What makes your home a Green or Healthy Home?
Our home functions only off of solar panels and is completely off-grid. We have three solar panels, one is 85 watt and the other two are 140 watt. We have two batteries of 100 amps and a power inverter (pure sine wave) of 3000-6000 peak. We are selling the house with all amenities included, everything works with the solar panel system we have in place. We also have two water tanks, one is 1,500 liters and the other is 1,200 liters. Water is delivered on demand. We buy potable (treated) municipal water and keep in it tanks, as do people in many zones in the northern half of Chile. Think California. It is not particularly problematic. The feasibility of a well is still under discussion. The present situation encourages more judicious use, which is in holding with our phiosophy. At the height of watering in the dusty summer, our total water usage (household included) is about 2000 liters per week. 1000 liters costs 7,000 Chilean pesos (about $14 delivered). In the rainy winter we may get 10 days to two weeks out of one 1000 liter tank. 2000 liters is about 540 gallons of water. Average US water consumption is about 400 gallons per day for a family of four (according to the EPA). It’s called conservation. As far as growing, drip irrigation and a restorative approach to improving the soil, coupled with wind breaks and greenhouse growing, is what he would recommend for this area. We are still in the process of experimenting with everything with respect to these issues but we’re making progress with everything from the salad greens to the blueberries.Property Description
Whatever your reasons for thinking of making this move, we applaud your interest in living the international/expatriate experience. A good part of the true value of such an experience is taken from the difficulties inherent in it. These difficulties are often so overwhelming that they prohibit many from ever getting beyond the daydreaming phase, and that’s understandable. My wife and I have just finished up four and a half years establishing ourselves here in Chile and with the new addition to our family we’re looking to start the next phase of our life down here. We would like you to benefit from the work we’ve put in. What we’re offering is a great property, ideally for a young family or a retired couple, looking to live an independent lifestyle in a beautiful natural setting within 30 minutes of Valparaiso, 45 minutes of Viña del Mar and an hour and a half from Santiago. More than just the property, we are offering the service of helping you turn this property into your home. That includes personalized help with the visa process, orientation to the area, orientation to the language and culture, orientation to the house, etc. We would like to give you a comprehensive relocation course to make the transition to living here easy and fun. We have lived through the difficulties of completing the process with no help (see my blog, gringohomechile.com) and would like to share our expertise with you. We’ve not only studied but also teach Chilean culture to international university students. The property has been reclaimed over the last years from its original state as a pine forest. We have cleared it, leaving native species.
Neighborhood Description
The neighborhood of Laguna Verde is a small coastal town near the larger city of Valparaiso, Chile. There are two beautiful beaches located within 10 and 20 minutes of our home -- we are currently working on a more direct route to the closest beach by foot!The land we bought, 1,700m2, about half an acre, cost us close to 7,000 usd in 2010. Property costs here in Laguna Verde have been rising steadily since then and now you can get about 500m2 for about the same (so they have more than tripled).Market Area
Property values throughout Chile will range from about 16,000usd per hectare (about 2 1/2 acres) in rural zones to about 100,000usd per hectare in more developed/rural zones (like Pucon or Villarica in the south, very touristy areas). We have seen proposedSchool District
There are numerous public and private schools in Valparaiso area including Montessori and Waldorf options.Community
Popular culture is an interesting mix of a sort of post-dictatorial bohemian ‘recovery’ attitude and a wistful amnesia, a blind acceptance of everything flashy and commercial. Obviously these are opposing trends. To illustrate this fact, very few people here actually speak English, but you’ll find advertising in the English language almost everywhere.Location of Home or Land
Rural
Elevation of Home
Mountain
Air Quality
| Agriculture in Area | yes |
| Industry in Area | no |
| Air Pollution in Area | no |
| Pesticide Free | yes |
| Fragrance Free | yes |
| Cleaned with Green Products | yes |
Interior Environment
| Heating System | Wood Stove |
| Cooling System | Other |
| Ventilation System | Other |
| Whole House Filtration | None |
| Whole House Vacuum | no |
Energy & Water
| Energy System | Off the Grid |
| Water System | Other |
| Wastewater System | Other |
Construction Information
| Exterior Finish | Wood |
| Interior Finish | Other |
| Interior Paint | Other |
| Floor Material | Wood - Solid |
| Roof Material | Metal |
| Window Material | Other |
| Insulation Material | Other |
Garage / Car Port
| Garage / Carport | no |
| Garage Type | attached |
| Number of Cars | 1 |
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