Property for Sale in Chile, South America
The Chilean real estate market has experienced a steady increase in property values across Chile over the last 10 years, while at the same time the Peso has also steadily strengthened against other World Currencies. Laws related to ownership of real estate in Chile by foreigners are applied the same as to Chileans, and are fair and predictable.
Buying Real Estate in Chile is a fairly straightforward process, in relation to buying property in most other countries, even if you are not a citizen. With proper planning and a good bi-lingual attorney (unless you are fluent in Spanish), buying your dream home in South America may be easier and safer than you thought.
Unlike most of South America and Latin America, Chile's legal system is very well organized, fair, and corruption free; unfortunately, it is also safe to buy property in Chile because of the numerous layers of administrative and legal bureaucracy that safeguard buyers and property owners rights in the Chilean real estate market.
Under the Chilean constitution foreigners are guaranteed for the most part the same rights as any Chilean to buy and sell real estate, even without residency or citizenship in Chile.
There are certain exceptions such as in the case of national security areas. For example, there are restrictions for Argentineans to own property in specially designated boarder areas of Chile that might pose a national security risk. For other situations nationality or residency is not a consideration in owning property in Chile. On the other hand, owning property in Chile does in no way provides any sort of residency or Chilean immigration status
Some things you must do to buy and own a property in Chile:
- Obtain a RUT number from the IRS.
- Sign a buy / sell agreement in front of a CHILEAN Notary Public. You can not do this at any other sort of Notary in any other country.
- Register the property with the proper regional registry.
- Make sure the seller has a Property Tax Debt Certificate. The notary should not allow them to sign the escritura pública without this certificate.
