Hunter has left 969 comments

Hunter comments on hunter...you out there?

dwmte7 Just sent you a e-mail.

I did post in the 'casa de los cinco puertos' thread before, but I didn't know where it was and you told me, another poster said it was closed, R... I think.

Hunter comments on Opening a Bank Account

tomtom33 BanColombia can open an account for a foreigner who has a cedula, I opened a business bank account with them a couple of months ago.

Initially the girl I dealt with said that I couldn't open an account here, I asked her to check with the manager, who I know, she checked with her and the manager said:

Its up to the individual branch wether they will allow you to open an account or not, she OKed the account opening for me.

Hunter comments on Opening a Bank Account

miamimike My friend opened a savings account without a cedula, BUT on his next trip to Colombia he found they had closed it.

The bank told him that the person shouldn't have opened the account for him, I presume this was because he didn't have a cedula.

Hunter comments on Looking for Hunter in Sabaneta

Bucket_Jack Somebody has to teach you gringos the Queens English.

I thought I would see you at the gym today, but I suppose you are still recovering from your fall.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Gringo Pimps in Medellin

Wastelandlive I really get involved in discussions about relationships, sex, drugs prostition, to many people have to strong a views and it just causes endless bickering, but sometimes I don't think before posting.

Hunter comments on Gringo Pimps in Medellin

The Big A Its an addiction that they opted for, they made the choice to take the crack or whatever, don't expect any simpathy from me for addicts, they chose their way of life. They also opted to have kids, again a choice.

BUT what has this to do with it being legal, as I say if you legalise things prostition, drugs, alchol, many but not all the problems disappear.

Hunter comments on Gringo Pimps in Medellin

The Big A Its here choice to be a crack whore and how to support her kids, so it is 100% acceptable.

Hunter comments on Gringo Pimps in Medellin

The Big A Depends which do you mean, prostituion is 100% acceptable to me and should be completly legal, it would remove many problems associated with it.

Child prostituion should not be legal, if they really are children.

Hunter comments on Gringo Pimps in Medellin

The Mansion is not a whore house, certainly working girls go there, but that is the same as any hotel etc, they don't work at the mansion, all the mansion provides is a play to stay and tells them where the working girls are to be found.

MedellinJack, prostition in Colombian and the rest of the world is big business, you say poor girls, but they are getting paid for what they do, over paid if gringos are involved compared with what they get off the local guys, in Medellin it is a VERY large businees, open your eyes next time you are there, I know both guys and they are registered for tax etc at DIAN.

Morphus, I remember the person complaning, it was a bit of a joke really, in fact I think he did it on purpose, because guess what he changed his handle and opened up another mansion in competion.

Rubiazo, I doubt that the mansion checks the girls, because they don't provide any as such.

The Big A, child prostition is in all cities, in fact you tend to find more child prostition away from tourist cities, because they don't want to get a bad name, AussieGreg is not married in Colombia at least.

Hunter comments on New Telecom Broadband Service

Telecom Broadband Website http://www.telecom.com.co/portal/dt?action=content&provider=JSPInicioMasivo

People interested need to select the speed required and then click on "soluciones Internet"

Hunter comments on New Telecom Broadband Service

Wastelandlive Its a ADSL connection.

If you purchase the broadband through a company, about a month due to the extra paperwork involved.

If you do it as a individual few days to week.

If the infastructure is not in place, Telecom put it in.

I will ask a friend to send me a new link.

Hunter comments on For Rent: Cartagena apartments

pastygringo All apts have aircondition, they generally have one or more fans as well, not all people like to use aircon, I for one don't, I generally only put it on for about 30 mins before I go to bed, to cool the room, then just use a fan. http://www.colombiarental.net/ "So the fans are there for those people, or for the balconys."

Hunter comments on For Rent: Cartagena apartments

GringoD All options are available, one day plus, sometimes people rent them for a few months.

The longer they rent for the cheaper it gets, I don't get involved in the prices, so don't go asking me, but depending on the apt it is US$50 plus per day.

Hunter comments on

From the FT again.... Uncle Sam’s bonanza might not be all that it seems
By Martin Feldstein
Published: January 9 2006 20:54 | Last updated: January 9 2006 20:54

Amajor reason for the dollar’s current overvaluation is the widespread misunderstanding of the nature of capital flows to the US. The business press and many financial analysts provide the reassuring message that the flow of capital to the US substantially exceeds the amount needed to finance the US current account deficit, and that that inflow is coming primarily from private investors who are attracted by the strength of the American economy.

This optimistic analysis of the capital inflow is wrong. It results from a misinterpretation of the data provided by the US Treasury in the press release for its monthly Treasury International Capital report. It is easy to see why analysts reach this wrong conclusion. Recent TIC press releases stated that the capital inflow was $278bn (€230bn) in the third quarter of last year, or $82bn more than the current account deficit for that quarter. The Treasury also reported that $257bn of this capital inflow came from private buyers.

In reality, there is no excess capital inflow and private investors are almost certainly not the primary source of the funds coming to the US. The figures in the TIC press release, while technically correct, are misleading for two reasons. First, the TIC release refers only to transactions in long-term securities, that is to equities and long-term bonds. It excludes bank deposits and bank lending, and flows of foreign direct investment into the US and by American investors to the rest of the world.

A comprehensive measure of the capital inflow and outflow would show that the total net inflow is almost exactly equal to the amount needed to finance the current account deficit. Whenever the net long-term capital inflows exceed that deficit, the difference is offset by a net outflow of short-term funds and direct investment.

If the total net inflow were larger than the current account deficit, the US would be accumulating large reserves of foreign exchange. In fact, reserves are virtually unchanged from year to year and are actually lower than they were two years ago. So it is wrong to conclude that the net capital flow to the US substantially exceeds the current account deficit. More generally, the TIC data should not be used to assess how easy it is for the US to finance its current account deficit.

A second source of confusion in the TIC report is an easily misunderstood classification of whether the funds coming to the US are from governments or private sources. The TIC measure of inflows from “private� sources overstates the actual private investment because it does not distinguish between a purchase by a private buyer for its own account and a purchase executed by a private institution on behalf of a foreign government. For example, if the Chinese government purchases US bonds through JPMorgan or another private bank, these funds will be recorded in the TIC data as a private purchase. Similarly, purchases of dollar assets by governments of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or their investment authorities that are done through British banks would look like private purchases with a British origin.

My own belief, based on widespread conversations with officials and with private bankers, is that the inflow of capital that now finances the US current account deficit is coming primarily, perhaps overwhelmingly, from governments and from institutions acting on behalf of those governments.

The nature of the current capital inflow is very different from the experience as recently as five years ago. In 2000 and before, the current account deficit was financed by a net inflow of equity funds. Some of this took the form of foreign direct investment while the rest was portfolio investment. The fact that the net inflow was equity implies that it was private foreign investors who were shifting funds to the US. Now there is very little equity flow to the US (only $37bn of equity securities in the third quarter of 2005) and the corresponding equity outflow ($32bn in the third quarter) has often been as large or larger than the inflow. The very large current account deficits are now being financed by bonds and shorter term fixed-income funds.

Some of this has recently come from Opec governments and other oil producers that are temporarily placing revenue in dollar bonds and bank deposits until they can spend those funds on investment or consumption. Much of the inflow in recent years has come from Asian governments that wanted to accumulate foreign ex-change to eliminate the risk of speculative attacks of the sort that hurt those countries in the late 1990s. A large amount is coming from China and other Asian governments to stop a falling dollar reducing their net exports. If they decide to buy fewer dollar bonds, the US current account deficit could not continue to be financed at current exchange rates and interest rates.

The US current account deficit increased from $668bn in 2004 to an annual rate of $790bn in the first three quarters of last year and is widely predicted to move much higher in 2006. This unprecedented level is equal to 6.4 per cent of US gross domestic product. Experts estimate that the real trade-weighted value of the dollar must fall by at least 30 per cent just to shrink the trade deficit to a more sustainable level of 3 per cent of GDP. Much larger dollar declines are also possible. In the mid-1980s, current account deficits of less than 4 per cent of GDP triggered a 40 per cent fall in the real trade-weighted value of the dollar.

The current small interest rate differences in favour of US bonds are not nearly enough to compensate investors for the fall in the dollar that is likely over the next few years. Investments in 10-year government bonds receive only about 1 percentage point more on dollar bonds than euro bonds and about 3 percentage points more on dollar bonds than on yen bonds. The dollar must fall faster than these small interest differentials in order to prevent the current account deficit from increasing more rapidly than GDP. This means that investors in dollar bonds will eventually have lower cumulative returns, potentially very much lower returns, than investors in the bonds of other currencies.

At some point, that will trigger a shift away from the dollar. Private investors and the governments that are concerned about the total return on their portfolios will inevitably shift at some time from dollars to euros or yen to take advantage of the predicted rise in the value of those currencies and to avoid the loss of value of their dollar bonds. That that has not happened already reflects investors’ belief that it is still possible to benefit from the interest differentials before the dollar depreciates. That sanguine belief may, however, reflect a serious misunderstanding of the magnitude and nature of the capital flow to the US.

Hunter comments on

ws244 Regarding China, I think that the US would suffer far more than China, by putting up more trade barriers etc. China would increase more of its goods/production through other Countries, as it presently does to avoid the trade barriers, if the US started acting against those Countries as well, they are just going to piss off a lot of Countries, increase their inflation at home and the pissed off Countries are less likely to need dollars to cover their exports, also potentially selling more of their present dollar holdings, the list goes on.

As to buying property in Colombia, many people two years ago said that the property market in Colombia was over valued, prices have moved up a little since then in peso term, but quite a lot in dollar terms, because of the weakening dollar/appreciating peso. I can't see there being a property crash for a while, prices may well not go up a lot, but I expect large scale weakness in the dollar.

Basically its your money, the choice is yours, but I would prefer to be in Colombian property than Miami present over heated market. Although 3-4 years ago would have been a better option to buy in Colombia than now.

Stockmarkets (most markets) are not a zero sum game, so somebody doesn't have to lose for somebody else to win.

Hunter comments on

Interesting article on China and US and US dollar, its subscription so here is the article from the FT:

Questions grow over China’s forex strategy
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai and Andrew Balls in Washington
Published: January 6 2006 19:13 | Last updated: January 6 2006 19:13

China’s foreign exchange regulator raised more questions than it answered with a statement on Thursday evening about a possible change in its strategy for managing the country’s burgeoning foreign currency reserves.

Buried in an announcement about the agency’s objectives for 2006, the State Administration for Foreign Exchange (Safe) said it wanted to “optimise the currency and asset structure� of the country’s foreign exchange reserves and to “actively boost investment returns�.

Although the statement contained no concrete information, it set off alarm bells for some economists, given China’s prominent role in the market for US government securities. The spectre of Asia’s central banks deciding to diversify away from their dollar holdings has long threatened a sharp drop in the value of the US currency.

Stephen Green, economist at Standard Chartered in Shanghai, estimates that China is responsible for about 15 per cent of foreign purchases of dollar assets. As a result, comments about a shift in investment strategy were likely to put further downward pressure on the US currency, he said.

However, there is still considerable uncertainly about both the nature of China’s plans for its $800bn (€660bn, £456bn) of reserves and the potential impact of any shift in strategy on global financial markets. Economists estimate that as much as 75 per cent of China’s reserves are held in dollar assets.

With China soon set to surpass Japan as the largest holder of dollar reserves, that may increase political sensitivities in Washington about Beijing’s currency intervention and the size of the US trade deficit with China.

China broke its currency peg to the dollar last July and moved to a link to a basket of currencies. A shift in its reserve accumulation policy away from US assets might be part of a policy to allow the renminbi to rise gradually against the dollar.

But market reaction yesterday to the announcement was limited. China-watchers pointed out that the statement on Thursday evening did not come out of the blue, but followed comments by government officials and academics questioning the wisdom of China’s reserves management strategy.

Last month Yu Yongding, a prominent academic who sits on the central bank’s monetary policy committee, warned that China’s reserves could be seriously eroded if the US dollar weakened further, a comment interpreted in some circles as a warning against excessive investment in dollar assets. However, Thursday’s statement did break new ground: it was a public statement by Safe, rather than comments by individuals.

Gene Frieda, head of emerging markets strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland, said he did not expect the dollar to be significantly affected. “China is important to the US bond market, but if there is any move to diversify, it will be at the margins,� he said.

It is likely any new strategy would only involve the investment of new reserves – which are accumulating at a rate of $15bn a month – rather than sales of existing assets.

An effort by the Chinese government to higher returns on the country’s reserves would not necessarily lead China to diversify from US assets. Purchasing US corporate bonds would be one way to increase the yield. CNOOC’s ill-fated bid for Unocal, the US oil company last year, which was dropped in the face of US political opposition, suggests it is unlikely that China will seek more investments in US energy companies.

Foreign investors have continued to be willing to finance the US current account deficit at very low interest rates in spite of the foreign exchange losses they suffered during the dollar’s decline from 2002-04. This has made it easy for the US to finance its current account deficit, which has risen above 6 per cent of gross domestic product and requires the US to import more than $2bn of capital from abroad every day.

But it would not need China to start dumping dollar assets for there to be pressure on the dollar. If China became less willing to continue adding to its holdings of US Treasuries, that itself could put downward pressure on the dollar and upward pressure on US interest rates – particularly if it encouraged other countries to follow suit.

Oil-exporting countries have become increasingly important sources of foreign capital, owing to the high oil price, becoming as important as developing Asian countries in financing the US deficit.

Encouragingly, for dollar bulls, the US Treasury’s data also suggest foreign direct investment started to rise last year and a pick-up in private portfolio flows to the US meant it relied less on purchases of Treasury bonds by foreign central banks.

But the size of the US current account deficit, the prospect that the end of the Federal Reserve’s campaign of interest rate increases is in sight, and the possibility of a slowdown in the US economy may lead to renewed pressure on the dollar, some economists forecast.

In such an event, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have warned that developing countries face potentially large losses on their holdings of dollar reserves. Diversification makes sense for individual countries, including China, but may cause trouble if a number of countries try to do it at once.

Hunter comments on

platano India is not building adequate infastructure amongst many other things, so until it gets a grip of things there, I do not see it being a major player.

I agree with Wastelandlive, China expansion will slow down greatly, it will probably be the largest economy by GDP in the world, but its people average wages will not catch up with the advanced Countries. The history of other fast developing Countries over the last half of the 20th Century prooves that.

Tinto, I didn't realise you were a table tennis player.

Hunter comments on

ws244 But the general topic of the thread is what people think will happen regarding the peso and the dollar for this year, hence why I only mentioned one year.

All currencies go up and down against different currencies regularly at the same time, so I would agree that the peso will sooner or later devalue against other currencies.

Colombia devaluing their currency won't help the manufacturing sector a lot, it hasn't in the past and it won't in the future, although everybody keeps talking about the peso appreciation, 4 years ago, it was a lot stronger than it presently is now, the peso depreciated by 40% or so against most major currencies to the low point about 2 years ago, that didn't increase the amount of manufacturing goods in the first two years of the deprecation. Also if you go further back you will see far greater deprecation, none of it helping the manufacturing secor greatly.

Generally in all Countries the wingers come out, in this that manufactures, but they kept quite in the first two years, but that is normal.

One think I left out above, I believe that Colombia will be a very large commodity exporter in the future, which will under pin their currency to some degree.

I think the US is very important to the World economy that is the main reason why I brought up potential problems in the US, it can have a lot of very rich people, but it hasn't stopped it having problems in the past and it won't in the future.

China will be forced to appreciate their currency, if not by pressure from other Countries, because the affect it will have on distorting their economy at home.

Hunter comments on

Peso I am with UC 2,000 pesos to 2,200 pesos end of year.

I can't see any slow down in commodities or a lowering of the commodity prices, a slow down of expat money is possible, but if there is a slowdown it will because there is problms in the US. So the dollar will probably be depreciating against most curriencies, same if there is any real possibility of a commodity slowdown.

As to textiles and China, Chinas currency will appreciate quite a lot of the coming years, at the moment they are doing it at a measured pace, but they have been very busy over the last couple of years putting in place the structure to allow for their currency to be more free floating. I certainly believe there will be some textile job losses and other manufacturing losses in Colombia, but I don't think it will be as bad as people predict, just look at 2005, they said that there would be huge Colombian textile job losses, there hasn't.

Obviously Uribe could take a bullet, which would weaken the peso as GIB says.

Hunter comments on Monthly internet costs?

GringoDel My office in Ctg is connected to Telecom, we use the 640Kb, which works fine most of the time, I don't download much, but Caribenet use the majoirity of the ofice and they are always downloading a lot, the service started in 34 cities in August, initially Barranquilla and Medellin were not included, maybe they are now.

The following link has the list of the 34 cities:

http://internet.telecom.com.co/banda-ancha/cobertura.php

The prices of the different conections are as follows:

128Kb
$ 65,000 mes $75,400 IVA included.

256Kb
$ 75,000 mes $87,000 IVA included.

448Kb
$ 115,000 mes $133,400 IVA included.

640Kb
$ 190,000 mes $220,400 IVA included.

832Kb
$ 240,000 mes $278,400 IVA included.

1024Kb
$ 350,000 mes $406,000 IVA included.

To order the service the you need to call the following 24 hours free number: 0 1 8000 930930

Hunter comments on Getting married in Medellin

UC Treshark is a old dog, he is worse than most Colombians.

Hunter comments on Getting married in Medellin

treeshark 2 Sad news mate, sad news.

Hunter comments on Getting married in Medellin

treeshark2 I just hope this isn't the treeshark I know????????

Hunter comments on Smart to buy apt or house in Col?

Wastelandlive Colombia doesn't have a very large mortgage market (mortgages interest rates are way to expensive), so even if the economic indicator existed there, I wouldn't use it.

I wouldn't say that I don't like Economists theory on rental income vs. property value, it certainly is a indicator but to I feel that my main indicator is stronger, I only use this indicator for markets with a large mortgage market and financial information that is recorded and can be relied on to be accurate.

Where to find it, I have never seen a single place, I just see the figures and graphs as you from financial media sources like the Economist, FT, etc. Although I said I disagreed with some of the first Economist article, I have always liked their magazine.

I don't disagree that there are bubbles in some real estate markets, I just disagree that there is a worldwide real state bubble.

If you find some decent information on Colombia, post away, I for one will be interested, I am sure others would be as well, I have never seen Tinto post much on the subject, he sees a lot of useful information on Colombia, maybe he has some historical data links.

Hunter comments on Smart to buy apt or house in Col?

Wastelandlive & gringoinbogota I wouldn't actually say property is my bag, I have a view on it that’s all, but views are like ass....., everybody has one.

I realise that some markets have gone up, but that is pretty normal, house prices tend to grow as quick as wage inflation or slightly better, but the economist is taking its calculations from 1997, I know that several of those Countries on the list had a property bubble burst in the late 80s and early 90s, the property in those Countries didn't recover and start heading up again for about 5-7 years depending on the Countries, so the writer/s are taking the lowest point that they can do get the highest increase in growth for their table. There are quite a few developed Countries missing of the list, even if you look at the real estate growth in a number of the Countries on the list it is not that great when taken from the low point of the last down turn, certainly not bubble like numbers. Although some certainly are.

There are many ratios that economists like to use, one of them being the one quoted in the economist, the only real ratio that I follow in developed markets (still keeping an eye on the others) where there are a lot of properties bought via mortgages is the percentage of the pay that is needed to service the mortgage, this being the only true indicator that I can see historically that follows the ups and downs of the real estate market.

As the article states the lowering of interest rates lead to a boom in many Countries, this was predicted by several people back in the early 90s, Roger Bootle for one, they also said that they expected a one off real estate adjustment in developed markets because of the low inflation scenario and therefore lower rates, as with any adjustments in any type of market they tend to overshoot.

One point to note (this article was written in June), they also said that UK house prices have stalled and are going down, in fact house prices in the UK have started going up again.

"The first is that, contrary to conventional wisdom, it does not require a trigger, such as a big rise in interest...British home prices started to fall in the summer of 2004 after the Bank of England raised rates by a modest one and a quarter percentage points."

I disagree with the above, there is nearly always a trigger to create a house price drop, for example the UK raised interest rates above by just over 30%, so the article there is very misleading, this had the effect in a short while of stalling the housing market there, but they didn't raise them enough to cause a crash, prices stopped rising, they have since started lowering rates again, so house prices have started to inch up.

I can find many other things I disagree with in the article, but honestly I am bored of writing about this, so will call it a day, maybe later, the part below I wrote first, also I have to go and sort a minor business problem out, so will be off line for a day or two.

Onto the US currency.

But although there are housing bubble and real estate increases in a number of developed Countries they do not also have the problems that I posted in the above post regarding the US.

If/when a problem occurs in the US, some to a lot of the liquid assets will be switched into other Countries, the Asian banks will try and stop their currency appreciating against the dollar, where other free or freer floating currencies will not or to a lot lesser degree, so the other major like the Swiss, Pound, Euro will go up by default.

Thanks for the link by the way.

GIB

I don’t discount growth of the US economy, but that is all you have to rely on to, it isn’t a lot.

The EU hardly fall apart if interest rates rise, just wishful US thinking, and that is coming from a Euro sceptic like me, we are talking about currencies not who’s economy is better than the next Country, three years ago the Euro was approx 0.85 to the dollar, it is now around 1.2, I haven’t seen the Euro economy over those three year performing better than the US, so the currency markets and most other markets do not just take into consideration who’s economy is performing better.

Hunter comments on Smart to buy apt or house in Col?

gringoinbogota & Wastelandlive gringoinbogota

I don't really care what one bank says, because you can easily find another saying the opposite. The UK going into recession, thats a joke, I don't know where you are getting that information from, I don't see that in any present or forward looking indicators, the GDP growth has slowed down slightly in the UK due to the interest rate rises previously, but will pick up again soon, in fact already is. Europe as a whole is plodding along as you say.

The problem is that is the ONLY real thing the USA has going for it currency wise is its growth, there isn't anythiny else, their interest rates have nearly peaked, while Japan and Europe (and others) are expected to raise theirs, markets are forward looking so this will start to feed into the market soon, the current account defict and federal defict is still increasing, the fedearl deficit can be adjusted easier, but how are they going to stop the trade deficit from growing?

Any slight selling on the US bond markets, could cause a rout at any time, seeing as a large part of the US bonds is owned by foreigners (this being the postion that many developing Countries like Colombia are advised against), which will have large implications to the US currency and the housing market and therefore the US growth, seeing as a lot of it is paid for via the increase in US house prices.

Several things have kept the dollar higher this year, private buying of US liquid assets, a lot via Middle East petro dollars, also the the Homeland Investment Act, a year-long tax break, which runs out soon.

There will be crunch time soon, when exactly, I have no idea, but I have US$500 in a paypal account, no more, I wouldn't dream of keeping any other assets in US dollars, there are plenty of ways of spreading your assets around to reduce any single currency risk.

Wastelandlive

It is not true to say that there is a worldwide bubble in real estate, there are certainly several developed Countries that are in a bubble, but the majority are not, there are certainly some developing Countries that are in a bubble, but the vast majority are not.

Hunter comments on Smart to buy apt or house in Col?

gringoinbogota The dollar may have increased last year against the yen, Euro and Pound, but that doesn't mean it will in the coming years.

There is only one way for the dollar against other major curriencies and that is South, the markets can buck the fundamentals for a while, but they won't for ever.

Also why do you insist on comparing the Colombian pesos to MAJOR curriencies, as I have pointed out many times, the Colombian pesos should be compared with other commodity exporting Countries.

Actual numbers as of the 28th of December with a few trading days to the end of the year:

The dollar has gained 12.2% against the Euro.
The dollar has gained 14.4% against the Yen.
The dollar has gained 9.8% against the Pound.

Hunter comments on pre-construction cost trends

Wastelandlive If the property is in your name and you live there, you do have to inform DIAN if it is over 80,000,000 pesos, but at the moment there is no tax on them, if they do bring a tax in on peoples personnel property it will be minimal.

If you were just buying one property in Ctg, I wouldn't bother and just buy it in your name.

The only real reason I can think of to use a IBC is if you plan on buying a lot of properties and wish to keep the owner hidden, not sure of the tax considerations in Colombia on a IBC, but on Colombian Corporations there are none.

Hunter comments on pre-construction cost trends

Wastelandlive I don't post much any more, yes Mr. Buffet is mostly a value investor, I certainly don't count him out of the game and he will still beat the market most years.

Whats a IBC, International Business Corporation (?), if it is, I do know something about them, but Viewpoint knows a lot more than me, he would be the man to contact.

Also viewpoint spends a lot of time in Panama, which is good place to set up a corporation for investing in Ctg or elsewhere, if that is your idea.

I know some things about the Colombian tax laws, but I leave most of it to the Colombian accountant, I don't have the time or inclination to delve into their rules to deeply as I used to in my old home.

Hunter comments on pre-construction cost trends

Mr Buffet made a great deal of money in the early years and increased the portfolio he owns/mangaes by a very great percentage, this was because his portfolio started off small, but although he has beaten the market in most recent years, he doesn't generally beat it by much now.

Hunter comments on Retiring in Bogota

GIB probably got rid of him for blowing his cover.

Hunter

Hunter comments on I give you big congrats

GIB I get sick of Colombian women asking me why I don't have a girlfriend/wife, so I just tell them my wife is Manueler, at the same time showing them my right hand, when I get bored with my wife, I have my girfiend, Manuelita, showing them the oppposite hand, that shuts them up.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Question for Peter regarding site layout

Mario I shall have a look after I log off.

Hunter

Hunter comments on The new "look" - what the hell! :)

Thanks Mario I was feeling sick just trying to read that new layout.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Teaching English and Work Visas

Ian You can get monthly tourist visa extensions at some DAS offices.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Teaching English and Work Visas

Ian Mathew Some schools/colleges will sort a work visa out for you presuming you can find a school to employ you.

As a British person you can spend 6 months in Colombia on a tourist visa in a year.

I would do some quick research on this forum regarding tourist and student visas then come back with any questions.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Colombia vs Venezuela

CuriosJoe I have met quite a few people who have spent time in both Medellin and Caracas and other Cities/larger towns in Venezula, not one of them prefered the Venezulian Cities/towns for living in over Medellin.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Property Taxes in Colombia?

Rubiazo percentages maybe correct for another City in Colombia but are not correct for Medellin, Medellin is 3% or 4%, normally split 50/50 with the seller, I have bought and sold a few places in Medellin in strata 3, 5 & 6.

Notary costs are 250,000 pesos or so.

A lawyer 100,000 pesos or so.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Property Taxes in Colombia?

Property purchase tax Will be based on the price that you agree to register at the notary, which is normally lower than the actual sales price.

The tax varies from City to City I think, its about 3%, also depends on the deal that you cut with the seller, its normal to split the tax 50/50.

The only IVA you will pay is on the notary charges.

Capital gains tax, not really sure about, but if you officially only sell it for slightly more than you paid for it, your only real tax will be the sales tax above.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Update on an Alabama girl pressing criminal charges against doctors in the Colombian Penal system

adviceplease on Keep going, nail the B.......

Hunter

Hunter comments on ABC Nightline Friday 9/16/05--T. Koppel to interview Venezuela H. Chavez

Chavez Is just squandering the gains from the petroleum prices and cheap political gestures to mostly neighbouring Countries and some further afield, he would be better off sorting out his own Countries problems first.

But the money he gives away, is nothing compared to what is dissaperaing off the books each year in Venezula, I wonder where the billions of dollars are dissappering to?

I am sure we will find out in the future.

Hunter

Hunter comments on OAS to Conduct Mine-Clearing Operations in Colombia

AP article Fewer new land mine victims last year around world, report says at least 6,521 people were killed or maimed by land mine blasts last year, compared with 8,065 in 2003 By KIM HOUSEGO

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Posted at 9:52 PM EST

Associated Press

Bogota, Colombia — The number of reported land mine casualties worldwide declined for the sixth year in a row, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said in a report Tuesday.

At least 6,521 people were killed or maimed by land mine blasts last year, compared with 8,065 in 2003, the group said in the annual report, which was released during a conference in Medellin, Colombia's second-biggest city, to discuss improving global assistance to victims.

Actual casualty figures could be as high as 20,000 since many cases go unreported, said Kathleen Maes of Handicap International, a victims' group that helped produce the report.

The majority of casualties were civilians, and one-fifth were children, the report said.

It identified nearly 250,000 land mine blast survivors in 121 countries, and said that "medical care, rehabilitation and socio-economic reintegration services remain either inadequate or unavailable in too many countries."

Fewer casualties were recorded in 2004 in some of the countries most affected by land mines, including Afghanistan, Angola and Sri Lanka, the report said. But several countries saw an increase in new mine victims last year, notably Colombia and Cambodia.

"The situation is especially worrying in Colombia," where the number of victims has nearly quadrupled in the past three years, Ms. Maes told The Associated Press.

Colombian military officials say leftist rebels who have battling since the 1960s to establish a Marxist-style state have resorted to the widespread use of mines in an attempt to slow a government offensive. Colombia has reported that land mines now cause one-third of military casualties.

The report singled out Russia, Myanmar and Nepal as the only governments that laid anti-personnel mines this year.

Hunter comments on These Google ads on top of the page are extremely anoying

spigrimace Best discussed in the open, then ideas can be floated around, I like
Crazy4Cali ideas 1 & 4 in the thread below, also I am sure Peter would rather have one read or two, than a load of PMs, I sure would.

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/14796

Why would living in Colombia make you humble?

Hunter

Hunter comments on These Google ads on top of the page are extremely anoying

The ads Can they be moved above the title, I think that would help.

Hunter

Hunter comments on

Tinto The ratio of Latin American students to Asian students versus the populations of their home Countries looks about right to me.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Darien Gap

gringoinbogota Dirty, dark, stinking, insect infested places, God I hate the jungle.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Monthly internet costs?

GringoDeLo As GringoinBogota said it depends on what City you are in as to what you pay, I posted about the new broadband services ofered by Telecom in the thread below:

The service has started in September 34 cities but initially Barranquilla and Medellin are not included.

The following link has the list of the 34 cities:

http://internet.telecom.com.co/banda-ancha/cobertura.php

The prices of the different conections are as follows:

128Kb
$ 65,000 mes $75,400 IVA included.

256Kb
$ 75,000 mes $87,000 IVA included.

448Kb
$ 115,000 mes $133,400 IVA included.

640Kb
$ 190,000 mes $220,400 IVA included.

832Kb
$ 240,000 mes $278,400 IVA included.

1024Kb
$ 350,000 mes $406,000 IVA included.

To order the service the you need to call the following 24 hours free number: 0 1 8000 930930

ORIGINAL POST:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/12799

Hunter

Hunter comments on Colombiche And Adrimm really left?

monpirri1 Your information posted above doesn't mean mine is wrong, there is probably more child prostitution in poorer Asian Countries than there is in Japan, by number of people involved, not the amount of money.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Weather in Cartagena

Sunseeker If you want to miss the peak season, I would recomend mid January or later as well.

Hunter

Hunter comments on Colombiche And Adrimm really left?

Child prostituion is in every Country, the poorer the Country the more of it there will be.

It most certainly does take place in public places in Colombia, I have never been offered a mothers daughter, but I have been approached a good dozen times in Ctg and Medellin on the streets at night and once in the daytime.

Hunter