About juanm123

Status:

Preparing to Move Abroad 

Currently Lives:

Massachusetts, United States

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Colombia: Looking for an English Speaking Real Estate Agent in Bogatá:

My wife speaks perfect English and runs an expat relocation and real estate business. Perhaps I'm not objective, but I think she does a great job especially compared with all the terrible realtors in this country, most of whom take days just to return your call. In fact, her company has won an award two years in a row now from the largest relocation company in the world naming it one of their best service providers globally. Feel free to email me and I can put you in contact with her (jmckenna71@gmail.com).

Colombia: job vacancy:

Well I would agree with the posts. Finding a decent job in Bogota is very hard to do and the pay is often laughable. I don´t know about Cali but I suspect it is the same. I always recommend to start and/or buy a business as it is really the only way to make a decent wage (obviously there are some exceptions). The ideal would be to secure a job from overseas that you can do here, but easier said than done.

Colombia: Shipping a 40' Container Colorado to Colombia:

We shipped a 40' container from Boston to Bogota through Cartagena. If I recall it cost $15k so a chunk of change but it was a full household of stuff. With the COP devaluation anything made locally is a lot cheaper than when I came, but electronics and other important are likely to be pricey. If you can avoid shipping probably better given the cost but if not it is doable. We did it through Aviacargo, part of Aviatur. They did a decent job with just a few broken things. I am originally from Colorado Springs and may need to ship some things from there in the next couple of years, so would like to know how much it cost you in the end. Thanks.

Colombia: Anyone have experience getting a mortgage here in Colombia?:

Hi everyone. We are thinking of taking advantage of the high USD to finally buy a house (in Bogota). I´ve been looking for a good mortgage calculator here to better understand how they mortgages are calculated here in Colombia but haven´t found one yet. Given that mortgage rates are around 10% I´m wondering if they are calculated the same as in the US? Maybe I´m being overly optimistic, but I have a hard time seeing how people could pay the monthly payment if done the same way. I had a mortgage in the US for $350k and that was around $2k/month (at 4.7% for a 30 year). So would that imply the same amount here but most likely on a 15 year mortgage as that is more the norm here would be roughly $5k/month? If so, who can afford that? If that is the case, who Anyhow, if anyone has experience with this please do reply. Thanks, John

Colombia: Good schools in Bogota?:

Hello, there are a lot of good (private) schools in Bogota and most expats are surprised at the high quality, with many foreign kids having to hire tutors just to catch up. I know this because my wife has an expat relocation business and she goes to the schools all the time. There are all types of schools, some are religious, some are based on languages/countries (the french school, the german school, etc). Most expats I have seen, however, focus on the following schools: Nueva Granada (the American school), Anglo-Colombiano, the English School and Gran Bretana. These are all very competitive schools and not easy to gain admittance, so my suggestion is to pick a minimum of three. The most popular with expats are Nueva Granada and Anglo (they are also the most expensive, along with Gran Bretana, and tend to cater to the Embassy crowds and the high upper classes). Other good schools include St. George, Andino (german school), Vermont but there are several others as well. Regarding pricing, most charge around US$800/month for 11 months (this includes an annual fee equivalent to one month). There is also a one time tuition that can range from $5k-$15k. If you pay that, your monthly is less. However, as an expat that will only stay for 3 years, you are better off not paying it and paying the higher monthly. I won´t lie, the school process is exhausting and stressful as the kids have to go through testing at each school. We have seen many kids not get accepted (due to poor english for example or just generally poor testing) and this is of course devastating to parents (especially when your kid is only 3 years old!). Nonetheless, it all works out in the end. As an expat myself, I can tell you that the level of schools here is good so no need to worry. If you would like more info, feel free to send me a message off the message board. John

Colombia: Finding a rental apartment:

Hi Jane, my wife works for a real estate/relocation agency. Depending on where in Bogota you are looking, I´m sure she could at a minimum give you good advice. She mainly focuses on the north of Bogota (Chico, Santa Barbara, Usaquen, Cabrera, etc). Send me your email and I can connect you. Good luck.

Colombia: Mortgage update.:

I'm a little late to this conversation but could you elaborate on what is CAMU? I'm an American living here and would be very interested in being able to secure financing from a US bank for housing here in Colombia, if that is what you mean. Thanks, John

Colombia: Apartment in Bogota:

My wife has a lot of contacts in the real estate business here in Bogota. Through her business she has a large database of RE agents and just sends out requests to the whole bunch and they reply with what they have at the moment that fits your needs. Feel free to contact me if you want. jmckenna71@gmail.com.

Colombia: Business opportunity:

I may be interested. We have an expat relocation business. Please send me more info. jmckenna71 @ gmail

Colombia: Relocation assistance for Bogota:

We run a executive relocation service out of Bogota. We faciliate the transition to Bogota for executives and their families, including finding homes, getting their kids into the best school, help with government administrative processes, etc..We have extensive experience helping MNCs from the US, Europe and Latin America. Feel free to visit our website at www.firstcontactcol.com for more information. Thank you, John McKenna

Date Joined:

2/15/2011

Total Posts:

21

Posts/Day:

0.01