Real Estate Sales No negotiation: why there is almost no room to discuss the price of a home in a real estate transaction - Infobae

[Tango]

What are the reasons for foreigners buying here? Is this to live in? Or is this a straight investment? I know after the corralito it was just investment but with the higher costs to live here now I am surprised there are so many foreigners buying here again.

I have been coming here for years. Truth is I can't afford to live in the States anymore. I am waiting for my social security payments to hit and then will live here. It still is a fraction of the cost to live back home.

 

[FuturoBA]

The costs might be higher than last year Larry but you have to think of things from the cost of living perspective of people paying crazy high prices in the US. Some people just don't realize how expensive it is in the US. Rents keep going up in many areas. Or if you have a place of your own property taxes keep going up. Insurance, groceries. I keep hearing how Argentina is as much as the USA but I am just not seeing it. Even looking at recent posts of restaurants it is less than home.

Real estate is also a fraction of the cost of most metropolitan cities in the US. My biggest issue is worrying about making enough money in Argentina. I have a remote job now but I have to go into the office starting this month once a week and there is talk of increasing that. I just don't see many dependable paths to make much money abroad. Remote jobs are becoming more and more difficult to find.

So true about the taxes and COL in the US. My brother bought a house last year and is paying $2k a month just in taxes for a 1200 SF house where as for $2k a month you can live comfortably in BA all expenses included, esp if you're single as he is.

 

[RN in BA]

Thank you @CraigM! Yes I just contacted them and I am meeting with them tomorrow morning. My wife thinks I am crazy because we just came for vacation but now we might buy something here. But she loves it too. I still can't get over how safe it is here. This reminds me of Europe. Thank you all for your information here. Great information.

@Johnny did you say the price jumped up 7% in one month???

Don't feel crazy for coming on vacation and wanting to move to BA. I did the same thing! My mom talked me out of it. Also, I did a consultation with @BuySellBA and they were brutally honest and told me I shouldn't in my situation and wouldn't be a good idea. At the time I hated the advice but it was the correct call as I was going to cash out my 401k to buy a place there.

I still would love to do it in the future but painful watching prices go up from last year.

 

[RN in BA]

So true about the taxes and COL in the US. My brother bought a house last year and is paying $2k a month just in taxes for a 1200 SF house where as for $2k a month you can live comfortably in BA all expenses included, esp if you're single as he is.

Yes!! I live with my mom in Florida and her insurance for her house she almost can't get. It has skyrocketed up! With property taxes and what her insurance is and the HOA fee for the community she pays what she can live a great life in BA! I am trying to convince her to come down to BA with me but I need more years of savings before I can go there. I keep squirreling away my 401K.

 

[FuturoBA]

Don't feel crazy for coming on vacation and wanting to move to BA. I did the same thing! My mom talked me out of it. Also, I did a consultation with @BuySellBA and they were brutally honest and told me I shouldn't in my situation and wouldn't be a good idea. At the time I hated the advice but it was the correct call as I was going to cash out my 401k to buy a place there.

I still would love to do it in the future but painful watching prices go up from last year.

@Petey Yes I did exactly this too as @RN in BA ! Came on vacation, fell in love with BA, bought a place, and plan to move in by mid year. Seems to be a common theme w people coming here.

 

[Petey]

@Petey Yes I did exactly this too as @RN in BA ! Came on vacation, fell in love with BA, bought a place, and plan to move in by mid year. Seems to be a common theme w people coming here.

Wow so I am not crazy after all. I am relieved to have found this forum. I never imagined that so many people felt the same way about the city.

I want to sincerely thank you @CraigM. My wife and I met with Michael today. What a great visit. We even got to see a new property that he purchased last year. He told us that a few of you bought in a new development by the same developer. We are meeting with the developer tomorrow afternoon.

On a positive note my wife doesn't think I am crazy anymore. Thank you all for sharing information about your experiences here in Buenos Aires. We are very excited.

 

[RN in BA]

@Petey Yes I did exactly this too as @RN in BA ! Came on vacation, fell in love with BA, bought a place, and plan to move in by mid year. Seems to be a common theme w people coming here.

I am SO jealous of you @Uncle Wong. I remember reading about you buying your place in Palermo. How has the experience been so far? I am still tempted to buy something and just rent it out. I am just afraid if I wait until I am ready I will be paying so much more in the future. I am going to try to come down with my mom.

She said she may loan me the money to buy a small apartment or buy it with me. So I am trying to schedule another trip with her. I did not know so many people fell in love with the city too. I can't wait to read some of your posts once you live here.

 

[Johnny]

Wow so I am not crazy after all. I am relieved to have found this forum. I never imagined that so many people felt the same way about the city.

I want to sincerely thank you @CraigM. My wife and I met with Michael today. What a great visit. We even got to see a new property that he purchased last year. He told us that a few of you bought in a new development by the same developer. We are meeting with the developer tomorrow afternoon.

On a positive note my wife doesn't think I am crazy anymore. Thank you all for sharing information about your experiences here in Buenos Aires. We are very excited.

You aren't crazy. At least your wife is with you. I ended up buying several properties in Mexico and in BA and so far she only has visited 1 of them. 🤣

Petey if you went to see his apartments I also own one in that same building where he owns a few. Are you going to the new project from GyD? I bought a unit on the 9th floor. Feel free to DM me with any questions. I have gone through the process a few times. I'm jealous that you're in BA. I was supposed to come but got stuck with work.

 

[earlyretirement]

What are the reasons for foreigners buying here? Is this to live in? Or is this a straight investment? I know after the corralito it was just investment but with the higher costs to live here now I am surprised there are so many foreigners buying here again.

Hi @Larry,

Before after the corralito in 2002 most of my clients it was just an investment for a capital appreciation play and also cash flow. I started doing short-term rentals 6 years before Airbnb started so we were kind of the "Airbnb" before they existed and they ended up buying my company.

We sold 95% of our portfolio in 2017/2018 and waited and started buying last year. Most of my clients now are investors but a good % are also people who came for vacation and fell in love with the city and want a place here or a retirement place for the future.

The vast majority of my clients are Americans but lately, I have more and more from the EU as well. My last 2 clients were from Portugal looking to diversify and also take advantage of the affordable real estate. With President Milei, Argentina is getting a lot of exposure.

I also have a lot of Americans who have sold real estate this year or in escrow to close and looking to redeploy cash in real estate. Many are also retiring and looking for a place to purchase to live in when they retire. I'd also say that about 10% over the past year also bought Bitcoin and up big time and just want a place and liquidating some of their crypto.

It's an interesting mix of clients.

So true about the taxes and COL in the US. My brother bought a house last year and is paying $2k a month just in taxes for a 1200 SF house where as for $2k a month you can live comfortably in BA all expenses included, esp if you're single as he is.

Very true. My property tax bill is not pretty. Add insurance, HOA fees, gardener, etc. and it's shocking. I will be glad when I just downsize. It is very obscene what monthly costs are like even having a paid-off house in the USA these days.

Wow so I am not crazy after all. I am relieved to have found this forum. I never imagined that so many people felt the same way about the city.

I want to sincerely thank you @CraigM. My wife and I met with Michael today. What a great visit. We even got to see a new property that he purchased last year. He told us that a few of you bought in a new development by the same developer. We are meeting with the developer tomorrow afternoon.

On a positive note my wife doesn't think I am crazy anymore. Thank you all for sharing information about your experiences here in Buenos Aires. We are very excited.

It was a true pleasure meeting you and your wife today @Petey. I'm glad you liked my place. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

 

[daveholman]

What are the reasons for foreigners buying here? Is this to live in? Or is this a straight investment? I know after the corralito it was just investment but with the higher costs to live here now I am surprised there are so many foreigners buying here again.

The median home price in the US is now $420,000. Up from $330,000 in 2020. Not much different to Argentina. And if you pencil out total cost of ownership (taxes, utilities, insurance, etc) Argentina is still a bargain.

 

[Betsy Ross]

The median home price in the US is now $420,000. Up from $330,000 in 2020. Not much different to Argentina. And if you pencil out total cost of ownership (taxes, utilities, insurance, etc) Argentina is still a bargain.

But most people in BA don't own homes. They own apartments. The median price of a property in BA has to be lower than $420k. There are many smaller apartments. I am not sure what the median value of a property in BA is. Something nice is even though the value of my apartment went up over the years, my property tax is still only the amount I paid and even that amount was listed as lower. In the US, my property tax bill kept going up each year.

Insurance is very low here compared to US. Utilities went up but they are still dirt cheap here in BA. I am paying just a small fraction of what I was paying in the US. I could never have the lifestyle I have in the US like I have here in BA.

Honestly once you have a paid off place you can get by for not too much. Rentals are also much lower than the States.

 

[Larry]

So true about the taxes and COL in the US. My brother bought a house last year and is paying $2k a month just in taxes for a 1200 SF house where as for $2k a month you can live comfortably in BA all expenses included, esp if you're single as he is.

But if he is paying that much the value much be very expensive no? I don't know anything about property tax rates. As I understand it, it is a percentage value of the property in the USA? $20,000 in property taxes? Probably it is multi million dollar property? If you have an expensive property in Argentina you will also pay asset tax. Argentina is a very high tax country.

I would guess if you have the same value property in Argentina your taxes might be more or less the same. Of course you don't need such an opulent property in BA. It would be difficult to find a multi million dollar property. Maybe in Puerto Madero or Nordelta. But your expenses will probably be similar to the States. Condo fees jumped up this year.

The median home price in the US is now $420,000. Up from $330,000 in 2020. Not much different to Argentina. And if you pencil out total cost of ownership (taxes, utilities, insurance, etc) Argentina is still a bargain.

The USA sounds very expensive but Argentina is not a cheap place anymore. Agree that Argentina is much cheaper than US but not sure for how long.

 

[CraigM]

Wow so I am not crazy after all. I am relieved to have found this forum. I never imagined that so many people felt the same way about the city.

I want to sincerely thank you @CraigM. My wife and I met with Michael today. What a great visit. We even got to see a new property that he purchased last year. He told us that a few of you bought in a new development by the same developer. We are meeting with the developer tomorrow afternoon.

On a positive note my wife doesn't think I am crazy anymore. Thank you all for sharing information about your experiences here in Buenos Aires. We are very excited.

Great to hear Petey. I came to this forum the same way you did and most of my trip was planned from information and advice from people here. Then we started looking into properties and one thing led to another....

 

[Betsy Ross]

Great to hear Petey. I came to this forum the same way you did and most of my trip was planned from information and advice from people here. Then we started looking into properties and one thing led to another....

You all are very fortunate! When I bought 15 years ago there was not much information at all. I didn't know there were companies to help with all of this. It was very stressful. Several deals fell apart. Had to wire in cash. That part probably was the most stressful of all. I had to wire in to an unknown bank account and cross my fingers that the cash wouldn't disappear. Then had to get the cash and the seller demanded to close at her lawyer's office. So I had to arrange to transport all of that cash. I had to pay a huge fee to get the cash into Argentina and then another fee to get the cash to the closing.

I felt like I was in a spy movie. 🤣 Everything worked out ok but it was probably the most stressful process of my life.

 

[Petey]

You all are very fortunate! When I bought 15 years ago there was not much information at all. I didn't know there were companies to help with all of this. It was very stressful. Several deals fell apart. Had to wire in cash. That part probably was the most stressful of all. I had to wire in to an unknown bank account and cross my fingers that the cash wouldn't disappear. Then had to get the cash and the seller demanded to close at her lawyer's office. So I had to arrange to transport all of that cash. I had to pay a huge fee to get the cash into Argentina and then another fee to get the cash to the closing.

I felt like I was in a spy movie. 🤣 Everything worked out ok but it was probably the most stressful process of my life.

We spent 2 hours yesterday asking questions and getting the explanation of cash entering. It sounds like a crazy process dealing with cash! I can't imagine closing on a property and paying cash. It sounds like there are systems in place to deal with that but that was an uncomfortable thought having to wire in cash. We wanted to limit our search to deals where we can pay for the property outside of Argentina to avoid the cash.

 

[Vince]

You all are very fortunate! When I bought 15 years ago there was not much information at all. I didn't know there were companies to help with all of this. It was very stressful. Several deals fell apart. Had to wire in cash. That part probably was the most stressful of all. I had to wire in to an unknown bank account and cross my fingers that the cash wouldn't disappear. Then had to get the cash and the seller demanded to close at her lawyer's office. So I had to arrange to transport all of that cash. I had to pay a huge fee to get the cash into Argentina and then another fee to get the cash to the closing.

I felt like I was in a spy movie. 🤣 Everything worked out ok but it was probably the most stressful process of my life.

I remember my first time I bought my place and I had the same experience as you Betsy. My wife is Argentine and they deal with cash all the time. It took me a while to get comfortable but once you are here you realize cash is part of life. Now that I am back in NYC I have not dealt with cash in months.

My wife's family owns a few businesses in BA and just about every company has a vault with cash in it. Only in Argentina!

 

[CraigM]

We spent 2 hours yesterday asking questions and getting the explanation of cash entering. It sounds like a crazy process dealing with cash! I can't imagine closing on a property and paying cash. It sounds like there are systems in place to deal with that but that was an uncomfortable thought having to wire in cash. We wanted to limit our search to deals where we can pay for the property outside of Argentina to avoid the cash.

It is a very odd process and you will have a number of uncomfortable moments, but so far so good at least in our case. Obviously we'll feel a lot better when we have possession in a few years but everything with BuySellBA and GyD has been very above board.

 

[Uncle Wong]

We spent 2 hours yesterday asking questions and getting the explanation of cash entering. It sounds like a crazy process dealing with cash! I can't imagine closing on a property and paying cash. It sounds like there are systems in place to deal with that but that was an uncomfortable thought having to wire in cash. We wanted to limit our search to deals where we can pay for the property outside of Argentina to avoid the cash.

Petey that was my preference too but all the new construction projects I liked are far from finishing and I didn't want to wait. Or I liked the units but did not like the location. All the older properties I liked either needed a ton of renovations or I did not like the area. It sounds daunting a renovation in Argentina and I don't want to take on that task.

I told my realtor to limit properties where the seller had a foreign bank account but so far all the places I looked everyone still wants cash. It is amazing even people that have US dollar accounts there don't trust the banks much. And I spoke to an American that had residency here and he wired cash down to a USD account he had and he said his funds got tied up for a few weeks.

I'm told once the currency controls end then it will be different but I wonder if people will still trust the banks? Seems like even if the currency controls end if locals don't trust the banks they might still demand cash? @earlyretirement is this correct?

 

[Digital Nomad]

It is a very odd process and you will have a number of uncomfortable moments, but so far so good at least in our case. Obviously we'll feel a lot better when we have possession in a few years but everything with BuySellBA and GyD has been very above board.

@CraigM did they have an account outside of Argentina? All the developers I am talking to do not have foreign accounts. Did you have to pay any wire transfer fee? Or I guess you sent to a USD account? I am having a hard time with the fact that I'd have to pay extra just to get money here but it seems impossible to get cash here free. I'm paying to cuevas to get it here now.

I have been to a few buildings from that developer. I am looking at a property now in Soho close to my Airbnb and that developer built the building and it is nice. But they don't allow airbnbs in the building and that is the only strike against it.

Petey that was my preference too but all the new construction projects I liked are far from finishing and I didn't want to wait. Or I liked the units but did not like the location. All the older properties I liked either needed a ton of renovations or I did not like the area. It sounds daunting a renovation in Argentina and I don't want to take on that task.

I told my realtor to limit properties where the seller had a foreign bank account but so far all the places I looked everyone still wants cash. It is amazing even people that have US dollar accounts there don't trust the banks much. And I spoke to an American that had residency here and he wired cash down to a USD account he had and he said his funds got tied up for a few weeks.

I'm told once the currency controls end then it will be different but I wonder if people will still trust the banks? Seems like even if the currency controls end if locals don't trust the banks they might still demand cash? @earlyretirement is this correct?

There is no way to filter searches for sellers that are foreigners. Realtors here are terrible! I have a tough enough time just seeing properties on zonaprop that are listed. It is a strange process here. I don't know how anything gets done. Seeing a property is like pulling teeth! I have never been to a place where people don't want to work on a sunday. Or owners that won't allow a showing on Sunday. In the USA they have open houses on the weekends. It is strange.

My girlfriend said that even if Milei has good intentions, the laws and court system are another matter. Her father isn't confident the cepo will end until December 2025.

 

[Blockchain]

@CraigM did they have an account outside of Argentina? All the developers I am talking to do not have foreign accounts. Did you have to pay any wire transfer fee? Or I guess you sent to a USD account? I am having a hard time with the fact that I'd have to pay extra just to get money here but it seems impossible to get cash here free. I'm paying to cuevas to get it here now.

I have been to a few buildings from that developer. I am looking at a property now in Soho close to my Airbnb and that developer built the building and it is nice. But they don't allow airbnbs in the building and that is the only strike against it.


There is no way to filter searches for sellers that are foreigners. Realtors here are terrible! I have a tough enough time just seeing properties on zonaprop that are listed. It is a strange process here. I don't know how anything gets done. Seeing a property is like pulling teeth! I have never been to a place where people don't want to work on a sunday. Or owners that won't allow a showing on Sunday. In the USA they have open houses on the weekends. It is strange.

My girlfriend said that even if Milei has good intentions, the laws and court system are another matter. Her father isn't confident the cepo will end until December 2025.

I saw this post on X from @BuySellBA. It sounds like using cuevas are still technically illegal which is confusing. I thought the government doesn't care. But what your girlfriend's father is saying is the same as what BuySellBA is saying in that post.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1879501841513230540