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House Hunting in Santiago

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November 11, 2009

As I wrote about the other day, we’ve been apartment hunting. I’m not going to lie – while the thought of having our own place is pretty exciting, the reality is a whole different story.

We first found a studio that we really liked, and without looking anywhere else called to try and bargain the construction company down. At that point both Seba and I were pretty desperate to get out of his parents’ house, even though we’re only there on the weekends when we’re in Santiago. Anyway. Seba called. They came down $6,000 dollars. The next day we called back to see if they would come down $4,000 more and if they did, we were ready to buy.

The person in charge of selling this (entire new) building was out of town for two weeks. There was no one else we could talk to in the mean time.

Ummm. WTF?!? We are trying to GIVE YOU TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS and no one is around to take our money? Seriously, country of Chile, seriously?!?

Although, in the end, I’m glad that guy wasn’t around to take our money, because while he was gone, we found a couple other places that we also really liked and realized, there’s no rush. But, how stupid of them. Had someone been around to take our call, we were prepared to buy that same day.

So we found another apartment that we really liked, but it seemed pretty overpriced to us, for various reasons. It was priced the same as other apartments in the sector, but it’s on a second floor (meaning less security, no view, etc.), the entire bathroom is in dire straits and needs to be redone, and it’s a much older building, so it doesn’t have the amenities that other places we looked at have – for me, a pool is of utmost importance. But, we figured we’d make a lowball offer and that then the owner would lower the price a little and then we’d offer again and eventually negotiate down to what the apartment is actually worth, rather than the inflated sticker price.

Seba calls and tells the owner – an old lady – that we want to make an offer. She gets really nervous and tells him, “Well, I have someone else interested so just uhhh, err, send me your offer via email.”

So we send the owner our offer, explaining our reasoning, with links to comparable apartments for cheaper that were on higher floors, in newer buildings, and didn’t need their bathrooms redone.

She responds and says, “Someone has made me a higher offer than yours…” Dot. Dot. Dot. I think that means she wanted us to respond back to her and raise our offer.

We didn’t though. We told her good luck with her other offer and to contact us if it falls through. I do want that apartment if it’s cheap, if we can negotiate the price to what’s reasonable, but not for the same price as newer places in better shape.

There’s one other place that we’re really interested in, but the owners are out of the country until December. *Sigh. Won’t somebody PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY?!?

PS. If you’re looking into buying real estate in Chile, talk to Matt. He’s the man.

  • vinkoval
    Tell me about it! My wife and I had a terrible time finding a place here in Santiago. We finally had to stop telling them we had kids and just give them the bare minimum of information for them to even talk to us. Like you, we just wanted someone to take our money. Finally after many failed attempts to find a Co-Signer, they just gave up and let us move in.
  • kyleracine
    Hahaha, I like your strategy. If you're persistent enough in Chile anything is possible :P
  • This was my experience exactly when I was trying to rent a place. The stupid corredoras were never around to show me the place when I wanted to see it. The thing is, I pretty much knew I wanted the apartment because my friend lives in the same building and I had seen hers many times, but I knew it would be stupid to just rent it without looking at it. After seriously about a month I finally got to see it and said that I wanted it on the spot. The corredora had the nerve to say, "Finally! We've been trying to rent this out for MONTHS." GAHHHH!!!!!
  • kyleracine
    Then did you punch her in the face? I think that's what I would've been tempted to do in the same situation!
  • judy hepp
    Kyle, Kyle, Kyle....Thank you soooo much! I couldn't figure out who was sending me something, I hadn't ordered anything. What a great surprise, made my day - I LOVE THAT PHOTO, YOU ROCK!
    So, you "buy" apartments there? You'll find the perfect one for you and Seba, take your time. Unless your in-laws have the "G'ma syndrome" then get out quick. Just kidding.

    Love,
    Aunt Judy
  • kyleracine
    You're welcome, I'm so glad you like it!!!
  • amanda
    How funny! We were totally pressured into making a deposit the same day!
  • kyleracine
    I'm so glad that didn't happen because we would've bought that studio and then maybe regretted down the road...
  • Thanks for the shout out, very much appreciated :)

    And yes, trying to deal with agents and property owners here is a complete nightmare (with a few exceptions- there are some really good agents out there). If you come from a country that's obsessed with property and property TV shows (England, for example), the lack of professionalism and sheer stupidity of sellers and their agents is staggering...the amount of houses and apartments I've seen with the curtains closed, dishes piled up in the kitchen sink, filthy bathrooms and worse is ridiculous. Do the owners really think someone is going to buy a place that looks like a rat-hole?? Then people randomly make up a price and refuse to budge until they finally get that much- even if it takes 5 years...crazy...

    Although even I find it hard to believe they couldn't find someone else to deal with your offer, especially as these companies are desperate for cash at the moment. New build sales people are usually all about getting you to sign right there and then...

    As a friend who has now left Chile repeatedly said to me (whilst sadly shaking his head), "They just don't like making money in this country..."
  • kyleracine
    Have you ever looked on Portalinmobiliario? That's a nightmare too. So many places that don't even put photos up. What the hell? I ignore all the ads without photos because I assume they're all dumps.

    Your friend is a wise, wise, man.
  • Oh yeah, portal inmob is awesome for terrible marketing. This is one of my favourite photos:

    Trying to sell a $160 million apartment: http://www.portalinmobiliario.com/Propiedades/Z...
  • Oh Matt, thank you - I'm having a stressful work day, and that photo made me laugh!
  • That "We have someone else interested..." is so old. Hopefully you hear something.

    I hated calling around to places trying to find someone to talk to, or even answer a simple email. Apparently, they have like staff and everything, but I wouldn't know. Probably why I got fed up and never moved.
  • kyleracine
    I wish not moving were an option for us right now, but we are either in Algarrobo or at the in-laws in Santiago so it's kind of an unsustainable situation!
  • Gina
    You know, it surprises me to hear that about the apartment hunt and the inflated prices on apartments that are clearly in need of renos. One would think that with the Chilean habit of preferring something new to something older, the new construction would obviously be the preferred option for most, so older buildings would price accordingly and competitively. Especially considering that it's my understanding apartments in Chile devalue rather than appreciate...? Ah well, competitive pricing seems to be a lost art here. Whenever my boyfriend and I go out, we always shake our heads at the huge Sales signs in some places. It's usually along the lines of buy two for the same price of buying one, twice. He always shakes his head and asks me, "How is that a deal?" I just smile and say "Welcome to Chile."
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