Well, like most things related to law, the devil is in the details.

There is more than a little confusion on the Internet about how to buy property in Chile as a foreigner. There are many articles dealing with all the great deals in Chile, which often include a few fuzzy details about the legal requirements, but a surprising few that really dig into the detailed legal issues involved. Here we hope to sort out a few of the misconceptions, but certainly not all of them, when it comes to buying property in Chile as a foreigner. In this article we touch on the basics of the procedures, the Cost, the contract requirements, and the difference between a RUT and RUN ID systems that are required to purchase a property in Chile.

1.Purchase and Sale Contract in the Chilean Legal System
The contract of purchase and sale is regulated by the Civil Code articles Art. 1793 through 1896. This contract is usually consensual, (it exist and has legal authority from the moment the buyer and seller agree what to sell -the thing- and for how much-the price) except in those cases where the law requires certain formalities. In the case of real estate, article 1801 of the Chilean Civil Code has established that the contract is not perfect or valid until the signing of a formal document called escritura p