Monday 21 February 2011

Isn’t it supposed to be summer?

There was an original plan to rent any apartment for a month while getting to know Valpo and search for suitable digs during that month.  We’ve kept up our end of the bargain – the suitable digs part isn’t pulling its weight.



Our current apartment is in a perfect location with new, modern furshinings but it has only been offered to us at this price for a month.  We can’t afford to stay in this particular apartment for the rest of the year.  Karen, the real estate agent, keeps telling us to calm down, mas tranquilo.  She always takes the time to talk to us and help us learn a new phrase when ever we see her.  Perhaps our broken Spanish is why we sound fretful to her.  As we speak can only speak in the present tense everything sounds very urgent.
Part of the problem is that Valpo is not a transient population.  Certainly many people come here for the summer holidays but the majority of people don’t have the extra cash or the prospect of a better job to just uproot and move on.  We’ve been seeing the same apartments advertised for the past month now.  Another aspect is that with children we have set criteria for where we want to live in Valpo.  Which narrows down the field considerably.


The internet.  Yes it does exist here and wifi is everywhere.  Websites that function?  They haven’t quiet made it here yet.  Every day I look out at the harbor in the hope that one of the shipping containers will be filled with web designers who understand a few dogmas of web design.
In order of annoyance and need:
1. Tabs and links have to lead to somewhere
2. Just because your camera can take 16MB photos doesn’t mean you should use them.
3. Search criteria should not include vineyards, diary farms, abandoned rail way stations, glaciers or asbestos mines.  I just want to look at apartments in Valparaiso.
4. It’s not illegal to answer emails from potential customers.



Having said that the lady who runs the ice cream shop down the road said that we should come to her if we need any information.  Tomorrow it’s ice creams and dodgy Spanish.  Her son lives on the same street as we do. Maybe he wants to adopt us… 






4 comments:

  1. have you tried www.portalinmobiliario.cl ?

    Is not perfect, but was ok as I remembered. It's main focus is Santiago (as everything in Chile) but Valparaiso should have some decent places.

    Also, El Mercurio de Valparaiso (newspaper) is good on weekends for house/job hunting

    good luck

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  2. That web site was really helpful.. Thanks a bunch

    Talluah

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  3. My husband and I are currently in La Serena and hoping to find an apartment in Valparaiso for a few months. We're having the same problem, not many, too much $$ and no one will email us back. Crazy! Your site is great, love seeing what to expect when we get there. :)

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  4. Hi Sheryl,
    Thanks for reading the blog. We're slowly growing wiser. As Paula suggested try this one www.portalinmobiliario.cl and also this one http://www.patriciasepulveda.cl/ (this is the one Karen works for and we've found her very helpful).
    contact chile advertise some but they're not in the part of town we want to be in.
    There are lots of adverts on power poles advertising rooms or floors to rent but as we have kids we want a bit more privacy. If it's just the two of you it should be easier. Consider narrowing your search to just room s for rent.

    Gives us a shout when you hit Valpo and we'll pick your brains about La Serena.

    Ricky & Talluah

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