I’m Buying a New Build – Real Estate in Uruguay

People dream of buying a home abroad and don't know how to get started. My family is buying a property in Uruguay & will share the process.

By Karen A Higgs

New build

Last updated on February 8, 2022

Do you dream about buying a property abroad but have no idea where to start?

I was talking to a friend from California who told me that she couldn’t believe how reasonably priced the house my family and I are buying in Uruguay is—for the quality and for such an attractive location.

She said to me:

“Do you know how many people dream about buying a property abroad but they have no idea where to start. They have no idea how much it could cost, what the pros and cons are. If you are happy to share that and be as transparent as possible then I would totally follow your process. You’d be providing such a service.”

So here I am, to document my experience buying a new build in Uruguay

2021 ended with some big news for my family. We bought an investment property in the department of Canelones, 20 minutes from the capital and near the airport.

Canelones is not an area that I ever would’ve considered before but I met a guy called Juan Balsa in a business meeting. He turned out to be a property developer and we hit it off.

Juan loves what Guru’Guay is doing and asked if we could work together to get Canelones on the map internationally. Incredibly it wasn’t before.

So what my family and I are buying?

The ground was broken in early 2022 and in about a year we will be owners of a three-bedroom two-bathroom detached ranch-style (that’s one storey, for the Brits) house with its own pool for 288,000 US dollars.

We’re actually not planning to move there. We live in the old city, maybe the antithesis of this style of development. As people who lived in lots of countries over our lives, we are thinking about when we retire as we have no pension as such to rely on. So the house will be ready in a year, then our plan is to rent it and eventually sell.

Sharing this type of personal information is not very Uruguayan

I’m really doing this for my English-speaking readers for whom this type of never-shared-before information could be a game changer.

So I’m documenting the process:

In my own words a quick overview of the property and development
In my own words, why I’ve chosen to work with this developer
come with me on a google search to see where the property will be, what’s close by and why I am intrigued about the area (video)
The moment we signed! (short video)
Building begins!! (video)
Build update 5 months on (video)

I’m sure you’ll have questions, or you’ll want to ask me to cover particular aspects of the process (and I’m really curious to get your requests).

Feel free to post a comment below or in YouTube and I’ll do my best to answer.

TRANSPARENCY CHECK Balsa & Asociados will be sponsoring a series on the attractions of Canelones, the department where they are based, produced by Guru’Guay. Guru’Guay founder, Karen and her family are using their own funds to buy a property in La Juana. Guru’Guay’s opinions are always our own. Karen will be posting regular updates about her experience buying the new build on YouTube. Subscribe to never miss an update.

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Konstantin says:

August 8, 2022 at 5:29 am

Good afternoon! I also dream of buying a house in Uruguay. I carefully studied the video. I have a question regarding seismic activity in Uruguay. Judging by the picture, it seemed to me that the developer is building not a one-story house, but a bunker, or is it the first floor of some skyscraper. Maybe in case of an earthquake? Tell us how with the green tremors in this zone?

Reply
1. The Guru of Guru'Guay says:
  
  August 8, 2022 at 9:38 am
  
  Hi Konstantin, nice to hear from you. There is virtually zero seismic activity in Uruguay. It is a rather flat country. Check out this video. Hopefully it will help you understand the construction more clearly https://youtu.be/f23Hmn3XPEo?t=435 I’ve started it at the second to start watching about the construction. Then watch the whole thing to understand the layout of this one-storey home. Hope this helps! — Karen
  
  Reply
Sarah says:

June 25, 2022 at 2:07 am

Thank you for sharing this! I want to buy a house in Uruguay in the future, it has been hard to find more info about this.

Reply
1. The Guru of Guru'Guay says:
  
  July 8, 2022 at 12:56 pm
  
  Hi Sarah, delighted to help! Feel free to reach out for a private one-to-one consult if you’d like to find out more information, and which is directly applicable to your unique case. Greetings from Uruguay! — Karen
  
  Reply