Real Estate in Chile – 5 Tips for Investors

With the traditional economies of the West experiencing more and more uncertainty each year, some investors have begun to take a closer look at emerging economies. Apart from Asia, South America today seems to be one of the most interesting places to invest. All the usual candidates have their pros and cons. While Argentina suffers from legal insecurity and Brazil from corruption and crime that are still widespread. They are still by far the best known and largest countries.
However, Chile has gained ground on them in the last 10 years or so. Chile offers a very balanced place: there is a high level of literacy and education, the highest average income (although it is still not evenly distributed), very good infrastructure and well-functioning institutions. It is also worth mentioning the low levels of corruption at the institutional level.

On the other hand, Chile offers both institutional and private investors a wide range of interesting objects. For the institutional investor, or the investor who is mainly looking for profitability, Chile has tourism projects, and more importantly, agricultural and mining land.

For the private investor who may be looking for a second home or land, there are great deals out there, whether it’s lakefront land in the southern lakes region, prime farmland at less than $5,000 per hectare, or just a beach house in Viña del Mar or further north.

The five things you should know when investing:

1. Can anyone buy land in Chile?
Yes. But what you need to buy land in Chile is a so-called RUT, similar to a social security number. It is issued by the Chilean tax authority and is easy to obtain. You will get it without any problem, but you must request it personally in Chile at the tax office (Internal Tax Services).

2. How can I make sure that the property I buy is legally in good condition and that the seller owns it?
When you have found the property you were looking for, you should contact an attorney to verify legal limitations and ownership of the property. The lawyer will request the information from the Real Estate Registrar, the Chilean institution that keeps all records of all properties. He can also apply for registration right there. What you need is the ROL number, the identification number of the property.

3. Looking for farmland
If you’re thinking of investing in farmland (because food prices WILL go up), it all depends on whether you intend to farm it yourself or rent it to other farmers. In the first case, you’ll probably want land that can produce exportable fruits, such as grapes, nuts, or apples. Then, look in the Regions close to the Metropolitan Region: V. and VI. Region. If you want to rent the land, we recommend that you look further south, where you will find land that is cheap and that favors crops that do not require a long investment period, such as corn or maize.

4. Consider the Mapuche
The main tribe of Chilean Indians are the Mapuche. They have been granted some land after the colonial rulers had taken everything from them earlier. Now the problem is that the Mapuche believe that the land cannot belong to anyone and legally they do not have the right to sell the land to people who are not Mapuche. If they sell it anyway, the contract may be illegal. If you buy in the southern zone (VIII-X Region), have your lawyer review this point. In other regions it is usually not a problem.

5. How to know when is a good time to invest in Chile
After the Chilean central bank announced the purchase of 50 million dollars a day until the end of the year, the dollar has gained around 5% against the Chilean peso. However, it seems likely that the weight in the medium term will recover its loss and even reach higher levels than ever. The reason is the copper from Chile. It is the main export of the country and its price has risen. The other major export, fruit, has also seen higher prices over time. If these trends continue, the Peso will go even higher. This could make it more expensive for you in the future. Although – no one can predict exchange rates.

For more information on all these topics, visit the site http://www.property-in-chile.com.