We’ve been back from Europe for about a month now and so much has happened.
To start, we had our first Airbnb guests in November! We got four bookings and earned around $400. The first couple arrived just a day after we got back, along with my boyfriend’s aunt. They rented our new room, which had been closed for two months. We were really worried it might smell like mold, especially the sheets, and on top of that, our water pump was broken so we didn’t have running water!
Fortunately, everything worked out fine. The sun came out just in time for me to wash and air the sheets, my boyfriend spent the whole day fixing the water pump, and our guests arrived in the evening as if nothing had happened.
We hosted three more groups after that. One of them even found us through some plugs on this very website, so expect to see more of those! I also updated my land development website with pages about the guest house, including rates and directions.
Hosting guests was fun, but the arrival day was stressful, especially since the rainy season, which was supposed to end in September, just kept going. Washing the sheets and towels was a challenge, and we realized we need to buy more. All our guests were fascinated by the property, which was awesome. It feels great when people enjoy your place and appreciate your work. I’m glad they left happy!
Right now, our main concern is the heavy rains causing the lake to rise. The water is dangerously close to our deck, and we might have to take it down to save it. Ours is the only deck still above water, and it’s impressive how fast the lake is rising. We’re really hoping for the dry season, but it might keep raining for a few more weeks.
The animals don’t seem to mind much. While we were away, we got 13 little ducks, but now only 6 are left. The rest might have been eaten by “the animal,” a nasty marsupial that looks like a big rat with a long tail. We found out it was visiting our kitchen too! I even came face to face with it one night—it’s really disgusting. We’ve put poison everywhere safe from the chicks, but it hasn’t worked yet. Looks like we’re going to have to trap it. My boyfriend rigged up a trap in the shower with food, surrounded by empty glass bottles so we’d hear it, and a rope to close the door and trap it in the bathroom for the handyman to deal with in the morning. No luck so far.
But the big news is… drum roll, please…
We’re ready for business! Not only are we renting out our place to tourists, but also—this is huge—we got our deeds approved for the land development! There aren’t enough exclamation points to express how thrilled we are.
Long story short, after we got our plans approved by the cadaster, we thought it would take the property register 3-4 months to approve the plots and issue individual deeds. It took just two weeks! They’ve digitalized most of the process, unlike their counterparts at the cadaster. This means our land development is officially composed of 100 plots, each with its own title that we can now sell!
Before this, we didn’t want to accept any money in case our project was denied and we’d have to refund everyone. Plus, we can ask for a higher price with full titles. In the village, many people sell without a title for a lower price because what the registry looks for is actual ownership of the land, meaning you live on it or cultivate it without opposition. However, if you ever want to get your deed in order, you might be in for a surprise. For example, the council has sold plots that weren’t theirs to sell, and now people can’t get their deeds.
This also means that the council has no say in how we develop our land. Despite numerous attempts to cooperate with them and offer benefits like improved roads or land for a football field, they demanded unnecessary paperwork and costly studies worth $5,000, hoping for a bribe instead.
Remember the letter I had to personally type up at the council? That’s the one we used to show national institutions that the council was on board. Just after signing it, the council asked for more studies, but the other bureaus were satisfied with just that letter to split our land.
The part I’m most proud of is that we did this with zero bribes. The counselors might be fuming, but that’s how we operate!
So, if you’re interested in a little piece of paradise, complete with a property title, contact me! Prices start at $1.5 per square meter.