At the moment we are subdividing off our land, we used to have dairy cows on our farm and also managed to get mortgages in Chile somehow


It has been an interesting experience to say the least, but we have met some cool people, who have bought from us and are developing and starting their own lives here, and we continue to develop our project, which has matured this year after a couple of false starts and working with people who didn’t really have a clue in areas we needed (but pretended they did)
The reason i am writing all this is because I am looking for some market research and inspiration as well as just good ideas from people like yourselves in the allchile forum.
Personally for me, as I probably will only get one shot at doing this, I want to have something that is not a typical Chilean Loteo, that’s not a put down of things Chilean, (well it’s trying not to be, it’s just my experience) it is just the way it is, yes there is always the exception, but in many loteos or subdivisions I have seen (and I’ve looked at a lot) they are simply not that great, some you might be able to call ok, but most are pretty lazily done with no eye for detail or practical things are missing, and some are just crap with no thought put into making them enjoyable places to live
That’s why I am asking for your help, I have met good people from on here and value the opinions of most of the people here, so I would like to hear any advice or suggestions from you and would like to know what sort of things that would make a loteo or rural subdivision (they are all sites of 5000 square metres minimum) a great place to live. If you were considering a purchase what services and infrastructure could clinch a deal for you if you were thinking of moving to Chile, either full time or seasonal? Even if you’re not, feel free to throw your 2 cents in, as people with a different point of view and outside Chile experience it all helps us.
There are many things we would like to do, and sometimes ideas can get carried away, but aside from the basic infrastructure, which will be underground electrical connections to the edge of each lot, which the lot owner applies to the local electric company for a connection into their house (it just looks so much better not having to look at power cables and power poles). Plus, water to each lot (which will be metered and charged to cover running costs, and a small fee for repairs and maintenance), which comes from our deep well and treatment plant which will have been approved by all the appropriate regulatory authorities. Internet is by way of a local internet company called sur red which supply wireless internet and they have a tower nearby, so we get internet good enough to be able to watch Netflix, there is no fibre cable anywhere near us, so cost would be too expensive, mobile data through Movistar works well and Entel coverage is patchy
We are leaving about 20 hectares of the property as it is, as natural fence between the road and the sections, this area is full of native forest regrowth and a few larger trees that were not cut down when the forest was exploited and mostly cut down in the 1990. it’s very nice full of trees approx. 3 to 4 metres and lots of birdlife, with a small creek, and there are a few corners where they missed cutting down that still have virgin forest. So, there will be walking tracks through there with, lookout points and rest stops with seats through this protected area.
I also want to get an electric car in the next couple of years, so want to install a charging station that others could use as well, I haven’t really done much investigation on that. The internal streets are wide and have ample turning spaces and there will also be footpaths/bike paths besides the roads. The internal streetlights (e.g. on corners) will be solar. As for the typical quincho and children’s playground (that no child ever plays in that I have seen on the loteos I have looked at) I would like to have something that others don’t have, e.g. a tree house that you or your guests can stay the night in, or some hot tubs in the forest with a view of the volcanoes, even if no one else uses them I certainly would.
As for services I want to offer a recycling service, so would have to either build that into the upfront cost or see if people are willing to pay monthly (lots of people like to talk the environmental talk but when it comes to funding it....) I am also offering planting and landscaping services subcontracting out the staff that I have employed permanently, it is not high end exterior design things but more standard things like planting trees and handyman things like that. I am reluctant to get into building supervision, for clients using builders that I do not know, there are some services I can offer though.
Any thoughts, comments or questions happy to reply here or by PM too.
Thanks for your time
Matt