Chile Forum

Ryan - unfortunately, the way the realtors work here is not the same as in the US. In the US, a realtor has access to all the properties on the market and can show you anything (maybe with the exception of for rent by owner kinda stuff). Here, all the realty companies have their own inventory, so you end up having to look with several realty companies to find out what is available. To make things harder, people are sometimes reluctant to put signs out advertising that their property is for rent/sale as they feel that it makes the property a target for robbery, etc. Anyway, you can try some of the major real estate companies pyg.cl, elbarrio.cl, remax.cl, etc. The other option is to hit the streets and ask in the buildings you like (asking concierges) what is available for rent in the buildings.

Furnished apartments also aren't very common - just FYI. You can look at "apart hotels" but what you will get will be expensive and small (in our analysis, not worth it).

The other thing you need to be aware of is that realtors fees are different than in the US. If you rent an apartment that a realtor has shown you, you will pay them 1/2 the rent of the property as their fee (the seller also pays half, so the realtor ends up getting one month's rent for their effort - which effort is usually minimal in our experience!). Most Americans are shocked when they learn this, so plan it in your budget.

What is your price range? We have been looking at some furnished apartments ourselves (we live in Las Condes) and I can give you an idea of what you are going to be able to get. Also, where exactly are you going to be working, do you want to be within walking distance, will you get paid in dollars or pesos, do you plan on buying a car/driving. I know of a smaller apartment that is furnished in the area that might be up your alley - it was too small for us.

The easiest/best way IMHO, would be to find a place in Santiago that you like and then look intensely in that area...I would go into the first clean nice hardware store in that area and ask about it...you have to be careful not to get the tia of uncle's cousins, old girlfriends grandma routine that ends up to really be an old garage for rent...i would suggest...you look in nunoa...like about the plaza espana metro station but not lower...get something close to a metro station...if you go there, you will meet regular people that have regular daughters...there are a lot of cool regular places to eat, mixed with other business' that have normal people running them....stay away from the fra-fra types...

good luch and send us an invitation to the wedding...(puelche woudl be a great middle name for a girl or a boy...and it means something!!!)


p out.

Hey Ryan. My name is Brennan, 25 year old from San Diego, who just moved to Santiago yesterday for 4 months. I live in a house in Nunoa with one Chilean roomate and we currently have another room available as well if you are interested. As I have only been here about 24 hours, I don't know about the commute to Los Condes from here. But I do know that my room is $260 USD a month for a queen and private bathroom. Your room would not have a private bathroom, though the one you would use would only be shared by two people, and would be about $222 USD a month. If you are interested, let me know and we can work something out. My dog MaryJane lives here as well, so if you have allergies that could be a problem.

this is a link to the posting i responded to on craigslist a few months ago, which is accurate:
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and if you end up going somewhere else, stay in touch. especially if you would like to watch some NFL once things get underway in a couple weeks.

Here is an excellent site to find quality shared accomodations. http://www.easypiso.com..simply scroll down to Chile,fill in the data and you will find hundreds of affordable places to live.

I have just moved to Santiago from the UK and my company used Gamio Properties who found me a really nice place in El Golf (Las Condes). They also helped me to negotiate the contract with the owner. I dealt with a woman called Silvina who was really helpful, everyone in the office speaks fluent English. Her details are below:

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I also have a spare room if youre interested!
All the best in Santiago

Rebecca

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