Asuncion - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
The housing pool consists mostly of homes with small- to medium-sized yards, a swimming pool, and a built-in BBQ area. There are some townhomes and apartments. Housing tends to be spacious and typically includes a maid's quarters and bath (note: it is rare for nannies to be live-in). Commute times are from 5-30 minutes to the embassy. - Aug 2022
Embassy-provided housing is large, normally with green space in back or even large green lots. Most houses have pools and a large patio area. Houses are all surrounded by tall fences. Most embassy housing is in two locations- closer to the embassy or closer to the schools. Commutes are 15-20 mins without traffic and 40-60 mins when there is traffic and you're traveling to the furthest point. Most neighborhoods are walkable with small mom/pop shops, malls, grocery stores, and ice cream parlors. However, the sidewalks are uneven and a hazard if you're not looking where you're going. - Aug 2022
Housing is generally large and good. Most houses have pools but there are also apartments. Travel time can be 5-20 minutes depending upon where you live. There are often issues with maintenance. Embassy maintenance personnel are great. When landlord has to send people to work in the house, it can be entertaining. - Jan 2021
We were lucky and got a large apartment not far from the school (our priority was near my work). The houses and apartments are scattered around the city, but no commute is more than 30 minutes away from the embassy, and some are within walking distance. No one lives outside of the major city limits. The apartments can vary in size so can the houses. If you have a family larger than three, you can get a pretty big place. All houses and apartments must have at least a wading pool. Our apartment doesn't have any outside space for our little one besides the pool but we are near a small park (albeit it has some issues) but we have adjusted and there is a super nice park within a seven minute drive. - Jun 2019
The embassy housing pool is generally nice, each house has its own quirk (the Paraguayans love experimental architecture), but our apartment was lovely. There was shirt, but not long-dress hanging space in the closets for us. Most of the city has a relatively similar standard of American middle-class equivalent housing, though there are several wealthy areas and several slum areas.
The commute times are bad. There are some paved roads, but most of the neighborhood roads are cobblestone or paved-over cobblestone with mammoth potholes. The city wasn't designed; it's been built up for 500 years. The congestion (an influx of cars in the last decade) makes what should be a 10 minute trip into a half hour stop-and-go. - Aug 2018
We are in a single family town home with a yard and pool. I can walk to work which is great because traffic is an issue (as in any major capital). Other colleagues commute and that averages 20-30 minutes from other parts of town. - Jun 2018
Embassy houses are generally spacious and usually have a small yard and a swimming pool. There are also some lovely apartments. Traffic can be very bad, especially in the rain. Your commute will probably depend on how many major arteries you need to cross. I think most people can generally get to the Embassy in 15 - 30 minutes. - May 2016
Nice houses are available and everything seems to be relatively close. My commute is 15-20 minutes each way. - Sep 2015
Mostly houses, a handful live in apartments. I think most people like their houses/apartments. Like every post in the world, there will be a few who are not happy with their homes for a variety of reasons, sometimes the fault of the person, sometimes the fault of the embassy. It is no different here. Due to the high clay content in the soil here, brick is the norm in building. - Apr 2015
Apartments, town homes and single family homes. Traffic can be slow and frustrating but nothing like DC. - Aug 2014
All of the embassy housing here has one issue or another, although all in all the housing is nice. Some houses are within walking distance to the Embassy and other can be a 20-30 minute commute. None are super close to downtown. - Jul 2013
Older houses in need of repair. Most have pools. Increasing number of apartments. Everything's close. - Aug 2011
Housing here is decent. You'll get your own pool whether you like it or not. The housing program is poorly run, and advice on how to make it better is met with a used car salesman pitch of how hard everything is. The biggest problem is that GSO rely too much on the locals whose idea of a 'good house' for a family of X size is very different then what a American would be. The housing program could be so much better if they had a truly good GSO manager in there. - Jun 2011
There are disparities in housing here -- the local housing board has not been great at picking houses -- many families with young children have been put in houses that are full of mold, because the embassy is still paying rent on them. GSO is not at all effective here, often coming to houses 3, 4, 5 times for the same problem. That said, the housing is fine. Not as big as some places I've lived, but adequate. Our yard, (luck of the draw), is tiny, which is not great for teenagers, but we're living with it. Most houses have pools (really big bathing pools because they are not deep), and all housing (apartment or house)have BBQ grills called quinchos. Most bedrooms have adjoining bathrooms and the size is nice. My house is about the same size of house I have in the States (with more bathrooms). You MUST be prepared to have a lot of extension cords (good ones) -- Paraguay uses 220 electricity (US is 110) and so all your appliances will have to be hooked up to converters. Not an issue if you have lots of extension cords. The embassy will provide converters (about 4 or 5).Commute time varies from where you live. But no more than 30 minutes driving. - Feb 2011
Houses with pools, apartments with pools. All are large and very nice. Commutes range from 5 to 25 minutes. - Apr 2010
Unreal. Our apartment was HUGE! - May 2008
