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Apartment Rental Buenos Aires city expenses have increased by more than 114% so far this year - Infobae

BuySellBA

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Buenos Aires city expenses have increased by more than 114% so far this year - Infobae
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Source:


September 12, 2024



By Jose Luis Cieri


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A man looks at the bills he has to pay. Among them are the expenses that require the greatest financial effort each month (Shutterstock)

Maintaining a home has become one of the biggest challenges in times of crisis, with expenses rising month after month to reach figures that are an impossible mission for thousands of owners and tenants. A private report confirmed that expenses in the city of Buenos Aires have increased by 114.89% so far in 2024.



In addition, the monthly average in August reached $201,367, surpassing the threshold of 200,000 pesos for the first time in Buenos Aires buildings.

There is a persistent upward trend in the cost of building expenses, driven by various factors related to maintenance and basic services.



Last August, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered a monthly increase of 4.2% and accumulated a variation of 94.8 percent for the year . Although a slowdown is observed, it is still necessary for these figures to consolidate so that, over time, they impact less strongly on the cost of expenses.

When breaking down the index by division, it was observed that the Housing, water, electricity and other fuels category was the one with the greatest increase (7%), mainly due to increases in housing rent (although the values have been slowing down because demand is unable to match the prices and in several neighborhoods they fell 40% below inflation ), related expenses, the supply of water and electricity, gas and other fuels.



The average expense on buildings (not including debts) in CABA, according to ConsorcioAbierto, corresponding to the month of August is $201,367 and in July it was $188,919, so the increase is 6.58%; if compared to the expense of August 2023, of $54,864, the year-on-year increase is 267.02 percent.





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Source: ConsorcioAbierto (values from other districts in the country are also included)

Albano Laiuppa , from ConsorcioAbierto, explained to Infobae that “the increase in expenses in CABA buildings between January and August of this year is mainly driven by inflation. This is reflected in the increases in the rates of public services and in the general rise in the costs of the providers that provide services to the consortium.”

Since August 1, CABA administrations are required to send two new elements along with the settlement of expenses. On the one hand, the invoices corresponding to the expenses. On the other hand, direct access to the AFIP portal with the status of the contributions of the consortium employees.



Residents in CABA will receive two QR codes or links to access documentation, such as supplier invoices and the status of contributions from the consortium's staff at the AFIP


"The Province of Buenos Aires is following the same line with the Public Registry of Administrators, which has been in operation for over a year now," said Laiuppa.

Buenos Aires also had a strong impact

This survey, which is being carried out in more than 10,000 consortia that use the software, also confirmed that in the province of Buenos Aires, expenses rose by 116.99% in buildings between January and August of this year.





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Salary agreements for building employees, such as caretakers and others, also represent a significant part of these increases in expenses (Illustrative Image Infobae)

The average expense on buildings excluding debt for August is $82,082 and in July it was $74,340, so the increase is 10.41 percent. If the expense for August is compared with that of August 2023 of $22,374, the year-on-year increase is 266.86 percent.

Expenses with debt

In August, the average expenses in buildings with debt in CABA were $241,992, 7.24% more than in July, when they were 225,648 pesos. On average, 17% of the functional units in CABA have debts, with an average debt per building of $1,700,000.





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Source: ConsorcioAbierto

Regarding the debt in the neighborhoods, the percentages of debt on the total expenses in August according to ConsorcioAbierto were: Balvanera (48.19%), Palermo (29.7%), Almagro (24.88%), Caballito (22.7%), Recoleta (20.79%), and Belgrano (16.67%).

Laiuppa said it is key for residents to avoid falling behind on utility bills to maintain the financial health of the building. He also recommended that property managers offer flexible payment plans to avoid major conflicts.

Tips

Another factor driving the rise in expenses is the increase in salaries and social security contributions of employees of the consortia.

Juan Martín Luciani Otaño , a lawyer and specialist in Horizontal Property, pointed out that “this is because the owners are not present in the salary negotiations of the managers, which are carried out between the union and the chambers of administrators, which generates disproportionate increases, especially for retired owners who cannot absorb these increases.”





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Experts say that in order to try to reduce expenses, it is essential that owners become more involved in the management of the building, attending meetings and demanding greater transparency in the administration.

One of the most effective recommendations for reducing operating costs is for owners to actively participate in meetings and monitor consortium expenses on a monthly basis.

“When there is constant supervision of the owners, it can help reduce expenses,” added Luciani Otaño.

In terms of cost optimization, several buildings could reduce costs by replacing retired building managers with cleaning companies and modern security systems, such as surveillance cameras. This model allows quality of service to be maintained without incurring the high costs associated with full-time staff, according to industry sources.

“To contain the increase in expenses, it is essential that owners become more involved in the management of the building, demanding greater transparency in administration. In addition, establishing clear agreements with suppliers and reviewing service contracts can be key to reducing costs in the short and medium term,” concluded Luciani Otaño.

www.buysellba.com
 
Every month they slip the monthly condo fees under my door under my Airbnb. I don't pay it but I have been surprised that they have gone up every single month. I would think there is only so long this can keep up?
Seems like a lot considering the typical salary is so low there. Are people paying their bills on time each month? I'd have to believe that people are slow paying or late on their HOA bills if they keep going up that quickly.
 
Seems like a lot considering the typical salary is so low there. Are people paying their bills on time each month? I'd have to believe that people are slow paying or late on their HOA bills if they keep going up that quickly.
It definitely becomes more difficult for many people to pay the increased monthly expenses each month. You can see several buildings that will post signs in the elevators pleading for residents to pay on time and you will see emails like this now. Building administrations will also charge penalty interest each month until the payments are caught up.

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It definitely becomes more difficult for many people to pay the increased monthly expenses each month. You can see several buildings that will post signs in the elevators pleading for residents to pay on time and you will see emails like this now. Building administrations will also charge penalty interest each month until the payments are caught up.

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Same thing happening in my amiga's apartment building. Half the owners are paying late each month. You can see it on her monthly bills. I heard this is happening in many buildings.
 
Seems like a lot considering the typical salary is so low there. Are people paying their bills on time each month? I'd have to believe that people are slow paying or late on their HOA bills if they keep going up that quickly.
I just posted this in another thread but cross posting it here too.

Yes many people in many buildings are paying their HOA monthly condo expenses late. Here you can see in an apartment I own in Palermo Hollywood. You can see just how many people are paying late. You can see the Deuda column.

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It's estimated that many buildings 35% to 40% of people are late paying their expenses as they are having problems paying the higher expenses.
 
I just posted this in another thread but cross posting it here too.

Yes many people in many buildings are paying their HOA monthly condo expenses late. Here you can see in an apartment I own in Palermo Hollywood. You can see just how many people are paying late. You can see the Deuda column.

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It's estimated that many buildings 35% to 40% of people are late paying their expenses as they are having problems paying the higher expenses.
Wow that is a lot of people paying late! Expenses seem high in that building. Most of the units look like they are around 400k pesos. Why are some apartments CO so cheap? Thanks for posting these specific examples. It really helps!
 
It's estimated that many buildings 35% to 40% of people are late paying their expenses as they are having problems paying the higher expenses.
This is about the delinquent rate in my building too. Several people are behind. In my building most don't go more than 1 month late but they don't have enough to pay all their expenses each month. It is very sad. Fortunately we don't have any big repairs that are upcoming but in some buildings where they need to do maintenance or repairs they can't because they don't have enough money.

Wow that is a lot of people paying late! Expenses seem high in that building. Most of the units look like they are around 400k pesos. Why are some apartments CO so cheap? Thanks for posting these specific examples. It really helps!
Fees jumped up in the past year tremendously! CO stands for cochera. Those are for parking spots. That's why they are lower.
 
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