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

[FuturoBA]

$35 to $200? Are you sure this is right? Why was it only $35 to start? Did they tell you when you purchased it would be more expensive eventually? I have looked at many properties on Zonaprop and never saw any expensive ads that low except for a PH.

I heard there there can be a lot of fraud with administrations. My local friend told me they caught their administrator stealing. And had to fire him. You might want to see the breakdown.

Did they artificially make the hoa fees low to try to get owner to buy? Bait and switch?

$35 was January last year which was in line with most places I looked at at the time. It's gone up incrementally since then.

 

[CraigM]

I ended up buying in a new development for the same reason. It really only works if you are down in Buenos Aires for a few weeks. In the USA you can go and see many properties for sale all in a few days or a week. I was here for only 7-10 days at a time my first few trips and it is almost impossible to see very many.

Here even if you have a decent realtor it doesn't matter because they have to coordinate showings with the listing agent. Then the listing agent has to deal with individual sellers who are also very difficult to deal with. It is a strange market. I saw some apartments my first visit and wanted to see it again later in the day at the end of the day and the seller would not let me come for a second visit. I discovered that many sellers aren't very motivated to sell.

I also found the same property listed with another broker at a different price. Very strange how the market is in BA. For many different reasons it is a difficult market to buy.

Thanks, that explains a lot. If the realtor had explained that upfront I would have taken a different approach and probably not expected much.

 

[earlyretirement]

At the beginning of the year HOA was about $35 and have now jumped to ~$200. Summer may play with spike in electricity, but I'm also seeing a spike in the months prior around w current tenant and hovering around the same for last month.

Tenants will probably always use more electricity than owners and I'll see about signing up for statements as you said "trust but verify." I don't remember paying an extra month of bills when I purchased, but HOAs were so low at the time (~$35) I don't know if that would make a difference now. But that's great advice to get a copy and see who and how many are paying or are late. The first few floors are businesses I believe and residential levels have 4 units or less for each floor, so I don't think there's too many units, which could be contributing to HOA costs.

$35 USD is a great price for HOA fees for a building that has a pool. I'm not sure how it was only $35 but things were crazy cheap last year. Prices can drastically differ based on how well the administration is. It also depends how many units are in the building. Obviously buildings that have more units have more owners that can split expenses that makes it easier but also there is more potential for potential fraud because there are so many units and if they try to say there were more expenses they can pad on for each thing.

Now it's much easier as they typically break out all the details of the total expenses. That wasn't the case 20+ years ago. When I started buying up many units in a building, I typically got more involved with watching the bottom line and making sure to see total expenses. So essentially everything you see in HOA bills now, I made administrations provide that.

You have to keep in mind that in some buildings, I was buying 25% of all the units in the entire building. In one skyscraper I bought about 50 units out of the 200 units so we had a big voice. I just went to dinner the other night with my ex CFO and she bought 2 of my units so I asked her what the HOA bills are now. This is in the Palermo Uno building in Palermo Soho and 35 m2 units are still only around $130 USD right now. And the building has swimming pool, huge entire floor gym, doorman and security guards around the clock. Much of the building is Airbnb STR's.

A jump from $35 to $200 is really steep but I've been saying the inflation in many things is extreme.

@FuturoBA, typically in new constructions when you are the first owner there is a reserve fund and also an equipment payment. When you buy a new construction they typically will charge a set amount from each owner that will pay to furnish the building lobby, pool area, rooftop, etc. And then they set aside an emergency reserve fund. When you sell the apartment, typically the owner will get his money back and the new owner pays into the fund.

If they never charged you it can be a sign of a very unorganized building administration. You can always bet if they are so unorganized they forget to charge for the emergency reserve fund they aren't very organized. Most administrations suck.

When I was on the HOA board of a building where I bought a lot of units, I caught them in fraud. It's always a good idea to keep an eye out on these HOA bills. Now it's much easier as they mostly detail out what they are spending on.

 

[earlyretirement]

Thanks, that explains a lot. If the realtor had explained that upfront I would have taken a different approach and probably not expected much.

Yes! @Jeb Spencer nailed it. Almost no realtors have their own listings. People have a "buyer's agent" and they are trying to line up visits for properties by "listing agents" but the vast majority of times, the seller's agents are totally flaky or the seller's are as well. Even if you have a motivated buyer the seller's agent has to get permission to show the property. Here it's not like the USA where seller's will run and leave their apartments so their agent's can show it.

Almost nothing works here well and people are very unorganized. So you can have the best realtor in the world but if seller's agents don't call them back there isn't anything they can do. And it's impossible to set a lot of visits up ahead of times because again, the seller's and seller's agents are very bad. So it does take being here a few weeks sometimes to see things.

It can be a very frustrating process as people don't understand all of these things above. Many times the realtor's are bad. But sometimes agents are very good but the seller's or listing agents never get back. It's a chaotic set up here.

 

[Betsy Ross]

Thanks, that explains a lot. If the realtor had explained that upfront I would have taken a different approach and probably not expected much.

That is the key! You can't expect too much with how things are here. I don't think I would have ever purchased if I was trying to do it a week or two at a time. Most times when I identified a property it sometimes took my realtor 4-5 days before they would even schedule a viewing. The one that I ended up buying took about 2 weeks just to go and see it and then for me to see it again and then a week passed before my architect friend could go see it.

It all depends on how motivated the seller is. It is impossible to know when things go wrong whose fault it is. Could be you have a crappy realtor. Could be the seller is difficult to allow showings. Could be the seller's agent is horrible. Or more likely all 3!

 

[import export]

At the beginning of the year HOA was about $35 and have now jumped to ~$200. Summer may play with spike in electricity, but I'm also seeing a spike in the months prior around w current tenant and hovering around the same for last month.

Tenants will probably always use more electricity than owners and I'll see about signing up for statements as you said "trust but verify." I don't remember paying an extra month of bills when I purchased, but HOAs were so low at the time (~$35) I don't know if that would make a difference now. But that's great advice to get a copy and see who and how many are paying or are late. The first few floors are businesses I believe and residential levels have 4 units or less for each floor, so I don't think there's too many units, which could be contributing to HOA costs.

Wow! I never heard of inflation that bad. It really went up almost 500% in one year? What reason did they give? Where did the expense go up from? They must give you a reason why it jumped up so much. My novias went up about 230% so far last year. It is still going up about 5% a month but the last one was not too bad.

Maybe in your building Futuro they added something? Or did you have some extraordinary expense like damage to the building? An almost 500% increase in one year is unheard of even in BA. In South America it pays to not be an absent owner. I own in Brazil and you must watch things and ask for a copy of the expenses. That % increase is not normal. Inflation has been terrible in Argentina but that kind of increase usually means something is wrong in the building or the administration of the building.

 

[Uncle Wong]

Thanks, that explains a lot. If the realtor had explained that upfront I would have taken a different approach and probably not expected much.

Realtors in BA based on my experience are next-level bad. Not good communication. OK if they can't show properties but why not send me a list of potential properties in the area? I just had a few weeks of experience last year but I got referred to another one and it is going ok but they can't line up anything until a few days before I arrive they told me.

January seems terrible. Many people must be out as response times are even slower than before.

 

[FuturoBA]

$35 USD is a great price for HOA fees for a building that has a pool. I'm not sure how it was only $35 but things were crazy cheap last year. Prices can drastically differ based on how well the administration is. It also depends how many units are in the building. Obviously buildings that have more units have more owners that can split expenses that makes it easier but also there is more potential for potential fraud because there are so many units and if they try to say there were more expenses they can pad on for each thing.

Now it's much easier as they typically break out all the details of the total expenses. That wasn't the case 20+ years ago. When I started buying up many units in a building, I typically got more involved with watching the bottom line and making sure to see total expenses. So essentially everything you see in HOA bills now, I made administrations provide that.

You have to keep in mind that in some buildings, I was buying 25% of all the units in the entire building. In one skyscraper I bought about 50 units out of the 200 units so we had a big voice. I just went to dinner the other night with my ex CFO and she bought 2 of my units so I asked her what the HOA bills are now. This is in the Palermo Uno building in Palermo Soho and 35 m2 units are still only around $130 USD right now. And the building has swimming pool, huge entire floor gym, doorman and security guards around the clock. Much of the building is Airbnb STR's.

A jump from $35 to $200 is really steep but I've been saying the inflation in many things is extreme.

@FuturoBA, typically in new constructions when you are the first owner there is a reserve fund and also an equipment payment. When you buy a new construction they typically will charge a set amount from each owner that will pay to furnish the building lobby, pool area, rooftop, etc. And then they set aside an emergency reserve fund. When you sell the apartment, typically the owner will get his money back and the new owner pays into the fund.

If they never charged you it can be a sign of a very unorganized building administration. You can always bet if they are so unorganized they forget to charge for the emergency reserve fund they aren't very organized. Most administrations suck.

When I was on the HOA board of a building where I bought a lot of units, I caught them in fraud. It's always a good idea to keep an eye out on these HOA bills. Now it's much easier as they mostly detail out what they are spending on.

My building was new, about 3-6 months completed, so not brand new. I take it the first owner then would have paid the reserve fund/equipment payment and pass that on as part of the inclusive price when he sold?

Wow! I never heard of inflation that bad. It really went up almost 500% in one year? What reason did they give? Where did the expense go up from? They must give you a reason why it jumped up so much. My novias went up about 230% so far last year. It is still going up about 5% a month but the last one was not too bad.

Maybe in your building Futuro they added something? Or did you have some extraordinary expense like damage to the building? An almost 500% increase in one year is unheard of even in BA. In South America it pays to not be an absent owner. I own in Brazil and you must watch things and ask for a copy of the expenses. That % increase is not normal. Inflation has been terrible in Argentina but that kind of increase usually means something is wrong in the building or the administration of the building.

I'm going to see if I can find out why it jumped so much. Initially fees were probably too low and there's also a lot of small units so that may be part of it. Does anyone know if HOAs in Argentina or BA are calculated by squared meter or how it varies between units??

 

[Uncle Wong]

My building was new, about 3-6 months completed, so not brand new. I take it the first owner then would have paid the reserve fund/equipment payment and pass that on as part of the inclusive price when he sold?

I'm going to see if I can find out why it jumped so much. Initially fees were probably too low and there's also a lot of small units so that may be part of it. Does anyone know if HOAs in Argentina or BA are calculated by squared meter or how it varies between units??

You would think even if the building was new they would have had set expenses figured out. I'd hate to buy in a building and then have them jump up 500%. Because for me part of the planning process is selecting a place that has reasonable expenses. I don't want to buy a place and then have them jump up so much after. I know that there has been a lot of inflation in hoa bills but mostly from what I am reading and articles it says about 200%.

 

[Betsy Ross]

My building was new, about 3-6 months completed, so not brand new. I take it the first owner then would have paid the reserve fund/equipment payment and pass that on as part of the inclusive price when he sold?

I'm going to see if I can find out why it jumped so much. Initially fees were probably too low and there's also a lot of small units so that may be part of it. Does anyone know if HOAs in Argentina or BA are calculated by squared meter or how it varies between units??

If your building is already several months old they still should know how much expenses would be. My building is an older building and there are no amenities so I didn't have any equipment. I can't remember if I had to pay into a reserve fund or not. It was so long ago since I bought.

In most buildings they usually divide the expenses based pro-rata on how many square meters you have. So it should depend what percentage your apartment is compared to the total in the building. At least that is how it was explained to me when I bought.

 

[earlyretirement]

My building was new, about 3-6 months completed, so not brand new. I take it the first owner then would have paid the reserve fund/equipment payment and pass that on as part of the inclusive price when he sold?

I'm going to see if I can find out why it jumped so much. Initially fees were probably too low and there's also a lot of small units so that may be part of it. Does anyone know if HOAs in Argentina or BA are calculated by squared meter or how it varies between units??

In new constructions, once they are done, the owners of all the units have their pro-rata of all expenses. A building that has already been completed will know the total that they will spend however, in most new constructions, they include water and what they do is take the total and divide it pro-rata same as all the other expenses like electricity in common areas. So it could be that in the beginning, not many people were in the building hence not much water usage but then as everyone moved in consumption drastically increased.

You will know @FuturoBA by comparing the HOA statements. All the total expenses should be detailed out. It will have the owner of each unit and most HOA bills even have the % that pertains to the unit that you own. You can see an example below.

It's a simple formula. They will take the total expenses and divide the bills proportional to the % of the building that you own. Keep in mind inflation has been brutal with electricity, gas, water and insurance and also salaries have increased and should keep going up. But it should just match your % that you own.

I agree with the advice to always get your actual expense each month so you can see why fees are jumping up. You can tell a lot by looking at the monthly HOA bill.

 

[Jeb Spencer]

Thanks, that explains a lot. If the realtor had explained that upfront I would have taken a different approach and probably not expected much.

De nada. I'm not sure how long you were in town for. But unless it was at least 2 weeks it is almost impossible depending on the units. It's nothing like the United States.

My building was new, about 3-6 months completed, so not brand new. I take it the first owner then would have paid the reserve fund/equipment payment and pass that on as part of the inclusive price when he sold?

When I bought my apartment I had to pay into the reserve fund too. I don't know if it is the same for every building but I had to pay into the fund and then the guy that sold his apartment got his funds back. If you have not paid into the reserve fund then they might ask that from you unless the seller never got his money back. From the sound of things your administration sounds a little chaotic so they might not have checked. If they have not asked you then probably not worth it to remind them or they might ask you for it.

So you are the 2nd owner?

 

[FuturoBA]

In new constructions, once they are done, the owners of all the units have their pro-rata of all expenses. A building that has already been completed will know the total that they will spend however, in most new constructions, they include water and what they do is take the total and divide it pro-rata same as all the other expenses like electricity in common areas. So it could be that in the beginning, not many people were in the building hence not much water usage but then as everyone moved in consumption drastically increased.

You will know @FuturoBA by comparing the HOA statements. All the total expenses should be detailed out. It will have the owner of each unit and most HOA bills even have the % that pertains to the unit that you own. You can see an example below.

It's a simple formula. They will take the total expenses and divide the bills proportional to the % of the building that you own. Keep in mind inflation has been brutal with electricity, gas, water and insurance and also salaries have increased and should keep going up. But it should just match your % that you own.

I agree with the advice to always get your actual expense each month so you can see why fees are jumping up. You can tell a lot by looking at the monthly HOA bill.

View attachment 8462

Thanks for all the great info everyone and thanks @earlyretirement for the laid out example. HOA fees should be going up at the rate of inflation of what it covers and on the old censored forum I heard a story of a new buyer purchasing into a building with a huge AySA debt unbeknownst to them. Not sure if something similar is going on or what in my case, but even if all checked out initially how can one prevent or minimize issues from propping up in the future? I take it some buildings will have competent management and fortunate to have them stay as such, but others will change over the years both for the good and the bad. How would one both prevent and get rid of the bad if such is the case?

De nada. I'm not sure how long you were in town for. But unless it was at least 2 weeks it is almost impossible depending on the units. It's nothing like the United States.


When I bought my apartment I had to pay into the reserve fund too. I don't know if it is the same for every building but I had to pay into the fund and then the guy that sold his apartment got his funds back. If you have not paid into the reserve fund then they might ask that from you unless the seller never got his money back. From the sound of things your administration sounds a little chaotic so they might not have checked. If they have not asked you then probably not worth it to remind them or they might ask you for it.

So you are the 2nd owner?

Yes I would be the 2nd owner albeit awaiting the deed. Would that be something the escribano, especially the escribano from the developer as it's still considered a new building would or should have brought up?

 

[Blockchain]

Wow what an incredibly informative thread! Thanks everyone for sharing. I might buy a property there in the future and this thread is helpful.

 

[earlyretirement]

Thanks for all the great info everyone and thanks @earlyretirement for the laid out example. HOA fees should be going up at the rate of inflation of what it covers and on the old censored forum I heard a story of a new buyer purchasing into a building with a huge AySA debt unbeknownst to them. Not sure if something similar is going on or what in my case, but even if all checked out initially how can one prevent or minimize issues from propping up in the future? I take it some buildings will have competent management and fortunate to have them stay as such, but others will change over the years both for the good and the bad. How would one both prevent and get rid of the bad if such is the case?

Yes I would be the 2nd owner albeit awaiting the deed. Would that be something the escribano, especially the escribano from the developer as it's still considered a new building would or should have brought up?

Great job everyone sharing your experiences. This is what these forums are all about. The sharing of information benefits everyone. @FuturoBA, you are welcome. A lot of things will make sense to you once you get your hands on the actual HOA bill. You should do that ASAP. There is really NO excuse for your property manager not to send that to you each month. But again, just ask the property administrator directly to email you it each month. Remember, they work for YOU. You're an owner and you pay their salaries. Get them into the habit of emailing this to you each month even if someone else pays your bills.

This isn't the country to not have a good or absent property manager. Remember, it's the Escribanos job to make sure to check the liens and encumbrances on everything. Not just the property and title deed but also check the status of things with the building and utility companies. Many people that aren't paying attention, don't look at the HOA fees before they buy and don't see there are huge liabilities with utility. companies for whatever reason. Could be the building illegally tapped into water/electricity. Or could just be they never paid their debts and it's building up. There are huge penalties and interest payments.

You must ALWAYS check the most recent HOA bill before you buy in a property. I only buy from reputable builders that have been around from 25 to 45 years. This avoids problems. What also can happen is until a developer sells the units, they have a general access to water, electricity, gas, etc. As they sell units to individuals, individuals then change utility company bills into their own names. The developers should pay for those bills until people get it into their names.

Some developers that don't know what they are doing might not have handled the paperwork correctly or not shut off access to the property once they close which is common. That forces the new owner to call the utility company and sign up for their own meter. But I have seen it all in the past 23 years. Sometimes the building forgets to tell people and they are paying all the bills and won't pay attention and then pro-rate the bills so you have to see that.

@FuturoBA do you have your own electricity bill? Is it in your name? You will want to make sure you have utilities set up in your name and it's only for your apartment.

Definitely if you have a pool in your building, it never should have never been that low to beginning with. I look at BA like going to NYC and expecting to find a pool. Most people coming here really don't care about a pool.

But you should get a copy of your HOA bill ASAP to see it. Ask them to send all the ones throughout the year so you can compare/contrast the bill and see the line item that caused it to go up the most.

 

[FuturoBA]

Great job everyone sharing your experiences. This is what these forums are all about. The sharing of information benefits everyone. @FuturoBA, you are welcome. A lot of things will make sense to you once you get your hands on the actual HOA bill. You should do that ASAP. There is really NO excuse for your property manager not to send that to you each month. But again, just ask the property administrator directly to email you it each month. Remember, they work for YOU. You're an owner and you pay their salaries. Get them into the habit of emailing this to you each month even if someone else pays your bills.

This isn't the country to not have a good or absent property manager. Remember, it's the Escribanos job to make sure to check the liens and encumbrances on everything. Not just the property and title deed but also check the status of things with the building and utility companies. Many people that aren't paying attention, don't look at the HOA fees before they buy and don't see there are huge liabilities with utility. companies for whatever reason. Could be the building illegally tapped into water/electricity. Or could just be they never paid their debts and it's building up. There are huge penalties and interest payments.

You must ALWAYS check the most recent HOA bill before you buy in a property. I only buy from reputable builders that have been around from 25 to 45 years. This avoids problems. What also can happen is until a developer sells the units, they have a general access to water, electricity, gas, etc. As they sell units to individuals, individuals then change utility company bills into their own names. The developers should pay for those bills until people get it into their names.

Some developers that don't know what they are doing might not have handled the paperwork correctly or not shut off access to the property once they close which is common. That forces the new owner to call the utility company and sign up for their own meter. But I have seen it all in the past 23 years. Sometimes the building forgets to tell people and they are paying all the bills and won't pay attention and then pro-rate the bills so you have to see that.

@FuturoBA do you have your own electricity bill? Is it in your name? You will want to make sure you have utilities set up in your name and it's only for your apartment.

Definitely if you have a pool in your building, it never should have never been that low to beginning with. I look at BA like going to NYC and expecting to find a pool. Most people coming here really don't care about a pool.

But you should get a copy of your HOA bill ASAP to see it. Ask them to send all the ones throughout the year so you can compare/contrast the bill and see the line item that caused it to go up the most.

So I took your advice and got a copy of my HOA bill and after some discussion with my property manager we found that it was an administrative error. My PM takes care of the fees but one month they paid late but it still showed up as a debt. The month in question therefore showed a doubling of what was paid (late payment and current payment) and was incorrectly marked. I also got a link to HOA expenses so I can follow it for myself so as not to solely rely on PM company to input information correctly

Electric is already in my name and seems to check out. The most recent bill is more reasonable and looks like one of the previous tenants somehow used more than 2500 kWh as the bill and usage report before and after him are much lower.

 

[Johnny]

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.

My experience was also great with both BuySellBA and GyD. I used them on two purchases. My penthouse apartment turned out great. I am just waiting on the rest of my furniture and furnishings. I met 2 out of the 3 owners of GyD and they were great. I spent a lot of time in their office too over 10 days and they were fantastic.

 

[Johnny]

So I took your advice and got a copy of my HOA bill and after some discussion with my property manager we found that it was an administrative error. My PM takes care of the fees but one month they paid late but it still showed up as a debt. The month in question therefore showed a doubling of what was paid (late payment and current payment) and was incorrectly marked. I also got a link to HOA expenses so I can follow it for myself so as not to solely rely on PM company to input information correctly

Electric is already in my name and seems to check out. The most recent bill is more reasonable and looks like one of the previous tenants somehow used more than 2500 kWh as the bill and usage report before and after him are much lower.

2,500 kwh in 2 months? Wow! That is a lot for a tiny apartment! I hope my bills aren't like that. How many ACs do you have? I have a 1 bedroom apartment and have 2 AC units. I wonder how much energy these use. I guess if you left them on 24/7 for 2 months you could end up with huge bills. Guests probably don't care much and just leave everything on. I guess long term rentals are a potential but I don't want to do that as I want to come and use my apartment. I bought a bigger unit they are building also so I can enjoy it with my family.

 

[earlyretirement]

So I took your advice and got a copy of my HOA bill and after some discussion with my property manager we found that it was an administrative error. My PM takes care of the fees but one month they paid late but it still showed up as a debt. The month in question therefore showed a doubling of what was paid (late payment and current payment) and was incorrectly marked. I also got a link to HOA expenses so I can follow it for myself so as not to solely rely on PM company to input information correctly

Electric is already in my name and seems to check out. The most recent bill is more reasonable and looks like one of the previous tenants somehow used more than 2500 kWh as the bill and usage report before and after him are much lower.

That is great that you got your HOA bill. Typically you can tell a lot by just watching those bills every month. What I'd recommend @FuturoBA is to ask your property manager to set up a Google Sheets that you can see real-time. That way you always have access to it as they pay bills. HOA bills come each month and electricity bills come every 2 months so you can typically see if they are paid on time. Things like Internet/Cable come monthly and you'll start to see a pattern if they are/are not paid on time.

If you are doing short-term rentals anywhere you should have a smart lock. In Buenos Aires one that is very common is ihub smart locks where you can get access to it as an owner so you have insights into all entries/exits. I have these on all my rental properties no matter where they are in the world. So maids have their own codes, property manager, guests, etc. You get an alert whenever someone enters. It's a great investment.

In other really high end properties where I have expensive artwork, I have Nest doorbell cameras that record who is coming in/out. You can go that extra step if you wanted to. But typically the smart lock is good enough. The developer that I buy most of the new construction includes these in all the apartments they sell. They are great.

 

[FuturoBA]

2,500 kwh in 2 months? Wow! That is a lot for a tiny apartment! I hope my bills aren't like that. How many ACs do you have? I have a 1 bedroom apartment and have 2 AC units. I wonder how much energy these use. I guess if you left them on 24/7 for 2 months you could end up with huge bills. Guests probably don't care much and just leave everything on. I guess long term rentals are a potential but I don't want to do that as I want to come and use my apartment. I bought a bigger unit they are building also so I can enjoy it with my family.

Just the one AC in mine. The other bills were 700 kwh or less, so who knows what was going on during that time. My place was booked up about 9 months in advanced with most doing monthly or multiple months. Any future bookings I'll put a cap on energy usage.

That is great that you got your HOA bill. Typically you can tell a lot by just watching those bills every month. What I'd recommend @FuturoBA is to ask your property manager to set up a Google Sheets that you can see real-time. That way you always have access to it as they pay bills. HOA bills come each month and electricity bills come every 2 months so you can typically see if they are paid on time. Things like Internet/Cable come monthly and you'll start to see a pattern if they are/are not paid on time.

If you are doing short-term rentals anywhere you should have a smart lock. In Buenos Aires one that is very common is ihub smart locks where you can get access to it as an owner so you have insights into all entries/exits. I have these on all my rental properties no matter where they are in the world. So maids have their own codes, property manager, guests, etc. You get an alert whenever someone enters. It's a great investment.

In other really high end properties where I have expensive artwork, I have Nest doorbell cameras that record who is coming in/out. You can go that extra step if you wanted to. But typically the smart lock is good enough. The developer that I buy most of the new construction includes these in all the apartments they sell. They are great.

It was the Google sheets that I saw each month increasing by 5-10% and then all of a sudden doubled which raised some red flags. And those smart locks are awesome, both for the owners and tenants - also makes checking in and out much easier as well with no need to wait around to pick up/drop off clunky keys.