Bolivia situation guide
The ficha is a sales pitch you learn to read
Andrea's first ficha lands as a tight block of Spanish: size, rooms, price, a handful of proud adjectives, and a string of abbreviations. This chapter teaches you to read it field by field, m² as the size unit, dorm./baños as room counts, 'a estrenar' and 'amoblado' as condition, and 'expensas aparte' as the number that turns a single price into a real monthly cost. Just as important is the habit of asking: '¿qué significa [abreviatura]?' whenever a term is unclear, and, at the more advanced levels, noticing what the ficha simply doesn't mention. None of this is judgment, the app never says a listing or its price is good, bad, safe, or a scam. It only teaches you to read closely and ask clearly; deciding what to do with what you read stays yours.
Essential vocabulary
- la ficha: the listing card The compact, abbreviation-heavy card every Bolivian property listing arrives as, the object this whole chapter teaches you to read.
- la superficie / m²: the surface / m² (square meters) The universal Bolivian size unit, read it first, it tells you the real scale of what's being sold.
- dorm. / baños: bed. (bedrooms) / bathrooms The two room counts on almost every ficha; 'dorm.' is the first abbreviation you'll learn to expand.
- expensas aparte: building fees, billed separately The phrase that turns a single sale price into a real monthly cost picture, almost never optional in Santa Cruz.
- a estrenar: brand-new, never lived in A status the ficha states proudly, and a premium you'll often see reflected in the price.
- amoblado / semi amoblado: furnished / partly furnished 'Semi' varies a lot listing to listing, always worth a follow-up question about exactly what's included.
- ¿qué significa [abreviatura]?: what does [abbreviation] mean? Your default move for any unfamiliar shorthand, asking plainly beats guessing every time.
- el precio: the price The number the ficha leads with, read it as one fact among several, never as the whole story.
Bolivian Spanish terms
- gge.: gge. (garaje / parking) One of the small set of abbreviations that recur on Bolivian fichas alongside 'dorm.' and 'ref.' Recognizing them saves you from asking about the same shorthand twice.
- el parqueo: the parking spot Listed as a simple count ('1 parqueo') on most Santa Cruz fichas, a small but real line in the real monthly and upfront cost picture.
- Equipetrol / zona norte: Equipetrol / the north zone Prominent apartment-market neighborhoods in Santa Cruz, fichas name a zone before they name a street, since the area sells the listing as much as the unit does.
Useful phrases
- ¿Qué significa '[abreviatura]'?: What does '[abbreviation]' mean? Your default question for any unfamiliar shorthand on a ficha, dorm., gge., ref., or anything new.
- Tiene [N] dormitorios y [X] m².: It has [N] bedrooms and [X] m². The compact way to state back a ficha's two core facts (rooms and surface) to Andrea or to yourself.
- Las expensas son aparte, ¿cuánto sale al mes?: The fees are separate, how much is that per month? Turns the 'aparte' note into the real monthly-cost question, instead of stopping at the sale price alone.
- La ficha no dice nada de [X].: The ficha doesn't say anything about [X]. A neutral way to flag a missing field (piso, antigüedad, documentos) as a question to raise, never as a verdict on the listing.
Learn this in the app
Read Property and Land Listings in Bolivia, Spanish