Finding cheap houses to buy in Bolivia is easier than you may think, you can find some homes for around $20,000 or even $10,000 that will exponentially increase in value in the following years. The real estate market in Bolivia is highly stable and profitable, so you can find lots of little apartments for these prices with not much effort from your side.
To buy cheap houses in Bolivia, e.g. homes for $10,000 or with discounts of up to 30%, you have the following paths: 1) buy 1-bedroom apartment units 2) buy new lands with a tiny house inside 3) buy projects of multifamily buildings 4) buy houses in a foreclosure process and 5) combine these methods.
Through our experience in real estate, also as Bolivians who live in this country and help lots of people in this field (see our Bolivian real estate website), we can show you the best ways to buy the cheapest properties and houses available in the Bolivian real estate market so the return of your investment can be the maximum possible.
The best 5 ways to buy cheap houses in Bolivia
Below are the 5 best ways we’ve found in our country to buy the cheapest houses and real estate properties available, either for living or for investment purposes.
1) Buy tiny 1-bedroom apartment units
In the major cities of Bolivia, it’s common to find very small apartments with sizes from 400 ft2 to 500 ft2 for sale, even in the most exclusive neighborhoods. These apartments are located inside multi-family buildings or high-rises and tend to have sale prices in the range of $20,000 to $30,000.
They normally are rented for $100-$250 a month, this rental income turns them into a good starting investment that brings cash flow constantly for Bolivian and foreign landlords.
These apartments consist of 1 bedroom, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room, that’s all. They are meant for students or for persons who are alone, but they don’t lack any amenities you may find in any modern high-rise located in the city downtown.
2) Buy new land and build on it a little house
Another well-known way to get a cheap house in Bolivia is to buy recently created land lots in the outskirts of main cities, near rural areas, and build there a small home of around 600 ft2 to live or rent. The land lot, together with the construction of the tiny house, will cost you from $10,000 to $30,000 in most cases.
These properties can be rented from $30 to $50 per month, and usually, the tenant is responsible for taking care of this far away house, and with this avoiding possible illegal occupations and appropriations.
Bolivian people tend to largely invest in this way, they expect the house to increase in value by 5x or 10x in the following 10 or 15 years. It’s common to see new land bought at $10,000 a decade ago and nowadays getting appraised to up to $30,000 or $40,000. But this method has its own risks, sometimes a lot of squatters, or even adjoining neighbors, will try to get your land by using illegal ways.
This is why every time you buy new land in Bolivia, you need to construct a small home inside, so you can later rent it to a tenant who will also take care of the property, and with this, you’ll avoid possible illegal occupations and squatting of the land.
Remember also that every time you rent a house in Bolivia, you must sign a public deed for the rental to avoid a possible illegal appropriation of the house by the tenant himself.
3) Buy projects of multi-family buildings
You also can save a lot of money when buying a project of an apartment in a condo building or high-rise that is going to be built in the future. Construction companies in Bolivia usually need to raise capital for their real estate projects, so they normally sell apartments in the project phase with important discounts of up to 25% or 30% of the value that the apartment will have when it’s finished.
This means that for example, if you buy an apartment that is going to have a sales price of $50,000 when it’s built, you can buy it while it’s still in the project phase, before its construction for just $35,000, getting a discount of 30%.
Nevertheless, you’ll need to wait for 1 or 2 years until the apartment is constructed. But when it happens, you’ll be able to rent it for $300 to $400 per month, getting a great return on your investment of $35,000.
4) Buy houses that are going through a foreclosure process
A lot of houses in Bolivia also get into foreclosure, because their owners couldn’t pay their mortgage. These houses can be bought by any person, no matter if it’s a Bolivian or a foreigner, with a discount of up to 20%. By law, this is the max discount you can get for buying a house in this situation.
For example, if you want to buy a house in an auction from a foreclosure process that is appraised at $100,000, then you can get this property for down to $80,000 but no less (20% of discount).
Bear in mind that to buy a house this way you’ll need to pay the full price in cash and bank loans are not allowed, also to gain the right to enter into the auction, you’ll need to make an early payment of 20% off the value of the house. If you want to know everything about how to buy a house in foreclosure in Bolivia, visit our dedicated guide written in Spanish (Translated: Link).
5) Combine the above methods
The best way, whenever you can, is just to combine the above methods. For example, you can do the following:
- Buy a 1-bedroom tiny apartment that is still in the project phase before its construction. By doing it you can get a property in Bolivia by investing a little capital, and also get a discount for investing in the building project. For example, you can buy a 1-bedroom apartment worth $25,000 when It’s finished for only $18,000 of investment.
- Buy a new land lot on the edge of the city that is in a foreclosure process. You can buy this land lot without any construction inside, and then after buying it, build a small house for the tenant, or buy this property with an already existing home. For example, if this property in the market has a price of $15,000, you can get it for just $12,000 (20% of discount).
We have a detailed guide on how to find houses available for sale in Bolivia, so you can apply the methods described above, in the following direction: How to find houses for sale in Bolivia? All the ways and risks.
Precautions when buying a cheap house in Bolivia
Some important risks come with the process of buying cheap houses in Bolivia. Buying a cheap house or property in our country has its unique dangers not present when buying normal or expensive properties. These risks are the following:
- Being at risk of squatting and illegal occupations when you buy new land lots on the outskirts of the city. Precaution for this: always build a small house inside the new land, so it can be habited by a tenant that will avoid these possible issues with his only presence.
- The new land may be overpriced, and some real estate developing companies may overprice the land they are selling, making you think that it’s cheap, but instead, it’s actually overpriced. Precaution for this: make a depth research for land lots around the area to get the real property prices, also hire a professional appraiser so he can give you a realistic and accurate market value of the property.
- Having a tenant with bad intentions who wants to steal your house. Precaution for this: always sign a public deed for the rental, and never sign only a private contract or only a word agreement. You, as the landlord, have too much to lose, and making a public deed will cost you less than $50.
- Some projects for multi-family buildings can never be realized or may take too long to be finished, more than 3 or 5 years. Precaution for this: only invest in real estate developers that are well-known in Bolivia, which have built a lot of high rises and multi-family buildings in the past.
- The government can keep your early payment for the auction, remember that this early payment is 20% of the value of the house in the foreclosure process. Precaution for this: do not enter a house auction if you don’t have the money to pay the full price in one payment for the house. If you make the early 20% payment and later win the auction, then not buying the house will allow the government to keep the earlier payment.
- The house in a foreclosure process may be overpriced, some appraisal experts will give the house a higher value than it really has, for different reasons, including not having enough skills, corruption, and interest conflicts. Precaution for this: always hire your own appraiser to estimate the real value of the house and deeply inspect the house in the foreclosure process with the help of specialists like real estate agents, architects, and similar professionals before considering entering the auction. Get the real value of the house that’s going into foreclosure.
Cheap houses in Bolivia as a real estate investment
As you may notice, buying cheap houses in Bolivia is a great investment. For example, if you buy a new piece of land, with a little home built inside, that is located on the outskirts of the city, for let’s say $18,000, and put a tenant there to take care of the house, then in 10 years, this house could have a value of $50,000 to 70,000.
This happens because in Bolivia the properties almost always go up in price. The Bolivian real estate market is usually very stable and is always increasing in value, this happens because the population of Bolivia is increasing at a fast rate. In 2000 we were only 8 million Bolivians, now in 2022 we are nearly 12 million. Also, a lot of people from rural areas are moving to main Bolivian cities.
Furthermore, for just $20,000, you can purchase a tiny apartment that can bring you from $150 to $300 per month in pure cash flow, without needing to get a loan to invest in this little property. For people from overseas, it’s easier to save $20,000 that can be well invested in these tiny properties in Bolivia. This apartment will also go up in sales price, with maybe a 100% increase over a decade.
Also, contrary to what people outside our country think, once you get ownership of a house here in Bolivia, it’s very difficult for somebody else to scam you and take the house from your hands. The law system protects house owners quite well here. If the house has all the paperwork completed and done right, you can be quite sure that nothing really bad will happen to your property.
We have a complete guide on how to invest in Bolivia, deeply focused on real estate, which from our perspective, is the best type of investment you can do here, contrary to businesses and companies. Visit it in the following direction: How to invest in Bolivia? The best way to do it.
Conclusions:
In this guide about how to buy cheap houses in Bolivia, you have learned that there are 5 good ways to achieve it and get the best of your money when buying a house here.
The 1st way is to buy very tiny apartments in the best zones of major cities in Bolivia. The 2nd way is to buy new land lots located far away in the city to get the best possible return after 5 or 10 years. The 3rd way is to buy apartment projects and get discounts of up to 30%. The 4th way is to buy houses in foreclosure to get up to 20% of discount. And the last way is to combine all these methods.
Also, you’ve realized that there are some important risks attached to buying cheap houses in Bolivia, for example, the possibility of buying overpriced homes, squatting, bad tenants that want to take your land, real estate projects never finished, or that are very slow, and the possibility of losing your early payment on a house auction. But you also have learned precautions for all these risks.
Finally, you’ve known that buying cheap houses in Bolivia is a great investment, and a lot of Bolivians do it to invest and save their money and hold their wealth, you also can do it if you have the right help and assistance, investing as little as $10,000 to start.
We hope this information has helped you, and if you want to know more about how to buy a house in Bolivia, with all the steps, risks, and regulations, visit our dedicated guide: How to buy a house in Bolivia? All the risks and steps.
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