A Look at Chile’s Real Estate Industry
In past years, Chile has experienced a very dynamic real estate market. Even though in 2018 the volume of transactions has slowed down, Colliers International predicted that this year apartments sales will increase by 5% and houses by 7% compared to the previous years. This translates to over 30,000 apartments and 4,000 houses.
However, a recent article shared on a local newspaper El Mostrador, explains a few of the biggest issues in the market: trust, transparency and bureaucracy. Nicole Carvallo, engineer and economist, shares her experience of buying a house through a well-known Chilean agency.
She was about to buy a house in a new neighborhood and the agent assured that she would get her house in two months. Nicole got curious and asked what was left to do if the houses seemed all done, and the agent said that they still needed a permission from the municipality. Since she had some knowledge about the time it would take, she didn’t buy the house and found out later that they delivered the houses almost two years later.
Documentation
In order to sell a property in Chile, the owner must provide a file of documents that guarantee that it belongs to him or her, that it is available and that it musters all the conditions for sale. These are some of the most commonly requested documents:
● Property registration
● Current domain certificate
● Registration of mortgage and liens
● Inspection at the Real Estate conservator
● Receipt of payment of property taxes
● The blueprints of the property
● Certificate of non-expropriation issued by the Housing and Urbanism Service
According to local real estate agency Propital, it takes a couple of months to gather all documents needed for the legal transaction.
Can foreigners buy houses in Chile?
The short answer is yes, and it’s not that difficult. However, the buyer must acquire local documentation called the Rol Único Tributario (RUT), the equivalent to a social security in other countries. According to Chilean lawyer Juan Carlos Valdivia if the foreign buyer doesn’t want to come to Chile, he or she must hire an agency or a real estate expert.
The rest of the documents like the property reservation and the contract are easier to get. As buyers, what matters the most is basically capital. Most of the foreigners that have shown interest in acquiring properties in Santiago, Valparaíso or Viña del Mar are Europeans and Americans.
However, another important detail that might generate some confusion for buyers from other countries is that most prices of houses and apartments in Chile are shown in Unidad de Fomento (UF), a Chilean currency that is currently valued in 27,000 Chilean pesos — around 41$ USD — but fluctuates recurrently according to inflation. So a property for 7,000 UF must not be confused for 7,000 pesos or dollars, it’s actually worth near 190,000$ USD.
Considering that many Chileans already distrust the current system, they could be more open to adopting the new blockchain based proposal. Also, there are already a few national wallets –like Buda and CryptoMarket — , the government has embraced blockchain technology for a few national projects and financial institutions are applying it for their systems too. There is no doubt that Chileans’ trust in smart contracts will grow.
Can you imagine buying a house in Santiago from your smartphone? Leaxcoin is committed to making this happen. The future is on our side, ready to boost real estate markets in developing countries like Chile, and nations that adopt blockchain technology may see the benefits sooner than expected.
Do you want to be part of the market evolution? You can be part of our team of Ambassadors in Chile and thus further expand growth opportunities for the country. Today is a good time to make history.
More than a projection, Leaxcoin is a reality.
Read more about our Ambassador program here: http://bit.ly/2N74pOc
