Retiree heading (maybe) to Peru

Dear Catfish,

Welcome to the forums of Expat.com ...

No, no, don't buy a condo if you're new to Peru.

You need to scout the potential neighborhoods

and then live in the target area for 12 months

before any property purchase.

While you may find a semi-rural location with

reliable Internet, choosing such a place puts one

at a disadvantage in most cases for transportation.

Unless you buy a car.

Many or most Lima Expats do not buy a car.

High quality living is available for renters

in Miraflores and the nearby arts district,

though you'd have to research whether

the rents there fit with your budget.

Lima elevation is near sea level.

Cusco is above 11,000 feet.

Arequipa is probably worth some research.

I usually stay in Miraflores.

cccmedia

Urbania.pe is an excellent website to find an apartment. I would recommend Miraflores, 1500 is very doable if you rent a 1 br.

My advice is that if you want to move, the way you want, Lima is not the option due to the traffic and number of people who live there.

If possible, various places such as Cuzco, Arequipa, Trujillo.

Investigate well who you rent, because many times they take advantage, because they are foreigners, and even rentals for one person you can even get at a lower cost than you think.

Indeed, check pages like urbania, there are many options.

Best regards

Elvis

Have a nice day, thanks a lot stay blessed. I am a PhD in Management Sciences so in desire to join a University as Professor. Kindly suggest city as you have mentioned above.

You can also use Locanto for Perú, where free ads are placed by both owners and agencies for real estate and other goods and services:

https://www.locanto.com.pe/

Choose your city/departamento from the list.  Then look under Inmobiliaria, under Departamentos for apartments for rent and/or sale.

Lima has many area's and traffic is bad at certian times so you can choose to avoid it. (San Isisidro and Miraflores has some great places as well as Barranco) I loved Trujillo but crime is sky rocketing due to the immigration issue with Venzuela and the police are under staffed.  Arequipa is my favorite place in Peru, so I do recommend it.  I do think you should rent before you buy, or travel around Peru a bit first.  Do you speak spanish?  Once you know where you want to be, I would buy if you can pay cash.  property taxes are extremely low and there is nothing like not having a house payment.

@cccmedia

Thanks for the information.  I think you're right about waiting to make any purchase.  My plan right now  is to visit Peru in a month or so and spend a few weeks traveling around and getting an idea of where I'd want to live.  I will try to get a family member involved since I'm not a great business guy, even when using my native English. 

I like the sound of Cusco as an Incan capital and a place where one can have (I think) most of the modern conveniences, more or less.  I do want a place where I will feel at least reasonably safe, since I'll be living on my own at least for a year or so.  I would like a place of my own, but there are far too many "unknowns" for me to think about that now.   

Thanks again for the feedback!

@trentgh7  Thanks very much. Yes, indeed, it seems to me like I could live "like a king," as they say, in Peru if I did not have to pay a monthly mortgage.  I'm thinking now of finding a place in Arequipa and Cusco.  I will be selling my place in the States shortly and using some of the money to spend time in Peru to try to learn the ropes.   I'm hoping maybe there are some ex-pat groups in country that I can join, casually and/or officially, to get more ideas of what is possible and what I should avoid.

I should also add: I would very much like to go back to being a non-renter ASAP.  I was so proud of myself when I finally got a condo 12 years ago, because I no longer had a landlord breathing down my neck.  So it's a bit of a bummer to have to go back to renting -- but then that should only be for a year or so if things go to plan for me.

Thanks again for the feedback!

@OsageArcher

Thanks very much.  I've started to browse that site, looks very helpful.

I was looking for real-estates sites for Peru and it's been very hit-or-miss -- and mostly miss.  One thing I found strange is that the pictures for "houses" and "apartments" were not very helpful.  On sites like Zillow in the States, I'm used to seeing a main picture for a property which gives me a good idea of what the property as a whole is like.  For Peruvian properties on various sites, however (like rentberry and Realtor.com), the first picture I see is often a close-up of a door or of an array of toiletries on top of a bathroom sink, or of a hallway.  There are very few front and center exterior shots of a place.

The site you recommended seems to be a real improvement, however.

Remax is active down there now. You will see more pictures! Please be aware there are rip offs with home sales where there are hidden liens etc.  Make sure you use a Attorney.  Its worth the few hundred bucks to not make a mistake.  Just got back from a month down there.  Arequipa would be my first choice if I had no reason to worry about income.  Now if I was single, I might like Ollantaytambo.  :-) But my wife wants modern conveniences! She was born in Lima. Keep your eyes open around you, and the bad peeps tend to steer clear.   Don't walk and stare at your phone, as you might have a bike come by and snatch it.  I have never had an issue, but typically avoid the bad area's at night.  I am not looking for problems.  Heading back in August for another month or 3.  I do like Cusco, but you are a bit remote for visitors or traveling out of Peru. 

@trentgh7 Thanks.  I don't mind a little remoteness, like in Cusco, but then I'm not sure what that remoteness entails.  It looks like there's a mall called Real Plaza that has most of the basic needs of "civilization."  My main hope is that I'll be able to handle small computer problems and maybe buy a new computer without leaving Cusco. 

I tried to search the Real Plaza website for computers, but when I clicked on the technology link, I got pictures of fried chicken.

@trentgh7 I'm not complaining, but it is interesting (and a bit funny) to note some of the issues with looking for houses and apartments in Peru, not just on Remax, but elsewhere.  I'll post a few of my thoughts below, in case someone's interested.  I'm not trying to diss Peru in any way.  I'm sure I'll find some great stuff when I finally visit Peru in a month or so. But here is my Gringo "take" thus far on my property search:

1) Very few of the properties so far have looked particularly attractive to me, judging from the photos taken of the outsides of the building.  The insides can be nice, especially the ones that have big windows and balconies -- tho' a lot of the apartments have areas that would seem claustrophobic to me, with no windows or skylights.

2) The houses themselves have interesting features, but as a whole, they appear to have been cobbled together in the midst of a sit-down strike by day laborers in various trades, such as brick laying and carpentry, Like you see a half-finished wall here, a partly constructed room there -- and then an occasional room which serves some unknown purpose because it has only half a roof. I also saw a large tiled room which was empty except for a sink.  And I'm like, "Do they slaughter cows in there or what?" Or is this Hannibal Lecter's get-away chalet?

3) The outside pictures often contain a hodgepodge of structures, so it's often not clear where the house or apartment begins and ends. 

4) It's usually difficult to get a sense of the neighborhood in which these properties exist -- though the external pictures often suggest (at least to my American eyes) that it might be a dodgy one.

Of course, part of this is I'm not a huge fan of the color orange.  Perhaps also as an American, I have certain expectations about a house, expectations that Peruvians might not share. 

It looks like I'll have to visit the country to get a sense of what's really available.  I'm sure the real-estate photos are not doing justice to all of these properties.

dont forget Cusco and Arequipa are at altitude. For me Miraflores and others noted are too American for me . Try San Miguel, Magdalena for apartments. near airport and you can fly to Cusco etc.  you learn more Spanish living here.

Cusco and Arequipa are at altitude.         -@Doncito

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There's a big difference between the elevation of Arequipa

at 7761 feet .. and Cusco, 11152 feet.

I recommend against considering buying a condo or other

property in Cusco.  Even if you can handle the rare air now,

such an altitude is bound to catch up with most Expats

as they age into retirement years.  Re-selling South American

property can take years.

cccmedia, en route to Lima from Colombia