oops...I left out the word "tax"...

my question was: 2 You had to pay taxes on the purchase?

The escribano fees should not be more than 2 percent . The biggest tax you must pay is Impuesto De Sellos ( Stamp Duty ) this is 2.5 of the price of the property . This is normally shared between the buyer and the seller.
There is an exemption on this tax if the purchaser is buying his first property in Buenos Aires . The stamp duty is only paid on purchases over 360000 argentine pesos close to US 120 thousand dollars and is paid on the difference between 120 thousand us dollars and the escritura price.

Tahnks, pericles. Do both the buyer and the seller pay escribano's fees?

They both pay fees to the escribano but the buyer will pay more than the seller.

It looks like this may not be the case but serves to underline the potential risk with investing in Argentina or purchasing real estate there. The rules can (and do)change from day to day without warning and without logic. Private property rights can be redefined or withdrawn almost at the whim of a handful of people who have little accountability to anyone.