Why are residential rentals in Venezuela so expensive?
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Loading... - Mandy Hill
- 06 Feb 2023
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The demands of many owners leave even them in a difficult position, since they are unable to rent their properties because no potential tenant fits the profile they are looking for in an attempt to reduce the risks involved in renting in Venezuela.
Venezuelan youth is between a rock and a hard place in terms of housing. Taking the step towards independence and leaving the nest that represents the parental home ends up becoming a very difficult steep hill to overcome thanks to the state of the real estate market, with few rental options, high rental rates and conditions that make it almost impossible. impossible to sign the contract, at least for 95% of the Venezuelan population.
Ana María Parra is a 26-year-old girl who lives in Barquisimeto, Lara state. For more than a year, he has been looking for the rental of a "comfortable" apartment that allows him to live with a companion to reduce costs, but due to the conditions established by the owners, it is impossible for him to disburse more than a thousand dollars to sign the contract lease even though paying the monthly fee of $120 or $150 is within their means.
Most landlords require a three-month security deposit from their potential tenants, three to six months' monthly payment in advance, and payment of the administrative paperwork for the contract, in addition to the premium charged by the real estate consultant, which is covered by the tenant. and is usually priced at one month's rent. Therefore, the tenant must invest up to 10 times the monthly payment required by the landlord to access that rent.
The situation suffered by Parra is comparable to that of many young people -and not so young- who try to get a place to live temporarily due to the impossibility of acquiring their own home, because with low wages and non-existent bank credit, buying a house it turns out idyllic.
As a result, rentals of apartments, annexes or houses with decent conditions are within the reach of very few citizens who can pay, in cash, between 1,000 and 5,000 dollars -depending on the area- that the owners demand with the conditions they impose.
“My best friend and I wanted to move into an apartment. We were looking for something with two rooms, an apartment or an annex, but in most we had to pay too much deposit. Getting that amount, with the situation in the country, is not easy. By the way, they ask that you be a legal person. If you are a student, how do you get rent?” Parra wondered.
In the case of Caracas, rentals for apartments or annexes start at $250. When applying the three months of guarantee deposit and the six months in advance, there are a total of nine months of payment. This means that the tenant must shell out $2,250. If the house was obtained through an adviser or a real estate agency, it is an additional 250 dollars. In addition, you must pay about 30 dollars for the administrative procedure of the signature. In total, the amount can reach $2,530 to guarantee a one-year contract.
With the current salary structures in the country, getting a rental is not an easy task and implies months of savings and absolute austerity to raise those sums. According to the financial consultancy Anova, the average minimum wage paid by companies in the commerce sector in Caracas until November 2022 was $126. Read More…
