Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Helping Out Around Chacala

As I walked past the church a few afternoons ago, I saw that Aurora and some other folks were cleaning the churchyard, before a special Mass the following morning. I helped out, by dragging tree branches and picking up the plastic trash. It was nice working with a group. Very little talking, just taking care of things.When I lived in that neighborhood, I often helped with cleaning up the churchyard on Wednesday afternoons. It was fun gossiping and laughing with the ladies. But that was when the Mass was always on Thursday morning. And now, you never know when there will be Mass. The priest who died last fall hasn't been replaced.
During the cleaning, I used the bathroom at a nice, new little house near the church. It's owned by a local couple, residents of Chacala, have been talking to me about helping them find someone, presumably a gringo, to loan them enough cash to build a rental unit upstairs. It wold be an ocean view unit, a block or two from the ocean.

The repayment of the loan would take place by the gringo loaner staying in the new unit during the winter. The cost of rental, at the current rate for similar rentals, would be deducted from the construction loan. I don't think there would be a monthly rate, because those kind of units are pretty easy to rental for the nightly rate for the tourist season.

When they brought up the idea a few days ago, they was very clear that he would want a clear contract regarding the repayment process, etc. A business-like transaction. Anyway, it's an interesting idea for the right person.

I generally have not cared for these kind of loans, mostly because they have been informal, without a written agreement. And the loanee has ended up having a very expensive loan, in terms of the interest rate. However, the last loan like this that I know about, was very formal, and with clear written agreement about expectations, and that sounds good to me.

And it's a way to have a vacation and help someone establish some financial security.
Anyway, if you are interested, let me know and I can hook you up with them. Or talk to them if you come down.

1 comment:

Brenda Maas said...

If this plan doesn't work out, maybe you could get them hooked up with "Kiva" for the loan. Might be worth looking into.