Buying
Land In The South Of Chile - What You Might Find
By Bill
Lanphar
|
|
..
| This article
originally appeared in the September 2003 issue of Escape From America
Magazine. |
|
.
Scenery
With Incredible Prices
I spent last
winter in Chile and found it to be a country that offers just about any
lifestyle an expatriate could ask for. If you like the big city, Santiago
with its near perfect weather is hard to beat. I'm not a big city fan but
felt very comfortable there and it is very affordable. I spoke with one
expatriate that lives there for about $500 a month and he liked it very
much; he has lived all over the world and he said only Amsterdam compared
as far as he was concerned. I'm not that well traveled so I couldn't say.
Personally,
I like Ocean beaches and remote wilderness; both of which Chile has in
abundance. It seemed to me the farther south you go the better it gets.
The lakes region which gets most of the attention for investment and vacationing
reminded me of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Galleries, rafting, fly fishing,
volcano tours, nice upscale resorts, kayaking - except for the language
you would think you're in Yellowstone or some playground in the Western
U.S. In the Lakes region everything is about a third the cost of what it
would be in the states, but when we got out into Patagonia I'd say it was
about a fifth. That's getting ahead of myself; I'll save the best till
last, but I will say that Chile will stretch your vacation dollar. In a
month of renting a car and living pretty high on the hog, my buddy and
I only spent $3000 a piece and we both went expecting to spend $6000. Land
prices are the best I've ever heard of, but I'll get to that in a bit.
|
|
|
|
The
Futalafu River in southern Chile.
|
|
|
..
Well after
the lakes region we went to Valdivia that's where Chile really started
to speak to me in a very comforting way. It was a very romantic place and
it was difficult to be there without my girlfriend: everywhere I went it
felt like the kind of place you should enjoy with someone you love. Sidewalk
cafe's, river front parks and lonely beaches that go on forever as they
pass beautiful fishing villages; the fishing boats were even quite colorful.
We rented a small cabin that was located on the top of a cliff that overlooked
the bay with a vine covered walkway that went down to the ocean.
The whole place
reminded me of what the Mediterranean must be like. If I remember right
this place was only $14 a night and that included fresh baked bread in
the morning, and free access to the internet so you could check your email.
Two German ladies ran the place and were very good at mothering two gringos
from the states. I can't think of Chile without thinking of how wonderful
the people are; very warm and friendly, never once did I sense any anti-American
feelings; if anything they treat you like a celebrity because Americans
are rare compared to Europeans.
Next I went
to Puerto Montt which is the gateway to Patagonia and met Claudio and his
girlfriend; they have not only become good friends, but business partners
as well. One thing you will notice when in Chile is it is a very modern
place with many opportunities to make money, just pay attention and they
will begin to pop up everywhere you go.
You see the
US is very competitive and anywhere there is a need it's filled, not so
in Chile; they don't see the holes because they are used to living with
them. You will see them because you are used to having them filled in the
States. Chile is very open to foreign investment and makes it very easy
for you to do business. What you need is a Rout Number which is
like our social security number and you can own land and businesses with
the same rights as a citizen of the country.
.
|
|
|
Lake
Yelco in the south of Chile.
|
|
|
Claudio
owns a tour company and I mentioned I wanted to go fishing, well, he knew
of a place that Chileans go to fish; he said its much cheaper and just
as good as where foreigners go to fish, and he liked it there so much he
took me. Well for $40 a day I got a guild, a boat and caught the largest
sea run rainbows I've ever had the pleasure of hooking a line into, in
the company of Chileans, without a tourist in sight for probably a hundred
miles. It was great fun and we had a lamb roasted over an open fire and
I was totally immersed in Chilean culture. This place was so out of the
way that they kept teasing me, saying they were going to take the Gringo
to the disco tonight. Well after dinner and some great Chilean wine they
told me it was time to go dancing. I still thought it was a joke till they
all started climbing into a pickup and urged me to come along. Well to
make a long story short there was a disco with horses tied up outside because
the Goncos - what we call cowboys - had decided to come down to
shake a leg, also. |
.
Turned out
the owner said I was the first gringo to ever come there and they all welcomed
me like I was an old friend and the Goncos even managed to crack
a smile when the gringo got up to dance. It was there that I started to
ask Claudio about land prices because the place was so spectacular - a
postcard everywhere you looked.
After some
inquiries, because there are no "for sale" signs or real-estate offices,
you have to ask around, the prices for land I started to hear were amazing
to me and that's when I decided I was going to buy a place in Chile before
I left. Patagonia is amazing anywhere you go; you see one beautiful spot,
then you see one even better, so it was hard to decide where to buy, but
when my son joined up with us and when we went into the Futalafu River
Valley, we decided this was the place to get serious about buying something.
We settled
on 2 and a half hectares on Lake Espolon which is about 7 acres. I bought
660 meters of lakefront on Lake Espolon that is as spectacular as any I've
ever seen for $14,000. I'm having a beautiful two-story home built, a fireplace
and all for $20,000. I'm sure there will be some other costs in there by
the time its done in October. But a place like that in Montana where I
live would cost $500,000 or more so I'm not to worried about the details.
My buddy Dennis fished from shore while I was taking care of business and
informed me he caught the largest trout of his life while killing time
waiting for me. He couldn't think of a better spot to fish in. Now there
are other places like what I found and if you are looking for unspoiled
beauty, beautiful people and don't mind four seasons, or if you are like
me, just want some place spectacular to go to in the winters, I think this
is impossible place to beat. Now if you have to have shopping malls and
lots of city life I think Chile is still a great place to get a big bang
for your buck. You'll just have to look farther north than where I'm at
in Futalafu. I could not of done all this without Claudio's help.
| Claudio
is an indispensable asset when it comes to finding a property you want,
negotiating the prices and getting it all legal. I would not try this alone
- he speaks the language and understands the people. He is also working
out all the details of building the home for me while I'm gone. I told
him there are probably other gringos that would greatly appreciate his
services and if they knew there was someone here that would help them through
the whole process he would probably stay busy. He can find you whatever
you want Oceanfront, river or lakefront from Valparaiso to Patagonia. Contact
me at BL@interbel.net if you would
just like to know more.
Now if you
need a contact in Chile to help you get started buying a place or putting
together a business plan I would suggest you contact my friend and partner
in Business Andy Grimberg
His email is:
Agrimberg@hotmail.com.
To phone from the States the number is 011 56 97 579807
Go
to Part Two - Find out how Bill Lanphar bought his property in Chile and
see the magnificent house he build on it for only $25,000 - |
|
|
| A small
lake located high up in the Andes Mountains. |
|
|
...
.. |
