Property in Colombia

CatGirl says on Feb 17, 2008, 19:15:

...

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Frank Rizzo says on Feb 17, 2008, 19:54:

It's risky.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

miamimike says on Feb 17, 2008, 21:08:

It'll be years before( if ever) Colombia is a retirement mecca for ex-pat Americans as is Mexico or Costa Rica. Better to buy with "Adventure" in mind, but don't look for future buyers(as in couples) wanting a quiet retirement lifestyle,,,

"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.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Medellin Traveler says on Feb 17, 2008, 21:17:

What's wrong with investing with long term goals in mind?

That way, "years" from now, you can say, thank gawd I bought back in 2008.

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Frank Rizzo says on Feb 17, 2008, 21:30:

Miami and MT you're both right. Mike is right in that moving property to other north americans will be slow if ever. Now...I agree with MT in the fact that my "long term goals" are not to ever sell or liquidate, but to live in Colombia when (IF) i can ever retire.

High end property will always move, regardless of economy. In the states or in colombia there is a level of wealth if you cater to it that you can always sell homes into.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tomtom33 says on Feb 18, 2008, 03:42:

I think it is risky. Had I not chosen to live here, I wouldn't have one peso invested in Colombia.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Waterdawg says on Feb 18, 2008, 05:58:

Am I the only one who thinks the market here is over heated ??? For starters the construction sucks and cost per mt2 is way up there now .. When I have time I walk around some of the new ( and there is a bunch ) of new construction in North Bogota ; Looks like the same oh , same oh to me ..

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Piapo says on Feb 18, 2008, 06:16:

Do you think buying and renting to a estrato 3 family would be a good investment? I read an article about property. Riches do have money to buy so they don't want to rent anything; and the prices in Chapinero/Rosales (with the possibility with renting to foreign) are to high for my budget. What do you think?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Medellin Traveler says on Feb 18, 2008, 06:29:

There's always a gringo happy to pay gringo prices to rent an apartment as long as it's up to gringo standards.

I guess it all depends on what your are looking for.

Me, I would buy a nice 3/4 bedroom condo, decorated and furnish it to norte-americanos standards and rent it out as single rooms, or the whole apartment as one.

If you've seen some of the prices on rental property market at gringos, you'd not only be surprised by the rental rates, but surpised that there are gringos willing to pay.

But, it's really not that surprising really, gringos have cash and love to spend it.

I say, a long investment makes sense. There are agencies who will manage your condo for you as well.

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mike19 says on Feb 18, 2008, 07:21:

How much would a condo cost in Medellin ? What are the average going prices?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

azunoman says on Feb 18, 2008, 07:50:

We plan on buying our residence in the Medellin area and then maybe a place in Manta area. Americans that don't have an ocean view, want ocean views, so those cities on the ocean will of course the most most popular.

Remember, there is a USAFB just north of Manta. Uh, you can get an 1800 sqft apt on the ocean for 80k....If the country falls apart, the marines can drive right up on the the beach..etc etc..plus it just bloody cheap, for now. We thing then Ecuador is the place to invest in rental/resale.

My best advice on picking a S. American spot has to do with global warming and my belief that it isn't going to get really ugly and not 100 or more years from now, but very soon, so we are eliminating those cites whose main water supply are glaciers (quito,cusco). They are already melting folks!

What we found is that in most of S. America..the same property across the street could be selling (not sold) for three times the amount of property across the street. Why? There ain't not listing service and no way to track the sale hence no parables for a given area. One either pays gringo prices or goes native and pays local prices.

Ready, Fire, Aim

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Waterdawg says on Feb 18, 2008, 07:57:

Manta wow, that is a city that would not appear on my radar: base or not .. How about Puerto Lopez ?
I do like the coast of Ecuador in spots..

0 funny, 0 helpful.

azunoman says on Feb 18, 2008, 08:52:

Correa is cozy with Chavez. That in itself to me is not a bad thing, S. America has been ripped off by The Man long enough. Kick the fxxkers out and nationalize your resources, it's about bloody time. We only looked at moving to Ecuador while the kids till home, soon as last left, it was right back to Colombia baby!....Ecuador....well...I have a feeling that I will be overwhelmed with national pride of my adoptive country, I might not really care to much about Ecuador.

It's a testament to the giving culture in S. America that gringo's are even allowed there given how badly our government and companies have acted historically, and given a chance will continue to do so. But I suppose being colonized by the Spanish makes them think we are pretty good folks in comparison.

Ready, Fire, Aim

0 funny, 0 helpful.

LDW says on Feb 18, 2008, 09:04:

A repeat of what I posted in another thread on a topic related to this:

When we think about property in Colombia, or anywhere else outside our home country, a person's age should be a basic consideration as to whether one buys it or not. My Colombian wife and I are in our 60's (so I am guessing that we are older than most participants in this blog). So my thought process on this whole issue has evolved differently.

My wife has been in Canada for more than half her life. Our kids are to this country born, and feel no real solid ties to Colombia other than the occasional visit.

We plan to spend the winters in Armenia and Valle del Cauca. Should we buy? I think not. Consider the following:

(1) We are not going to live forever.
(2) We already know people who have built swanky retirement places in North America whose places are sitting empty because their elderly owners are either dead or in nursing homes.
(3) In many cases those swanky retirement places have little or no daily use from their kids because too often they are too far away to make regular use of them.

So I ask myself:

(1) Why the bloody hell should I buy anything outside my country?
(2) What will be the succession (inheritance) issues for our kids when we are gone?
(3) If they do inherit something from us that is located in Colombia, what use would it be to them? How secure would it be if they don't live there?

We will be spending winters in Armenia and Valle del Cauca starting in November 2009. We have relatives with large homes. We are just going to give them a few hundred bucks each month to stay there, and then come back to Canada each April. I will be playing my golf, eating my fresh pineapple, and enjoying life. We don't have to buy any property. We don't have to furnish anything we rent. We don't have to worry about it when we are gone.

We will just keep it simple.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Frank Rizzo says on Feb 18, 2008, 09:16:

Good plan LDW....i'm 37 so i'm wanting to have something longer term.... I'd not buy in your situation either...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

arthur brode says on Feb 18, 2008, 10:06:

Frank retire?lol
Bra,your are a workaholic

http://www.calirentals.net/

0 funny, 0 helpful.

azunoman says on Feb 18, 2008, 10:11:

LDW- Yea..you certainly would be a realtors nightmare trying to sell ya..jajajaja

PBH really have helped us focus on our real reasons for moving.

For us, buying a home makes sense. Colombia will be our next home. I think we get confused of why we chose it in the first place, the people are amongst the happiest in the world. I can attest to that as I am married to one, and married into a large extended family that I love.

The US has cultivated our citizens to take on long term mortgages by subsidizing the banking industry by making interest tax deductable. So if ones house does not go up in price, owning doesn't make sense.

We plan on buying outright, doesn't have to be new, doesn't have to be the best....we are buying into Colombia, hopefully I won't have to move all this stuff ever again. :)

Ready, Fire, Aim

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Frank Rizzo says on Feb 18, 2008, 10:20:

Not too many people in Colombia buy with a mortgage. If they do, they usually don't end up with the house...something happens and it goes to the bank.....

Outright is the only way to ensure any future in Colombia. Good move Azunoman...

0 funny, 0 helpful.

LDW says on Feb 18, 2008, 10:37:

Well...azunoman.....your plan makes sense:

(1) if you plan to stay in Colombia for the long term. My experience is that many Colombians with the means want to get the hell out. Some in our family have come to Canada (and some have run away after finding out what a real winter is like). Other have gone to Spain and stayed. What will your kids want to do? You probably don't know that yet.

(2) if your extended family is at least middle class or moderately well off, because they otherwise could end up looking at you as a walking ATM machine. I am not trying to be funny. I know some people to whom exactly such a thing has happened.

(3) if you will have some means of supporting yourself while you are in Colombia or if you are independently well off from sources outside Colombia. People there work for a pittance and dream of income in dollars or Euros.

When your kids are grown, your wife will probably want to be wherever they are. Colombian mothers are like that. If your grown kids move back to the US, your wife will most likely want to follow them. Having grown kids in Canada is the reason my wife will not move to Colombia full time, and is a central reason why my thought process has evolved to what I have described above in this thread.

azunoman.............all I am saying is that you need to have a plan B.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

azunoman says on Feb 18, 2008, 11:14:

LDW

1.My kids are in out of state colleges...one is married to a Marine in Yuma Arizona. If they move back with me..then there is something wrong with their environment, hence the need for a compound.

2. The can look at me as a walking ATM, as long as the are respectful....jajajajaja...Most of my extended family, other than my mother in law who lives in Cali, are all hard working in Boston. They just wish their kids were all grown up, so they could join us. The for the most part all own property in Colombia, one right there in Laurels.

3. still, one of the happiest people in the world...and really don't think of another culture always as those that want what I got....I am not saying you do, but it's to easy to think everyone wants to be us...

As for my wife and kids....uh....don't tell anyone...but I am a trophy husband...we want to be together, oh, the kids slid down the totem pole after the arrival of the first grand child.

Plan A is happiness...we have no plan B....jajajaaja....

PBH is off the hook, I love it, and the people here are fantastic...keep an eye out for my "free drinks in Medellin post"....it will be first part of next week. wooo hoooo...my chica is coming home!

Ready, Fire, Aim

0 funny, 0 helpful.