Seeking Future Housing/Rental in Medellin

You could look at Locanto, which is sort of like Craigslist.  Owners as well as agencies may post for free.  Look under INMOBILIARIA and then click on Apartamentos en arriendo for apartments for rent, Habitaciones en arriendo for rooms for rent, and Casas en arriendo for houses for rent.

https://medellin.locanto.com.co/

Note also there are pages for some neighborhoods in and nearby Medellín, on the right side of the page.

As far as a guide, you might want to try ShowAround for Medellín.  Some are bilingual, some are free.  I'm sure they could assist you with many of your tasks, including which neighborhoods are classified in which estrato, and how to get around in Medellín using public transportation and ride services.

https://www.showaround.com/locals/colombia/medellin

Here is a link to a PDF that lists each barrio in Medellín, by comuna, with how many households there are in each estrato in each barrio, and the predominant estrato for the barrio.

https://medellin.gov.co/irj/go/km/docs/ … S_2012.pdf

OsageArcher wrote:

You could look at Locanto, which is sort of like Craigslist.  Owners as well as agencies may post for free.  Look under INMOBILIARIA and then click on Apartamentos en arriendo for apartments for rent, Habitaciones en arriendo for rooms for rent, and Casas en arriendo for houses for rent.

https://medellin.locanto.com.co/

Note also there are pages for some neighborhoods in and nearby Medellín, on the right side of the page.

As far as a guide, you might want to try ShowAround for Medellín.  Some are bilingual, some are free.  I'm sure they could assist you with many of your tasks, including which neighborhoods are classified in which estrato, and how to get around in Medellín using public transportation and ride services.

https://www.showaround.com/locals/colombia/medellin

Here is a link to a PDF that lists each barrio in Medellín, by comuna, with how many households there are in each estrato in each barrio, and the predominant estrato for the barrio.

https://medellin.gov.co/irj/go/km/docs/ … cas/Shared Content/Documentos/VIVIENDAS_DEFINITIVAS_2012.pdf

Locanto is completely new information to me! And it looks like it will come in handy for other searches as well... jobs, etc. This has given me LOTS of research material. Mucho gracias, OsageArcher

By the way, there are a bunch of $1/day furnished apartment ads on Locanto. In nice areas, too. What do you think about them? They might be "too good to be true"... does anyone have any experience with them... Are they legit, or a scam?

Here's an example:

https://medellin.locanto.com.co/ID_4860 … D-146.html

Or am I missing something in the translation?

This is an example of a furnished apartment listed for $1 a day:

https://medellin.locanto.com.co/ID_4860 … D-146.html

Note also that the area is listed as 1 square meter (about 11 square feet).

This is a listing by an agency.  I think it's just to get listed, they must put in a price and how big it is - obviously you're not going to get a nice apartment for $1 a day, whether that's Colombian pesos or US dollars.

If you really want to find out the true price, and/or what is their game, contact them.

If they are legitimate you as a foreigner would likely not be able to rent or lease anyway, unless you have a cédula, the national ID card.  Owners (not an agency) of an apartment for rent may overlook the lack of a cédula but still may want several months' rent in advance, as much as 6 months.  If the tenant skips out without paying rent, or stays longer than agreed upon and does not pay rent, the landlord has little recourse to collect the rent money.  "No dar papaya" is a good rule especially when you're a landlord and are dealing with someone who could vanish literally overnight.

Someone renting out only a room in their home, however, is likely to want nothing more than cash up front, no cédula required.

OsageArcher wrote:

This is an example of a furnished apartment listed for $1 a day:

https://medellin.locanto.com.co/ID_4860 … D-146.html

Note also that the area is listed as 1 square meter (about 11 square feet).

This is a listing by an agency.  I think it's just to get listed, they must put in a price and how big it is - obviously you're not going to get a nice apartment for $1 a day, whether that's Colombian pesos or US dollars.

If you really want to find out the true price, and/or what is their game, contact them.

Ah, just like I assumed initially. Same thing that sometimes happens here in the USA as well. So it sounds like when I'm ready - and maybe even when in Medellin in-person - I'll be sending out mass texts to these listers, asking for the real price (hopefully I'll have a bilingual assistant to help me out).

I'd have gone with AirBnB long stays, but those prices seem a bit high even for multi-month stays.

OsageArcher wrote:

If they are legitimate you as a foreigner would likely not be able to rent or lease anyway, unless you have a cédula, the national ID card.  Owners (not an agency) of an apartment for rent may overlook the lack of a cédula but still may want several months' rent in advance, as much as 6 months.  If the tenant skips out without paying rent, or stays longer than agreed upon and does not pay rent, the landlord has little recourse to collect the rent money.  "No dar papaya" is a good rule especially when you're a landlord and are dealing with someone who could vanish literally overnight.

It sounds like: without the Cédula de Extranjería (Foreign ID) card, I literally cannot even (legitimately) rent an apartment on a tourist visa (even if I'm willing to prepay 3 months rent up-front).

And to GET said Foreign ID Card, I'd need to get a my tourist visa extended past the 3 months (or get a longer-stay visa before even going there).

Am I understanding that correctly?

***

How does someone from Mauritius, an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, get appointed to censor information on a Colombian information website?

The moderator is properly separating forum posts from advertising.

She's not making the rule in this case, simply reporting what had to be done to conform with Expat.com norms.

Her location at or near the Home Office, East of mainland Africa, is not pertinent.

Let's return to the topic at hand, housing/rental in Medellín, Colombia.

cccmedia
Expat.com experts team

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