Living in Chile ( Pros and Cons)

By Robert Appel

Chile has been a very desirable place to work and live for people and families from different parts of the world.
Its stable economy and countless international trade agreements, combined with a modern and beautiful capital city like Santiago, makes it very attractive as a favorite destination to start a new life. Besides, its people are nice and warm.
But like any new place we move to, there are hundreds of issues to know beforehand .
Having the author lived in Chile as as foreigner for almost 15 years, he gives the reader countless tips, guidances and useful recommendations to prepare you well on everything you need to know about this amazing Latin American country.
There are many cultural, social, economic and and everyday life situations that you will learn more in-depth with this book, which will save you a lot of time and money, allowing you to have a perfect understanding of its quality of life and standard of living, and take the right decisions before and after you move here.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Appel
• Release date: Jan 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393646846

Book preview

Chapter 1

The quality of life and costs

of residing in Chile

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The good figures and progress of Chile  

According to the rankings published by América Economía, one of the most prestigious business magazines in Latin America, Santiago de Chile occupies (in the last 20 years) the first place or (at least) second place in the Latin American index that combines quality of life, business potential and professional development , well above other cities on the continent.

Countries like Peru and Panama were closed in the ranking, whose economies have also improved enormously. The magazine is the most widely read and influential in business, economics and finance in Latin America. Santiago gets the best rating in several other indexes:

1) It’s the best city to do business in Latin America.

2) It has also occupied the first place in terms of security and safety, being the least dangerous capital to live in Latin America.

3) It’s the city with the largest number of direct flights to all the main cities in Latin America, with the safest airport and with the largest services available to users.

4) In the Human Development Index (2017), which takes into account 3  variables: Long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of  living, Chile is ranked number 38, a respectable position among 195 nations in the world. Argentina is ranked 45.

5) Chile is the first and only South American country member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the only Latin American member along with Mexico, thanks to its healthy economy. Very few countries in the world have the privilege of integrating OECD. It’s an organism of international cooperation, composed of 37 states, whose objective is to coordinate world  economic and social policies.

The Chilean capital was chosen as the best destination in 2017 for business tourism in South America, for the improvement of its infrastructure, cuisine and the reputation of its events, surpassing other capitals such as Buenos Aires or São Paulo. The choice was made by the specialized online publication Business Destinations (businessdestinations.com).

This is a good reason to reside in Chile at least for a few years to close businesses or joint ventures with Chilean companies already established.

Also, the Competitiveness Institute of ADEN has been measuring competitiveness since 2010 in Latin America and in 2017 Chile was considered the most competitive economy in Latin America, followed by Costa Rica.

Many foreign executives interviewed about why they chose Santiago to settle, reported almost the same reasons: Good business opportunities with a large network of Internet connection, a safe  country for their family, a large number of international flights and air connections, fairly cheap leases, easy staff availability at relatively low costs and great economic stability.

6) Chilean executives are the best paid in Latin America. That includes the executives of the State. For example, executives of the state mining company Codelco receive salaries of almost US$500,000 per year.

7) It’s ranked number 1 in higher education (University) in Latin America.

Many foreigners from other countries in the region come to study careers, graduate programs or post doctoral degrees at Chilean universities.

It only loses in the ranking of beautiful city but boring, surpassed widely by amusing cities like Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Sao Paolo and other capitals of the continent. I totally agree in this item, because while living in Chile I witnessed how thousands of Chileans travel on their vacations to the Argentine capital. And it was my personal case too. While in Buenos Aires, Chileans also take advantage of buying books, since in Chile they are considerably more expensive.

In terms of foreign investment, Chile was the largest Latin American country   in recent years hit by that fall in the price of copper, its main export product, going from receiving investments for $30 billion dollars  in foreign investment in 2012  to around US$6,500 million in 2017.

Its nominal GDP is the sixth in Latin America, with more than US$285 billion. Gross domestic product (GDP) is the sum of all final goods and services produced by a country in a year.

Chile is the only country in Latin America that still has the Visa exemption in the U.S (known as Visa Waiver), a tremendous plus when traveling for business or pleasure to this nation, where the procedures  to obtain it are very cumbersome . While with other neighboring countries of Chile, the U.S has hardened its demands to grant Visas of entrance into their country.

In turn, Chile is one of the countries in the world in which its passport

opens more doors than any other, being able to travel to 155 foreign

nations without requiring a Visa!

At the same time, Chile is on its way to becoming a world power in clean energy, through the installation in the country of a large number of photovoltaic solar plants and wind farms. The country has invested more than 7 billion dollars in the development of renewable projects during the last 10 years. In the area of digital and financial technology, Chile seeks to become a service platform for the region, especially in the area of computing and cloud services. During 2018, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced serious plans to install a large data center in Chile, investing $1billion dollars for such project. They plan to develop their businesses for the rest of the countries in the region. AWS provides a comprehensive technology platform service in the cloud, which includes nearly 90 specific services in areas related to data storage, system integration and information processing. Amazon plans to install in Chile a center to process astronomy data and also processing data for companies.

The country also appears as the most connected country in Latin America, ranking 25th in the 2017 Global Connectivity Index produced by Huawei, the famous Chinese electronics and telecommunications company, who highlighted that Chile has made significant improvements in relation to the international bandwidth, 4G coverage, fiber optics and cloud strategies. This advance in infrastructure has been driven by the Digital National Plan and by collaboration between the government and telecommunications service operators to expand coverage. The Huawei report also highlights that the country is becoming one of the most technologically advanced nations in Latin America.

And finally, another encouraging fact when it comes to living in Chile:  It’s the country with the lowest homicide rate in Latin America, with less than 3.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the InSight Crime Foundation. Brazil has one of the highest rates in the region and the world: 30 per 100,000 inhabitants. Its police are the least corrupt I have seen in Latin America, and is not involved with drug dealers nor criminals, which is still the case in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico, to name a few.

Santiago de Chile is the most expensive city to live in Chile, followed by Concepción.Then comes Antofagasta, Rancagua and Viña del Mar, with 25%

less (approximately) than the capital, in the cost of living. It’s also one of the most expensive cities in Latin America next to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Of course we have to take into account that the income per capita in Chile has risen enormously in recent years and is perhaps the highest in Latin America today with Panama. But the good times of a beautiful and inexpensive Santiago are over. After 2007, everything doubled in price. The important thing is to compare the prices of housing, food, schools and basic services with what you could earn in Chile in your profession or business that you come to undertake. Never compare the cost of living in your country with that of Chile.

Calculate how much you will need to live with your family in Chile, either in dollars or in Chilean pesos, and then compare it with the possible income you might get in Chile.

If you are an entrepreneur or independent worker, you should come with savings for several months until you can start and open your own company and have an idea of what your income will be. Some Chileans and foreigners live in other regions of the country rather than Santiago, looking to improve their quality of life in terms of cheaper housing prices, lower cost of living, air quality, and greater tranquility.

But how much money do you need to live in Santiago?

Living in the Chilean capital is not cheap in dollars, especially in relation to the basic salaries earned in Chile. Recent media reports state that Santiago is as expensive today as certain places in the United Kingdom! According to a serious survey from 2017, Santiago is ranked 67th in the list of the most expensive cities in the world. New York is ranked  number 9 and the Peruvian capital (Lima) at number 104. São Paulo (Brazil) is ranked 27th. In the last decade, many people from Santiago have  chosen to live in the outskirts of the capital, making a home in some land or buying cheaper residences than in good neighborhoods  of Santiago, so they could reduce the housing expense.

I advise you to wait a couple of years before buying a property, giving you enough time to get to know the city and choose more cautiously. There is no neighborhood or area of Santiago and the suburbs that meets all the ideal requirements such as: security, infrastructure, cheap housing and easy access. So priority must be given to the items and personal interests that are most important to you (price, proximity to schools, shopping centers, property value in the future, insecurity and proximity to your office).

The neighborhoods of La Dehesa, Lo Curro, Santa María de Manquehue, Los Domínicos and Quinchamalí are the most expensive and beautiful in Santiago, if you want to live in a house. They are also the most expensive in the country as well. Together with Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, they cost between $3,000 and $4.000 dollars per square meter (data 2018).

My favorite neighborhood is Los Dominicos for its tranquility, and it’s located next to Las Condes.You can rent a house with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,

180 mt2 built (1,937 square feet) with a spacy backyard for about U$2,000 or U$2,500 per month. My favorite neighborhood is Quinchamalí, because it has a privileged view of the city. It’s also connected or part of the main section of Las Condes.

And to rent a house of 500 mt2 (5,381 square feet) with a lot size of 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet) in the neighborhoods listed above don’t fall below the $4,000 dollar range, most costing above U$5,000 dollars to rent, depending on whether they have a pool or other luxury amenities. Also, in those elegant neighborhoods there are 4-story building apartments, more affordable than a house. Below, a photo of a residential complex in beautiful Los Domínicos.

Due to the lack of space to built because of the high hills or mountains, several real estate projects construct semi-detached houses (sharing a common wall). You can enjoy a better view when living in a higher geographic location, but you will have to tolerate colder mornings and nights.

Terralta Los Domínicos (residencial)

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You should pick a neighborhood with good security if you are going to choose a house and not an apartment. Calculate that a lease can cost you around 0.5% of the value of a property approximately, or a little  more. That is to say, if a property has a market value of US$700,000, the landlord will ask for a rent of about US$3,500 or a bit more, depending on how flexible the property owner is or the quality of the  area.

La Reina and Las Condes are 2 neighborhoods extremely beautiful to  live and are somewhat less expensive in some areas than the above mentioned. A middle-class couple renting an apartment with 2 children in a good sector

of Santiago spends at least between US$1,000 and US$1,200 per month on a

3-bedroom property with pretty good space. I lived relatively well in several apartment buildings of Las Condes if it weren’t for some noise pollution in the surroundings that I will detail furthermore.

The most expensive and beautiful apartment buildings to reside would  be in the neighborhoods of : El Golf, Santa María de Manquehue, La Dehesa and some sectors of Las Condes.

In general terms, I would say that the cost of living in a high-class neighborhood, and having children attending a bilingual private school is very similar or slightly more expensive than the rest of the South American countries. It may vary slightly, but calculated in dollars, there isn’t much difference, since many South American countries have dollarized the prices of properties and the fees of elite private schools.

The middle class has a lot of options in where to live well, as many new  modern buildings were built in the last 15 years.

Among the options of middle class neighborhoods, the most chosen by chileans and foreigners are: Las Condes and Providencia. Some areas  of Las Condes are much more expensive than others of this same neighborhood.

An apartment in some middle class neighborhoods can be purchased  at around $1,500 to $2,000 dollars per square meter and leases range between $550 and $700 dollars for an 100 mts2 (1,073 sq/ft) apartment.

Renting a nice 75 mt2 apartment (807 sq/ft) in Providencia area can be around $650 or $700 dollars, and one of 100 m2 can cost you between $800 or $900 dollars. A middle-class family with 2 children needs between US$3,500 and US$4,000 per month. The income of a middle class household is around $1,700,000 Chilean pesos (approximately $3,000 dollars). I think that most middle class with children is always US$500  or more short, recurring to credit cards to cover that shortage of money every month.

Chile is today perhaps the South American country with the highest percentage of middle class, along with Costa Rica and Uruguay, which  is around 35%, though governments tend to give much larger figures to make believe that

their economic policies are going smoothly.

And they put in the measurement of the middle class people who  cannot

really take vacations or neither have a vehicle and live tightly.

Therefore, there is a lower middle class that just pay their bills.

In recent media reports, Chile shows a 64% of middle class. I don’t agree with  this figure, because the average salary in Chile was CLP $554,493  during 2017, about US$800 per month (data from the National Institute of Statistics). With $800 dollars per month it’s not possible to cover the basic needs of a middle class member (housing, food, health, clothing and education). Note: Minimum salary, which is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their workers, is not the same as average salary calculated among salaried workers in a particular country.

It’s also worth knowing that in Chile, almost 4 million people left poverty, since 1990 (out of a population of about 17.5 million), which indicates  that the standard of living has improved for many Chileans. The country is considered a successful case in the reduction of poverty.

If you are looking for properties to buy or rent in internet portals you will see that the prices are placed in UF (Unidades de Fomento), and as of September 2018: 1 UF = $43 dollars approximately. That is, about $28,000 Chilean pesos. Among the requirements to rent an apartment in Chile you should know the following:

●RUT (Unique Tax Paper), a document that is also necessary to work and buy real estate.

● DICOM (Commercial Information Directory), a company that has a large database with the economic information of Chilean individuals and companies)

● Employment contract: to guarantee economic solvency.

● Personal reference: to confirm the background of the future tenant and give peace of mind to the landlord.

Be cautious in choosing beautiful residential neighborhoods in Santiago that are too far away from your workplace (Providencia, for example), because when it rains the streets are too flooded due to an inefficient surface water drain/sewer, and also for the huge number of vehicles in lots of narrow streets, making it very hard to reach your home.

At least try to live close to a Metro subway station. Many immigrants are knowledgeable of some landlords who only rent to foreigners, perhaps because they don’t really trust the financial solvency of Chilean tenants (some stay in the property without paying for several months).

In this case, only showing the passport will be enough for them (some ask for a university degree). Landlords usually charge a substantial advance deposit to foreigners without guarantor or recommendations. So having available funds is essential.

A 91% of the real middle class has a vehicle, which on the other hand is a symbol of status, as in the U.S. And it’s possible to see middle class people driving new luxury cars, having no relation to their monthly income.

Living in an elegant neighborhood and taking their children to an expensive private school provides social status in Chile, so they overspend.

Food and clothing sector

The food item isn’t expensive in Chile. There are products such as fruits, vegetables, chickens, fish, wines and soft drinks with quite reasonable prices, compared to Europe or the U.S. A kilogram (2,2 pounds) of apples can cost $1.20 dollars and a kilogram of tomatoes around $1.5 dollars.

In turn, there are mega-supermarkets that compete fiercely with each other, and they grow and produce their own vegetables, fruits and meats, placing their products directly to the consumer, without intermediaries, at competitive prices. One of them even, with branches in Argentina.

They are really huge and comfortable inside, just like any Walmart in the U.S, and offer an enormous variety of food products, both domestic and foreign. They even have their own coffee shops and restaurants inside.

In recent years, the supermarket called Líder has put on sale dozens of products with its own brand, at reduced prices than those of renowned brands, including soft drinks. It’s the same practice done by big supermarkets in the U.S.

In 2010 Walmart bought the company D & S, owner of Líder Supermarkets and by the end of 2015, Walmart operated 398 stores in Chile with locations in 12 shopping centers throughout the country. They still keep the commercial name Líder, but as you see in the photo below, they introduced the Walmart logo into the brand.

You can enjoy thousands of national and imported food products,

vehicle accessories, clothing, household products, electronics and home appliances as in any American Walmart. And they’re open until 10pm.  You can open a credit card account with Lider and pay any purchase made   in monthly installments, just like the Walmart card works in the U.S.

Chileans are the second or third largest world consumers of Coca Cola,

and the cost of a liter of this drink is among the lowest in the globe.

You can buy a good bottle of red wine at very tempting prices too, since

Chile is one of the world’s  greatest producers.

In addition, good quality fruit including grapes is available almost all year round, at very affordable prices, even during winter.

Chile has a relatively low customs internment tariff, and the port of Valparaiso located in the Pacific ocean permanently receives lots of merchandise of all types from Asia. So you will find clothing at affordable prices.

Added to this, there are Chilean businessmen who manufacture their own garments in China. In Chile, the general tariff for all merchandise is 6% of

ad valorem duties, calculated on the customs value or CIF thereof, plus the value added tax. The situation varies favorably when the goods originate in countries with which Chile has signed an Agreement of a commercial nature or a Free Trade Agreement, respecting the tariffs that have been agreed upon in a particular agreement.

You will adore the overwhelming amount of sales and discounts offered by the Chilean department stores throughout the year.

The 3 biggest ones: Falabella, Ripley and Almacenes Paris compete hard against each other, releasing tempting offers in clothing, household and electronic items. They even have their own travel agencies and also a bank that lends money to customers!

They have branches in Peru and Argentina. Many Argentines cross the border by car or bus to buy LED televisions, computers and electronic  goods when their currency strengthens in relation to the dollar.

Service sector

Chile has a solid banking system, communications, hundreds of foreign franchisings, very cheap labor, as well as the fees charged by many professionals, increases the standard of living of a resident.

A taxi can cost almost $1 dollar per kilometer (0,6 miles), a very affordable cost, considering that trips inside the city are pretty short and everything is

at a reasonable close distance.

In Santiago you can see huge modern pharmacies in each corner of the city, and megastore supermarkets that sell everything that comes to your mind, as well as large medical facilities, big fuel stations with food stores that operate 24 hours a day and many enormous shopping centers. There’s a telecommunications company called VTR (vtr.com) that offers a triple package of:

Home telephone line, cable TV with more than 80 channels plus broadband Internet for a monthly cost of about $65 dollars.

Also, the international telecom company Claro offers similar packages (clarochile.cl) is a good option for triple packs and cell phone services.

Another third Internet and telephone international company is Movistar (movistar.cl), at very reasonable prices internationally speaking.   

And you also have a state telecom company  called Entel, offering phone services and Internet, with a 30% share in the market (entel.cl).

Both Claro and Movistar are all over Latin America, so you can be serviced in other countries when you travel abroad. When you sign up with Falabella or Ripley stores as a client and they issue you their credit card, you might be able to use it in other countries of the region too.

Falabella owns a huge supermarket called Tottus, so your Falabella credit card also serves to make food purchases. And if you are building and renovating your home, Falabella also owns Sodimac, a Chilean chain of construction, tools, home appliances and home improvement products present in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Good news for those who move from the U.S and are accustomed to the do it yourself concept, and frequent clients and visitors of Home Depot, the American home improvement supplies retailing company.

A Sodimac megastore In Santiago

The cell phone plans are very reasonable, as there are several telecom companies competing against each other, previously mentioned.

They include affordable options and services for those who regularly make international calls. Chile has excellent fiber optic networks, which

is one of the largest and more extended of Latin America. Many small towns in Chile are now much less isolated thanks to these big telecom companies that provided fiber optic coverage.

A 2018 statistical survey showed that 8 out of 10 Chileans own a cell phone, and 82% of Chileans use their cell phones to surf the Internet (while the world average is only 50%).

There are more than 14 million Internet users! And almost 28 million mobile phone numbers in a country with almost 18 million inhabitants.

A modern well-equipped gymnasium and fitness center costs between $20 and $40 dollars per month, depending on which one you choose

and the coverage plan. The one I was affiliated to for quite some time is called Sportlife, in Las Condes (sportlife.cl), which I recommend. They have also merged with the Colombian chain of gyms called Bodytech, enabling the expansion of their services in more than 50 locations throughout the country. This allows members to use their facilities in many places and cities around Chile. They provide private fitness 1-hour group sessions and aquatic dance classes inside big heated swimming pools.

One of the many Sportlife fitness centers

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If you like playing tennis in red clay courts and live in Las Condes or Providencia, I recommend Parque Tenis club, located on Cerro Colorado street. It’s right next to the Hyatt Hotel, and you pay a reasonable fee per hour without having to become a member. You can also hire a personal tenis trainer by the hour at the very moment you are at the place, for a very modest price (between $7 and $10 dollars/hour), making it easy when you don’t have anyone to play with that day.

But there are several other similar good tennis facilities scattered

around Las Condes and adjoining neighborhoods.

I played tennis a lot at El Alba tennis club and the Pato Cornejo club in

Las Condes, both amazing facilities, that also offer a Fitness Center where the famous tennis player and former number 1 in the world Marcelo

Rios used to train. The lack of rain and sunny days allows you to play often, but don’t overdo playing long hours in polluted winter days because it will damage your lungs due to the reduced levels of oxygen.   At the rest of the day you will be all sore and exhausted too. Chile is a country quite involved with tennis and always had very good