How much house can I get for $600 USD in Guatemala? - Cost of Living in Xela Quetzaltenango

Curious about the cost of living in Xela Quetzaltenango, Guatemala? Watch to find out how much house $600 USD can get you in this vibrant city! See what the cost of living is like and what kind of housing you can afford on a budget in Guatemala.
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Here are some links to other resources you each may find informative or helpful
Facebook links that could be helpful:
Expat page for Xela (Quetzaltenango)
Xela Expats / wmm1rd2hohgb1xxk
Guatemala in General Expats 2 big groups / gaw5kb7zdbzjghvw
or / 17yhw9l9xlcksbiq
Guatemala Expat News / f6yxbqnpeomkpg1b
Antigua Expats ask to join it is a private group www.facebook.c...
Antigua Expats in Guatemala also a private group / antiguaexpatsinguatemala
Antigua Community Group also private / 6adjhqc99gvawbnu
Girlfriends in Antigua also private / qnzztqybrlqphpfe
Lake Atitlan Guatemala / lakeatitlangt
Kerry in Guatemala - Great travel and tourism photos and info / kerrygringainguatemala
Kerry in Guatemala website and travel blog
kerryinguatema...
Fellow KZbinr who lives in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan
www.youtube.co...
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*Full Disclosure, we are an Amazon Affiliate. You will not see any difference in price by using this link but we could earn a small commission*
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Book amzn.to/3YieJKV
Living in Guatemala: Antigua, Lake Atitlán, and other Expat Hotspots Kindle Edition
by Robert Prince (Author), David Anicetti (Author)
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amzn.to/3NqpXqM
Bird's Eye View: A Tapestry of Maya Mythology, Motherhood, and Making Life Anew Paperback - January 9, 2024
by Jan Capps (Author)
Not our story but the book listed above may give you a glimpse inside of a different part of Guatemala. The proceeds from this book go directly to help the indigenous people of that area.

[@jefffriedrice4603]

Wow that’s a beautiful home! 😮

[@LifeinGuatemala]

Thank you, we are blessed to have found this home and we enjoy our neighborhood as well.

[@annyapineda1561]

That’s a beautiful house, I wish to comeback to my country Guatemala someday as I’m getting older and honestly renting or buying a home here in California is ridiculously expensive, I haven’t been in my country for over 40 years, so much has changed.

[@LifeinGuatemala]

40 years is a long time to be away. I have no doubt that so much has changed. I think you would find Guatemala a much more affordable place to live than California for sure. I hope you get back at least to visit in the very near future.

[@hl7533]

You are gonna love when you go back

[@mannyv241]

Awesome, you got a new subscriber, God may bless ✝️ and protect you guys in the beautiful Guatemala 🙏🏻

[@LifeinGuatemala]

@@mannyv241 thank you so much

[@KerryinGuatemala]

Now I know you guys moved to Xela! I was just there a few weeks ago, and I loved it. It's much less expensive to live there compared to Guatemala City where we live!

[@LifeinGuatemala]

We have visited the City many times though and we do enjoy our time there. I think there are pluses and minuses to both. If we lived in the City we would not drive as often probably. But the climate in Xela keeps us here. We love our weather.

[@KerryinGuatemala]

@@LifeinGuatemala I will never drive here in the city! Haha! My husband is from Guatemala City so he drives here. The climate is Xela is much better than here too!

[@LifeinGuatemala]

@@KerryinGuatemala Driving in Guatemala is sooo fun (sarcasm intended). The City is worse than Xela but no matter what, it is an experience. Next time you are in Xela, let us know for sure.

[@mannyv241]

Thank you @kerryinguatemala to reffer this great channel 👍🏻

[@KerryinGuatemala]

@@mannyv241 You're welcome! I think they are sharing very good information!

[@IsaiDiaz-sp2di]

XELA IS NICE WEATHER IS TERRIFIC I AM GLAD YOU LIKE IT AND FOOD IS FRESH ENJOY .

[@LifeinGuatemala]

Yes, we find the weather perfect for us. We never run out of food to try either. We want to visit other places here in Guatemala but our plan is to continue to live in Xela.

[@tranxuantv7924]

Em chào anh chị chức anh chị một ngày mới thật nhiều sức khỏe ❤❤❤❤❤

[@LifeinGuatemala]

I had to translate you remark, but thank you so much.

[@holgercontreras9118]

Wow, great montly price, I'm in California and is so expensive

[@LifeinGuatemala]

Oh I can imagine. For the cost of living in California you could probably live like royalty here lol.

[@WomenBlazingTrails]

How did you guys choose Xela?

[@LifeinGuatemala]

@@WomenBlazingTrails originally when we moved to Guatemala, the first two years we moved to the department of San Marcos in San Marcos. Then the pandemic hit. I really thought a need for a change and by moving to Xela, I have a lot more of the conveniences I was used to. This helped alleviate some of my sickness lol. We retired early and it’s my husband and myself and we have a small nonprofit to help students from Orphanage we used to visit. We helped them with their advanced education after high school.

[@WomenBlazingTrails]

​@@LifeinGuatemala oh wow! That's great.

[@jday3671]

Hi! I have a quick question how do you guys manage access to money? Did you keep your US banks and us ATM’s to get money out? When I visit family in Guatemala city or Xela I wire $ to family and they give me the cash because I don’t have a DPI & a us citizen without dual citizenship but the transfer fees are killing me average $25-30 when I wire 1000

[@LifeinGuatemala]

@@jday3671 we have a Wells Fargo account. For $5 fee we can do an international transfer up to I think it’s $3000 a day or something like that obviously we don’t need to transfer that much or that often. Many people that live here also keep accounts with Charles Schwab. With a Charles Schwab account, you can take out money at the ATM up to a max at an ATM but each month they refund your ATM fees. Wire transfers obviously would be way too costly as you are finding out. I have heard of many people that do Western Union. I think that’s only five dollars but I don’t know what their limits are. I used to use Xoom and I could transfer money either to Guatemala account or just to my Husband or myself and we would pick it up at Guatemalan bank with our identification. It is part of the PayPal process. I ran into a couple of hurdles with it and found Wells Fargo to be easier. There are still people that use it though. I hope those answers will help you.

[@LifeinGuatemala]

@@jday3671 also I wanted to let you know, I’m giving you a thank you for the question. We have plans to put together a question and answer video with ourselves and a panel of other Expats in the upcoming weeks.

[@jday3671]

@@LifeinGuatemala amazing looking forward to your guys next video 😊

[@evmorals6348]

Can I come and visit you?

[@LifeinGuatemala]

Absolutely. Let us know when you are in town

[@edwardj3070]

Xela? frio!!

[@LifeinGuatemala]

Nos encanta el clima de Xela. Es una de nuestras cosas favoritas. Somos originarios de Michigan, por lo que no creemos que haga demasiado frío. Además, no nos gusta el clima muy caluroso.

[@edwardj3070]

@@LifeinGuatemala i liked Antigua where everybody's house was wide open to the elements. Do you have indoor heating in Xela? I did like the traditional fabric designs from Xela however

[@LifeinGuatemala]

@@edwardj3070 Actually our house is in the style of many of the houses of Antigua as are most in our specific condominium complex. It is a very open design. No we do not have any kind of heat or air conditioning although many of our friends do use either an electric or propane space heater. For us that would be a waste due to the open design of the house. But we are usually pretty comfortable with just a change of clothes or an extra blanket. My husband does like an electric blanket on the coldest nights though. LOL

[@LeeBrown96]

My best friend from college, an US citizen, was killed in Antigua. Be very careful! There are safer countries!

[@LifeinGuatemala]

I am so sorry to hear about your friend. I also know anything can happen anywhere. We are careful and up to this point, we have never felt unsafe in our surroundings. Of course we are older, we don't bar hop (not saying your friend did, just saying) We are usually together when walking around. Oh yeah, my husband is 6'4" and a big guy, most don't bother him. We are not usually out late either. But I appreciate your thoughts.