Lowest cost of living in Central/Latin America

[quiqueee]

Hi. My name is Enrique, I have lived for 8 years in Florida, USA and I'm planning to move to Argentina for business reasons. I would like to find a safe area in Argentina. Could you recommend me some areas so I can start looking for a 3 bedroom apartment or house. The business is going to be close to the Patagonia but I don't need to live close to there. I rather live in a nice area and travel when necessary. Thanks.

Originally Posted by DBCC

Suggestions:

Argentina has low cost housing and low cost of living. I would avoid Buenos Aires altogether as it will be comparable to prices in big cities of USA.
The interior is entirely different: A Three bedroom Apartment in the City of Cordoba/Villa Carlos Paz or a three bedroomed/two bathroom house can cost between U$400 and U$ 600 per month. It will, however, be a two year contract. A Family of four can live on less than U$ 800 per month, eating well at home and out at least four times a month.
Argentina boasts the seven climates of the world (from deserts to Glaciers)and you can virtually choose which climate is the best suited to your preferences.
Suggest you bring your own car with you. Cars are expensive and a O miles- cheapest model will cost you in the region of U$15000. Utilities are cheap. Schools and Universities are free if you have residence permit and speak Spanish.
I would not recommend Paraguay, Bolivia or Peru All of their infrastructures are inferior to what one is used to and in many cases precarious.
If you are looking at Brazil, Fortaleza and Belem are ideal and far away from the Crime of Sao Paulo, Brazilia and Rio de Janiero.
Chile is a good option and probably the most advanced and progressive country on the continent.
Just and opinion and if you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am a foreigner who has been living in Argentina for the last 24 years and has travelled extensively in South America. Argentina is still the best bet, if you are outside of Buenos Aires.
Take care and good luck with your search.
Dee

[Gottasay]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

Ever since then, when booking travel in Europe, we've always made our arrangements in Spain.

Well, hook us up, bro!

[Tiger Beer]

If you are IN the country you want to be, generally you can look around and found what locals pay for places. Although, generally speaking, if you don't speak Spanish, they might up the costs a bit. Plus you'd probably be dealing with real estate foreigners who'll certainly overcharge your foreigner prices as well.

The more local you can get, the better.

[vantexan]

There are alot of places where you can learn Spanish but the 2 that I keep coming across again and again are Antigua and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Both have many Spanish schools with people from all over the world studying there.

Antigua is a big tourist center, has alot of expats, is a beautiful colonial town with good amenities. It's probably the most expensive town in Guatemala outside of parts of Guatemala City. But still reasonable by American standards.

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala's 2nd largest city, is called Xela locally(pronounced Shayla). It's the economy choice with many schools arranging homestays with local families for approx $200 a month. That's a private room with 3 meals a day provided! Expats are living in Xela for less than $500 a month. It does get cold at night part of the year but most days warm up nicely.

Thanks to Dee for the Argentina info!

[Naomi Manischewitz]

i rented in buenos aires a furnished studio that had all bills included (there was a phone, so i just bought a calling card). i was in the beverly hills of buenos aires (an area called recoleta) and it was 800 a month. it was in a nice building with a 24 hour doorman and the people that lived there werent "riff raff" types.

i imagine you probably could get a furnished studio there but in a not as nice part of town for like 500 a month.

i love buenos aires. wish i checked out more of argentina.

[DBCC]

quiqueee : If you are going to be working in Patagonia, then it would be better of you could give me an idea of where you will be working. There are certain advantages of working below the 42nd parallell (i.e. tax breaks for residents etc) so if I have an indication of where exactly you would be working it would help a lot. There are many great cities in Patagonia with extremely reasonable rent/purchasing options. Let me know if I can help. Happy Monday! Dee