Thank you for sharing! I first came down to Buenos Aires and I also saw firsthand the transformation from after the crash from it being one of the most expensive major cities to one of the cheapest cities. It was a unique time for Argentina. I feel very fortunate to be able to see that transformation firsthand. I fell in love with Buenos Aires on my first visit and more in love with Buenos Aires today.
Absolutely everyone thought I was totally crazy to start buying up real estate in Buenos Aires after the correlito. A lot of doom and gloom and naysayers but I laid out my thesis how and why things would improve and they did. I was one of the first foreigners who started investing in Argentina at the bottom when no one had any faith in the country.
I feel fortunate to have gotten married in Buenos Aires, had 2 kids that were born in Buenos Aires and spent so many years there.
No doubt it's a difficult country and things move in cycles. But from my experiences, nothing moves up forever and nothing goes down forever. The ones that benefit the most are people that are willing to move in and out during the cycles there. I sold most of my real estate there in 2018/2019 at the top and then waited many years and just started buying again in September in anticipation of a Milei victory.
Things are turning out more or less as I forecasted. No doubt, it's a difficult time for locals and even expats that are living there but inflation seems to be going down and although there are going to be several more months of difficult times, we should see a much better Argentina next year. Real estate prices are already heading up as I forecasted.
Your posts
@Larry are always doom and gloom. It sounds like you have also been here a long time and the fact you haven't left BA tells me you probably still like it enough to stay here. Otherwise, you probably would have left already.
Here is just a small list of things that have drastically improved over my 22 years of living and working in Argentina.
-
Big Diversity in Restaurants: When I first moved there in 2002/2003 there was almost no diversity in food. Almost all pasta, pizza, steak places. Nothing like you see today with just about any type of food you could ask for. Even finding a good burger or bbq ribs was almost impossible. I would go to Kansas every week to get a good burger or BBQ ribs. It was one of a few places that had American dishes. It's great to see they are still around but no need to go there as much as there are so many great places. It was almost impossible to find good Sushi.
-
No Rideshare and only taxis: Fortunately taxis were always great there in BA and there were far more taxis back then. More than London, Paris, and NYC combined. There are just as many drivers on the road now but it's spread out with rideshare companies like Uber, DiDi, Cabify, etc. It has gotten much much better and more convenient today.
-
Trash on the Street and no Recycling: Back then there were no recycling or trash bins on the street like you see now. People just threw out trash on the street and you would see the homeless going through the trash. Sometimes they closed the bags again but sometimes they didn't and you would see trash all over the street. It's a much better system today with trash bins on almost every block. It is night and day to how it was before. People still go through them to recycle but it's much neater and efficient and a thing of wonder to see these vs. before.
-
Improvement in real estate projects and beautification of properties: There was a tremendous boom in real estate. There were a lot of old and abandoned places or that were not in good condition and over the past 2 decades there has been tremendous investment in older buildings that have been restored or high-rise buildings that went up. My company purchased several hundreds of properties and renovated many of them. Buenos Aires is a much more beautiful city vs. before regardless of what others try to portray. People can claim that gentrification is a negative but many areas greatly improved and that process is continuing today to play out.
-
Bike Lanes: There were no bike lanes and it's easy to take them for granted but this was a huge improvement and every time I see people biking I get a smile on my face as none of this existed 20 years ago.
Safety and security: Buenos Aires has always been relatively safe. It's debatable whether it's safer today vs. before. Some could probably argue it's worse now. But I have to tell you that it's much better than a lot of metro areas in the USA right now. For perspective, go to many major cities in the USA now and you will see many things locked up at CVS stores or Target stores. It's a joke in some cities like San Francisco in some stores as everything is locked up. Yet even with 250% annual inflation, you see things civilized in Buenos Aires at almost any store.
Transportation continuing to improve: While it's sad to hear about the train crash today, many transportation continues to improve in Buenos Aires from newer buses to expanded subway system and routes. When I moved to Buenos Aires there wasn't much of a subway network but they have expanded it and it's much better. Also, they changed the traffic patterns on many streets since I first moved there so there are dedicated bus lanes now and traffic flows better vs. before.
Banking and financial system improvements: After the correlito it was really horrible! Absolutely NO trust in the banking system and cash was the only solution but things have greatly improved over the past few years. Especially the last 2 years with the MEP rate and being able to use credit cards as tourists. This is wonderful for tourism. Before it was only cash and huge differences with white and black markets. As well, credit cards are widely accepted almost everywhere now. This is a drastic improvement. One thing I remember back then that was better compared to today is I could withdraw the equivalent of $400 USD at the time in pesos. 100 peso notes were worth about $35 USD back then. Now they are worthless and the withdrawal limits are painfully low.
Price reductions and more selection in electronics: I have to admit it's pathetic compared to the USA and prices are very high still but 20+ years ago it was obscene how much all electronics cost. I remember buying LCD TV's for an insane amount of money but while somethings are still crazy expensive you can buy LED TV's now for a decent price. There was no Mercado Libre and that in and of itself is a HUGE improvement. I can't tell you how often I use Mercado Libre now and how well and efficient it works.
Rappi!: There was no Rappi and I can't tell you how efficient it is now. I had a full-time maid that came to my place daily. I didn't want a live in maid but I had a maid that came every day to clean and cook and sometimes I would still want to buy my own food but it was so inefficient with the lines at the stores. Now it is so easy to order anything with Rappi and with Rappi Prime it's crazy to think about ordering anything and getting it within 10 minutes. This is a huge improvement vs. before.
Some come on here all the time and talk about how Buenos Aires is worse off vs. the past but I can speak from experience that the Buenos Aires of today is a much better place and I can almost guarantee that Buenos Aires 10 years from now will be even better. It is continuing to improve upon itself. It's a very special city with energy that I have not experienced before and I have been to almost 600 cities around the world in over 80 countries.
I have seen a lot of economic cycles in Argentina and I'd like to think I have a better pulse on the city vs. most from owning many corporations there, building a hotel and buying and selling several hundreds of properties there. I've seen and done a lot there and I'd say don't give up on Buenos Aires.
www.traveloffpath.com
