Chile Forum

el puelche wrote:So where were we...?..

At last, another installment in el puelche's real estate misadventures in the Chilean Patagonia....I anxiously await another.
For those of who aren't spanishy, what significance is there in your statement of "chhaaaaaa?" I am sure there is humor, just lost on this gringo. Please do elaborate. Thanks. G

xxx

Greetings Excaliber.

Not the first, nor the last. El puelche shared in a prior post of a time back in the Pinochett era when the government was attempting to settle the Patagonian islands. Few took advantage of the offer, and since then, they have virtually all been taken off the market for sale, and in fact are declared property of Chile, and made into Park property. Few exceptions do exist, and these are in the Millions of US. Chile did an about face back in our Clinton years, and decided to grab land like our presidency did, and so now they have made most of the island chains parks.
With that being said, whether there still are some diehards out there from the original colonization efforts, I haven't any details other than what he briefly wrote, and that was an off hand.
Best that I can tell, and Admin can advise us otherwise, there exists the 50 year lease option like most park land in America. OF course how to get to where they will lease this land to you is another investigation, one which I would find fun in a running your head into a wall kind of way. See which one yields first. Of course, money may make the doors open, as to whether you can get ships to supply you...you're on your own. There are channels used in open navigation by ferries, so I would focus on building/leasing along one of these corridors. Satellite internet and phone will be your only options. These aren't cheap, though the price of phones is coming down to a few $1000, and they have worked out text messages for free with you $2 a minute rates. Not exactly T-3.
I haven't worked out the satellite internet bugs yet, but there are emerging services that aren't to astronomical , but you are investing in technology that is unproven. Worse, hasn't even passed market acceptance, yet alone government approval. So early adopter will likely be your only option, besides text messages only with Satellite phones on the Irridium systems.
As to being on your own in the Patagonian Temperate Jungle Islands, or further south in the Mountainous Wilderness and Glacier Pack, you will be stepping off into uncharted territory. The sheer unknown, vividly wild, and uninhabited awaits you. You aren't completely off the planet, but you're getting a site closer. What prehistoric relics still walk, swim and inhabit these haunts, who knows? There are plants here that simply aren't in any known horticulturists repositories. Oh, and you will have plenty of bamboo to deal with. Islands literally covered with them. These will make agriculture difficult to start, and means you will have to clear cut an area to begin with. Those without bamboo, will likely be completely overgrown in trees, some of which the country deems invaluable and on the verge of extinction. Sacrifice the wild to make your sense of order.
Better rent a launch or skiff, and spend some alone time finding what would be an habitable and arable landscape, then having to rip up and tear down the jungle.
Some of these islands are beyond inhospitable. Most of these are fjords. Think Norway, with little in the way of level. Mountainous with some vegetation. You would be reduced to daily survival, and far from rescue for a long time before any beginning could be achieved. Bring earthmovers, tnt, and a sea plane when you need civilization.
I recommend trying Chiloe or a little farther to Melinka, or still farther to Tierra del Fuego. Of course, you'd be going from Seattle, to Vancouver to Alaska, and so, figure on what to bring with you based on where you search.
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...G out

PS-Who hasn't dreamed of dropping out and holing up on his own private island? A dream, a possibility, and certainly not unattainable. Just not sure on this Patagonian locale. Although isolated, desolate, and mostly deserted, yet not a habitation of pirates like the South China Sea. Hope you'll keep me up on your searches.

PPSS- A German Battleship, the Dresden, hid in the Patagonian Coastline back in WWI. Wasn't there another German Battleship that did the same in WWII?

Someone poosted the portalinmobiliaria.com website as one way to look for property in chile and i spend time there often. There is a pull down menu with choices like casa, departamento and so on. I am confused by the terminology for land. They use Local, sitio, parcela and loteo and agricola {farm) and you can choose one. Can someone define the particular meaning in Chile for each of these terms. Thanks

Greeting G, and thank you for writing such a comprehensive answer
to my post.

I appreciate your concerns about the wilderness and isolation ( which
can be very relative if you are only a few miles from a coastal town as
is the case with several islands ) but I believe that most are manageable
in the same way as you would manage living in any remote area, even
on the mainland, providing one finds that type of lifestyle desirable and
is up to the challenge, that will go a long way to ease the pain.

Funny you have mentioned Norway, as that is another country I am considering ( the Southern temperate part ), as I am in love with that
type of landscape, and I was very happy to discover that Southern Chile
offers the very same kind of environment to Norway, with the northern part of Patagonia not being subjected to extreme weather but temperate
one, like Southern Norway.

At the moment I am in the information gathering process and nothing will happen until I evaluate what is available and at what conditions, and of
course with enough $$$ ( which I am still working on ) plenty of comforts can be set up anywhere, and will ease the pain of leaving what we call "civilization" ( something I am looking forward to doing a.s.a.p. ).

But on my side I have the fact that the project I have in mind would require only a small scale life support and no jungle clearing or any other major impact on the existing environment, which I intend instead to strive to leave in as wild a state as possible, beyond what is strictly necessary to set up a proper house and living area, because unspoilt nature is a large part of what I am looking for.

Time will tell, and in the meantime I will look into it in the best possible way, I think it will be only a matter of time and, if all goes well, I shall invite you over for a holiday

As far as the WWII German battleship is concerned, I believe you are referring to the Admiral Graf Spee which was involved in a battle with
a British task force in the South Atlantic, was forced to temporarily seek
refuge in the port of Montevideo ( Uruguay ), which was a neutral port
at the time, in order to try to repair the damage suffered during their
engagement with various British ships, which they were not allowed to do. The ship was later on scuttled by the Germans outside the Montevideo Port.

helibel wrote:Someone poosted the portalinmobiliaria.com website as one way to look for property in chile and i spend time there often. There is a pull down menu with choices like casa, departamento and so on. I am confused by the terminology for land. They use Local, sitio, parcela and loteo and agricola {farm) and you can choose one. Can someone define the particular meaning in Chile for each of these terms. Thanks

BUMP
and "fundoi" also???????

Excalibur wrote: I think it will be only a matter of time and, if all goes well, I shall invite you over for a holiday

As far as the WWII German battleship is concerned, I believe you are referring to the Admiral Graf Spee which was involved in a battle with
a British task force in the South Atlantic, was forced to temporarily seek
refuge in the port of Montevideo ( Uruguay ), which was a neutral port
at the time, in order to try to repair the damage suffered during their
engagement with various British ships, which they were not allowed to do. The ship was later on scuttled by the Germans outside the Montevideo Port.

Well, I should look forward to your invitation...should you be on the Southern Pacific versus the Baltic Sea. I'm not sure about visiting Norway, not being a lutefisk lover. Something about fish rotted in lye...

As to the Graf Spee, I recall some of that ones run into the Atlantic, but forgot her inglorious demise outside Montevideo. Of course, such was the fate of all Axis surface ships, so why be surprised. Thanks for rekindling some lost lore. I recall a documentary on the Yamato Super Battleship, and the similar loss of it all. She was a monster.

Anyway, good hunting on your new digs. I imagine going home for the holidays would be a sight easier from Norway, than Chile.

G out.

helibel wrote:Someone poosted the portalinmobiliaria.com website as one way to look for property in chile and i spend time there often. There is a pull down menu with choices like casa, departamento and so on. I am confused by the terminology for land. They use Local, sitio, parcela and loteo and agricola {farm) and you can choose one. Can someone define the particular meaning in Chile for each of these terms. Thanks

Although I found the same website helpful, I also found it similarly confusing. I am in the same boat as you.

Hope we all can look forward to el puelche's next installment of land purchasing 101 in Chile....please?!!

G out

I was thinking in terms of 5-10 acres to try to start an orchard, including olives. Maybe some aquaculture, if that's feasable down there. I'll have to visit after Christmas and look around when I have some time off. The more I read, the more I like the idea of Chile.

This topic is about buying a property that is ready for sale. What if someone is willing to buy a place where nobody lives? I mean, a piece of land that has never been put out to sale (I don't know the right English or Spanish term for such land). How does the very first owner of a property in Chile go about purchasing it? Directly from the state/government?

You don't is the simple answer.

The office of Bienes Nacionales will give titles to land to people with particular "settlers rights", in certain parts of the country, that moved there under various colonial programs. Basically you have had to live on the land for 30 some years or more depending on the colonial law that they are under. There are a few other areas where they do give land away when the land is designated for tourism projects, and you can prove you have the real resources and plans to do it. For example, perhaps a mountain to a ski resort to be developed by a major development company. There are also swaths of land they will give away I believe in the desert regions, that essentially you would not be able to do anything with them. You have to be at least a permanent resident to even be eligible.

We deal with property purchases all the time where the seller does not have title, but has the right to request the title. Essentially they are selling the rights to the land. It is a very very long and expensive process. Expect years, even when the person has the right to the land. Even after they get the title there is a 5 year restriction on them reselling the land after they receive the title.

I might warn anyone that is looking to buy those rights, those contracts need to be very very carefully drafted. This is not something you can do on your own, and not something you can do with just any lawyer on the corner. There is a whole series of contracts involved, and until the "seller" has the title issued and the 5 year moratorium is up, you are really not buying anything but paper. Don't hand over any money.

Sometimes we have clients that are willing to wade in to that risky bureaucratic paperwork mess for a particular property, but we do our best to discourage them from trying it because there are a lot easier and cheaper properties in Chile to buy.