How much is your rent?

How do you say how much rent do you pay?

Konbyen kob ou ka peye kay?

This is another question from our readers on the ask anything page. Don’t forget we will answer your requests and even create a custom voice recording for your Haitian Creole phrase.

When people respond, you will likely get the answer in Haitian dollars. The math is simple enough. One Haitian dollar equals 5 gourde. As of this article, one US dollar equals 62 gourde (or 12.5 Haitian dollars). Exchange rates can vary widely, but you can check an average exchange rate on Google.

Rent in Haiti is typically paid by the year (not month). So expect big numbers when you get the answer to your question. For comparison, here are a few prices Estherline has paid for rent over the past few years in Carrefour.

*Note this is a cheap area for rent, Petionville will be much higher. 

• tiny one bedroom only (shared bathroom in alley)
  $250 per year (approx 15,500 gourde)
• modest two bedroom house (with kitchen and small outside space)
  $1200 per year (approx 74,400 gourde)
• large two bedroom apartment (with kitchen and private balcony) in better part of town
  $2100 per year (approx 130,000 gourde)

These are prices for the city, expect to pay much less in the mountains. Some organizations can build an small two bedroom concrete house in the mountains for around $5,000. That means no public water or electricity, so it’s not a fair comparison.