The Cost of Living in Guatemala: Housing
Posted on April 13, 2009 - Filed Under Guatemala | 6 Comments
Well, time for another installment on the cost of living here in Guatemala. This time, we`re looking at the number one thing I get people asking me about . . . housing. If you`re planning to move to Guatemala, you`re going to need a place to live and that is often the most tricky part of the whole move.
Before we get into the cost and how to find a place to live, I think it`s important to cover WHAT houses here are like. There are a few homes that exist which are North American (they call them Canadian) in style . . . i.e. the entire house is contained indoors. However, for the most part, the homes here are NOT like that. All homes are enclosed by walls, even those within residential communities. There are no yards overlooking the street, if there is a yard, it ends in a wall right before the street. Hence the reason the streets look like this:
photo by wirralwater
Inside these homes, there is usually a small courtyard with the rooms of the house opening up into it. So, if you want to get to any other room from say, your kitchen, you have to go outside. The walkway around the house is usually covered, leaving a few square feet in the middle for the garden. This is a traditional home, though there are variations. The other type of house that you will often encounter is enclosed, with a couple of teensy weensy spaces for “gardens”, which are only a few feet wide. In general, you won`t find big yards in Guatemala.
You`ll also need to decide where you want to live. There are plenty of options, from the capital to the lake to Antigua and further out. However, safety is a concern and because of this, you`ll probably want to stick to areas that have lower crime rates. These would include the lake (Panajachel and surrounding towns) and around Antigua. In the area of Antigua, there are quite a few smaller towns that may or may not be good to live in. Towns in the area of Antigua include the following (I`m only doing Antigua because this is the area I am familiar with):
Jocotenango - medium town, high crime, 5 min. from Antigua
San Felipe – small town, minimal crime, 5 min. from Antigua
San Bartolome – small town, virtually no crime, 5 min. from Antigua
Santa Ana – small town, virtually no crime, 5 min. from Antigua
San Cristobal el Bajo – small town, virtually no crime, 10 min. from Antigua
San Pedro las Huertas - small town, some crime, 10 min. from Antigua
San Gaspar/Santa Catarina Bobadilla – small town, virtually no crime, 10 min. from Antigua
San Pedro el Alto – small town, some crime, 10 min. from Antigua
San Juan del Obispo – small town, minimal crime, 10 min. from Antigua
Cuidad Vieja – medium town, minimal crime, 10 min. from Antigua
San Antonio Aguas Calientes – small town, virtually no crime, 15 min. from Antigua
San Lucas Sacatepequez – medium town, some crime, 20 min. from Antigua
Magdelena Milpas Altas - small town, minimal crime, 20 min. from Antigua
Now on to the costs.
Renting
Prices vary WIDELY depending on location and size of the house. I don`t recommend going through foreign rental agencies because they will only list very high priced homes. You can find places online, but the absolute best way to go about it is to actually come here and go around visiting real estate agents yourself.
Antigua is probably the most expensive place to rent, with houses ranging from around $350-$3,000 a month. You`ll mostly find higher priced homes though and the cheaper ones are either apartments or on the very very outskirts of the city.
Buying
Again, prices vary drastically. A little chunk of land up in the middle of nowhere on a volcano might cost $10,000, while another piece of the same size might be selling for ten times that right by Antigua. It also depends on whether the area you are looking at is growing or not. High crime areas tend to be very cheap for obvious reasons.
There are plenty of plots of land available in Guatemala, but I warn you to read through my blog before considering building here. It`s a very long, very drawn out and frustrating process and in my opinion, totally not worth it. Dealing with builders is virtually impossible and the end result is never going to be what you imagine. If you want to buy, either build the house yourself or buy a ready made home and save yourself the hassle.
Where to Look
Places to look (note, if you want to buy in Antigua, Guatemala City area, you need to search in “Sacatepequez”):
Century 21 CasaNova – perhaps one of the best sites I`ve found for looking for homes. The agents are very helpful, as well and the site is in English. Houses here start at $200 a month and rapidly escalate. They have an easy search setup, too, just pick your price range, area, etc.
Compra-Venta – This is a local, Spanish language classifieds site that gives you direct listings.
GT Classifieds – Also in Spanish, more classifieds to check out.
ReMax - another good site that lets you search available rentals and houses or land for sale. This one is in Spanish.
TuAviso - Spanish language classifieds site with plenty of photos of potential homes.
This isn`t a complete list, I`ll add to it if I find more places to look. If you know of a good real estate site, please feel free to leave the link in the comments so I can add it to this list and make it more comprehensive.
Words You Should Know
Since you will find some of the best priced homes on Spanish sites, it`s a good idea to know what you`re looking for.
Aquilar (aquilo, aquila) – For Rent
Amueblada - Furnished
Baño - Bathroom
Buscar (se busca, busco) – Looking for (if you see this word, chances are someone is looking for a house, not trying to rent one out)
Chimenea - Fireplace
Clasificados - Classified ads
Cocina equipada – Kitchen with fridge and stove (otherwise you have to provide your own!) and possibly other items.
Comercial - Business or commercial site only.
Cuarto(s) – Rooms
Cuarto de servicio (cuarto de muchacha) – maid`s room
Comprar (compro, se compra) – To buy (if you see this word, chances are someone is looking for a house, not trying to sell one)
Garita de seguridad – Security post, usually found in residencials
Habitaciones - Bedrooms
Jardin - Garden
Lavanderia - Laundry room, check for specifics on this one, “lavadora” is washer, “secadora” is dryer . .. they aren`t always included, even if there is a laundry room.
Metros - Meters, “metros cuadrados” are square meters.
Patio - a covered area or a garden area, depending on the house
Piscina - Pool
Por - Per, as in “por mes” (per month) or “por semana” (per week) or “por dia/noche” (per day/night)
Precio - Price
Sala - Living room
Seguridad - Security, usually found in enclosed residencials
Terreno - Land
Vender (venta, se vende) – For Sale
Also, make sure you are getting the price right . . . some sites list both US dollars and quetzales, apparently alternating randomly, so double check the signs in front of the price. To figure out the price in US dollars when it`s listed in quetzales (Q), you can divide by 8, which will give you a rough estimate. For a more accurate number, use an exchange calculator.
Comments
6 Responses to “The Cost of Living in Guatemala: Housing”
Talk to Me, People!
The guys at “Q” were really helpful for us finding our rental in Antigua. They haven’t found anything in our price range for our project yet (although someone else has). They are just down the street from Mono Loco if I’m not mistaken.
So, if you have a home, like the one in the picture, the wall between your home and the neighbors, would actually be the backs of your rooms up against the backs of their rooms? Or, you mentioned a walkway around… is this like a public alley? Or a private part of the house grounds that goes around the exterior of the building(s), with an open courtyard in the middle too?
Yes, I’m being very nosy. I like houses. I actually have vivid, repeating dreams of various homes where all I do is study and repair the architecture, clean it up, and try to learn about it. Figures that my favorite PC game would be SIMs2, and that I spend more of my time building houses than raising the Sim people! I do not know if I’ll ever make it to Guatemala, but I like this post! Thanks for adding ideas to my mental building stockpile!
Like Connie, I’m interested in the particulars of the house designs. The courtyard, is it like those inner courtyards in ancient Rome’s house? I find that design appealing. Might not make all rooms open up to it, but it will be good to have a connecting guest suite that is separated by an inner courtyard. So the guest suite will feel like it is part of the house, but it also affords visiting guests privacy if they’re traveling with family and do not want to feel that they’re imposing on us.
$350 per month for a house! That’s cheap. I pay $100 for a room PER WEEK! This is a rip off! LOL.
I tried finding some photos for you guys, but there aren`t any good ones. So, Connie, since I`m a Sims2 addict myself, I figure I can just whip one up in there and do some screenshots. I`ll post those soon.
For now, yes, the rooms are against the rooms of your neighbor in many cases. It really depends on the house, but the usual design is to have three or four sides of the square with rooms facing into the center garden. The ones on the street usually have windows overlooking the street. In some cases, you`ll have a house that only has rooms at the front and they leave the remainder as a garden or garage.
And Gloria, when I first moved here, I paid $100 per month for a room in a shared house, later Irving and I paid $50 a month for a one room “house” here in San Juan. I doubt you`d find that kind of pricing anymore though!
I promise to write a follow-up to this as with the previous articles, but a few quick comments:
1. Qmec is a great agency, they’re on 5th Ave South at 6th Calle, the only local agency I had any luck with.
2. I’ve found the value in Guatemala is not trying to get by on as little as possible, but rather, greatly improving your standard of living for the same you would spend in North America. If you’re spending $1000 a month on rent in Anytown, USA, you can get a great place here with maid and gardener for the same. Ditto for other areas.
3. I’ll post some pictures of ‘typical’ houses I’ve looked at (or live in).
Good job Genesis!
Thanks expatmom. The real estate links were especially helpful.