Newcomer Is Villa Crespo a safe area to stay in?

[StatusNomadicus]

Villa Crespo as an alternative to Palermo Soho

Part of Villa Crespo around this Mercat Villa Crespo and the breweries Che Bonche and Saibhir is called "Palermo Queens" by some, because it's chic and upscale/hipster, while only being 5-ish blocks to Palermo SoHo with doubled prices and more beggars/tourists/noise:

Mercat Villa Crespo · Thames 747, C1414 CABA, Argentinien

★★★★☆ · Markt

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[earlyretirement]

It's amazing how in a world class city in some of the best neighborhoods you can get a place for 150k (and I've seen listings down to almost half that) where as in many places that same 150k wouldn't be enough to buy a dump house in a crappy neighborhood. I think most people are risk adverse, although prices are a great deal it's still a large sum for most people.

THIS! Real estate is dirt cheap there in Buenos Aires for it being such a world-class city. NO city can top the energy and vibrancy of Buenos Aires. Remember Argentina at the turn of the Century had a higher GDP than France and Germany! It was one of the wealthiest countries in the world and you can see it in the architecture and the city planning and the way the city was laid out and all the beautiful parks.

I've been to EVERY country in South America. Every major city and there is NO city like it anywhere in South America. Recoleta and Palermo are two of the nicest neighborhoods in the entire CONTINENT of South America. Furthermore, I have been to over 600 cities around the world. Cities like Buenos Aires don't exist. To be able to buy a high-end apartment for $150,000 is a dream. Keep in mind in 2018/2019 I was selling 39 sq. meter studio apartments in Palermo for $200,000! Now for slightly more than that I bought a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom apartment on a high floor for just over $215,000. (See to scale floor plan below)



I will charge $200 to $250 US dollars per night for this place and it will stay full. This is a TOTAL NO brainer to buy at these levels. Sure, many people simply do NOT have the money. Most ex-pats are very poor and nothing wrong with that. But those that have the money to buy real estate and don't are morons.

People are gripped with fear. While they are spending up to $10 US per day at Starbucks wasting money, you have people that are intelligent and putting it into real estate and depressed prices. I've been doing that over and over again for the past 25+ years.

Take a look at this TRUE story of my neighbor - https://x.com/BuySellBA/status/1710705467591467172?s=20

This is a guy that lives in a $5 million house. He is one of my neighbors and friends. He probably has a net worth over $20 million. Maybe more. But take a look of the story how he is scared. No matter. It didn't matter to me. He backed out and I just bought his unit too. Ha, ha.


Heck, even look at the poor economy here in Buenos Aires and everywhere is still full. Restaurants, cafes, etc. Then look at the stores, NOTHING is locked up. Here in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and many other places, EVERYTHING is locked up. Even aspirin and toothpaste! The USA has become a hell hole in many cities.

Real estate is the pathway to set yourself up for financial freedom. Consider this. It took me 27 years to make my first $1 million in net worth. It took me less than 2 years to make my 2nd million. It took me about 8 months to make my third million. The first 27 years it was through hard work, solid investing and long hours. The subsequent years was through wealth accumulation via real estate with cash flow and capital appreciation.

I could have retired in my 30's. In fact, I tried that for a few years but I love starting businesses too much and I LOVE real estate investing too much. I am patient and just wait for the bottom in various countries. I did the same thing in the USA and Mexico too. Now I'm doing it all over in Buenos Aires and many big-time investors around the world have flat-out told me they are following my lead. On a Zoom call a few months ago, one prominent blogger flat out told me during the call that "I was his hero and that if @earlyretirement is starting to buy again in Buenos Aires they are too as they know it's the bottom". 🙂

Remember that EVERYONE in the world until the day they die MUST have shelter over their heads. It's a fact. You either have to rent something or own something. Ideally you have multiple properties you own so you can live in one and can rent out the other. I have thousands of clients now and former employees. They all followed my advice. And guess what? They all made significant amounts of money or are able to be financially free because they followed my advice to buy real estate at or near the bottom.

I have followed the same formula with painstakingly long hours tracking and calculating so I can see when the bottom will hit. Check out some of my posts here - www.tinyurl.com/sawthefuture2. and http://www.travelsur.net/forum/messages/20/185.html I posted under "ApartmentsBA". Look and see just how many right calls I made in many countries. It wasn't guessing. It was work tracking the numbers and movements. We are at the bottom folks of Buenos Aires real estate.

 

[ravingnomad]

THIS! Real estate is dirt cheap there in Buenos Aires for it being such a world-class city. NO city can top the energy and vibrancy of Buenos Aires. Remember Argentina at the turn of the Century had a higher GDP than France and Germany! It was one of the wealthiest countries in the world and you can see it in the architecture and the city planning and the way the city was laid out and all the beautiful parks.

I've been to EVERY country in South America. Every major city and there is NO city like it anywhere in South America. Recoleta and Palermo are two of the nicest neighborhoods in the entire CONTINENT of South America. Furthermore, I have been to over 600 cities around the world. Cities like Buenos Aires don't exist. To be able to buy a high-end apartment for $150,000 is a dream. Keep in mind in 2018/2019 I was selling 39 sq. meter studio apartments in Palermo for $200,000! Now for slightly more than that I bought a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom apartment on a high floor for just over $215,000. (See to scale floor plan below)


View attachment 565
I will charge $200 to $250 US dollars per night for this place and it will stay full. This is a TOTAL NO brainer to buy at these levels. Sure, many people simply do NOT have the money. Most ex-pats are very poor and nothing wrong with that. But those that have the money to buy real estate and don't are morons.

People are gripped with fear. While they are spending up to $10 US per day at Starbucks wasting money, you have people that are intelligent and putting it into real estate and depressed prices. I've been doing that over and over again for the past 25+ years.

Take a look at this TRUE story of my neighbor - https://x.com/BuySellBA/status/1710705467591467172?s=20

This is a guy that lives in a $5 million house. He is one of my neighbors and friends. He probably has a net worth over $20 million. Maybe more. But take a look of the story how he is scared. No matter. It didn't matter to me. He backed out and I just bought his unit too. Ha, ha.


Heck, even look at the poor economy here in Buenos Aires and everywhere is still full. Restaurants, cafes, etc. Then look at the stores, NOTHING is locked up. Here in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and many other places, EVERYTHING is locked up. Even aspirin and toothpaste! The USA has become a hell hole in many cities.

Real estate is the pathway to set yourself up for financial freedom. Consider this. It took me 27 years to make my first $1 million in net worth. It took me less than 2 years to make my 2nd million. It took me about 8 months to make my third million. The first 27 years it was through hard work, solid investing and long hours. The subsequent years was through wealth accumulation via real estate with cash flow and capital appreciation.

I could have retired in my 30's. In fact, I tried that for a few years but I love starting businesses too much and I LOVE real estate investing too much. I am patient and just wait for the bottom in various countries. I did the same thing in the USA and Mexico too. Now I'm doing it all over in Buenos Aires and many big-time investors around the world have flat-out told me they are following my lead. On a Zoom call a few months ago, one prominent blogger flat out told me during the call that "I was his hero and that if @earlyretirement is starting to buy again in Buenos Aires they are too as they know it's the bottom". 🙂

Remember that EVERYONE in the world until the day they die MUST have shelter over their heads. It's a fact. You either have to rent something or own something. Ideally you have multiple properties you own so you can live in one and can rent out the other. I have thousands of clients now and former employees. They all followed my advice. And guess what? They all made significant amounts of money or are able to be financially free because they followed my advice to buy real estate at or near the bottom.

I have followed the same formula with painstakingly long hours tracking and calculating so I can see when the bottom will hit. Check out some of my posts here - www.tinyurl.com/sawthefuture2. and http://www.travelsur.net/forum/messages/20/185.html I posted under "ApartmentsBA". Look and see just how many right calls I made in many countries. It wasn't guessing. It was work tracking the numbers and movements. We are at the bottom folks of Buenos Aires real estate.

@earlyretirement, just curious, where exactly is the apartment located at? My wife and I stayed in Palermo Soho and absolutely fell in love but would be looking for an area that's a little more sedate and less "touristy"

 

[BuySellBA]

Agree about the power of RE especially in the long term. Many of my friends thought I was crazy for buying a home when I did because I was single and rent was so cheap at the time. Now same friends are complaining of rent prices and at the same time they've been priced out of buying.

I've always tried to live below my means: cars paid in cash, not into fancy restaurants, nor the latest tech gear, and live a simple life. And soon I can semi-retire and work towards something I'm more passionate about and young enough where I'm still in good health.

I'm looking in the Palermo area as well, something close enough to the all the parks and far enough away from the noise.

You sound like a very wise person @FuturoBA. Buying when real estate is cheap makes sense. However, buying real estate instead of renting does NOT always make sense. For example, right now in the USA it's crazy to buy at these prices in most USA cities. It's far more expensive to buy with a mortgage payment than it is to rent. We have advised ALL our clients to SELL their USA real estate earlier this year and to sell NOW if they haven't already on anything other than their primary house.

Almost all of our clients have sold properties in the USA the past year based on our advice. Our CEO of our company sold all his USA real estate other than his primary residence. He made 325% ROI from buying at the bottom at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 to selling in 2023.

Property prices in Buenos Aires are already starting to go up. Look at the sales volume. It's everything we predicted would happen 3 months ago when we gave the buy signal.

@earlyretirement, just curious, where exactly is the apartment located at? My wife and I stayed in Palermo Soho and absolutely fell in love but would be looking for an area that's a little more sedate and less "touristy"

Here you can see details of the property we are buying most of the building up - https://www.expatsba.com/threads/gr...g-to-be-completed-by-august-2024-palermo.134/. (It should be completed by August 2024 and we will have our website up with renderings and floor plans and push to get rentals before it's finished).

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YtHkfcnnwT2PT8nK7 (It's about 12 minutes walking to Alto Palermo Shopping Mall. It's a fantastic area).

It's a wonderful area. You're going to see too much saturation in the Palermo Soho area. To the point where tourists don't want to stay right in that area for noise, gringo pricing and a more authentic experience. Let us know if you have any questions. The building is almost sold out. We will be managing all our units on our website which will be located at www.MeetPalermo.com We will also have them listed on Airbnb but we will drive traffic to our own website. We will have a branded website, IG, Tik Tok, Youtube, Facebook, etc. pages.

Just booking direct you will save the 10% Airbnb fees plus any applicable taxes and fees that Buenos Aires plans to force Airbnb to charge in 2024. Also, we will rebate 5% cash back if you make a video and upload it to one of our platforms after your stay. This should drive virality and a viral loop for more rentals. This will be the 3.0 of rentals and for people to bypass Airbnb. In fact, it will be comical as you still start to see people putting into their own Airbnb listings to check out "Meet Palermo" or whatever their "branded website" is.

It's going to be epic.

Your friends at www.BuySellBA.com

 

[Che Vos]

It's amazing how in a world class city in some of the best neighborhoods you can get a place for 150k (and I've seen listings down to almost half that) where as in many places that same 150k wouldn't be enough to buy a dump house in a crappy neighborhood. I think most people are risk adverse, although prices are a great deal it's still a large sum for most people.

It is crazy for me as a local that earns almost nothing that my parents, grandparents, my uncles, aunts, cousins all own real estate In Buenos Aires. They saved all their lives until they could buy a property. They made a fraction of the salaries you all make in the USA and first world countries yet so many of you are broke and living in my country as you have no money.

How did you not save up enough money to buy a modest apartment in your country? This boggles my mind that so many of you are retired and old and have no money to buy anything and some of you only have $1,000 US a month. Isn't this scary for you? Worse yet some of you are renting here in BA. You don't even own!

 

[ravingnomad]

You sound like a very wise person @FuturoBA. Buying when real estate is cheap makes sense. However, buying real estate instead of renting does NOT always make sense. For example, right now in the USA it's crazy to buy at these prices in most USA cities. It's far more expensive to buy with a mortgage payment than it is to rent. We have advised ALL our clients to SELL their USA real estate earlier this year and to sell NOW if they haven't already on anything other than their primary house.

Almost all of our clients have sold properties in the USA the past year based on our advice. Our CEO of our company sold all his USA real estate other than his primary residence. He made 325% ROI from buying at the bottom at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 to selling in 2023.

Property prices in Buenos Aires are already starting to go up. Look at the sales volume. It's everything we predicted would happen 3 months ago when we gave the buy signal.

Here you can see details of the property we are buying most of the building up - https://www.expatsba.com/threads/gr...g-to-be-completed-by-august-2024-palermo.134/. (It should be completed by August 2024 and we will have our website up with renderings and floor plans and push to get rentals before it's finished).

Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YtHkfcnnwT2PT8nK7 (It's about 12 minutes walking to Alto Palermo Shopping Mall. It's a fantastic area).

It's a wonderful area. You're going to see too much saturation in the Palermo Soho area. To the point where tourists don't want to stay right in that area for noise, gringo pricing and a more authentic experience. Let us know if you have any questions. The building is almost sold out. We will be managing all our units on our website which will be located at www.MeetPalermo.com We will also have them listed on Airbnb but we will drive traffic to our own website. We will have a branded website, IG, Tik Tok, Youtube, Facebook, etc. pages.

Just booking direct you will save the 10% Airbnb fees plus any applicable taxes and fees that Buenos Aires plans to force Airbnb to charge in 2024. Also, we will rebate 5% cash back if you make a video and upload it to one of our platforms after your stay. This should drive virality and a viral loop for more rentals. This will be the 3.0 of rentals and for people to bypass Airbnb. In fact, it will be comical as you still start to see people putting into their own Airbnb listings to check out "Meet Palermo" or whatever their "branded website" is.

It's going to be epic.

Your friends at www.BuySellBA.com

Thanks, how would you describe the atmosphere in that part of Palermo? We're also considering areas of Recoleta, but prices there are seem out of reach for equivalent properties.

 

[FuturoBA]

It is crazy for me as a local that earns almost nothing that my parents, grandparents, my uncles, aunts, cousins all own real estate In Buenos Aires. They saved all their lives until they could buy a property. They made a fraction of the salaries you all make in the USA and first world countries yet so many of you are broke and living in my country as you have no money.

How did you not save up enough money to buy a modest apartment in your country? This boggles my mind that so many of you are retired and old and have no money to buy anything and some of you only have $1,000 US a month. Isn't this scary for you? Worse yet some of you are renting here in BA. You don't even own!

Many here in the US live on credit. They purchase things now and pay for it later. And those things are liabilities or depreciating assets: cars, clothes, electronics, etc which they make payments on because they couldn't afford them outright. Five years later what they just bought is outdated and after scraping by to maybe pay some of it off, they buy the same crap again, wanting the latest edition. And the cycle repeats.

It's crazy 62% here live paycheck to paycheck https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/31/62p...live-paycheck-to-paycheck-amid-inflation.html and most refuse to cut back on any meaningful expenses. The US is a status driven culture where everybody wants what their neighbors have. It's why even high income earners are stuck in the same trap https://finance.yahoo.com/news/150-...ning $100,000 or,struggling to make ends meet.

 

[Billy Goat]

Agree about the power of RE especially in the long term. Many of my friends thought I was crazy for buying a home when I did because I was single and rent was so cheap at the time. Now same friends are complaining of rent prices and at the same time they've been priced out of buying.

I've always tried to live below my means: cars paid in cash, not into fancy restaurants, nor the latest tech gear, and live a simple life. And soon I can semi-retire and work towards something I'm more passionate about and young enough where I'm still in good health.

@FuturoBA I agree with you about the power of real estate over the long term. Like you, my friends thought I was crazy many years ago for buying a home. I wasn't yet married or had kids but I bought a home pretty quickly after I graduated college. I was single and I bought a 3-bedroom house. The rent was cheaper than my mortgage when you factor in closing costs, etc. They laughed at me but my house skyrocketed in value over the past 20 years.

I sold it and it has funded my retirement in Argentina. My wife is originally from Buenos Aires and she is a nurse here. But she is probably going to lose her job if Milei closes down the hospital where she works. But his bite seems to not match his bark. It looks like many things he was saying he won't make good on which I'm very happy about. So far I am pleased at his moderate stance compared to what he said prior to the election.

I purchased real estate here when it was more expensive but I don't care as I would NOT like to be looking for a long-term rental now. My friends that rent are very stressed now and their leases end in Q1 of 2024. They don't know what they will do and the owners already said they will NOT renew their leases. One wants 75% more in USD as they said they can make at least that much more doing Airbnb rentals.

 

[Howard Stern]

Many here in the US live on credit. They purchase things now and pay for it later. And those things are liabilities or depreciating assets: cars, clothes, electronics, etc which they make payments on because they couldn't afford them outright. Five years later what they just bought is outdated and after scraping by to maybe pay some of it off, they buy the same crap again, wanting the latest edition. And the cycle repeats.

It's crazy 62% here live paycheck to paycheck https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/31/62p...live-paycheck-to-paycheck-amid-inflation.html and most refuse to cut back on any meaningful expenses. The US is a status driven culture where everybody wants what their neighbors have. It's why even high income earners are stuck in the same trap https://finance.yahoo.com/news/150-000-salaries-arent-enough-155937067.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJna3BJoB3MRjP0FpIsNx-8LjspkJixWBCnanW9rApA8l7eBQxxz6Js8cqby7oWnwexdlrV-gmIl-1aPyb8dyGLKOpzCzgMsyHH6EgPrUlCdibJ3J3jDk4xW8V9KArbiB2fxDLs91TanX_vO53cg9lT6fyteQRCYu9rhHd8ZnMBc#:~:text=Of those earning $100,000 or,struggling to make ends meet.

This is totally correct @FuturoBA ! Most of my friends in the USA I don't actually know if they have a positive net worth or not. They drive fancy cars, live in a nice house, take nice vacations but I had a few friends like this that all of a sudden declared bankruptcy. Their life was all fake and they were taking refinances against their homes. Living off credit cards.

What I admire with all my local friends in Argentina is they make the fraction of the money my American friends make and yet they almost all own. Americans are stuck always buying the latest junk, spending $8 per coffee daily and other sh*t they don't need.

 

[BuySellBA]

Thanks, how would you describe the atmosphere in that part of Palermo? We're also considering areas of Recoleta, but prices there are seem out of reach for equivalent properties.

Hi @ravingnomad,

That part of Palermo is wonderful. Honestly, most parts of anywhere in Recoleta or Palermo are very nice. They are two of the nicest neighborhoods in the entire continent of South America.

Actually, you can get properties in Recoleta for decent levels as well. The issue is that most foreigners buying real estate in Buenos Aires right now are doing it for the tremendous cash flow via short-term rentals on Airbnb. The new trend is new construction that is zoned to do short-term rentals. Most of Recoleta the buildings are older and there are no amenities. Also, even if an HOA doesn't specifically restrict short-term rentals, they enact rules that prevent short-term rentals. That is disastrous for owners who are buying to do short-term rentals.

In most of the properties we are purchasing now for ourselves and our clients, we are only buying in buildings where it's zoned in the by-laws to do short-term rentals. Nothing can prevent it. They are specifically set up almost as an apartment hotel. In fact, the founder of our company is planning to build his own luxury residential tower and he will set it up like an apartment hotel. So it will be individual apartments but it will be managed and ran like a high-end hotel. Each unit will be individually owned by each investor. Our company will manage the entire building. We formally owned and operated the largest property management company in Argentina.

We know a thing or two about luxury rentals.

 

[IrishLad]

Hi @ravingnomad,

That part of Palermo is wonderful. Honestly, most parts of anywhere in Recoleta or Palermo are very nice. They are two of the nicest neighborhoods in the entire continent of South America.

Actually, you can get properties in Recoleta for decent levels as well. The issue is that most foreigners buying real estate in Buenos Aires right now are doing it for the tremendous cash flow via short-term rentals on Airbnb. The new trend is new construction that is zoned to do short-term rentals. Most of Recoleta the buildings are older and there are no amenities. Also, even if an HOA doesn't specifically restrict short-term rentals, they enact rules that prevent short-term rentals. That is disastrous for owners who are buying to do short-term rentals.

In most of the properties we are purchasing now for ourselves and our clients, we are only buying in buildings where it's zoned in the by-laws to do short-term rentals. Nothing can prevent it. They are specifically set up almost as an apartment hotel. In fact, the founder of our company is planning to build his own luxury residential tower and he will set it up like an apartment hotel. So it will be individual apartments but it will be managed and ran like a high-end hotel. Each unit will be individually owned by each investor. Our company will manage the entire building. We formally owned and operated the largest property management company in Argentina.

We know a thing or two about luxury rentals.

Smart concept!! One of the first places I ever stayed here in Buenos Aires was a similar concept. I didn't know if they were still in business but I just saw them on TripAdvisor!

ART SUITES - Prices & Hotel Reviews (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Book Art Suites, Buenos Aires on Tripadvisor: See 468 traveler reviews, 630 candid photos, and great deals for Art Suites, ranked #87 of 529 hotels in Buenos Aires and rated 4 of 5 at Tripadvisor.

www.tripadvisor.com

Brings back memories. It was perfect. It was like an apartment hotel. It didn't have a full kitchen but I think that concept is the best. Most Airbnbs are crummy or I have have cruddy mattresses.

I agree with @BuySellBA do NOT buy to do airbnb unless you know it won't get banned. I now 4 foreigners who bought to do short-term rentals and now none of them can because the people in the building banned it per bylaws. One of them is fighting it but they have wasted time and money on legal bills.

If you are buying to live in it then it's fine. But the yield on long term rentals and short term is crazy different.

 

[Swowbird]

I spent only a limited time in Villa Crespo and I didn't care for it too much either. Maybe it was just me but the streets seemed wider which allowed for cars to drive just a little faster and things seemed a little further sprawled out. Also compared to Palermo restaurants didn't seem to have as much outdoor patio seating (which now that I think about it, relates to narrowing the width of the streets) and VC felt less established with the trees much younger and shorter.

Agreed! Dont like Villa Crespo at all. Feels like a ghetto Palermo Hollywood or Soho. And dont like Soho anymore either.