Apartment buying process confusing in Buenos Aires. Do I need to use the seller's realtor?

[Blockchain]

Or if you're buying in a new construction development, make sure you are buying from a reputable developer that has been around for at least 10+ years. Preferably over 20 years that has build many towers.

This is solid advice. I met a local and he told me about an apartment that he and his family bought. Terrible as his building was never finished! I guess it was a first time developer and they had very little experience building and they went bankrupt. I wouldn't buy there unless the company was around a long time and they built several buildings before.

I looked at a few options and one thing desirable was the ability to pay over 24-36 months but I didn't like that you don't really know how much you will end up paying because they had some inflation adjustment each month. It's difficult to know what you will end up paying that way.

 

[tootsi]

Follow up question? Do people get home inspections down there? I asked my realtor and they said no one here locally gets these. And since there are not mortgages it doesn't sound like anyone cares but can someone recommend a property inspector here to make sure there aren't major problems? Thanks.

 

[earlyretirement]

Follow up question? Do people get home inspections down there? I asked my realtor and they said no one here locally gets these. And since there are not mortgages it doesn't sound like anyone cares but can someone recommend a property inspector here to make sure there aren't major problems? Thanks.

Most people don't get home inspections but I always do before buying. I've used architects I have worked with before but there is a new company and their property inspections are very detailed. You can see the prices on their websites but between $300 USD to $450 USD for most apartments. Houses at $500 USD.

CheckHome

Inspeccioná tu propiedad antes de hacer una compra o venta. Únicos con certificación internacional. Conocé cual es el estado real del inmueble.

checkhome.com.ar

 

[tootsi]

Most people don't get home inspections but I always do before buying. I've used architects I have worked with before but there is a new company and their property inspections are very detailed. You can see the prices on their websites but between $300 USD to $450 USD for most apartments. Houses at $500 USD.

CheckHome

Inspeccioná tu propiedad antes de hacer una compra o venta. Únicos con certificación internacional. Conocé cual es el estado real del inmueble.

checkhome.com.ar

Thank you!

 

[Vero]

Most people don't get home inspections but I always do before buying. I've used architects I have worked with before but there is a new company and their property inspections are very detailed. You can see the prices on their websites but between $300 USD to $450 USD for most apartments. Houses at $500 USD.

CheckHome

Inspeccioná tu propiedad antes de hacer una compra o venta. Únicos con certificación internacional. Conocé cual es el estado real del inmueble.

checkhome.com.ar

I wish I knew about this before we bought our apartment. They didn't have any companies like this when I bought. There were several problems with our apartment. The previous owner had humidity issues and they just patched up and painted over it. There were also electrical issues that we had to deal with.

My daughter in the States told me about extensive inspections so this looks similar.

If I ever need to move, I will just buy a new construction. At least you have peace of mind that everything is new. Our building also had plumbing issues. The only downside to new construction is it is much more expensive than older properties.

 

[Betsy Ross]

This is solid advice. I met a local and he told me about an apartment that he and his family bought. Terrible as his building was never finished! I guess it was a first time developer and they had very little experience building and they went bankrupt. I wouldn't buy there unless the company was around a long time and they built several buildings before.

I looked at a few options and one thing desirable was the ability to pay over 24-36 months but I didn't like that you don't really know how much you will end up paying because they had some inflation adjustment each month. It's difficult to know what you will end up paying that way.

This happens often on smaller properties from new developers. The problem here is inflation can become problematic and costs of building materials can skyrocket overnight. Even with inflation adjustments sometimes small no one developers don't know the process and run out of money. You have to avoid the fly by night companies. They should be able to show you which properties they have built.

Most people don't get home inspections but I always do before buying. I've used architects I have worked with before but there is a new company and their property inspections are very detailed. You can see the prices on their websites but between $300 USD to $450 USD for most apartments. Houses at $500 USD.

CheckHome

Inspeccioná tu propiedad antes de hacer una compra o venta. Únicos con certificación internacional. Conocé cual es el estado real del inmueble.

checkhome.com.ar

This looks like a great option! I didn't know they had these. When I bought my property I looked for someone but no one did these. Thanks for posting the link. My sister may buy something here so I will send her this.

 

[Uncle Wong]

Yes you can have two people on a title deed. I have some friends not related and they purchased together. No issues at all. They both just need to get their tax ID number.

Thanks @Wally! That is good to know. Anyone know what the typical HOA fees are for a 1 bedroom apartment in Palermo now? I've seen some older posts but was curious how much they have gone up. If anyone has any updated information on this it would be appreciated!

 

[FuturoBA]

The listings are more like craigslist than redfin or zillow where things are unorganized, multiple listings for the same place and at different price points that stay up forever. You don't know what's real and what's not, everything can be a mess. Once you make your offer along with a reserva, which is about 1 percent of the offer, the other party is supposed to remove the listing. But the seller often uses multiple brokers, and skirts this rule and why there may be multiple listings for the same unit.

Also FYI if you buy new, you won't receive the actual deed until all units are sold.

 

[earlyretirement]

Thanks @Wally! That is good to know. Anyone know what the typical HOA fees are for a 1 bedroom apartment in Palermo now? I've seen some older posts but was curious how much they have gone up. If anyone has any updated information on this it would be appreciated!

Much of the HOA monthly expenses will depend on how many amenities there are in the building and if they have a full time doorman and security 24/7. Buildings that have 24/7 security and doormen and pools, gyms, etc. are more expensive. Buildings that don't have these things are more affordable. Also, keep in mind with inflation, monthly expenses have really gone up this past year.

In the past, even though the peso amount was going up, in USD terms it wasn't really going up but many feel like the peso is artificially overvalued right now. I believe that the blue dollar should be much higher than it is. I would have to believe that next year the blue dollar will be higher but no one knows for sure.

Below is the monthly expense for a 1 bedroom apartment in Palermo Hollywood. About 60 sq. meters and the building has doorman, 24/7 security around the clock, pool, sauna, gym. You can see how much the expense has gone up every month of this year.


August 2024 : 337,326

July 2024: 276,896

June 2024: 216,768 pesos

May 2024: 188,076 pesos

April 2024: 186,015 pesos

March 2024: 131,454 pesos

February 2024 125,854 pesos

January 2024: 125,018 pesos

 

[earlyretirement]

The listings are more like craigslist than redfin or zillow where things are unorganized, multiple listings for the same place and at different price points that stay up forever. You don't know what's real and what's not, everything can be a mess. Once you make your offer along with a reserva, which is about 1 percent of the offer, the other party is supposed to remove the listing. But the seller often uses multiple brokers, and skirts this rule and why there may be multiple listings for the same unit.

Also FYI if you buy new, you won't receive the actual deed until all units are sold.

Exactly correct. That's a good analogy about Zonaprop and other real estate portals being more like Craigslist vs. Zillow/Redfin/Realtor.com/etc. I've often times seen the same exact apartment listed at different prices. It's quite a zoo here. Usually owners don't care what other realtors list at as long as they get their price. And many times it's a non-exclusive listing so you will see different realtors listing same unit at different prices. Also, many times the # of sq. meters on the Zonaprop listing isn't correct.

That is true about the delay in getting title deed but in good developments, all the units are typically all sold by the time the building is done. Even in skyscrapers that I purchased in that have hundreds of units, most good developments are mostly pre-sold by the time the building is finished or shortly afterwards.

 

[Uncle Wong]

Much of the HOA monthly expenses will depend on how many amenities there are in the building and if they have a full time doorman and security 24/7. Buildings that have 24/7 security and doormen and pools, gyms, etc. are more expensive. Buildings that don't have these things are more affordable. Also, keep in mind with inflation, monthly expenses have really gone up this past year.

In the past, even though the peso amount was going up, in USD terms it wasn't really going up but many feel like the peso is artificially overvalued right now. I believe that the blue dollar should be much higher than it is. I would have to believe that next year the blue dollar will be higher but no one knows for sure.

Below is the monthly expense for a 1 bedroom apartment in Palermo Hollywood. About 60 sq. meters and the building has doorman, 24/7 security around the clock, pool, sauna, gym. You can see how much the expense has gone up every month of this year.


August 2024 : 337,326

July 2024: 276,896

June 2024: 216,768 pesos

May 2024: 188,076 pesos

April 2024: 186,015 pesos

March 2024: 131,454 pesos

February 2024 125,854 pesos

January 2024: 125,018 pesos

Thanks Early! Wow, that is a big change in expenses over just this year! You hear about inflation but I guess until you see it all listed out you don't really understand it. It still seems like a fairly good deal if you have all those amenities. Some buildings where I live with all of those amenities would be like $700 to $800 per month. Seems like it's about $250 dollars per month so not bad.

It must be frustrating for locals there to have to deal with expenses going up so much if they are making pesos.

 

[Vero]

Keep in mind much depends also on how many units in the building there are. Even in older buildings with no pool or 24/7 security even with a doorman if you only have one apartment per floor it can be expensive. It is frustrating how much expensas have gone up this year. I hope it slows down. Mine have jumped up around the same $ as you @earlyretirement.

 

[Blockchain]

The listings are more like craigslist than redfin or zillow where things are unorganized, multiple listings for the same place and at different price points that stay up forever. You don't know what's real and what's not, everything can be a mess. Once you make your offer along with a reserva, which is about 1 percent of the offer, the other party is supposed to remove the listing. But the seller often uses multiple brokers, and skirts this rule and why there may be multiple listings for the same unit.

Also FYI if you buy new, you won't receive the actual deed until all units are sold.

Ha! I would say even Craigslist is probably better. At least there once someone sells something they pull the listing down. Half the time I contact a Zonaprop listing no one gets back for many days or a week. Many seem like a bait and switch. I am going back down to BA in a few months but other than make a list of favorites and follow them it doesn't even seem like there is anything you can do.

I think it's actually a turn off for some realtors when you are a foreigner. Some don't even answer back when I mention that I'm American. Or once they find out I'm not coming back for a few months they just say to contact them once I am a few weeks out from arriving.

I think the level of customer service down there is not too good. Even at stores that I would go to in the mall, sometimes they acted like I was bothering them trying to buy something. Super inefficient there. Down there it doesn't seem like they have open houses or lock boxes for realtors to visit. Everyone seems so depressed because of the bad economy.

 

[Todd]

I am in the process of buying an apartment in Buenos Aires. It is a frustrating process here! I contacted a realtor to show me some possible listings while I was in town. I was only in town one week but I thought I would be able to see all the apartments that I had on my list. But I only saw 2 apartments the entire time I was there. The process is totally different than buying in the States. I was surprised.

It seems like everything here is not efficient and they don't really have open houses. On some visits I had an appointment and then the owner cancelled the showing at the last minute. Some others the realtor that I was going to use never could set up showings so then I contacted the listings on Zonaprop directly and managed to see one of them. Now that realtor said I had to use them if I bought that property since my realtor could not attend. And now my realtor is angry at me.

Totally inefficient process here. I know I will have to pay a 4% realtors fee as all the listings had that fee but if I have my own agent do they split that with another listing agent?

Any other important advice anyone can give when buying here?

I just got done with the process of buying an apartment there. I had the same frustrating experience. What you have to do is stop comparing the experience to the USA. Once I figured out that it is NOTHING like the USA it was much easier. I initially used a realtor that I met from seeing a listing with Zonaprop. She was ok at first but then just seemed to get frustrated with me.

It seems like the realtors here don't have much hustle. They are happy if you know exactly what you're looking for or are just contacting them about a specific listing but I had a falling out with that realtor after I switched the search from older properties to new construction. She got angry because some developers only shared 1% of the commission and she wanted me to make up the difference. I didn't think I should have to do that as the developers were still charging me 4%.

I ended up doing a consultation with Buysellba. That was very helpful! They explained the process in detail over almost 2 hours. They also referred me to a great realtor, Pablo that helped us find a new construction near Palermo Soho. The building is almost finished. He was very patient with us. His English was good enough for us but he was not fluent.

I didn't need to fully retain the company as I am down here and could sign the closing myself. Like @Johnny I used their Escribano and she was terrific! Her name was Angie and she got our CDI tax identification number for me. I also got a referral to a private money transfer firm that helped us transfer some funds down here that we needed for the initial offer. All the contacts that we got were great.

When buying here you simply can't compare the experience to the US or you will go crazy. We initially were going to buy something that was older but we used another company that Buysellba recommended for an inspection and they said that the pipes and electrical wiring in the building were very old and would eventually need to be replaced. We loved the older architectural but didn't want the hassles of having to deal with issues later.

 

[Finance Prof]

I just got done with the process of buying an apartment there. I had the same frustrating experience. What you have to do is stop comparing the experience to the USA. Once I figured out that it is NOTHING like the USA it was much easier. I initially used a realtor that I met from seeing a listing with Zonaprop. She was ok at first but then just seemed to get frustrated with me.

It seems like the realtors here don't have much hustle. They are happy if you know exactly what you're looking for or are just contacting them about a specific listing but I had a falling out with that realtor after I switched the search from older properties to new construction. She got angry because some developers only shared 1% of the commission and she wanted me to make up the difference. I didn't think I should have to do that as the developers were still charging me 4%.

I ended up doing a consultation with Buysellba. That was very helpful! They explained the process in detail over almost 2 hours. They also referred me to a great realtor, Pablo that helped us find a new construction near Palermo Soho. The building is almost finished. He was very patient with us. His English was good enough for us but he was not fluent.

I didn't need to fully retain the company as I am down here and could sign the closing myself. Like @Johnny I used their Escribano and she was terrific! Her name was Angie and she got our CDI tax identification number for me. I also got a referral to a private money transfer firm that helped us transfer some funds down here that we needed for the initial offer. All the contacts that we got were great.

When buying here you simply can't compare the experience to the US or you will go crazy. We initially were going to buy something that was older but we used another company that Buysellba recommended for an inspection and they said that the pipes and electrical wiring in the building were very old and would eventually need to be replaced. We loved the older architectural but didn't want the hassles of having to deal with issues later.

Sage advice. You can't really compare to other countries or you can drive yourself crazy.

 

[Billy Goat]

Add me to the list of people that are not impressed with the process here to buy real estate. Not to mention when I bought the seller demanded cash so I had to arrange to transfer in $250,000 cash and counted it out and handed it to him. That was like something out of a movie! I think they are still doing that today.

I was fortunate I had a great realtor. She had a lot of hustle and she would go see properties ahead of time to make sure they were a good fit for me before I saw them. That is very rare here. She was the only good realtor that I met here

 

[CraigM]

Wow after reading your trip reports I'm not sure how you fit it all in! Your trip reports were awesome.

Thanks, I got most of my ideas from you guys!

 

[Vince]

Much of the HOA monthly expenses will depend on how many amenities there are in the building and if they have a full time doorman and security 24/7. Buildings that have 24/7 security and doormen and pools, gyms, etc. are more expensive. Buildings that don't have these things are more affordable. Also, keep in mind with inflation, monthly expenses have really gone up this past year.

In the past, even though the peso amount was going up, in USD terms it wasn't really going up but many feel like the peso is artificially overvalued right now. I believe that the blue dollar should be much higher than it is. I would have to believe that next year the blue dollar will be higher but no one knows for sure.

Below is the monthly expense for a 1 bedroom apartment in Palermo Hollywood. About 60 sq. meters and the building has doorman, 24/7 security around the clock, pool, sauna, gym. You can see how much the expense has gone up every month of this year.


August 2024 : 337,326

July 2024: 276,896

June 2024: 216,768 pesos

May 2024: 188,076 pesos

April 2024: 186,015 pesos

March 2024: 131,454 pesos

February 2024 125,854 pesos

January 2024: 125,018 pesos

Unfortunately this has been the trend with just about all buildings in Buenos Aires. However, it's not just inflation problems in Argentina. My parents HOA bill in their apartment in NYC keeps going up too. My apartment in Buenos Aires is about 1/6 the cost of what my parents pay in a similar sized property. My brother in Florida can't get property insurance and I hear people all across the US are having same issues. So issue of inflation is happening all over the world.

 

[earlyretirement]

Unfortunately this has been the trend with just about all buildings in Buenos Aires. However, it's not just inflation problems in Argentina. My parents HOA bill in their apartment in NYC keeps going up too. My apartment in Buenos Aires is about 1/6 the cost of what my parents pay in a similar sized property. My brother in Florida can't get property insurance and I hear people all across the US are having same issues. So issue of inflation is happening all over the world.

Very true @Vince. I live in a gated community and my HOA keeps going up each year. Also, I live in Southern California and I've just been told my insurance carrier that I've had for 14 years is pulling out of the State. My new quote is 300% of what I was paying! It is quite shocking to say the least. One of my friends just got a quote of $20,000 US dollar annual premium to insure his big house. That is just nuts to me.

 

[Uncle Wong]

Very true @Vince. I live in a gated community and my HOA keeps going up each year. Also, I live in Southern California and I've just been told my insurance carrier that I've had for 14 years is pulling out of the State. My new quote is 300% of what I was paying! It is quite shocking to say the least. One of my friends just got a quote of $20,000 US dollar annual premium to insure his big house. That is just nuts to me.

300% increase overnight? Wow that is nuts. I do have a few friends in Florida that tell me they can't get coverage there now. Some states have emergency coverage but even that isn't cheap. Seems crazy the amount of inflation in the USA too the last few years.

Speaking of insurance, what are the insurance rates like in Buenos Aires? I wouldn't think it would be too much as I didn't notice any big potential for natural disasters there. No tornados, hurricanes and all the construction I saw didn't use lumber. It was all concrete from what I can see and bricks. Anyone know what a policy would cost for a 1 bedroom place in BA?