For Rent: Unfurn studio apt in Cali

Greg444 says on Feb 26, 2006, 18:10:

Arthur, Nice to see reasonable prices on rental.

Most Colombians pay 700,000-1,500,000
highest best place 1,500,000 / 30 days = 50,000 a day 21US a day

I am tired of seeing people trying to rip off gringos and foreigners,
like these jackss that try to rent their Cali "penthouses" for 50- 75 USD a night to gullible gringos. That charging 115,000 - 175,000 pesos a freaking night. NO COLOMBIAN I know, would even think of paying that much a night, for a freaking room in an apt.

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Pete E says on Feb 27, 2006, 09:06:

Rent in the local long term market vs tourists If you are looking for a place to stay in Cali the first question is how long will you be here?
Art got an excellent deal in an apartment rental.He speaks excellent spanish and intends to live here indefinetly,at least a year.Given that he can try and rent in the market colombians rent in.After gaining the landlords confidence,no easy deal the guy initially did not want to rent to him on any terms,he was able to tie down an excellent deal by paying 6 months rent up front on an unfurnished apartment.
DO NOT confuse that with what you will be able to do if you are only going to be here for a few days or weeks.You will NOT be renting in the Colombian long term market.Your basic option is hotels and anything under about $25 a night is probably not only pretty basic but very likely in an area of town that is dangerous,especially for gringos.And when you throw in room tax,phone service and laundry you will probably be paying more like $40 a night and most likely have no internet access or reasonable cost long distance phone service.
SO,if you will be here awhile you can TRY to find the type of deal Art found.If your stay is short term you can forget it.You will be dealing with hotels or people who rent apartments short term and the cost will not be REMOTELY CLOSE to what ART is paying.And don't forget it is unfurnished,he had to buy furniture.
Colombians do pay 115,000 to 175,000 pesos a night for a room,if they are also short term visitors.No resident would do that unless he was wealthy and getting alot for it.
So when someone rents a PENTHOUSE for effectively less than the total cost including all services of a room at an upscale hotel,he IS NOT competing with local residents.The landlord is NOT seeking very cheap visitors,but offering an upscale place worth much more than a single room at a upscale hotel for less cost.
Basically a visitor needs to consider his options depending on how long he will stay here and lots of other factors.Is he REALLY in a position to break in to the long term rental market residents use?And even if he can afford a very upscale apartment it can be difficult to get a local landlord to rent to him.Basically when the rent gets up over a million pesos a month they want 2 Colombian co signers with property.I was turned down on a place I offered to pay a years rent up front on because I had only one Colombian co signor with property.Colombians tend to have very rigid
business practices because their basic philosophy is do not trust.
I just got turned down on a house rental that was 2 million pesos a month.I had the 2 colopmbian co signors with property and plenty of income to pay the rent.The problem they came up with was my income is a pension from the US.Why should they care?The excuse was they could not attach my pension if I did not pay the rent.If I had a job in Colombia they could.
IT IS best to deal directly with the landlord as ART did,finaly wining his confidence and making him an accepatable deal.If you are dealing with an intermediary they often just don't care if they rent they place enough to even consider breaking the standard rules.
Basically mixing the cost of long term rentals and short term furnished places is like mixing apples and oranges.They are 2 entirely different things.
If you trully qualify for the long term rental market,there are some deals to be found with lots of effort and luck.And you will probably have to buy furniture you will probably sell at a big loss when you leave.But if you keep it VERY simple its not that costly.

Pete

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Greg444 says on Feb 27, 2006, 16:56:

http://www.habitacali.com/ingles/homeeng.html

This place shown above is a great deal in Cali.

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Greg444 says on Feb 27, 2006, 17:03:

The main reason gringos get ripped off ,according to PeteE, is not being good friends with a Colombian.

I say its more about being informed of what is really availble in Cali, and knowing what local Colombians really pay, instead of listening to Colombian gringos hucking their places for rent, or using international hotel chains.

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Pete E says on Feb 27, 2006, 17:40:

Cali rents The main reason gringos do not get anything like the rental rates Colombians pay is most of them will not be here long enough to break in to the local rent market for residents.
But even for short term rentals you can beat hotel rates if you do your homework.

Pete

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flyamerican says on Feb 27, 2006, 17:50:

ripped off gringo? I don't feel ripped off, I don't stay in Cali, but I rent an apartment in Bogota several times a year for $50 a night. Much cheaper than a good hotel and other apartments I've rented in Botoga in the past.

It's kind of like PeteE says, I arrive, I pay, the apartment is set up with everything I need, (even a maid), and I leave happy, and I've seen many others leave pleased.

I travel a lot, I'd like to get as good of service and apartments in other countries I travel, including the good ole' USA.

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Pete E says on Feb 28, 2006, 10:31:

Aristi Hotel If you stay at the Aristi don't leave on foot,especially at night.Leave and arrive by taxi right to the front door.
I don't know the hotel,but the wife of a friend stayed at a cheap Cali Hotel.Someone just walked in in the middle of the night,apparently they had a key.I guess people sneaking in and stealing your stuff while you sleep happens.
If you want to go cheap,do it in a less risky place than Cali.

Pete

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adela says on Mar 7, 2006, 10:20:

Pete
Fortunately you are writting this note about how are rentals in Cali: sponsors to support the doubt doesnt matter if you wish to pay in advance the whole year. For that reason is important to have patiente.


It is importante to remarke here that rentals for tourist in Cali are harder to find than other main cities of Colombia. Why? don't know the reason. Cali is staying behind of different markets. I linked a PBH member to a guy in Medellin for a rental: he found 6-10 options of rentals in the very same day with different options.

Màs fe, màs abrazos, màs besos, màs disculpas, màs visitas a nuestros amigos antiguos nos haràn màs plenos cada vez.

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