You may have seen our own annual top real estate in Chile or top real estate in Southern Chile articles we publish every year. It seems we are not the only ones that thinks Chile, South America is a good place to invest in real estate, and it is not often I get to quote myself being quoted (how nice). Well, that is what we are doing with the republication of this article on the Top 5 Latin American Real Estate Markets published by Nuwire Investor. One of my many ramblings about real estate in Chile was picked up and sited for why Nuwire Investor believes Chile to be the number one investment destination in Latin America. Thanks to the editor of nuwireinvestor.com for passing this article along to us.

This is the All Southern Chile and Patagonia top five hottest markets for 2008 for foreigners and Expats wishing to invest in Southern Chile and Patagonia. We take a tour through the trends we have found in 2007 to help you make a choice for buying in 2008 and beyond.

Much has changed this year, both in terms of what is avaible on the market and the number of people searching for real estate in Chile. The most notable change in the Southern real estate market is the steady trend away from Chile as just a vacation destination, towards Southern Chile as a place to retire and live. There is also another new trend with recent strength of the Peso against the dollar in terms of investors looking for a safe haven from shaky real estate markets in other parts of the World. I will also include here my own All Southern Chile editor's pick for 2008. It is an area often overlooked by most Chileans and foreigners wanting to buy real estate in the South of Chile.

Pricing a home in Chile or real estate in Chile is a bit different from other places in the World. In fact, trying to put a fair market value on any property, home, or real estate in Chile is really really different from other locations in Latin America, South America, and the World. Thus, it is one of the most confusing things for our clients considering buying property in Chile. We take a look at what you need to consider when trying to determine the fair market value of houses in Chile and properties in general. As this is a complex subject, we will try to at least outline the basics of the problem in Chile and the cultural phenomena behind it.

We are frequently asked how we find the properties we list on All Southern Chile or how to go about finding a property in Chile, when there are very few signs that say 'se vende' or 'for sale'. Well, since we are not real estate agents, we will just tell you. What we do is far closer to what Cultural Anthropologist do, then what a real estate agents does anyway. These tips will likely work for just about any country in Latin America, but are specific to southern Chile and the Patagonia.

If there is a real estate bubble in southern Chile, it is around Pucon and Lake Villarrica.

Chile is not like the United States, where even tax experts and the IRS
have to close their eyes and guess at what the tax law means.

The first problem we encountered was their unwillingness to tell us

what properties they had for sale or rent.

Best of all, once you get here, the world disappears for as long as you want it to.
That’s the magic of Boca Budi.

Article by JC Baily

The weather’s getting nasty…it’s cold, the wind is howling, the snow is flying. Another winter is settling in and you’re starting to think there must be some place you can get away from this stuff. Your mind drifts back to an image of that wonderful summer home in a quiet small village, one where everyone else is there for the same thing: relaxation.

This is perhaps just a lot of speculation; but, however much speculation this might be, major companies seem to be doing a lot more of it with their investment money.

The South of Chile is one of those places that has been overlooked for years by Real Estate investors, and especially foreign investors. Only in the last few years have big purchases of land by foreigners, along with Chile's decentralization, started to really move the Real Estate markets in the South of the country.