#1052 – Episode 1052: Life, Construction, and Migration in Latin America

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now that I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here So let's get started, you know oftentimes when you're visiting an average Latin Americans home Maybe you've been invited to a birthday party or or possibly they're selling something on well X that common You're coming to check it out. Maybe you're gonna buy it Well, if you live down here long enough and you visit enough Latino homes

[00:45] Oftentimes you'll find when asking the owner if you could use the bathroom once you get in there You'll see the garbage can full of toilet paper You know that old story down here in Latin America Almost everyone puts their used toilet paper in the garbage can next to the toilet sure It's a big and disgusting shock at first But once you find out why it does make sense and you longtime listeners know why it's because they routinely Undersize the plumbing pipes in middle-class lower middle-class and standard housing So for example, they're supposed to be a four-inch drain pipe under the toilet or the sink It's been reduced to three inches in diameter or less And if it's a two-inch pipe reduced to one and a half or one inch in diameter and on and on then you might ask Oh, what about standard building codes? They're universal throughout the world now. So how come they keep doing it or better yet?

[01:33] How come they keep getting away with it thing is if someone has an idea to build a new house or office building? Whatever the first step is before any construction starts the owner or the builder takes the architectural plans down to the municipality To get checked and approved to get a building permit and they do get approved because they're just looking at the blueprints and the blueprints are Always to code because they're done by regular architects that have graduated from architectural school They know the codes, but once the building gets started, that's when the hanky-panky begins I've seen how it works dozens of time and here's how it usually goes Let's say a guy wants to build a house for a hundred thousand dollars complete now down here in Latin America That'll get you a pretty fine house because you can build a nice house to first world standards for around thirty to fifty dollars a square foot

[02:18] So even on the high end at fifty dollars a square foot a hundred thousand dollars will get you a two thousand square foot house First world all the way But here's what happens and this always happens as the construction gets underway and chugs along and it does take about a whole year To build a decent house here in Latin America at least house first world style not because the workers are slow or lazy or any Of that it's because of the rainy season you get six months of the year where it's just a pain in the ass to do Anything on the exterior and that's why you can actually build a nice house in six months If you're the first one to get the contractor to start building as soon as a rainy season ends Generally in late October or November So it's definitely worth it to Duke them an extra five hundred bucks ahead of time to be first on his construction list

[03:04] And that's what I always recommend if you're building a house get first on the contractors list Make sure your house gets started in late October or November Then if he's got a decent crew you just might get your nice house done in six months or so otherwise forget about it's gonna take a year because they see the trick is to get the foundation poured and the house basic structure Completed before the rainy season then you go inside and finish off there If not the rain and the weather will be in control of your project not you So your number one priority should be if you're building a house or an office building whatever to get that roof In place by the start of the rainy season, which is normally in May So again the best time to start a construction project. It's always in October or November Yep, even with the recent climate change stuff the rainy and dry scenes are still very predictable, but I digress. Where were we?

[03:56] Oh, yeah, talking how Latin American builders always downsize the plumbing tubes and you know, they don't have to it's just that Just like with any construction project around the world. You've got a budget in this case We're talking about a hundred thousand dollar house. Well, I don't know if you've ever built a house or had it building project going But tell you this as the construction chugs along and you do walkthroughs to check on the progress I guarantee you you're gonna change a few things maybe more than a few things, too You're gonna add lights and electrical outlets and change the trim and detail Because as the project starts to form and you actually see what it's gonna be like There will be things you haven't considered along the way and you will change them and every change costs money Not to mention the fact that if a project is running at least six months possibly a year the price and availability of materials will change

[04:43] Too as you chug along because you won't buy all the material at once before it starts. You'll buy it along the way I mean look just this year because of the cool video stuff Of course the price of concrete and steel have gone up around 33% and even in the best of times prices for raw materials and straight building supplies never go down They only go up. So this is what happens as you get towards the end of the project Let's say you're 80 or 90 percent finished. Well your contractor or builder will have a powwow with you and tell you well You know, we thought it was gonna be a hundred grand, but it's really gonna be 115. We're sorry Sure, you're gonna be pissed. But if you're a gringo, you'll argue a bit But you're not gonna fight it to the death He'll grin and bear it and kick in the extra 15 G's However, if you're a Latino and that's your building project when you hear the fact that it's 15 G's over budget

[05:32] 98% of the time you'll say wait a minute. Wait a minute. That was the deal a hundred G's I don't have any more that's all the bank gave me or all I have and that's all I'm willing to pay for So what do you think happens then? It's time to start cutting corners and where do you cut corners in areas? You can't see like in the walls under the floors in the concrete mix For example, as far as the electrical work, you can't see 90% of that stuff. It's in the walls so then what will your contractor do he'll cheap out and scale down and get thinner wiring and thinner wires have less amperage carrying capacity and when it's finished No one will be the wiser not normally because the lights in the refrigerator and the TV will still work However, as more appliances come online, especially things like microwave ovens and those suicide shower heads that really draw the amperage

[06:20] Well, the wiring in the walls is more likely to get warm and pop the breaker box You know code within the walls for standard wiring is 12 gauge wire. That's for a standard 20 amp circuit breaker But you could use a lot thinner wire 14 or even 16 gauge wire and no one will know or see it People cutting corners here in Latin America do that all the time And of course, it won't be the code for reasons just outlined and of course, it's much cheaper same with the pipes a four-inch pipe is a lot more expensive than the three-inch diameter pipe a one-inch diameter much less expensive than a one and a half Or two-inch you get the picture and that brings us full circle back to the bathroom you were using in the house You got the invite to the one with the midget toilet because that toilets cheaper than a standard model

[07:07] So again, don't be shocked if the garbage can next to the toilet is filled with used toilet paper How gross huh? Oh and note that 95% of all bathrooms in Latin America do not have exhaust fans Even though 95% of bathrooms Absolutely need them because you know, if you got a garbage can sit next to the toilet full of used toilet paper Well, let's just say in no way. Is it a pleasant old factory experience that it'd be the one place a Covid it mask Does come in handy. So then why no exhaust fan they're cheap and easy to put in right? Well cheap and easy to us from up in the States and they are available in all hardware stores down here But they cost probably around 50 bucks and that's the problem that cost 50 bucks for the average Latino is a couple of days Work, whereas a first world person can earn that in an hour or two

[07:54] That's why you won't see any exhaust fan in the average Latinos house But that's not the only problem more often than not you'll notice the last person in didn't flesh talking about P now Number one though almost never number two that would really be a revolt and development So when you walk in almost never number two, thank Buddha for small favors, huh? But you will see number one on occasion and I used to think early on it was a sign of bad manners You know just crude behavior or some cultural lacking or defect My first impressions were wrong. It was none of those things, but there was definitely something lacking They were lacking 24 7 water pressure So if you're brought up under those circumstances you learn quickly when the water is not flowing 24 7 Then if you flush the toilet anytime you feel like it there will be times the tank is empty and you get no flush

[08:43] At all, which is much more tolerable when it comes to pee but number two So at a very early age Latinos learn to preserve that last flush for the solid stuff That means in many houses the pee gets flushed Maybe every other time now that little disagreeable custom that I did not learn about for a long long time Made me think when I had Latino visitors to my own house that they too were somehow Culturally lacking because you see they carry those habits everywhere. They go, you know, they talk about racially profiling people Well down here, you just can't help but economically profile people. Yeah, right Like first world people don't economically profile each other all the time, you know rappers and ghetto dwellers And they're bling and white boys forever trying to keep up with the Jones's for example I know for sure when I've got Latino guests over the house and I walk into the bathroom my bathroom and see that there's still

[09:33] Pee in the toilet. I know immediately they live in a downscale neighborhood or in a town out in the boonies Now I gotta tell you at first that little scenario caused me some embarrassment way back when when the brother of my Latina Girlfriend came to visit he lived a couple hundred miles away in a little town out in the boonies So when he came to the big city, I put him up for a few days problem was like clockwork Every time I'd go into the guest bathroom There'd be pee in the toilet every time and finally on the third day I said to my girlfriend. I didn't want to embarrass him or me, but that's how it worked out I said, please won't you tell your brother to flush the damn toilet? Was he born in a barn and guess what she got pissed off at me? She said Johnny, don't you know that in the little towns out in the compo on the boonies? They only have water a couple hours a day. She said my brother's not crude. He's got manners. He's not a brute

[10:23] So she laid into me not him Oh, and of course he did put his used toilet paper in the garbage can next to the toilet and I thought thank Allah I've got a cleaning lady and I don't have to deal with that crap pun intended by the way That's the reason why if you ever fly into Miami International Airport or Houston or LAX And you walk into one of the big community bathrooms there and you see the garbage can Filled with used toilet paper. I mean really how can you miss a thing like that? Well, that's when you know and you can be a hundred percent. Sure that a flight from south of the border recently disembarked with a Load of Latin Americans pun intended again Mostly lower and middle class Latin American set is because upper-class Latinos those in the upper five or ten percent of income have nicer homes

[11:09] With plumbing that's to code and water 24-7. So then you might lodge a class What are middle and lower middle class Americans doing flying into Miami? We're gonna get the dough for that when they haven't got water 24-7 or a cistern or decent plumbing pipes that are up to code Well, it's because practically every single Latin American has a couple of relatives up in the States And you know once they've got their green cards and their residents in good standing They can sponsor family members to come over So their family members up in the states who are legal and are living the American dream are paying for those flights, too And of course you remember the remissa thing right in Mexico alone. I was reading something like four billion dollars a month in remissas Go south of the border from families living up in the states just to Mexico now get this and I'm sure you haven't heard this before

[11:55] according to the popular website Statistica where you can get all kinds of statistics the estimated total amount of dollars It cost the United States government to deport illegal immigrants from the US to wherever they happen to have originated in Latin America It is around 200 billion US dollars a year and the average amount of remissas That's some out of dollars sent back from Latino families and persons living in the United States to their families back home in Latin America It's around a hundred billion dollars a year. That means and again, you've surely not heard this before it costs the United States taxpayers Well, they're just printing money these days. So it doesn't cost anyone anything, right? Well, either way it costs twice as much to deport all of the illegal aliens They round up each year then the amount Latinos are sending back to their families back home in Latin America

[12:43] Now if you think about it, that means the US would actually be better off telling all those families up in the states Sending remissa south of the border. I'll tell you what let's make a deal You tell your friends and family south of the border to stay put don't come to the states and we'll send them twice What you've been sending them in remissas every month forever and ever then you wouldn't need a wall at all Isn't that one of the most twisted pieces of data you've ever heard? I want you to think about that for a minute It certainly is a bizarro world, isn't it? Think that'd work it just might because you know The thing you always hear from immigrants is that they're coming to the US to have a better lifestyle, right escape poverty and all that And if you woke listeners out there don't like that little bit of reality You don't like the numbers I've been crunching to come up with those conclusions

[13:32] Just go to Statistica.com and you'll find all that data though I don't expect woke people to agree with it because that's one thing they really hate When the real facts conflict with their version of the facts by the way Do you ever wonder what your chances are if you're an illegal immigrant of getting caught and deported? Well, according to Princeton University sociologist Douglas Massey co-director of the Mexican migration project in his long-term study Collaborating with other universities to track migration. His study states the probability for apprehension for an undocumented immigrant crossing the border is approximately 20% the study came up with those conclusions based on interviews with households in Mexico about their trips to the US as well as interviews With Mexican immigrants in the US with the probability of apprehension in any year given as the number of

[14:20] Apprehensions in that year divided by the number of observed attempts to cross the border now I don't know of anyone who has ever mentioned that statistic and down here in Latin America as long as you pay the local Expediter five or ten grand that amount guaranteed by you and your family Of course the coyote expediter says they'll always get you through in one piece That's what you assume when you pay that kind of dough, right? However, the real statistics are Four out of five will get through though I've been told if you go through an expediter remember one of those guys Exists in every town and city in Latin America kind of like the local godfather of the coyote business Those guys claim to get more than 90% of their people through and they'll tell you that the ones that do get nabbed are people that don't have the money to pay coyotes and they try to go it on their own and the odd thing is And I don't know whether to believe this or not

[15:06] These local coyote godfather types people in the relatives of people who've gotten through by paying those guys Say that when you use those guys It's almost a sure thing and all those stories you hear about the rapes the robberies and the human trafficking and all that well That won't happen to you if you paid a five to ten grand Whatever the going rate happens to be in the moment that is basically your insurance policy against all that stuff You won't believe how many Latinos have told me that exact story So maybe just maybe all those stories you hear about the rapes and dead bodies and robberies are pretty much the exclusive Domain of people who don't pay the local town coyote godfather in advance They tell you bad things are bound to happen if you try to do it on your own But half the people do just that especially cocky adolescent boys with no skills and not much education

[15:52] Again, it's hard to know the numbers and the absolute truth though the longer you down here the more stories You'll hear right from the horse's mouth to all right changing gears. Here's something really interesting now You know, I always recommend you buy a decent car But not a brand new high-end one because you can find so many lightly used cars in almost perfect condition In fact used cars in great condition are amazingly cheap Of course, you have to look around to find those deals, but they're there All right, especially in Mexico and Central America because it's supply and demand There's a huge overabundance of supply and it's all due to the fact There's a huge business and buying wrecked cars at auction houses in Texas and bringing them down and fixing them They fix them down here because the labor is so cheap In fact fantastic body men down here make between 20 and 30 bucks a day Not per hour like good body men up at the states, but per day

[16:40] So Rex even ones with tons of necessary bodywork can be repaired for a song the thing that'll run up a bill is if you've got Specific parts you have to order online like brake and headlight assemblies You know the clear plastic reflectors and housings that are specific to each car now Those things can be expensive but still basic bodywork is so cheap and good that makes it completely worthwhile to bring a junk down To Guatemala Honduras Mexico, whatever and fix it completely as long as it's a late model in the interior isn't destroyed So for years even decades, it's been a huge business But now you see especially since this Covidia thing most all Latin American countries north of Colombia That'd be all the Latin American countries You could drive to from the states have a huge oversupply of nice used late model cars and do note that certain Latin American

[17:27] Governments are against the practice of bringing wrecked cars down and fixing them up because for them There's no money in it and you'll see why in a second For example, just this month Guatemala placed restrictions on the importation of used vehicles and here are some of the newest regs So pay attention, especially if you plan on driving your own car down, which can be a good thing Anyway, the new regs for Guatemala say that if you have a car that's six years old or newer You can bring it into the country No problem But if it's seven years old or older if the motor doesn't turn over when you try to start it will not be allowed Into the country the new regs say that a test will be done to verify physically at the moment It crosses the border the moment the importation papers are viewed if the car doesn't turn over it doesn't start

[18:13] It will not be allowed in obviously We're talking about cars that are being brought in on flatbeds or being towed because if you happen to be driving your car down Obviously the engine does start or you wouldn't be driving it Then there's other Latin American countries like Costa Rica who have much stricter importation laws The thing is in Costa Rica You can't import a car that has been registered on its title as a total loss now that might not sound like much of a problem For you, you're not gonna buy a car or bring it down if it's a total loss Why would you but it's always been a lucrative business latino body shops in Mexico and in Central America going online Buying late model cars at auctions in Texas that are total losses and it says so right on their title in fact body shops here in Latin America tend to prefer cars that have been

[18:58] Total because then they pay a very low import tax when they're going through customs For example, some countries will only charge 500 bucks to get the car in and that's it Then you completely repair the thing and you're good to go Whereas cars that aren't a total loss will have to pay import tax based on their blue book value Take for example a 2018 Toyota 4Runner if it's been sideswiped Let's say it's not a total loss though. It will cost thousands to fix up in the states It's really not a total loss thing is if you drive it down to Latin America The bodywork will be super cheap But the blue book value in a car like that is probably 25,000 bucks and import taxes can be around 30 percent So that's around seven thousand dollars in taxes a tremendous hit But if you could pick up a 2018 4Runner at an auction in Texas

[19:47] That's been totaled or at least it says it's a total loss on the title in most countries here in Latin America It'll cost you only 500 bucks to get it in. That's a big difference Well, as you just heard Costa Rica has closed that loophole You can't bring in a totaled car anymore Why because the Costa Rican government wants to bleed you dry with taxes surprise surprise, huh? And if the cars totally only get 500 if it's not they get 30 percent of blue book, which is around seven grand That's about how the numbers work out with a 2018 Toyota 4Runner By the way, the image you get in your mind of a totaled car It's not always what you might think most likely you'd be thinking the cars smashed to smithereens and there's no use fixing it Not in the states anyway Well, I visited some body shops here in Latin America and they've showed me some of the cars

[20:33] They've imported from Texas auctions and though the titles may say there are total losses really They're not a total loss at all It's just that to fix a car like that up in the states would cost thousands and thousands of dollars So the insurance company deems it a total wreck. For example here in Latin America a long time ago I had a 4Runner they got rear-ended in a special hydraulic Electric hatch door was all mangled in the back end looked like an accordion It cost 2,000 bucks down here to fix a gringo expat friend of mine Whose brother had a body shop up in the states looked at it and he said up there It would have been a five grand repair for sure So a car in an auction that's declared a total loss is not necessarily that at all Oh, and there's also a bit of hanky-panky going on with those auction houses up in the states They know some of their best customers are Latino body shops

[21:19] And they do at times finagle with the title to make it look like a total loss So their Latino customer does not have to pay taxes on the blue book value But as you can see with the case of Costa Rica Latin countries are starting to plug those loopholes and obviously since Costa Rica is the most gringoized first world wannabe copycat country When laws get changed and tightened up down here Costa Rica is always the first Latin country to pull a trigger Meanwhile, we've got reason 4227 why I'd never want to have my plan be in Ecuador nice place to visit But I wouldn't want to live there used to be a very nice plan B place to live But you know how things change especially when AARP International living and all the expat rags and blogs tell you that's the number one place to go and before that was Costa Rica And look what the gringo's and expats did to Costa Rica then it was Panama and look what they did to Panama

[22:08] And now what you've got is first world cost of living all the way, especially first world gringo style real estate Then again, if you've got a lot of dough you can live anywhere But really no matter how much dough you have who wants to pay gringo prices So anyway, I don't know if you knew this or not But Ecuador's on its second weekend of a 28 day health emergency lockdown such BS Really? It's politics over intelligence once again So anyway, we're in that second weekend of this lockdown and guess what happened? The cops were extremely busy last weekend arresting curfew violators and locking up what they've been calling illegal party goers Here's the stats and man have they gone crazy in Ecuador the national police report breaking up 583 parties last weekend making

[22:54] 516 arrests for curfew violations and issuing more than a thousand fines To drivers on the streets without a legitimate reason to be out there. And this has to make you laugh. It says nine brothels Operating in violation of the lockdown restrictions were also closed down and now get this according to one Zapata president of the national emergency operations committee for the government of Ecuador says quote And i'll translate this the best I can it's hard to even say this with a straight face He says quote fornication or other sexual acts among strangers Are not allowed during the emergency lockdowns. So strangers. No casual acquaintances, maybe So anyway, just this weekend ecuador has issued more than a thousand fines

[23:42] So really in the age of covid it's sociopathic politicians are finding ways to make money off the deal But you knew that already right and now an email from travis the felon He said johnny as always. I love and appreciate your show This particular email is a request for your water filtration system Wanted to tell you i'm still on probation and my particular charge stops me from obtaining a passport But I hope to get off early sometime this year and then get that passport and get the hell out of dodge I figure it's about time. I should start using a good water system, too I've saved up some dough from my pizza delivery job That's a pun, but I really made money. Thanks to you Bitcoin man, what amazing advice you gave i'm not rich But i've tripled my investment and i'll be sitting on it just like you advise

[24:30] Hopefully I can start a business down there in latin america using the gringo advantage If you have time though and feel like it I'd love to hear more about your dog days of summer job. That is picking up deck dogs and critters on the road Because I can't imagine a worse job Once again, thanks for all that you do and if you have anything else to think of that might be helpful Please talk about it or send it my way. Who knows? Maybe I can catch the next seminar Sincerely plan b bound felon travis. Well, you know travis It's good to know that you're doing okay And i'm still number one with a bullet with x cons and guys in the slammer Hey nothing against it My buddy expat eddie did a month in the slammer for a noble cause he was sticking up for a girl Who's getting hassled by a drunk guy in a bar in the end

[25:15] He clocked the guy and gave him a concussion So he did time for that not to mention both my brothers have spent time in a drunk tank And a lot of high school and college guys I know did some time for marijuana And now that weed is being legalized state by state having done jail time in the past for it is really no stigma at all On about that summer job. I had at the street department in chicago picking up dead dogs and other creatures Very few people have been able to top that as one of the worst jobs But a buddy of mine his summer job at that very same time takes the cake but mostly for unintended consequences Allow me to explain he got a job That they offered me too But I turned it down because it was a second shift job and I didn't want to work days and lucky too I was very tempted though because it paid something like 20 bucks an hour and at the street department

[26:03] I was only making five and back then 20 bucks an hour was Unusually high there had to been something wrong with that job and there was Though it was a legit job. All right, it was to clean out the holding tanks at the zion. Illinois nuclear power plant You know those big cooling towers you see when you drive past a power plant Well, they shut them down every once in a while and people go inside those things and clean them out That was the job. Of course You got to wear all the protective gear and stuff and he did he made a ton of money that summer He even bought a new car man. Were we jealous a Pontiac GTO a goat? So anyway, he took off for college out of state and I lost track of him However, 10 years later I ran into him again. He said remember that job. I made all that money on Cleaning those zion nuclear power plant towers. Well, he said there was a reason it paid 20 bucks an hour

[26:49] He told me he developed some weird abscesses in his jaw and had to have a bunch of teeth pulled And the oral surgeon told him that for some reason his jaw bone was unusually soft He hadn't seen that before not in a young 20-something guy that practically had no cavities at all I said man, that sucks. You're gonna sue right and he shook his head and he said I don't know when we signed on for the job He said all of us all five of us on the crew had to sign a release form a waiver I said really that can't hold up in court But as far as I know he never did sue and I didn't see the guy again Hopefully he's still around and as for the other guys, well, he said they had problems too though. He didn't elaborate Nice clean safe nuclear power the energy of the future ain't that right bill gates You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america

[27:36] If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b. Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com No spamos