Why Choose Guatemala?

Introduction – This is an article dealing with the advantages of living in Guatemala for an expatriate.

Guatemala Real Estate – This is the major expense any expat will incur. Everything else is secondary. Guatemala has a lower cost of living than most other nations in Central and South America. Real estate costs are low. High-end real estate costs $900 to $1200 per sq. meter in the desirable areas. We are talking mansion style living inside of a gated community with armed guards at the gates and roving guards on bicycles or foot patrol. It is hard to find a single-family home in a gated community that is less than 500 sq. meters (one sq. meter = 10.75 sq. feet). Houses that are 800 to 1000 sq. meters are fairly common. This takes a lot of getting used to for people from other parts of the world.

Guatemalans live far more luxuriously than most people in other parts of latin america. It is still an undiscovered diamond not so much in the rough but still needing to be polished up some more. People only enter your home in the gated community if you let them through your security controls. The guard shacks have cameras that pipe an image of your guests in their cars into your house so you can see that they really are who they say they are. The houses are surrounded by 16 to 24 foot walls. The high walls often have high voltage electrified fences on top, usually razor ribbon. The wall is the outer security layer. The houses are separated from the walls by gardens, lawns, fountains etc. that makes for scenic living. This allows the people to live in houses without the bars on all the doors and windows so commonly encountered in Central and South America. Basically one enters the residence through doors in the surrounding walls and then one walks through a scenic garden area to the actual house doors to gain entrance to the residence itself.

The houses are built without air conditioning or heat as a rule in Guatemala City and Antigua. The temperature range in Guatemala City or Antigua is from 55 degrees to 75 degrees year round. Once in a while it will go down to 50 degrees at night or it might hit 80 during the day. Some houses have fireplaces. Some people use electric heaters with fans in the rooms if they get chilly at night. The rooms of the house tend to face towards the gardens, which frequently have fountains. Guatemala City not having heat or high humidity allows for wooden floors, carpets and leather furniture. One can get scenic views of the city from the higher locations in the city. The houses are generally then built further back form the walls and on elevation so as to afford a view.

Guatemala City has some condos. They are generally medium range to high end. They will have pools, gyms, social areas, enclosed parking, balconies, enclosed parking and good security.

Guatemala Crime – The Guatemala crime rate is over stated by countries that are not fond of Guatemala. Guatemala does what is best for Guatemala and does not bow down to foreign powers wishing to control the country for its own best interests versus what is best for Guatemala. One only need look at these other oppressive forces and their the violent crime rates, homeless rates, drug addiction rates, alcoholism rates, incredibly high taxes with next to no benefits, exaggerated beyond belief police powers, suspensions of constitutions and civil rights guaranteeing privacy and security, lack of healthcare coverage or lack of reasonable healthcare coverage, horrible civil law and litigation systems with unscrupulous lawyers fleecing the populace, out of control judges not sticking to the law, and large number of people in prison and then one wonders why anyone would listen to them since they cannot keep their own house in order. Then you come to the realization that Guatemala is taking the best course of action by doing what is best for Guatemala without causing harm to another country.

These other countries will depict Guatemala in a bad way. This discourages expats from moving there and deters investment capital. Sort of a way to push a country into obeying the other more powerful power. The countries pointing the finger at Guatemala are generally guilty of what they accuse Guatemala of. If you come to Guatemala you will realize it is safer than what the media indicates and is far safer than the countries pointing the finger at Guatemala.

The people are friendlier than what you might expect. The lifestyle is fantastic; the weather is superb being called the land of perpetual spring since the weather is springtime year round and you will experience freedoms foreign to you. The police are not free to conduct searches without warrants. Judges are reluctant to give out warrants in the absence of evidence. Evidence rules require more than just the police thinking getting a warrant is a good idea. Bank secrecy rarely gets violated and the same applies to corporate secrecy and attorney client privilege. Guatemala does not believe all allegations of foreign powers requesting information and requires proof positive of major criminality (not just tax issues) before any information would be turned over. Foreign prosecuting attorneys will have to waive diplomatic immunity before testifying in a Guatemala courtroom thus exposing themselves to perjury, perpetrating frauds upon the court and contempt of court. This keeps the game more honest. The foreign prosecutors do not like giving up their diplomatic immunity and in many cases have no idea if the information in heir files is true and correct and will thus avoid waiving diplomatic immunity like the plague.

Guatemala is not a criminal haven but will protect its own from privacy invasive, prison happy governments chasing people internationally for victimless crimes without any evidence on fishing expeditions to see if they can concoct cases against those they are after for whatever reasons. If the Guatemala narcotics police were to stop a truck they could run the drug dogs around the truck and if they got a hit from the drug dogs get a search warrant. If there was no hit from the dogs they could not search the truck without the owner present and if he refused to consent to the search, the police would need to go to court for a search warrant which would probably never be issued without any evidence. First comes the proof then comes the search. This is freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and the right to privacy that so many of you can barely remember.

The beefed up private security allows the country to operate in this way allowing all these freedoms and yet remain very safe at he same time. If private security or the homeowner shoots a perpetrator like a burglar there are not going be penalties for the law abiding people. The crook will lose out big time. The big question is what was the burglar doing in the house in the first place and then it goes downhill for he burglar from here. The law is not going make a victim out of the homeowner who is scared and trying to defend his home and his family. If you are wondering gun ownership is relatively easy in Guatemala including permits to carry concealed firearms. Many popular brands of guns are available including: Glock, Beretta, Sig Sauer and Heckler and Koch. Mossberg shotguns are also common. Full auto and silencers are not considered everyday weapons for the general population and one should not plan on obtaining such weapons in Guatemala.

Guatemala Security – Guatemala has taken an approach of beefed up private security to thwart crime before it gets a chance to get started and organized. The people know that the police are not going to be able to be everywhere at once so their value in preventing crime is diminished. America of course is the opposite. They want the people to rely on the police and crime is rampant and the people in the USA will rarely ever say they feel safe. Many are afraid to venture out of their homes.

What they do in Guatemala is use private armed security guards abundantly. People live in gated communities with high walls and electrified fences. There are armed guards working the gates controlling access in and out. In some communities they scan the ID of the driver of the car as a back up. No ID, no entrance. The houses have an alarm system. The alarm notifies the alarm company and triggers a siren. Usually the security guards in the community will respond and the alarm company dispatches two armed guards on a dirt motorcycle to your house very fast. The alarm companies keep these motorcycles in the areas where their customers live at all times. These guards upon arrival will act very aggressively towards anyone they see attempting to break into your home. Rest assured once the alarm goes off the bad guys are going to take off fast because they know what happens next.

Many retail stores have a uniformed armed security guard in the front of the store and another one in the parking lot. This too tends to make for a safe parking experience. The guards are by North American standards extremely polite and humble. Nothing at all like the post 911 private security guards that used to be at the airport. The numerous malls (16 in Guatemala City) also have excellent security in the malls and the parking lots and people walk around relaxed. There are no gangs of unruly youths inside or outside of the malls. Imagine that! So the reason for all the security is so it does not ever become necessary for this security. It is to prevent crime from gaining a foothold as it has in many places in Central and South America. It is also nice to live without all the bars on the doors and windows.

Guatemala Beach Living - There are white sand beaches, tan sand beaches and black sand beaches. There are beaches on the Atlantic side and the Pacific side. Right now (summer 2008) one can get a nice three bedroom single family home on the beach (nothing between you and the sand) for $100,000. These are not mansions but very nice and comfortable homes. The weather on the beaches is going to be hotter and with more humidity. The beaches have all the services like high speed internet (one meg anyway), phone, cell phones, satellite TV or Cable TV.

Guatemala Condos – Condos in Guatemala are not abundant and thus not built one on top of another. A nice three-bedroom condo of about 200 sq. meters with a pool, social area, enclosed parking, security guards will run about $150,000. You can find some of the more modern luxurious condos with 400 sq. meters for about $1000 to $1200 a sq meter. Condos generally are built about 12 to 18 stories high. There are just about no buildings in Guatemala more than 18 stories high. The city is built to be spread out, not up.

Guatemala Mortgages – Since Guatemala has a relatively stable real estate market the banks are not scared to write mortgages. The rule is 25% down and a 25-year fully amortized mortgage. Rates should be lower than North America. They will not require life insurance of you and will write a 25-year mortgage if you are an older retired person. You will have to prove to the bank that you can make the mortgage payments but that is certainly fair.

Antigua Guatemala – This is a hidden treasure. Imagine a city with cobblestone streets, buildings that are 300 years old usually established as historic monuments, parks, good shopping, lots of stores selling artistic goods, street artists selling their wares, large amount of good restaurants and clubs, parks, people riding horses for transportation, good shopping, open air fruit and vegetable markets, all 40 minutes away from Guatemala City. When walking the street you think you are in an old section of Europe. This is the retirement community that the North Americans and Western Europeans have not yet heard of. Those from the Nordic countries are in Antigua abundantly. A beautiful villa in a gated community runs about $400,000. Antigua has it own special police department and has English-speaking Tourist Police on practically every corner. Do obey their parking regulations or they will boot your car.

Guatemala Roads and Driving – The roads are generally well maintained with lights on the side at night, not bright lights but lit up some. The drivers are sane not like some countries. Daredevil tactics and not stopping for red lights is very rare. Most of the cars are Japanese, Korean and German. Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Nissan are cheaper here than in North America.

Guatemala Entertainment – There are museums, nightclubs, theater, opera, orchestras, sporting events (no blood sports) and Imax movie theaters. There are over 12 malls in Guatemala City. There are numerous restaurants and clubs. The food is exceptional. There are beaches and beach resorts on the Pacific and the Atlantic side. There is deep-sea fishing, diving, surfing, sailing and all sorts of water sports. If you’re bored you can go to the rain forest or even hike up a volcano and look down inside it from the top.

Guatemala Shopping – Anything you want can be found here. Maybe you’ll need a little help in the beginning when new to the country in finding it but you will soon learn where to go to find it. You will see appliances like Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Whirlpool, etc.

All the designer labels can be found here easily in the malls. We have a foreign Wal-Mart here called Hiper Pais. They have cheap prices, they deliver, they take foreign credit cards and they have massive stores in Guatemala. We also have Price Smart which is a Costco warehouse store with low prices. These stores are going to remind you of being back home.

Guatemala Domestic Help – Maids are readily available and will live in. An English-speaking maid is rare. Many maids do not read and write but do not think they will not be good maids. They work hard for their money and have a positive attitude. If you get them a TV in color, hook up basic cable, get them a prepaid cell phone with some minutes and let them eat the same food you do they will really like you. They make good nannies and can watch children. The kids will quickly learn Spanish this way because they will have to in order to communicate with her and the same might apply to you as well <smile>. Small kids also do well watching cartoons and kid shows in Spanish.

Many Spanish speakers learn English from watching TV with Spanish subtitles. The maids live in the house in small maid quarters with their own bath built in. You can hire a maid for about $200 a month maybe a little more or a little less. $250 a month is top pay. Maids will usually get off on Saturday at Noon and return to work Monday morning. Some maid will stay at the house when off and others will return to their families.

You can hire a driver, which is generally a male. You can arrange living quarters for him and then he is there when you need him. You can arrange days off for him according to your needs. A driver will generally receive $350 a month as a minimum and $500 if he speaks Spanish and English. If you wish to hire a bodyguard driver who is armed and trained (generally not necessary unless you have unusual circumstances) they will earn anywhere from $500 to $700 depending on whether or not they are bilingual and what skill set they have. Many of them have been through bodyguard training schools.

Guatemala Schools – There are 11 Universities in Guatemala. There is an American English speaking school along with other private schools as well. They offer bus service or you can chauffeur the kids back and forth. Costs start a few hundred dollars per month per child including bus and lunch.

Internet – Not a problem. Can be a ADSL line, cable Internet or satellite. Costs and installation vary prices similar to North America monthly charges. Usually residential service is a 1 Meg connection. Commercial setups will go to a 2 Meg connection. Higher than that is going to be very hard to find and extremely expensive.

Cell Phones – They are good. There are three carriers here. They have 3G connections. Many people use prepaid cell phones, which have three and four for one minutes on sale every week, which brings the cost down.

Land Line Phones – They are easily obtained, no long waits and they work like they do in other countries. Cost is modest.

Guatemala Medicine – There are numerous Pharmacies, practically on every block. Prescriptions are rarely required. Most of your medicines can be found here at about 35% of the USA price. Doctors are great here. They are thorough and personable. They take their time. The support staff you will also find to be congenial. There are numerous hospitals, which you may find to be cleaner, nicer and more attractive than back home.

Doctors make house calls. A general practitioner house call may be $25. A friend of ours had a late at night house call with a blood test, exam, injection and medication for $40. Many people do not buy health insurance here because the cost of medical care is so low. A friend had a relative go into the hospital for 10 days of care for a cost of $1400. Insurance is probably 15% the cost in the USA for better coverage. Guatemala has Chiropractors, Homeopaths, Physical Therapists, Massage Therapists, herbalists, Acupuncturists as well as Medical Doctors.