Real Estate (Buying/Renting) Websites?

cremaster says on Jan 9, 2005, 06:25:

Michael Have you serached PBH ???

Someone posted a bunch of links within the last month.

Hope it helps,
Patrick

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tzion says on Jan 9, 2005, 08:35:

I had, Patrick; but none of them had what I was looking for. :(

I've another question, regarding renting: I found some apartments for rent on a few websites and
the price quoted for eg. a spacious 100 sq m three bedroom flat in Medellín is less than US$ 300
(admittedly, I haven't a clue what kind of area of the city the apartment is in). Everything
seems to indicate that that is the MONTHLY price. Can that be?!? What other costs is one likely
to incur in addition to the rent, eg. electricity, water, internet, telephone...?

Thanks!

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Hunter says on Jan 9, 2005, 08:48:

tzion That would be the monthly rent.

Other bills, rubbish removal, thats about it.

Hunter

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ColombiaBoard says on Jan 9, 2005, 11:43:

Some suggestions Hello Michael

You seem to be surprised that they´d charge US$300 a month for a 100 sqm apartment, but that´s right, and I´m sure that apartment is located in El Poblado, the most expensive area in the city.
Now, pay attention, this is an important factor, in Colombia the neighborhoods are "rated" from 1 to 6, 1 being very very poor areas and 6 the best areas. The price you pay for the public utilities (water, gas, electricity, phone lines) are also "graded" according to the same numbers so you´ll be paying the highest rate in you choose to buy/rent in El Poblado or Envigado (not all of Envigado is expensive though).
El Poblado is nice but there are some other very good neighborhoods too, for example Laureles and Conquistadores, they´re classified as "5" so the rentals, public utilities and other costs are lower.
I suggest that you get a lawyer if you plan to buy.
If you plan to rent you´ll run into some trouble too, they´re very strict, almost paranoid about checking your paying capabilities, since you´re a foreigner and have no credit history you´ll have to prove that you can pay your monthly rent. I don´t know if you´ll be in Colombia working with some company or just want to move there and start a business. If the former is the case you won´t have many problems with the credit history because your employer can help you with the paperwork but if you´re moving to the country to start some business you´ll have problem with the credit history, this applies too to simple things like buying a cellphone.
My suggestion, start with opening a bank account.

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tzion says on Jan 9, 2005, 12:34:

Thanks everyone, esp. you, ColombiaBoard. Y'all are the best! :)

Any rough estimates about the amount I can expect to pay extra? I use air conditioning once every two hours for about 15 minutes. My computer is on most of the time. I make very few phone calls. I do tend to take long showers though. :D How much would you reckon that'd cost me? I know electricity is exorbitantly expensive in the Dominican Republic... - what about Colombia?

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Hunter says on Jan 9, 2005, 14:51:

air conditioning I don't think you will need that in Medellin, I have a fan that I use once and a while, I think 2 times in the last 10 months.

Depends on the Strata, I pay 60,000 pesos a month for gas, electric, water and rubbish removal in a Strata 3 area.

When I lived in a Strata 6 area, I payed about 150,000 pesos a month for the same.

Hunter

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tzion says on Jan 9, 2005, 17:54:

Wow...cheap as chips... - or is that "freedom fries"? :)))))))

I'm gonna love it in Colombia! :) Thanks, Hunter.

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kikiortiz11 says on Jan 10, 2005, 13:26:

backround tzion, If you dont mind I was just curious what makes you choose Colombia? I am colombian but I was raised in the United States. I am dying to go back but am afraid to move because mainly the employment rate in Colombia. If I were to move I would eventually open my own business there but dont know what kind:) yet. But I was just curious what are you planning on doing there and where are you from? If it is not to much of a problem to answer these it would be cool. Thanks.
Kiki Ortiz-Matallana

Kiki Ortiz-Matallana

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tzion says on Jan 10, 2005, 13:55:

Hola Kiki:

Well, do you want it good or do you want it short? ;-) I could write quite a bit about it.

Why Colombia? Well, firstly, why have I decided to quit Europe. Simply because Europe cannot
provide the kind of life I'm looking for. When I finished University (about a year ago)
I took a break after which I was supposed to embark on a glittering career in law. That would've
meant I'd have spent the next two, three decades working my ass off five or six days a week with
little time for anything else. I had never been happy with that kind of prospect but I then
spent some time in Spain where I absolutely adored it. True, I did buggerall all days long
except some part-time work but it showed me there was an alternative. The "west" is
all about money and Spain showed me there was an alternative. So I figured, after quite a bit of
deliberation: South America. Of course, I'm not leaving everything to start a life from nothing.
I have the safety net of rental income which I get from the few flats I own in Europe. Of
course, that money is next to nothing here but in a place like Colombia it goes a long way.

Why Colombia? I guess my college friends had planted this seed of curiosity in me which then
kept germinating. So when I had to make up my mind I did a lot of research and I found I liked
everything about Colombia: the location, climate, mentality, level of development, people's
priorities, etc.

What will I do? First of all, learn real good Spanish. Get married at some point, too. :)
Ideally, I'd like to do that vanilla stuff: teach English. Maybe teach computing, possibly even
give private lessons in computing. Something to do with international law...? I've a
couple of other ideas but I'll see there about the demand. I'm not anxious because, LIS, I have
that safety-net so I don't have to worry where my next paycheck is coming from and I've enough
talents and education to get some kind of employment.

Hope that answers your questions.

But please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further inquiries. ;) hehe just
kidding, my friend.

Michael

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spigrimace says on Jan 10, 2005, 15:22:

Apartments in Medellin How about the local newspaper's website:

http://www.elcolombiano.terra.com.co/portada.asp

click on classificados, propidad raiz, arrienda apartamentos.

I personally dont like Poblado for living but great to hang out. Mainly because I'm down to earth and that's the "5th Avenue" district. And I dont like hills, I prefer flat so I'll go to Parque Lleras on the weekends. Las Palmas and EL Tesoro are beautiful but far away and hilly. Try and get back home in the evening, what a pain.

I personally like Barrio Estadio a few blocks back of Obilisco (dont get to close to the stadium as the dirty futbol corwds do spill over to the neighborhood for 2 blocks or so to party b4 games). Its quiet and clean with lots of nice down to earth people, yet you can go to the stadium for a game or a jog and Exito Colombia and Carrefor (supermarkets) and Unicentro (mall) and Makro (Sams club, BJ's type of place) aren't far. There's a really nice hotel in the neighborhood, Estadio Real on calle 77C where you'd be proud to have guests stay at and its cheap. If you like gated community living, Vicuna in Belen is nice but its surroundings can get a bit rough around the edges. Laureles is nice but I keep hearing it's nice yet a lot of crime like muggings and car break-ins. If you are going to have a car, everything is relatively close. I commute 10 minutes by car to my business and everyone there thinks that's nuts. Less they know the 1 1/2 hours I used to commute from Long Island to Jersey City.

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