Renting a place long term in Cartagena
Of all the cities I used [URL]seeking.com[/URL]/ SA, the one population wise I probably had the worst success in was Cartagena. For that reason, initially, I kind of ignored it, but I had been dating a woman that I met from the site for almost a year now. She was a government contractor and still being given Covid pay but that ended this month. She was in tears telling me that she had a new job but in a city without an airport 2 hours north of Bogota and was not going to be able to see me much anymore. I asked what the salary was as I wondered if I could cover it and braced to be high balled, and she told me her job was going to pay her $500 a month. I almost laughed when she told me that. That small amount was a relief.
I had been flying between Colombia and the USA to meet her or flying us both to Mexico for a while. We would meet every 2 weeks and the airfares and hotel costs were adding up. If I supported her, I could choose any city in Colombia to put her up in. It took me about 2 seconds to pick Cartagena. I am not sure if it is the sea air, beach, or lack of altitude, but I feel great there, tons better than Bogota.
So this was the month of the move, and we got in and scheduled a time to start to go see apartments. The first one was on Bocagrande, but it did not face the beach. We specified 3 bedroom so maybe there was an apartment available facing the sea. I don't know. Then I asked the price. Keep in mind that I had been seeing condos here priced at $200 k and had been paying $100 a night (or $3000 on a monthly basis). So she tells me the price, and I do the calculation and it is $450 a month. I was just stunned at how cheap it was.
We then drove in the direction of the airport. There was a nice apartment on the 2nd floor with a swimming pool and gym. $550 per month.
Then there was a high rise where the view of the airport was practically like it was in your backyard. I really liked that place. $650 per month.
Finally, we went to the island of Manga. There was one apartment on a high floor with stunning views. The complex had a workout area and three pools, and the apartment for some reason had four toilets. The tenants were happy with the complex and bragged about how nice it was. I knew that was the right place, and we both loved it. It was $700 a month.
So now came the time to sign the lease. The real estate agent was very busy, and I had to actually postpone my flight (it was free as American overbooked the flight to Miami) and met her to sign the papers the next day. My gal was jobless now and so we had to sign the lease together. The agent had never rented to an American before and we had to set up an escrow account and I had to put $5000 in it. I plan on being there hopefully 7 to 10 days per month.
The only reason I am mentioning the $ amount is so people know how much it costs if they are interested in looking into it not to get anyone's approval. I am sure the centro rats, guys fucking bare, and those snorting mountains of cocaine, are going to tell me what a risk this is. LOL. Please do not make me regret being honest. I could have said, "All they wanted was a one month deposit."
For transportation, we rented a scooter for an hour and I am looking to buy one for my gal soon. There is a place, near the great Persian restaurant Persepolis, that rents them. It was pretty cheap like $25 an hour and it is amazing how quickly in the scooter world things have changed from gas to electric. I am not sure what fuel will be easier for my gal to get but I hope we can go the electric route.
I set her up on the soft dirt of the beach, and she took 30 minutes on her own riding. We then went to the road, and she handled herself well there too. She was actually excited to have a scooter, and I think Cartagena is a great city to have a scooter in. We went everywhere on that thing with no issues.
I was actually looking into cities in Mexico where we could meet and so I am happy to get more of a home we can meet in that we can set up like we want. Thing is that I do not mind the flight to Cartagena given how it is broken up (two 2 and a half hour flights) and that the Miami airport is so smooth. I got through Customs there with Global Entry in less than a minute.
It has been surprising to me to see how many people monger in Cartagena given the better and cheaper options in Medellin and Bogota. I suspect it is because the people like the city and just deal with the prices. The problem with Cartagena long term was the prices. The hotels I liked were $100 to $150 a night versus $40 to $60 a night elsewhere, and the Airbnbs ran around $100 a night as well. Having an apartment is like getting better than Airbnb or the hotels for $25 to $30 a night, maybe $35 if you include all expenses.
These prices to me make Cartagena a very interesting place to retire or in my case to settle down in, and I suspect others will follow.