Chile is Latin America at its finest. Unlike its neighbors, when you land at Santiago’s clean, modern airport, speed into town via its new freeway system, drink the water from any tap in the country, or make use of the medical facilities, you’ll feel distinctly First World. It has the lowest level of corruption in Latin America, the strongest economy, the highest standard of living, and lowest level of poverty. It boasts primary and secondary roads that are fast and well maintained from one end of the country to the other, modern telephone and cell service, high-speed Internet, and quality cable TV.
NEED TO KNOW: La Serena can fulfill two entirely different needs in the catalog of expat destinations: It’s a clean, well-maintained Spanish colonial city, as well as one of Chile’s most popular beach destinations.
Founded in 1544, La Serena is the second oldest city in Chile (after Santiago). It is neatly constructed and well laid out, and does a good job of showing off its Spanish architecture, with courtyard-style homes, a clean town plaza around an elegant fountain, and clay-tile streets. Graceful, well-maintained 16th-century churches are found throughout. Even the buildings constructed during modern times have been built in the colonial style, due to long-standing architectural codes.
Colonial Homes From $65,000
On Calle Manual Antonio Matta, there’s a colonial home with 14 small bedrooms and three bathrooms selling for $135,000. The street is busy (although it was pretty quiet inside the house) and the house needs to be remodeled, but it seemed a good value to me nonetheless.
I found a beachfront apartment for sale with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a maid’s quarters for $97,300. All three properties are listed through Alejandrina Cortés, tel. (56)51-225-755.
I also saw a newly restored colonial house with two small inner courtyards and a decent-sized backyard. The asking price is $150,000—listed with Alicia Morgan Propiedades, e-mail: aliciamorganpropiedades@entelchile.net.
For a potential developer, there’s a 1.1-acre parcel for sale on the beach, for an asking price of $981,000. (Tel. (56)2671-5154.) Developers in the area are putting around 120 units on similar properties—of about 700 square feet each—at a construction cost of approximately $60 per square foot. They’re selling them for $92 per square foot. The developers I spoke to here sold out almost 100% during pre-construction.
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