Hey There, I don't know about prices for area but labor costs can vary a lot, depending on location and type of construction in between other things. Please refer to the following link to know some costs
http://www.costos.todouy.com/
yes banks can give you money based on your land but they will ask more than that and I doubt it will be worth. Solar here is expensive specially deep cycle batteries. Depending on your budget you can assemble your own panels buying parts in the US. Another thing, there are people in this forum that would say don't bring anything here as it is expensive to bring and you can find everything here,. In your situation being married to a local and then you will be able to bring almost anything you want wight having to make any deposit as the other expats had to, Specially because you are going to build I would make an stop on home depot and get good tools but you need to be cautions as here it is 220. When I moved from the states to here back in 2007 I brought many things including tools which I still have, I regret not having brought more.

Welcome and good luck on your move.

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There is also an increasing range of options here now besides the traditional brick or cement.

Prefab such as

http://www.prefaburuguay.com/

Also metal stud and foam and using containers. They now have Tyvek and I have seen asphalt shingles but often not applied correctly.

I think many builders are trying new products but lack the training and experience of how to use them correctly in this specific climate. One even suggested to us to use to use drywall outdoors.

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Hi Madapunta,

I think your first step is to find an architect. Building here is not for the uninformed and I think an architect is the person to inform you of the local hoops you have to jump through and what costs are associated with what type of construction and your questions about solar.

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Hi!

First time posting!

I am in the same position with a Uruguayan spouse and wanting to build a house in Uruguay. I don't have the land.

What is the process of getting enough money to afford land. and building a house, from the United States to Uruguay?

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Kikiriki, We are having a time getting money down to pay for our land. The US banks will not let us do international wire transfer to Uruguay unless we are at the bank(in the US) in person. It looks as if one of us will have to fly back to the US to do this. It appears that the money needs to come from an account that you have had for some time as well, not a new account. If you can add a very trusted person to your existing account, they can go to the bank to wire the money for you when the time comes, otherwise you will have to do it in person. We will be meeting with our Escribano/lawyer next week and will have a much clearer picture of this.

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Vortice,

Thank you so much for replying! This was a big concern. Thought we would have to move cash to a Swiss bank or something, but this sounds much easier! So first step... get an escribano. Step 2, travel seperately when we are ready to make the move.

Please keep us informed on you experience, and good luck! Perhaps one day we will have an asado together in Uruguay!

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Madapunta, I think Focus is right that you should first find an architect. Most construction here requires an architect by law. (Uy generates more architects per capita than just about anywhere!) Modified shipping container is, to my knowledge, the only housing construction that gets around this law. It is what we will be doing for our first house. It is also seismically safe.
Just because you have hired the required architect does not mean that they know anything about building quality construction, or that they will be worth their cost. Maybe yes, maybe no.
As a builder of high end houses in Santa Barbara, CA, I can tell you that building practices here are not only sub-par, but horrid. From lack of proper foundation, and waterproofing, insulation to horrible plumbing practices and materials. They consider "doble pared", two virtually un-reinforced brick walls with an air gap between to be fabulous and of high insulating value!! (2 x 4"brick= R 0.8 + air gap= R 1 = R 2 total wall insulation on a good day! In this climate wall insulation needs to be R12 min to keep heating and cooling costs down. The list is endless. The construction industry here is born of poverty, so they cannot be blamed for not having the high standards we expect in the US.
When and if, we do finally build a real house, I will draw the plans and personally supervise every aspect of the project. The requisite architect will be hired and paid to rubber stamp, and otherwise keep his nose out of the project. If one cannot design and manage a project him/her self, finding a truly qualified architect is imperative! I have seen some top notch construction here, so I know it is possible, but it is the rare exception.
You will be told that Uruguay does not have earthquakes, and while it has nothing like the seismicity of the ring of fire (California), it has a couple dozen tiny quakes a year and had a 10 second 3.4 shaker last month centered north of MVD. My point is that the planet has large earthquakes everywhere and it is only a matter of period; 10 years, 100 yrs, 1000yrs etc. Manhatten sound was formed by a fault that is capable of 6+ quakes but has a very long, but unknown, seismic period. It will not be pretty when it does that again. The New Madrid Fault (US mid west) ripped severely a long time ago and rang church bells In Pennsylvania! The mid west had virtually no buildings at that time. The inevitable repeat of that quake will be very tragic. My point is that the thin and sparse steel reinforcement used in concrete here will not hold up to any substantial quake, and the un-reinforced brick wall sections between the "reinforced" columns and beams will fall under even less shaking. Food for thought; life is a gamble on every level! Place your bets.....

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"SUBSTANTIAL QUAKE" in Uruguay ?
What are the chances ?
0, yes I'm exaggerating maybe 0,000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001.
Let's be serious now, Uruguay sits on what is called the "Brazilian Platform".
That sort of protect us from any substantial quake happening around here.
There can be quakes around the platform that might make our ground vibrate from time to time but that's far from a "SUBSTANTIAL QUAKE"
Due to man created underground holes (mostly mining perforations), there can be some occasional re-adjustment underground but, again, that's far from SUBSTANTIAL QUAKES.

I know very little about construction but from what I see, the default construction in Uruguay is done using a reinforced concrete base (iron are the preferred metal bars)..
The walls can be a mix of bricks, hollow blocks and concrete.
You're not going to run a car thru a house in Uruguay like I've seen on some other places.
This type of construction is already more than enough protection against the kind of seismic activity we get around here.
The fact is that there is no known property damage caused by an earthquake EVER in Uruguay.

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Local banks will only give you money after having approved residency for minimum 02 years and a local income that could secure the payback of the loan on the mortgage.

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there was a small earthquake here few weeks ago.

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Payment for property update;
Our escribano told us that having a family member in the US wire the money is OK as long as we provide copies of all wire transfers. This allows for a verifiable trail of the money, proving it is not money laundering.

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Listen the way to wire money from the US wasn't too complicated. Our bank wires the money to a bank in New York that wires to Uruguay. All of my wife's family is living in Uruguay in the Punta area and her sister is a lawyer so it did make it easier for us with the real estate transactions for her to be able to sign everything and translate. If you have a bank account in Uruguay that you want to send money to it can be done the same way. Since my last post we have talked to many architects and builders and found that the best option for us is a container house . We have a friend that lives in one in. Piri and it is a great house we love it. There was a construction expo in Montevideo where we found a Company that's doing a great job with containers very affordable. The residential area where we are building does not allow container houses unless the container doesn't show and they blend in with the neighborhoods . Just a couple of weeks ago we sent money down to have the land cleared. After your Uruguays summer season we are going to start construction. Which only takes about three weeks . ??

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Hi Madapunta, ¿Are you speaking of Multicontainer company? We are leaning towards their Timbo' model. Two of our neighbors here in Piriapolis are installing container housing that is being sheathed on the outside with various materials to disguise the shipping containers. The outside of those being built across the street were covered with a spray on closed cell polyurethane insulation before being sheathed. Being closed cell foam, it also serves as a waterproofing membrane. We will do this too. They are framing a low pitched roof over the containers. Since container roofs are pitched to shed water in both directions, joining two side by side creates a pool/waterproofing problem at the joint. Are you roofing over your container house? We will be looking into container housing in depth in the next week or two, but any info you have to share would be appreciated. A three week lead time sounds fabulous, assuming it is possible.

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Madapunta, in reference to your solar question, if possible orient your container house such that the largest windows face due North (or slightly N by NE). Also provide awnings, eaves or trellis structures to block the summer sun from entering, but to allow the winter sun to penetrate and warm the interior. The winter sun will be at approximately 45º angle in June.

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