In Bolivia, you have several options to find houses for sale in the different cities and regions of the country. Some of them are very reliable and safe as if you were in the first world, but most of them are quite risky, with many of the scammers hiding behind the offers. Despite this, these risky ways also hide a lot of great deals for your money.
To find a house for sale in Bolivia: you can search in the listings of major banks of this country, in ReMax and Century 21 listings, in reputable local realtor’s listings, in Facebook Marketplace, in Bolivian newspapers, online directories, and by physically finding these deals.
As Bolivian experts in real estate, who help lots of people from our country in their real estate projects (you can see our Bolivian real estate website), we know the most important ways to find a house for sale in the country, also, all the pros and cons of each one. Next, we’ll be talking about all these details.
The 6 main ways to find houses for sale in Bolivia
As we just said before, there are 6 main ways you can rely on to find a house for sale in Bolivia. We have listed all these six ways from the best to the worst, from the point of view of opportunities to get the best deals existing in the market, but also safety. These ways are:
- With real estate newspapers and online directories.
- Just by using Facebook Marketplace.
- By searching in foreclosure listings of Bolivian banks.
- With worldwide well-known realtors working in Bolivia.
- With local well-known real estate realtors.
- By physically finding the houses for sale.
| Searching option | Listing’s size | Purchasing Safety |
| Newspapers | Average | Risky |
| Ultracasas & InfoCasas | Average | Risky |
| Facebook Marketplace | Massive | Dangerous |
| Foreclosures from banks | Small | Great |
| Remax & Century 21 | Average | Good |
| Best local realtors | Small | Risky |
| Other local realtors | Tiny | Dangerous |
| Searching Physically | Tiny | Risky |
1) With Bolivian newspapers and online directories
The classic way to find houses for sale in Bolivia, but also a risky one, as you may find many scammers there. It doesn’t matter if the listing is in an online real estate directory or in a newspaper, you’re at the risk of meeting a scammer, getting a bad home deal, a house with legal troubles, or one that doesn’t have the right paperwork.
Then Be careful, the homes and properties you will find in online directories and newspapers are risky to buy. You should only buy these houses if you know very well what you are doing and know how to avoid real estate scams in Bolivia.
Listings of virtual directories
Only 2 important real estate directories operate in Bolivia (like Zillow, but with a lot less quality, less inventory, and more risk), Ultracasas and Infocasas. Anyone can list houses in these directories, there are no restrictions, but generally, only real estate agents list there. So, it’ll be sellers and agents from good real estate Bolivian companies, but also scam companies, in these directories.
Also, in these 2 real estate directories, you’ll find mostly houses from the best and most exclusive neighborhoods of Bolivia, and from the most commercial ones. Average houses and properties for sale in the country are not listed in these directories. For these, you’ll have a better option in the newspapers and Facebook Marketplace.
You can find all the listings from UltraCasas at the following address:
- https://www.ultracasas.com/ (Translated: Link).
You can find all the listings from InfoCasas at the following address:
- https://www.infocasas.com.bo/ (Translated: Link).
Additionally, in these 2 directories almost always only real estate agents (legit and scammy ones) are listing, but not particulars who are selling by the FSBO way.
Listings of newspapers
Every major city in Bolivia has its main newspaper, where hundreds of houses for sale are listed on a daily or weekly basis.
Almost all FSBO sellers and most Bolivian homeowners list homes for sale and rent in newspapers as their main way to advertise their homes (more recently also much more in Facebook Marketplace). Still, a big portion of the homes for sale market is advertised in newspapers in Bolivia. But a lot of risks and scammers are there, be very careful!
For Santa Cruz, you have listings in the main newspaper El Deber:
- https://clasificados.eldeber.com.bo/llave-en-mano (Translated: Link).
For La Paz, you have listings in the main newspaper El Diario:
- https://pub.eldiario.net/movil/?gc=2#c1 (Translated: Link).
For Cochabamba, you have listings in the main newspaper Los Tiempos:
- https://clasificados.lostiempos.com/inmuebles (Translated: Link).
You really need to know what you are doing when buying from other sources than major banks and ReMax or Century 21 in Bolivia, you can find all the details about the house-buying process in this country in our dedicated guide: How to buy a house in Bolivia? All the details.
2) Just by using Facebook Marketplace
In recent years, Facebook Marketplace has replaced the principal newspapers to become the listing space with the largest inventory of homes for sale in Bolivia. This inventory is dramatically larger, to the point that for every listing that you can get in a Bolivian newspaper you get like 10 listings in Facebook Marketplace (ratio 10 to 1).
Nowadays, Bolivian people choose Facebook Marketplace to advertise their homes, because it’s free and very easy to access and understand, unlike newspapers where you need to pay to list homes for sale. But Facebook is also the place where most real estate scammers operate, so you need to be really careful with these listings!
To access Facebook Marketplace listings for houses for sale in Bolivia, simply follow the next steps:
- Go to the Facebook app or website, on your device:
- https://facebook.com/marketplace/.
- Or you can just type Marketplace in the Facebook app.
- Go to the real estate for sale section.
- Use the proper location filter to target Bolivia and its cities.
- Use subsequent filters to refine your search for homes for sale within the country.
- That’s all.
You will find thousands of homes for sale, among many other types of properties, in this social network, but take into account that almost all people that list there are day-to-day normal Bolivians, who usually won’t be able to communicate with you, and they also don’t add too much information about their properties. Be careful with the scammers that hide in these listings!
3) By searching in foreclosure listings of Bolivian banks
In Bolivia, the process of buying a house is significantly more risky than in developed countries. There are many threats from scammers, corruption, unethical lawyers, unfinished paperwork in properties, and the lack of any warranty in the buying process, situations that can get you in real trouble.
Despite this, and contrary to what foreigners think, when you already have ownership of the property, the Bolivian legal system works well protecting your rights as the owner, and it’s very difficult for bad people to steal it from your hands.
That’s why our best advice to get all the guarantees and the highest possible security in the buying process, and also, get good deals and offers (20% discount), is just buying from the major banks of Bolivia, through home auctions and foreclosure processes these entities normally conduct.
So, you have 2 ways to find houses for sale in the major banks of Bolivia:
- By searching in banks’ foreclosure and house auction lists. These houses for sale are the result of owners who didn’t pay their mortgage, and they can have a discount of up to 20% of the appraisal price according to Bolivian laws.
- By searching in banks’ adjudicated house lists. These are the houses that banks haven’t been able to sell in a foreclosure process, so, these entities become the owners of the house, but they want to sell it to get their money back.
When you buy a house from a Bolivian bank, you have all the guarantees that the whole process will be very secure and expedited. Also, you have the possibility of getting a discount of 20% for the property. The only issue you will face is the language and the communication with the bank.
Lists from Banks for house auctions and houses for sale
The following are the most important Bank lists for auctions and homes for sale (links in Spanish, also translated with Google):
- Official government’s home auctions list (Thor System). This list has all the current active home auctions going on in Bolivia, it has all the ongoing foreclosures from all banks, but also auctions from other lawsuits and legal conflicts:
- https://thor.organojudicial.gob.bo/, (Translated: Link).
- Banco Economico’s auctions list:
- Banco Unión’s autions list:
- https://www.bancounion.com.bo/GrupoUnion/RematesJudiciales (Translated: Link).
- Banco BNB’s homes for sale list (this is not an auctions list):
- https://www.bnb.com.bo/PortalBNB/Servicios/BienesAdjudicadosIndex/8289 (Translated: Doesn’t work).
- Banco BCP’shomes for sale list (this is not an auctions list):
- https://www.bcp.com.bo/BienesAdjudicados (Translated: Link).
- Banco Union’shomes for sale list (this is not an auctions list, includes other goods):
- https://www.bisa.com/pdf/ofertaDeBienesAdjudicados.pdf (Translated: PDF document, not available).
- The regulatory entity of banks in Bolivia’s list (ASFI). This is the official aggregated list for the auctions from all the major banks in Bolivia (but usually it’s not well-updated):
The above listings are not all the ones that exist, you should call major banks in Bolivia so they can bring you their detailed auction lists and available deals.
To get one of these houses, you need to contact the bank, with the help of a translator, and make the deal. The bank employees usually will do their best to help you. We deeply encourage you to come to Bolivia to finish the buying process.
4) With worldwide well-known Realtors working in Bolivia
The 4th most useful way to find a house for sale in Bolivia is by looking inside worldwide known, very reputable, realtor companies that are also present in the country. These companies are ReMax and Century 21.
ReMax has a wide presence in Bolivia, with more than 25 franchise offices, across 7 different major cities (including la Paz, Cochabamba, and Santa Cruz), and it normally lists an average of 2000 to 3000 homes for sale.
You can find all the house for sale listings of ReMax Bolivia at the following address:
On the other hand, Century 21 has a presence with more than 25 franchise offices across 4 different major cities of Bolivia(La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and Sucre), most of them in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. This company has an average of 600 listings in total in the whole country.
You can find all the house-for-sale listings of Century 21 at the following address:
Both of these companies have agents that can communicate with you in proper English and they can help you as if they were in your country. These 2 companies also work with the same quality standards they use in other countries, including developed countries. So, don’t hesitate to contact them.
5) With local well-known real estate Realtors
Additionally, you have the option to contact the most important local realtors and real estate companies available in Bolivia. But you need to be more cautious, as they are significantly riskier than Remax and Century 21.
More than 95% of the 2,500 currently available Bolivian realtor companies are illegal and informal. These companies are not allowed to work by the central and local Bolivian governments (they are not formal businesses), anyway, they still bring services to Bolivians, but these companies are very risky for them and much more for you.
Only contact the companies that we’re going to list in the next lines, as we have done a detailed review of the best real estate companies in our country, you can read our review in Spanish in the following link (also, translated by Google: link).
Best realtor local company in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
- UNO Corporación’s homes for sale listing. This company has more than 500 listings in total in Santa Cruz city, and experience of more than 20 years in the field:
- https://www.uno.com.bo/ (Translated: Link).
Best realtor local company in La Paz, Bolivia
- Firma Propiedades’homes for sale listing. This company has more than 700 listings in total for La Paz city, more than 5 years in the field, with around 35 in-house real estate agents:
- https://firmacasas.com/inicio (Translated: Link).
Best realtor local company in Cochabamba, Bolivia
- Inmobiliaria Servial’s homes for sale listing. This is, from our point of view, the best realtor company in Cochabamba City, with around 300 home listings, and more than 20 years of experience in the field.
- http://www.inmobiliariaservial.com/ (Translated: Link).
6) By physically finding the house sales and offers
Sometimes, homeowners in Bolivia only advertise their properties with a “For Sale” or “Casa en Venta” board on the facade of the property, and you can find great deals this way. Just take a walk in some neighborhoods of the city if you are visiting our country to see if you can find some good deals.
But anyway, we don’t recommend you find a house this way, unless you know a lot about the country and know which zones of the city are the good ones and the bad ones to live in or to buy a property. There are huge differences in the quality of living and the possible scams that you can find in different neighborhoods of the major cities of Bolivia.
Not to mention that this behavior is very uncommon to see and you may call the attention of thieves that target tourists, be very cautious with this possibility.
Don’t forget to appraise with a proper professional the home that you want to buy, to verify the price the owner is asking for is fair.
Comparing the different ways to find houses for sale in Bolivia
For us, by far, the most secure and convenient way for a non-South American or Spanish foreigner to buy a house in Bolivia is with the help of major banks in this country, through house auctions, foreclosures, and houses that banks list for sale.
This is because the bank will take all the buying tasks done for you, including the paperwork, the appraisal, and everything. The bank will also ensure that the house is legal and doesn’t carry any future troubles for you, so, the risk of a scam this way is very small.
The second most secure and reliable way to buy a house in Bolivia is with the help of worldwide real estate companies like Remax and Century 21. These companies work here with the same standards they apply in other countries, including the United States and European countries. Both companies have together with nearly 1,000 real estate agents working in different cities of Bolivia.
The third way in terms of security and opportunities to buy a house here is with the help of local realtor companies, but not with any company, only with the best ones available. Otherwise, you are putting yourself at high risk of scams and you may lose all your money in a home buying process.
There’s a high risk of scams that you need to consider
We don’t recommend you, by any means, to buy a house from listings in newspapers, real estate directories, or Facebook Marketplace, unless you know what you’re doing and how real estate works in this country. In these places, scams are everywhere and you won’t be able to differentiate between scammers and legit people. People in our country take this risk very seriously.
Also, we don’t recommend you to simply go and search homes for sale in the different neighborhoods and zones of Bolivia by foot, searching for home sale banners is difficult, and rarely you will find one that is available. The main risk here is that you can become the target of robbers that may follow you, steal from you, or do even something worse.
In summary, to avoid risks and still get good offers, you should better search for houses for sale (and buy them) from major banks from Bolivia, ReMax, Century 21, and the most reputable local realtors available. Don’t buy houses from FSBO sellers, newspapers, directories, or Facebook Marketplace, unless you really know what you’re doing!
Conclusions
In this guide, you have learned that there are 6 main ways to find a house for sale in Bolivia. 3 of them are secure and reliable, but 3 of them are risky and have the possibility of scams. The secure ways are with bank foreclosures, ReMax, Century 21, and with the most well-known local realtors. The risky ways are with the newspapers and online directories, Facebook Marketplace, and by physically searching for the house.
You also have seen that it’s possible to get good deals when you buy from a major bank in the country, through house auctions, which can bring you a discount of 20% over the appraisal price. These banks will do all the paperwork that involves buying a house this way and you won’t get almost any chance of scam. Don’t forget to appraise the house with a proper professional before you buy it.
Buying a house in Bolivia is a complicated and risky process, you need to know what you are doing. You can visit our full detailed guide about how to conduct this process and avoid the risks involved, in the following direction: How to buy a house in Bolivia? A complete guide.
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