Apartment rental....is this normal?

[mkj52]

Hi all

I have been in contact with bahabitat in regard to renting an apartment for 6 months from October 2011. They have several in my range but require a 20% unrefundable deposit and full payment in cash on day of arrival. As this is more than $7000 US I am reluctant to do this as I then have no leverage if there are problems. Also that amount in cash cannot be drawn from the bank in one day.
Do none of the rental companies operate on monthly payment and/or credit card payment??? Would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks
Michael

 

[Bigboxer]

Crazy but true, bring it all down with you...

 

[davonz]

From my own experience renting in BA over the past 4 years, i have always paid a month in advance, and 2 weeks deposit or there abouts - never more than US$200.. But this has always been for temp/tourist furnished apartments..

But saying that i have heard of others being asked to pay 6 months up front for long term rentals (1 to 2 years) at local rates and where they have no one local to be their guarantor - hence large initial outlay.. But the deposit has always been refundable..

If it was me i would not do what they are asking.. The opportunity to rip you off is to great.. Be very careful renting here, alot of tourists get ripped off - just do a search on this forum..

 

[AkBill]

A person would have to be literally insane to pay 7k up front for a dodgy argentina apartment.

Come to buenos aires, book yourself into a hotel for 1 week, buy a cell phone, spend 1 week looking at apartments on the internet, call or email if you dont speak spanish, see the apartment before paying anything then choose one. Say you are here for 1 month, no matter if you are planning to say 10 years. This way the deposit will be very small. If after 2 weeks you are happy in the apartment and everything works, email the owner and say you staying another month. Repeat.

Do not hand over $7000 to someone up front, its like swimming in shark infested water with a dead cow strapped to your body

 

[French jurist]

BAH seems to be in activity since a few years so no problem on this side (they won't run away with your money) but indeed, it's craziness to pay upfront 6 months in advance.

There are enough opportunities in BA to avoid a middleman plus paying like this upfront is giving a bad habit to those agencies & that's desserving the next tourists who will come.

One thing I don't like in BAH T&C is this :
"As is our policy, your reservation deposit and the administrative fee are non-refundable if you cancel or modify the dates of your reservation. In the case of a "No-Show" the reservation will be treated as a cancellation. Buenos Aires Habitat will not be held responsible for cancellations or modifications of the dates for ANY REASON."

Do like AKBill says (and you'll save easily 20/25%). In fact, if you are not ready for a bit of adventure in BA, it might not be the place to come.

Also, the risk you are taking by paying upfront is to get stucked in the apartment if you discover after a week that there's a big problem.

 

[Buenos Aires Housing]

Usually there are different options, to pay all at front or to pay monthly as Lee says, it depends of the agency.

 

[va2ba]

The unfortunate thing is that even if you pay on a monthly basis, they still won't fix any issues that arrive in the apartment and they'll still demand the rent every month.

You really should come here and look around before deciding on a place to stay for 6 months. You should know EXACTLY what you are getting with your apartment and make a note of any problems that are there when you check in and add them to the contract before you or the agency signs it.

 

[esllou]

I think I know which agency you are using (begins with "By" and ends with "T")

if so, this post might by useful to explain a few things:

http://baexpats.org/apartment-renta...agencies-they-good-one-choose.html#post101637

if you really must have that apartment, I suggest changing the rental period to a couple of months and then extend it only once you're there and seeing that it's what you expected. It's quite rare for those apartments to be reserved for anything more than couple of months in advance. Furthermore, you can make an arrangement with the agency to get in touch with you should somebody else express an interest in renting the place so you have first dibs. In short, there's no need for you to be booking a block of 6-9 months in advance. I stayed in a ByT apartment for over a year but never handed across more than $1000 at a time.

 

[steveinbsas]

Hi all

I have been in contact with bahabitat in regard to renting an apartment for 6 months from October 2011. They have several in my range but require a 20% unrefundable deposit and full payment in cash on day of arrival. As this is more than $7000 US I am reluctant to do this as I then have no leverage if there are problems.

Are you really saying that 20% of the rent you will pay for six months is $7000 US?

For that kind of money you can get a lot more than an apartment.

Hopefully, you meant $700 US.

That's not an unreasonable amount for a deposit and its easy to bring the dollars with you in a money belt. I first arrived in BA with $2000 and gave the landlord $1200 dollars when I got to the apartment. He didn't ask for any money before then. The rent was $600 US per month so the extra $600 was the deposit (which I got back six months later).