Apartment advise.

[donquixote]

I will be arriving in BsAs. in October for about 3-4 months. I have read so many horror stories on this site about renting temporary apartments. The apartments look very nice in the photos on the agency's website. Can anyone offer advise on how to avoid renting the apartment from hell?
I have read some bad news about BY. Are there any agencies you would recommend? Should I stay in a hotel when I arrive and then look for an apartment?
DQ

 

[rmartinbuenosaires]

Don-Yes, my advice is to check in to an inexpensive hotel for a week and check things out on your own with the agency you choose. Often, and I speak from personal experience, many of these companies are simply out to rent an apartment. You need to see where it is exactly...do you like the area? Will it be quiet for sleeping? Are there grocery stores and such nearby? Also many of the pictures are missleading. Once you actually visit the apartment...one that appears very nice online is actually a dump OR they just don't show you photos of the bad parts of the apartment or what your view is, if any. There is a hotel, reasonably inexpensive on Juncal or Arenales called the PRINCE Hotel. Its a very convenient location in Recoleta and reasonably priced for a short stay. Good luck!

 

[Grazie]

DonQ, what rmartinbuenosaires is giving you is a sound advice. You can only prepare sooo much prior to your arrival in BsAs but there are very important things like boarding that you should really see "en vivo" before commiting to a 3 or 4 month stay. Your sanity (sleep) hinges on the location of your apartment. No one is going to advise you that the place is noisy - though relative in degree and level of tolerance - what might be quiet to one person might be like Grand Central Station to you. Take rmartinbuenosaires' advise and enjoy the process - that is part of the experience. Good luck.

 

[jtwells]

There is a very nice hostel, Te Adoro Garcia, on Soldado de Independiencia and Teodoro Garcia in Belgrano/Las Cañitas. It only costs 30 pesos per day, and the owner works hard to keep out the rif-raf. Staying there while looking for an apartment would save you tons of money. My wife and I stayed there for 12 days when she was pregnant. We had everything we needed and felt safe the whole time. Hope this helps...............

 

[JG]

Nice old hotel in san telmo i know 1st hand. Brisas del mar, next to the intl youth hostel. its an old style place, open passageway, old tiles etc. run by family. clean. they charge 35 pesos per day, nice big tv with cable. no other services though. internet across the st. tel. is 4300-0040, on humberto primo and piedras.
BTW, i also found some good apts. on Craigs list, not necessarily cheaper than the agencies, but at least some from owner.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I have read some bad news about BY. Are there any agencies you would recommend? Should I stay in a hotel when I arrive and then look for an apartment?

I've used an agency by the name of "Reynolds" a couple of times. It has been owned and managed by a Canadian couple for almost twenty years. I've found the prices reasonable and their descriptions honest. I don't have the website address or the phone number with me (my hard disk recently crashed), but someone here has doubtless heard of them.
It's unfortunate that the get-rich-quick mentality afflicts so many people and agencies renting out apartments in BsAs these days; it's truly a case of caveat emptor. And it's not just Argentines who are engaged in questionable practices and extortionate pricing.
Found it (Google search): http://www.homes.com.ar/

 

[rmartinbuenosaires]

BigBadWolf- I shouldn't say this....like that has ever stopped me before....BUT:I can't say for rental purposes, but I can tell you first hand that I used Reynolds as my agent when I purchased my apartment four years ago. I would never recommend that company to anyone. Their "motis operandi" is preying on foreigners and jacking up real estate prices well beyond their fair value. Everything they have listed is completed overpriced. Their main plus is that you are dealing with a company that is English speaking for the most part. In my opinion, shop around and get a realtor, plenty of whom speak English if that is a requirement for you.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I can't say for rental purposes, but I can tell you first hand that I used Reynolds as my agent when I purchased my apartment four years ago. I would never recommend that company to anyone. Their "motis operandi" is preying on foreigners and jacking up real estate prices well beyond their fair value. Everything they have listed is completed overpriced. Their main plus is that you are dealing with a company that is English speaking for the most part. In my opinion, shop around and get a realtor, plenty of whom speak English if that is a requirement for you.

Sorry that I couldn't respond earlier (I'm still using a computer at a public library as my computer problem gets sorted out). My first rental, in November 2005, was for a 1-br apartment in Recoleta (opposite the Alvear Palace Hotel) for $600 a month. My second rental, from June to September of 2006, was for a studio, also in Recoleta, for $375 a month. I don't think short-term rentals in such areas come any cheaper (though doubtless the rates have gone up in the interim).
I have heard they overprice the properties they have for sale, but -- loath though I am to say a good word about anyone -- they do provide a reliable one-stop service, and carefully explain the problems and pitfalls of buying a property. I have heard, though, that they organise "seminars" where they try to drum up their real-estate sales.
The general point -- caveat emptor -- remains valid regardless with whom one is dealing in Buenos Aires, and things are seldom, if ever, as they appear on the surface.

 

[California]

And just a comment....
If anyone is coming to B.A. right now.....remember to MAKE DEALS as there are lots of apartments available and very slow tourism....and its COLD!