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

[Bob]

My Spanish teacher told me the same thing about her place switching to electric from gas as well due to similar issues.

Same with a friend of mine. The gas lines needed to get updated and the gas company took 8 months to fix it so she had to retrofit the apartment for electricity. Previously electricity was very cheap but now the prices are going up and she is spending a lot in electricity bills! Another friend had a gas smell coming from the basement and it was crazy all the owners told everyone not to report it or they would need to shut off until who knows when. I was shocked because if they can smell gas it's dangerous. But they wanted to call in a private company to fix it and not alert Metrogas. So a private person fixed it instead of the gas company which just shuts off the gas and gets around to it months later when they can.

 

[FuturoBA]

Same with a friend of mine. The gas lines needed to get updated and the gas company took 8 months to fix it so she had to retrofit the apartment for electricity. Previously electricity was very cheap but now the prices are going up and she is spending a lot in electricity bills! Another friend had a gas smell coming from the basement and it was crazy all the owners told everyone not to report it or they would need to shut off until who knows when. I was shocked because if they can smell gas it's dangerous. But they wanted to call in a private company to fix it and not alert Metrogas. So a private person fixed it instead of the gas company which just shuts off the gas and gets around to it months later when they can.

Wow that is crazy. That's a tough spot to be in. Damned if you do damned if you don't. Either do the "right" thing but wait months with no gas, or go private and find a way to fix it w/o metrogas knowing and the possible hazards and dangers but getting it resolved quickly. If they called Metrogas to turn it off, but hired the other service to expedite the repairs, they'd probably still have to wait who knows how long for Metrogas to get around to turning it back on.

Makes me think Argentina is like living in this episode of The Simpsons

 

[Betsy Ross]

Wow that is crazy. That's a tough spot to be in. Damned if you do damned if you don't. Either do the "right" thing but wait months with no gas, or go private and find a way to fix it w/o metrogas knowing and the possible hazards and dangers but getting it resolved quickly. If they called Metrogas to turn it off, but hired the other service to expedite the repairs, they'd probably still have to wait who knows how long for Metrogas to get around to turning it back on.

Makes me think Argentina is like living in this episode of The Simpsons

This type of thing is actually is common here where buildings don't want to alert the gas company and try to fix it on their own. They are going to get charged either way so they figure better to get it fixed quickly vs. slow. Maybe things have improved. I haven't had to deal with any gas issues and haven't heard any friends lately that complained but a few years ago it was very bad.

 

[earlyretirement]

Wow that is crazy. That's a tough spot to be in. Damned if you do damned if you don't. Either do the "right" thing but wait months with no gas, or go private and find a way to fix it w/o metrogas knowing and the possible hazards and dangers but getting it resolved quickly. If they called Metrogas to turn it off, but hired the other service to expedite the repairs, they'd probably still have to wait who knows how long for Metrogas to get around to turning it back on.

Makes me think Argentina is like living in this episode of The Simpsons

Very true @FuturoBA. Sometimes it's a damned if you do or damned if you don't situation. I think when Metrogas actually sees some issue they just turn off the master line or put some lock on it where it's impossible to turn it back on without their cooperation. Fortunately gas issues are very rare. Only have seen it happen a few times but very very frustrating when it happens to you.

Definitely can be like that Simpson's episode!

 

[FuturoBA]

Very true @FuturoBA. Sometimes it's a damned if you do or damned if you don't situation. I think when Metrogas actually sees some issue they just turn off the master line or put some lock on it where it's impossible to turn it back on without their cooperation. Fortunately gas issues are very rare. Only have seen it happen a few times but very very frustrating when it happens to you.

Definitely can be like that Simpson's episode!

Off topic but speaking of the Simpsons, sure seems that Argentines love their Simpson memes. I see it all the time on X and reddit.

 

[Digital Nomad]

Off topic but speaking of the Simpsons, sure seems that Argentines love their Simpson memes. I see it all the time on X and reddit.

I do see them all the time on X. I never got into watching the Simpsons but the stuff I have seen is pretty funny.

 

[FuturoBA]

I do see them all the time on X. I never got into watching the Simpsons but the stuff I have seen is pretty funny.

You are missing out, definitely the first 8 seasons were the golden years. The next 25 or so has gone to the toilet. I think also many Argentines don't watch it but are familiar with the characters and memes more so than the show itself.

 

[Finance Prof]

You are missing out, definitely the first 8 seasons were the golden years. The next 25 or so has gone to the toilet. I think also many Argentines don't watch it but are familiar with the characters and memes more so than the show itself.

Yes the first 7-8 years were awesome! I was curious how there are so many memes. None of my local friends watched the Simpsons regularly.

 

[Tomahawk]

You're welcome @tootsi.

Some realtors just flat out and lie on the listing information on Zonaprop or other portals. Some don't want to show the actual expenses for fear it will drive away buyers so they use a fake lower price. Yet, other times if the property has been for sale for a while, they will initially list it at the original price but it won't get updated so the information is outdated.

Also, to @Betsy Ross 's point she is correct that many times the actual size will be exaggerated on the listing. Funny how they never make the mistake of listing smaller vs. larger size. Once you get seriously interested, you should ask for a copy of the latest month's or previous month's HOA bill and you can see exactly how much the bill is. You can also see the general "financial health" of the owner's in the building. You can see if any of the owners are behind on their expenses. It should show if there are any owners that are late paying.

And of course, once you get to the offer stage, I'd recommend that the offer is conditional on it passing an inspection. Part of that inspection process is you will get a to scale floor plan of the property with the measurements. Owner's typically don't want to show you a copy of the title deed until you already make an offer but you can ask them to show a copy with the owner's name blocked out for privacy.

On the property inspection you will get to-scale floor plans for the entire apartment. Example below.

View attachment 7018

Here is a thread where you can see a copy of the typical monthly HOA bill for an apartment in Buenos Aires.

What all is included in monthly HOA expenses on ZonaProp listings or for condos in Buenos Aires?

I was curious what all is included in the monthly expensas for listings I see on Zonaprop? For example, I am looking at this $295,000 USD property and it says the monthly HOA fees are only 55,000 pesos per month. Can that be right? I will ask my realtor but I was curious from those of you...

www.expatsba.com

Thank you! This is very helpful to read about. I asked my realtor if anyone does these here and they said no and it did not exist. I am glad I found this website!

 

[Wally]

Thank you! This is very helpful to read about. I asked my realtor if anyone does these here and they said no and it did not exist. I am glad I found this website!

They didn't have formal inspection companies like this when I bought my place in BA. I just paid an architect friend to take a look at it. He didn't really do much at all but check to see if he could notice anything structurally. This company looks much more detailed. Plus it looks like they include a floor plan which is great.

 

[Betsy Ross]

They didn't have formal inspection companies like this when I bought my place in BA. I just paid an architect friend to take a look at it. He didn't really do much at all but check to see if he could notice anything structurally. This company looks much more detailed. Plus it looks like they include a floor plan which is great.

It is so much easier now to buy because there is a lot more information out there now. When I bought my apartment it was hard to understand the process and it felt like everyone was out to cheat me. Luckily I found a very good escribano that a lady that I know here recommended. He was very good, he was fluent in English which was important because my Spanish back then wasn't too good.

That is something I don't understand. I met a few Americans that were buying. One of them was my college roommate's brother. He came to BA and loved it and decided to buy a place here. He asked for some input but I didn't talk to him until he already made an offer and was going to do his down payment. He asked me to review the boleto. It was all in Spanish. His lawyer didn't speak English and he didn't speak any Spanish. It is hard to believe that people will sign things they don't know or use a lawyer that can't speak the same language. Nuts!

 

[Vince]

It is so much easier now to buy because there is a lot more information out there now. When I bought my apartment it was hard to understand the process and it felt like everyone was out to cheat me. Luckily I found a very good escribano that a lady that I know here recommended. He was very good, he was fluent in English which was important because my Spanish back then wasn't too good.

That is something I don't understand. I met a few Americans that were buying. One of them was my college roommate's brother. He came to BA and loved it and decided to buy a place here. He asked for some input but I didn't talk to him until he already made an offer and was going to do his down payment. He asked me to review the boleto. It was all in Spanish. His lawyer didn't speak English and he didn't speak any Spanish. It is hard to believe that people will sign things they don't know or use a lawyer that can't speak the same language. Nuts!

@Betsy Ross you are right but it happens all the time. It is crazy that people will drop their guard here. They will do crazy things that they would never do in the States. It's like buying real estate in the USA and finding a lawyer that only speaks Chinese. That would never happen but here people do strange things like that all the time. If anything, people need to be more careful here but it's the exact opposite which is crazy.

 

[Bob]

That sounds like a very bad idea not to be able to communicate with your lawyer handling your purchase. Agree that people do dumb stuff here that they wouldn't do back home. Have to be more careful here.