Colombian Peso Fixed Deposits - Why bother?

tejasmarcos says on Apr 29, 2008, 18:34:

great feedback. i had often wondered myself about investing in a COP CD. sounds like the process and product are alot to deal with vs. just taking a lower rate elsewhere.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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Noelito40 says on Apr 29, 2008, 19:05:

Fecherlyn, the retefuente and 4 per mille I can take, but the point about not paying interest on bank holidays is a rip off (no prizes for guessing whether they charge you interest on loans/credti cards for bank holidays!!!)

Having said that, if I compare the 5% gross I get a home minus 1% tax (20% tax rate) the net in Colombia still works out better...

Granted, in both countries given the inflation rates the real interest rates are even less again, but I´m like you in that I think it´s a good idea to have some money in a low risk/low return CDT...

Noelito

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miamimike says on Apr 29, 2008, 19:24:

fecherklyn --You haven't mentioned the loss you will take when you convert back to USD or Euros; what do you calculate that loss to be?

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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calipro says on Apr 30, 2008, 00:28:

?????

I don't know how you could possibly take a loss converting colombian pesos to dollars after holding your money in colombian pesos over the past year.

I'm making 20% by sending pesos back to the states that I purchased when the dollar was worth 2400 cop.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 03:35:

miamimike,

OR a profit, presuming he is converting back at all.

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poco says on Apr 30, 2008, 05:43:

Oh, oh, looks like the U.S. is NOT in a recession,, the number for this quarter PLUS 0.6 percent UP.

Where was I on that call? No. 6 = what recession ???



Oh, oh,,,, damn,, gold down !!!!! Buy, buy, buy on dips,, this might be your last opportunity to steal some gold,,, back up the truck !!!

I'm not buying any,, but,, heck,, I'm poor but happy.

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

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tomtom33 says on Apr 30, 2008, 05:49:

Don't you know that the government figures lie? The sky is falling. The sky is falling.

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poco says on Apr 30, 2008, 06:02:

Quote: Don't you know that the government figures lie? The sky is falling. The sky is falling.

This really is funny,, I'm going to start using PBH posters as CONTRARY LEADING INDICATORS.

When I noticed Rubito saying he was going to max his credit cards take all the cash and buy Colombian pesos,, well,,, I knew it was about time for the Euro / Dollar to do a trend reversal !!!!

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

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fecherklyn says on Apr 30, 2008, 06:13:

Calipro & Miamimike, you have both remarked about the effect of exchange rate movements on the example I gave. In fact, I did try to refer to it when I stated " For a foreign resident who reasons in terms of foreign currency incomes, it may not be worth it after one takes into account the foreign exchange risk one is taking?"

As Calipro says....it would have been difficult to make a loss over the last couple of years by repatriating COP back into US$ or virtually any other mainstream currency. But such a presumption would not hold water over the longer term or be valid as an economic principle. Traditionally the currencies of emerging countries have tended to weaken against core trading currencies and the COP's recent strength may only be a blip in the ocean of the general trend. There have been countless PBH threads on this this subject and there have always been strong partizans of both views.....the COP is going to strenghten v/s it will weaken.

MY only view on this matter is that it is prudent to hedge one's bets (for a foreign resident) by trying to retain assets spread between Colombia and overseas.

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tomtom33 says on Apr 30, 2008, 06:30:

Actually it is too soon to count our chickens yet. But the likelihood of negative growth in the second and third quarters, in my view, is relatively low.

Of course I don't have an MBA like Gringoloid nor a PhD in everything like Rubi.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 06:44:

poco,

"I'm going to start using PBH posters as CONTRARY LEADING INDICATORS"

To true, I have added a plus or a minus to what I think is going to happen to the peso or some other things I am following, to what some poster say here.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 06:48:

tomtom33,

I haven't seen the figures yet, but they are generally addjusted either up or down, so we should really wait a few more quarters at least.

As to the third quarter, I doubt that will show negative growth due the government rebate cheques arriving.

Those are my views at least from an ordinary person, I don't have a MBA like some claim.

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gringoloid says on Apr 30, 2008, 09:55:

The Fed does not decide whether or not the usa is in a recesson , a panel at the National Bureau of Economic Research determines when U.S. recessions begin and end and they use a totally different calculation. That finding is made public well after the recession begins.

I guess that is what an MBA does for a person.

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gringoloid says on Apr 30, 2008, 10:01:

no one here ever said the economy is in a recession before the election. it was after election day and "this coming new year holiday season is going to be different from the last one."

gasoline at the pump now is still roughly $70 a barrel oil. oil is sold at the spot or through long contracts in advance. it takes 9 months for price increases to get to the pumps.

and also, i'm not trying to convince you of anything............i don't care what you believe.

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gringoloid says on Apr 30, 2008, 10:05:

here is a statistic out of The Economist this week...............a mainstream publication that makes a mockery out of goverment reported indices, especially the figure in line 2.

and the govt says, what............inflation up 3%, or maybe 4.

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gringoloid says on Apr 30, 2008, 10:14:

And this morning at my bank Colmena, I tried to fill out Form 4 and instruct them that I was bringing in $100,000 USD.

They told me to get lost. Seems that the dollar is polluting their financial system.

When have you ever heard of a bank unwilling to take 100 large, (clean money), that they get to sit on for 29 days and keep the float?

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Tinto (Moderator) says on Apr 30, 2008, 10:19:

The Economist's COMMODITY price index for food can be mostly right and so can the government's CONSUMER price index for food. Both measures have limitations when applied to the real world.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 11:16:

Tinto,

Yes its a COMMODITY index table, not sure why gringoloid, is comparing it with the overall inflation figure as the prices in the table are only a part of the overall inflation table.

The food basket part of the US inflation figure that gringoloid is pointing out is 8-12% of the total inflation figure if I recall.

I think it was closer to the 8% figure, but due to the rising price of food, the percentage has now increased.

More misleading information from gringoloid.

I expect the Economist figures for US inflation overall are not going to be much different than that the US stastics office says, because the Economist is a mainstream financial magazine, which I read a lot in the 90s and their figures didn't seem to differ then by much, so I doubt they do now.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 11:23:

gringoloid,

Question if the table is a COMMODITY table, is that the raw price of food, or the retail price of food?

The raw price doesn't translate into the retail price of food.

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tomtom33 says on Apr 30, 2008, 12:31:

For us Econ 101 types, the definition of a recession is 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth. Of course the revisions could show negative growth for the first quarter. But, if the positive number holds, we would need negative growth in the second and the third quarters to be in a recession by that simple definition.

And frankly whether there is or is not a recession means little to me. When the recession or downturn is over, we recover. The sky ain't falling.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 14:05:

tomtom33,

Same here, but gringoloid made up a prediction table, so we shall see who was right or wrong.

The US slowdown means little to me either, other than the minor effect it has on Colombia, which probably won't affect me directly, but its nice if you can predict and get it right or close to right, which is to soon to say yet.

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Ctg Bound says on Apr 30, 2008, 14:08:

GRINGOLOID TABLE:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/pbh-economic-forecast-symposium/

1. Full blown, worldwide depression 20% unemployment in the usa, $150 a barrell oil, euro at $2, credit bubble bursts into some kind of financial crisis.

2. Serious world recession, rebounding in late 2010.

3. Recession in the USA, causing a Colombian recession.

4. Recession in the USA, not affecting Colombia greatly; i.e., not much worse than we are now in Colombia, but maybe a little worse in the usa with a nasty bite of inflation, unemployment, and will work itself out in 2009.

5. Mild recession in the usa, not much worse than what is going on now in the usa........just a problem with the housing crisis that will work itself out .

6. What's a recession?

This is what the lists looks like now:

1. gringoloid..expatriate..Rubito, jonas

2. waterdawg

3. bamapits, albatross, cdawg, wendell, nine inch nails, scotty, billyBigD, Mario

4. Raay, Pod, Roci, droble, sloopskipper, mantequila, aaron21. Robert Jorge

5. robi,ctg bound, CatGirl

6. poco, muchacho, cali373, goinsouth

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gringoloid says on Apr 30, 2008, 19:27:

ctg bound says ""The food basket part of the US inflation figure that gringoloid is pointing out is 8-12% of the total inflation figure if I recall.

I think it was closer to the 8% figure, but due to the rising price of food, the percentage has now increased.

More misleading information from gringoloid.""
.
.
.

Actually it's 14% so you're totally wrong.

also, food and energy which total 23% are not included in the core inflation figures announced in your lemming news.

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gringoloid says on Apr 30, 2008, 19:41:

every single investment in my portfolio was up today.................i don't remember in recent memory when that has happened. a vindication if ever there was one on this important day.

also, i notice that the stock market didn't validate your findings being that all baskets were down today.

tom, you're entitled to your opinion, in fact i hope you keep doing exactly what your're doing;....i don't want you to change anything, I just happen to disagree with you.

if you want to stay in domestic stock funds................be my guest, it's your money and you get to invest it any way that you want.

my other two critics do not give me any way to apply a metric to their rants. i posted my portfolio.

also, you and ctg bound can keep ridiculing my education...............you have to idea what fools that make you look like.

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BillBigD says on Apr 30, 2008, 20:36:

Gringo is correct any inflation figures that to do not count gas and good are a joke. Also sometimes figures don't always tell the truth. Here is some housing info

MarketWatch just released a news clip with data from the Commerce Dept saying the number of vacant homes reached a record high of 18.6 mil units, which was a 1 mil increase in the past 12 months. Of those 18.6 mil, only 2.3 mil were for sale (listed inventory) at the end of q1. The report also stated that a record 4.1 million vacant homes are for rent, with the rental vacancy rate rising to 10.1%. This means that the National Association of Realtor's month's supply of homes is slightly in error
Months Supply reported each month is calculated using the ‘listed inventory’ and a sales rate and does not include vacant homes per the Commerce Dept data.

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BillBigD says on Apr 30, 2008, 20:39:

Sorry that was suppose to say FOOD.

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tejasmarcos says on Apr 30, 2008, 22:00:

anybody that brags about his touchdowns is insecure with his talents. i'm keeping my yip shut and trying to pay attention. recession or no recession, the cracks are beginning to show and i think there is alot more crumbling to occur before anything stabilizes. the stock market is so volatile right now, a blip is just a blip. the flow of money has stopped and lack of liquidity is a serious global issue right now. combine that with a huge deflation in real estate in almost all major markets and you have some more crumbling to do. there is a large layer of the usa population barely getting by right now and alot more ARM mortgages set to adjust. i think the tailspin has just begun.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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Frank Rizzo says on Apr 30, 2008, 22:27:

front page of yahoo... http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/discounted-homes-going-going.html

i've already started looking in SoCal....here come the bargins....(there are 2 beach houses on 1 lot that i'm looking at both are about 50% complete....) they completely ran out of money...and it's a huge fire sale.....

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BillBigD says on Apr 30, 2008, 22:28:

Rubito- Always laugh when people say how much they have made in Real Estate. Until you sell you haven't made sh*t.

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Frank Rizzo says on Apr 30, 2008, 22:47:

That's true BillBigD...but you have to start building asset based wealth at some point in life. Especially if you want to live in that country.

I'd find it unsetteling changing my life to another country and not owning your home there. Look at the small sample of home owners in colombia on this site. They typically further invest in cars, workers, support of economy and surroundings.

I think this "nailing down" of your soul to a location builds self worth and pride and how do you put a price on that.

So, when Rubito takes pride in his home, i really see that in a much different light than saying i've got XXX number shares of XXXX corp..... good for him...I understand, i really do.

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BillBigD says on Apr 30, 2008, 23:10:

Frank- Yes I agree! If he had just said I bought a house in Colombia. I would have said Good for you man.But bragging about his 50% gain that could decrease very easily is foolish IMO Look at many places in the USA. Miami, Vegas, PHX, and I will not even mention California. He will probably say that Colombia is different, but a bubble can happen anywhere. IMO

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Frank Rizzo says on Apr 30, 2008, 23:32:

Your point is well taken Bill..... a new home is like a new baby.... .. on your bubble theory..thats' something that we all have to be very careful of in the states or down there. Its always a risk.

I guess there are certain places (possibly Cart.) that may have run up in the bubble...but the majority of colombia (if bought right) should be safe...IMO..

Now, i agree with your point of California....it will be interesting to see how far that market goes down...there are lots of people watching that, its already dropped 2/3 in certain areas.

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sloopskipper says on May 1, 2008, 04:02:

Frank Rizzo says on Wednesday April 30th, 2008 22:27:

"front page of yahoo... http://promo.realestate.yahoo.com/discounted-homes-going-going.html

i've already started looking in SoCal....here come the bargins....(there are 2 beach houses on 1 lot that i'm looking at both are about 50% complete....) they completely ran out of money...and it's a huge fire sale....."

I wonder what the property tax and insurance costs are on a property like this?

"For people priced out of the market in recent years, auctions are a shot at homeownership. Edwin Beeks, retired from the U.S. Navy after being wounded in Iraq, picked up a four-bedroom ranch house in Lancaster, Calif., with a bid of $95,000. The previous owner paid $255,000 in 2005, borrowing 95% of the purchase price from a subprime lender."

But it seems the sub-prime lenders are still playing the same game in California. Here is one who invested 95% in an already seriously erroded market (maybe an ARM). If values slide just a little more there will no, or negative equity.

That, along with inevitable/eventual, increasing rates is exactly caused the crisis to begin with.

I thought that there changing regulations to prevent 95 and 100% mortgages in the U.S.

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Ctg Bound says on May 1, 2008, 06:23:

BillBigD,

There are SEVERAL sets of inflation figures that the Fed use, one of them doesn't count energy costs, others do.

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Ctg Bound says on May 1, 2008, 06:26:

tejasmarcos,

DELETED, I missed a post.

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Ctg Bound says on May 1, 2008, 06:30:

gringoloid,

So its 14%, you say, not that far out then, as I said 12%, especially as I don't follow the US that much as I do other Countries, as stated I sold my dollar holdings in 2002, I have also expected a lot of problems in the US since 2004 to come home to roost sooner or later, hence why I stayed away from US investments, so your statement that I am totaly wrong on the food part of the inflaton basket is a bit off I feel.

But I feel I made my point, regarding your misleading table.

Especially as you dind't answer my question:

"Question if the table is a COMMODITY table, is that the raw price of food, or the retail price of food?"

As to the core PCE price index for inflation, the Fed has more than one inflation index, as stated above, you should know that, seeing you have a MBA, or are you just trying to mislead people again.

"lemming news."

You then ridicule the news outlets, yet you are posting misleading information from them, such as the table from the economist.

OR is the news only a lemming outlet if it disagrees with your views?

As to your so called portfolio, I have seen no posts on it, the only thing I can remember is that you are not planning on buying property in Colombia until 2009, which in my view, of areas that I operate in Colombia, is not wise, but thats up to you.

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Ctg Bound says on May 1, 2008, 06:40:

Frank Rizzo,

I am or have been in a good dozen differant areas in Colombia with regards land and property, I feel the same as you, most areas are not going to go down in value for now at least, in fact I feel the opposite is the case.

BUT there are some areas that I don't like that much, you said one, Ctg, El Poblado in Medellin is another, Sabaneta South of Medellin is a third, I was involved in those three markets, still have a few assets there to sell, but the majority have gone now.

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gringoloid says on May 1, 2008, 07:20:

ctg bound says: "I think it was closer to the 8% figure, but due to the rising price of food, the percentage has now increased.

More misleading information from gringoloid.""
.
.

Go back and read what you write........that says 8% to me.

And your darn right i don't answer your questions because you don't answer mine. what's your portfolio? Or is is going to be the usual on say Jan 1 2009, you're going to tell us you predicted everything without saying anything in advance?

i also could give a rats ass whether you can understand the 2.6% inflation rate from the govt cpi figures ..............and the cpi's figures as it relates to the oldest commoditys index in the world, 160 years old, The Economist.

You wouldnt' be able to understand the answer anyway.

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gringoloid says on May 1, 2008, 07:29:

Rubito.......being that I know a bit about you personally, I would wear that "came from nowhere and nuthin" label as a badge.

As you know, I came from the same background as you did, and and most likely much worse.

For your young age you've come a long way by thinking for yourself and being able to spot a fraud when you see one.

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Ctg Bound says on May 1, 2008, 08:11:

gringoloid,

Yes, I agree, not very well written, WAS closer to 8% but has increased to 12% or something like that, is what I thought, but didn't convey correctly.

I understand EXACTLY what I am looking at regards the PCE price index for inflation, as stated there are more than one index, again you are trying to avoid the truth with misleading information, claiming I don't know what I am looking at.

As to not understanding the answer, I probably would, I have ripped your MIS information apart, but you hide behind arrogant MBA talk, says it all.

Funny that I am not predicting anything, just look what I said regarding property above in three areas, none of those area are going down at the moment.

YET you say you have posted predictions here, I state what are they, if the are here already there should be no problem stating them, looks like you have no predictions here then.

I now believe the Euro is to high against the dollar on fundamentals, I will start switching my fund into dollars shortly, when I deem its right, hopefully th first switch at around 1.60 or so.

This will be the third time I have taken a postion on the Euro/dollar since it was created, the first two times have turned out fine, lets hope the next does.

Last time GIB was ridiculing me regards my dollar postion, I stated below my postion in June 2006, there wil be other like minded posts on other threads:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/peso-at-2609-to-the-dollar/

Ctg Bound says on Tuesday June 27th, 2006 14:24: edit

Don Gringo Its your money, but I have not recommened to anyone to put money into US dollars since 2002.

The dollar is going to fall out of bed sooner or later, the only thing I am unsure on is how big the fall will be.

Up to 2002 the Euro was trading as low as 0.86 to the dollar, if the currency markets just counted on the growth of Euro economy compared to the growth in the US economy, why is the Dollar now trading at about 1.25 to the Euro.

Ctg Bound says on Wednesday June 28th, 2006 13:06: edit

Lost my shirt hardly, I moved my dollars to Euros in early 2002 for an exchange rate of approx 0.88 Euros to the dollar, maybe I make less interest, but I made 42% gain on the currency at the present rate, I expect a great deal more, when the dollars falls further.

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Tinto (Moderator) says on May 1, 2008, 08:28:

There's something about the Ides of March or drunken Irishmen

- The Nasdaq peaked around the 15th or 17th of March in 2000 and it was all downhill from there
- A big basket of physical commodities peaked about the 17th of March 2008 and most of them have slid quite a ways since then
- Bear Stearns/financial stocks/the general stock market bottomed about the 17th of March 2008. Since then the market has been OK with some pockets of complete recovery.

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Frank Rizzo says on May 1, 2008, 09:55:

Hi Ctg Bound.....as you know, it's hard to put colombia into a box like the US as far as homes and areas. Since you're a real estate investor as well.

I'd like to share my thoughts on Colombia real estate and get your feedback.

In the US people that own real estate usually are just brokering the paper (hold a mortgage) and (in the past) hope the property goes up to realize that gain in either a sale or pulling out 100% value on a second or third. Therefore, no matter how much the value of the home may go up, there is a stop-gap..(owed $) that dictates the lowest possible price they can take....

In colombia, most people that own, actually own in full ....It's not just a dream or a guess...but you can walk into a neighborhood...of 600k -1million usd homes in colombia with cash...and walk out with a buy at $250-400k buy. There are many families that have had money in the past and can no longer afford the area. They own in cash and a one time cash payment goes a long way.

I've not tried this in Cart. but in the best areas of cali and medellin...it works like a charm. There are ways to find these in colombia as well...it just takes alot of leg work..

Ctg. Bound...what's your experience in Col...in finding/buying super gangas...??

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BillBigD says on May 1, 2008, 14:59:

CTG- OK we can move on but the CPI is absent of food and energy. $ was strong again today against Euro.
Gringo- congrats on all your stocks being green yesterday.Did you have PBR? Nice day for me with AAPL and RIMM and MOS.
Tinto- good info.

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sloopskipper says on May 1, 2008, 15:59:

CPA up 5.81%

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Robert Jorge says on May 1, 2008, 17:41:

Great post! Trully good information and points of view.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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billyb says on May 1, 2008, 19:42:

From El Tiempo today.

Bajó la inflación en abril: se situó en 0,71, según el Dane
Esta variación es menor a la que se registró en abril del año pasado cuando fue de 0,90.

Por su parte, la anualizada es de 5,73, por debajo de la inflación de el mismo periodo del 2006 cuando estaba en 6,26 por ciento.

En lo corrido del año la variación es de 4,15 por ciento, levemente superior a igual período del año pasado cuando llegó a 4,11 por ciento.

Por grupos de gasto, los alimentos siguen siendo los que ejercen la mayor presión sobre el Indice de Precios al Consumidor con el 1,18 por ciento.

Le siguió la vivienda con el uno por ciento.

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Ctg Bound says on May 2, 2008, 07:40:

Frank Rizzo,

Mortgages in Colombia are expensive, although they have come down a lot over the last 6 years, so there are more people buying with a mortgage now than before, but still most deals are cash or asset swaps, or a combination of both.

As you say "There are many families that have had money in the past and can no longer afford the area." plus people with land which wasn't worth much before, but as Cities expand or certain areas become attractive, their land has gone up in value.

Cash goes a long way and you will get a discount off most BUT not all the people, generally I find the discount is 20-40%. It does take leg work as you say though and have feelers out with a number of people.

What is a super gangas?

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 09:08:

thanks for your input Ctg Bound...."super bargin".... the feeler thing out is exactly right....! we came up with a way to get right to the people that "have" to sell....it's worked so far...but i'm open to finding new ways to locate...the fire sales..

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 09:45:

Can we adjust this topic slightly to .....investing in Medellin real estate?

What neighborhood(s) do you consider prime markets for this activity? I'm talking about renting to Colombians, not gringo tourists.

If you had a choice, would you invest in MDE or Manizales?

Also, you as landlords, and I personally know many of you, do you use a property management company for the administration of your apartments? I would not be around to deal with administration or problems should they arise, so this is very important to me.

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 09:57:

Hi GL.....i'd not really have any input on being a landlord....i'm only purchasing property and remodeling for retirement at some point (i hope to retire at some point..jjajaa). I'd guess you buy much different property to rent for income..than what i'm doing....

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 10:11:

FR, that surprises me because I thought you had many properties in both MDE and Cali.

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tomtom33 says on May 2, 2008, 10:14:

My Paisa novia tells me that Colombians, in general, have little respect for property. She is strongly against renting to Colombians. Yet, my property manager in Cartagena tells me that he prefers Colombians to extranjeros.

From what I hear, the management company is the only way to go.

Gringoloid, your buddy Ctg Bound is the real expert in this area.

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 10:22:

Bill.................I threw something out on one days results and I think it may have been misleading. I'm a long term trend guy......I travel a lot ......I really don't care what happens day to day unless it's an important day like April 30 was. I only care about year to year with minor rebalancing.

I t just surprised me because I'm hedged so that if one third goes up, then one third should go down......and it just didn't happen that way on Wednesday.

Like, take this chart; gold should go down to $750 sometime soon.......I hope it does really so I can exercise my purchased puts...................but looking at the chart, you can see the trend and that's all I care about. I don't want to be chained to daily or quarterly results at this point in my life.

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 10:27:

Hi GL....i own several properties in colombia....they are not the type of property that you rent out....they are personal homes only, i let friends use them at times.

The building in cali did a 3 month background check on me, before they would even let me purchase in the building.

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Tinto (Moderator) says on May 2, 2008, 10:30:

Can I be your friend. ;-)

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 10:36:

Tom.................I know that people have their biases towards what demographic they prefer in choosing a renter.

My landlord in NY only rented to Catholics and he himself was Jewish. You had to prove you were Catholic by naming your church and then he would call the priest. (I didn't go to mass, but i ran the singles club, so I lucked out).

I knew a bad ass construction worker in NY that only rented to gays as he said straight men wreck the place and women renters are complaining all the time. He said gays fix things at their expense.

With my rental in NY, I made a deal with Wilhemina Modeling Agency to house their actors coming in from out of town that needed a temporary place to stay. i would've never rented to a stranger.

I guess it is strange about who we choose as renters; no one would agree...............anybody have any opinions on who is the best type of colombian renter?

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robi666 says on May 2, 2008, 10:37:

Best thing to do: renting to Colombians in an high estrato using an agency.
Worst thing to do: renting directly to Gringos.

Bad thing to do: renting to Colombians directly in a low estrato.

GL, you want to buy small properties in El Poblado. That's this simple.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 10:45:

Robi..............it's funny you should say that! Are these younger gringos that you would not want to rent to? You know, like party animals? Which I am not.

I've rented many apartments for myself here in Colombia.............I probably left them in better condition than when i entered. Everyone would love to have me back; I pay in advance; have my own maid; don't make any noise or annoy the neighbors;

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tomtom33 says on May 2, 2008, 10:50:

Those party animals can be brutal. Many apartments in Laguito will not rent to the young Israelis. They have a big-time party reputation.

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robi666 says on May 2, 2008, 10:53:

Knowing a person is different gl...

But 90% of people coming to Medellin are coming for sex. So, even if they won't party hard, they will invite grillas at the apartment and one day or another, you'll have a problem.

This without mentioning that gringos usually do not know what discretion is, so you'll have problems with the administration and neighborhoods.

Believe me, I tried and, although the money is good, it is not worth it. A good Colombian agency will keep problems away.

I see people bitching on here about how hard is to rent an apartment in Colombia. From the owners point of view, it is the way to do things.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 10:59:

Yeah Robi....i can imagine that being a huge problem......

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 11:01:

Robi...........then we agree...........I'd rather rent to a good colombian.

I certainly believe that the sex tourist/partyanimal/modefoquer kind of renter would be bad news.

Robi....what do you think about having RAAY as a renter?

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 11:08:

Tom..........I'm not sure what kind of real estate advice my friend ctg bound would give me..................I think he would want me somewhere near the top of the cable car, unarmed, with $100 bills pinned to my clothes, so I have to discount that proposal.

I wonder if he knows that he and GIB currently have the same exact economic opinions.

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 12:37:

I'm no lawyer....but i could also imagine a problem in renting expensive places...might be the risk of.."what type of business" is the renter in??

And...could the colombian govt. end up making some type of confiscation claim??

Possibly a question for Dr. Esteban.....

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 12:50:

You have a point Rubito....though most rich people don't rent.

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Brians says on May 2, 2008, 12:57:

Hey Robi I agree with you 100% and as you know that is the same course I took for my place. However if you recall the situation I had with a wealthy Colombian Jewler. Finally got my money and everything fixed but no safety in renting to anyone. It is not their place so people generally just don't care. Have a nice family now renting but am re-thinking this whole renting process and may just leave it off the market next time the lease comes up.

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Ctg Bound says on May 2, 2008, 16:50:

tomtom33 /gringoloid,

I don't rent properties to Colombians anymore in Medellin, I did via a rental agent for a few years, no problems for me, but there wasn't much money in it, those properties have been sold now, as they appreciated and the rental yield became even less and I could see better things to invest in.

The rental agents ask for a hell of a lot of paperwork as people complain about on this site have mentioned, which is quite good for the landlord, I only rented good properties in Estrata 5-6 neighbourhoods, so was only renting to proffesionals.

Actually I suspected GIB would have similar views on the US and Euro now, but the differance is that I have been saying the opposite regarding both for 4 years, until now.

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gringoloid says on May 2, 2008, 17:06:

ctg bound, if you don't mind me asking...............what type of a structure is a 'bodega?'

two apartments under one roof?

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Alma del Norte says on May 2, 2008, 17:20:

It's just a commercial property, no? a store, an industrial unit.

La vida es una rutina

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Ctg Bound says on May 2, 2008, 17:28:

gringoloid,

Obviously you read my post, before I decided to delete a couple of paragraphs.

A Bodega as Alma del Norte says is an industrial unit/s, can be used as warehouse, factory etc, it could be on one floor or several floors, normally not higher than three, due to the local regulations.

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BillBigD says on May 2, 2008, 18:28:

My place in Miami I don't rent. Not worth it

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goin_south says on May 2, 2008, 23:35:

warehouse bay?

'what does it mean, when one of you (colombians) tell another: YOU WERE NOT/ARE NOT. 'COLOMBIAN ENOUGH'?? jejeje..a mixture, I think, of stupidity mixed with a false sense of arrogance.. How 'colombian' do you have to be? to be 'colombian enough

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Frank Rizzo says on May 2, 2008, 23:56:

rubito's right...almost always..used for warehouse only.... in the newspaper...for sale..they will also list the industrial and tallers under bodega...but they are more locales...que bodegas....

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gringoloid says on May 3, 2008, 09:49:

I wonder about the benefits of investing in commercial real estate for rent versus residential housing. I don't think we've had a thread on that.

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robi666 says on May 3, 2008, 09:55:

Commercial real estate gives better returns. And cost more.
Commercial real estate is more sensible to economical downturn. Residential housing is safer.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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Noelito40 says on May 19, 2008, 18:52:

Fecherklyn, ..some good news, Banco de Credito does pay interest for any fiestas or puentes which occur during the period of your CDT,

BUT….How’s this for another example of sharp practices when it comes to banks…

A question! When is 90 days not 90 days? Answer…when you are dealing with banks here… Let me explain, if you open up a CDT on say Wed 21st March for 90 days, you might think that your investment would mature on August Tuesday 19th August, (that´s 90 calendar days) but no! it actually matures on Thursday 21st August, why? Because to banks here, 90 days = 3 calendar months! So you effectively lose 2 days, which over 90 days is 2.22% less on the interest. Now you might argue that the amount here is negligible, but you aggregate this out over all the CDT clients, and it adds up to a nice little earner for the bank. The practice is the same for a 30 day CDT, so here’s a tip! Next Feb 1st 2009, open a “30 day� CDT with Banco de Credito, and on 1st March (28 days later!!) go and collect. Having said this however, with banks being founder members of the “heads we win, tails you lose� club, no doubt the bank will be aware of this discrepancy, and factor it into the rate you will be quoted!!!

Noelito

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