... in response to Buy a condo, here's what I found, posted by Throw on Jan 23, 2003Some of you that may remember the Crystal Palace the former home of Latin Love,an 18,000 sq. ft. mansion in Cuidad Jardine in the south of Cali.10 bedrooms,8 baths,2000 sq. ft. gym.Huge pool.My bedroom was over 2000 sq. ft.One of the nicest houses in Cali.When Latin Love rented it I believe the rent dropped to below $3000 a month.I was told by a Colombiano in the know it was probably worth only $400,000 or so at the time.A gringo I know who was recently real estate shopping in Cali tells me it is now probably worth about $200,000.It is in need of repair and the utility expenses were high,I think more than the rent when Latin Love was operating it as an agency.
Apparently you can buy a very nice 5000 sq. ft or so house in a good neighborhood for $50,000 or so.My in laws own a 3 bedroom 2 bath townhouse in what is now a somewhat bad and unsafe area of Cali,although I am sure there are worse.Its worth less than $5000 and they rent it for about $70 a month and even then have trouble getting the rent.
For a gringo a high rise condo may be the way to go because they have full time security at the entrance.Houses in neighborhoods are less safe.The bad guys could get you figured out and do a home invasion.Neighborhood security is less effective than front gate security at a high rise.
For gun control advocates here,Cali is your place.Only the bad guys and a very few security people have guns.Its against the law to have them except for very rare situations,so as the NRA says,when guns are illegal only criminals will have guns.
Pete
