (like applying for your temporary visa, obtaining your national ID).

This hotel[1] is in the Republica district, right off O'Higgins (the main street which the metro runs beneath). It's a nice area. Not as upscale as Providencia. But, there are a lot of trade schools here. Lots of young people advancing their education. It has a character like that. Based upon what you've said about your and your husband's work, you might find that you fit well with this crowd. Maybe find some opportunities to teach. It's just 100 meters to the Republica metro station.[2] And, just a couple stops to the Central Station (where you can go anywhere in the country). The Central Station (and Alameda, further down O'Higgins) is less safe. Republica seemed nice. And, it's a good location if you plan to take weekend trips to explore other areas of Chile. That would be the main attraction for me, if I had your goals.

[1] http://www.ansurez.cl/english/portada.php
[2] http://www.metrosantiago.cl/planos.php

Mark

loreleiah wrote:Thanks for the summary of those areas Chuck. I am looking more towards the border of Argentina, as I am not that comfortable living on the coast. That website is great, best real estate site I have seen in Chile so far since the search function actually works.

I am guessing the ads are places mostly by realtors, no?

I read a post earlier of someone saying that realtors in Chile are useless. But I think that could be said of any country really.

Would you rather rent directly from the owner or go through an agent?

No, when we say they are useless, we are really talking useless.

Here is an old article we published a few years ago, but still very true on the subject:
http://www.allsouthernchile.com/southam ... chile.html

admin wrote:
No, when we say they are useless, we are really talking useless.

Here is an old article we published a few years ago, but still very true on the subject:
http://www.allsouthernchile.com/southam ... chile.html

True THAT!.. After dealing with real estate agents last week I can say not much has changed.. if anything.

Very useful article! Can you recommend one of those good Realtors? Someone who speaks decent English would be most helpful. I only started learning Spanish this week.

The problem is there are no "REALTORS" in Chile. Realtors is an organization dedicated to promoting ethics and education to real estate professionals.One has to make an effort and take classes, memorize a code of ethics, pass an evaluation etc. and pay some hefty dues to be able to be called a REALTOR. It is a trademarked term but is loosely used and very misunderstood. I researched and found a very loose association with a group in Chile .
I have met brokers from Chile at NAR (National Assoc. Of Realtors ) conventions in the states so there are agents who do try, but i was unable to find a listing of those agents online.
So much of being a good agent involves networking and really being a part of your local community, you are unlikely to find a good professional in , lets say Santiago, who really knows the market in Isla de Maipo (unless they have a vacation home there)
A terrific person in Vina is only going to help you in Vina.
A while back someone posted a link to a service that rented temporary apartments by the month in Santiago. (the link was removed because it didn't comply with the board rules) My suggestion would also be to find yourself a month to month rental in Santiago while you explore, it would be next to impossible to really know and choose an area and you might find yourself to be committed for an unhappy year.

Yes, I read this earlier too, that the realtors have no formal training and anyone can be one if they so desire.

Actually, we can only spent 2 weeks in Chile initially, finding a place, because of work. Any more time off work than that and we'll be fired.

So our plan is to find a place to rent in 2 weeks, pay for a year's rent in advance, go back to the states and ship our things and come back a month after.

We'll definitely be hiring a lawyer to help out with the lease etc.

The list of towns that we'll be looking into so far are: Curico,Talca and Villarica.

Is Villarica a tourist town? I hope not.