earlyretirement
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- Oct 24, 2010
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Yes, it's sad but the reality is credit markets will probably never open up, especially for a non-resident foreigner. It's always going to be cash as king in Argentina. It might happen in my kid's lifetime but not mine and I'm not entirely an old man.
I've purchased more individual real estate in Buenos Aires than anyone in the world. It's almost ALWAYS universally bad dealings with realtors. That hasn't changed in 20 years buying real estate there. Sites like ZonaProp make it a little better but they suck too with phantom properties that are not really for sale. Or other realtors that are stealing those listings and they themselves making fake listings to get the leads.
I'm not saying ALL realtors are bad in Buenos Aires. That isn't true. I've had success buying hundreds of properties and there were a small handful of realtor's that were excellent. And you know what? They made a lot of money and in many cases with those good realtor's they deserved every penny they made. Some of my realtor friends retired early with the commissions they made just from my purchases alone. But the vast majority of realtor's in Argentina based on my experience are dishonest, liars and thieves in Argentina. It's a broken archaic system that needs to come tumbling down.
Realtor's expect you to pay 4% + 21% IVA tax as a buyer for doing essentially NOTHING but showing up to open the door. And sellers get charged 3% plus 21% IVA tax. Some commercial properties you pay 5% as the buyer!!
But what if there was another way? What if you had a real estate portal that was multi-language, multi-currency, amazing and rich maps, Google Maps street view for every single listing so you could see the building and street around, lifestyle data so you could see distance to nearest parks, types of restaurants, and other important locations that might be relevant to you. Names and locations of nearest public and private schools (along with their relative rating and cost of tuition). Or only filter to show you properties within X minutes of a park? What about type ahead so you can enter ANY street address and instantly see all the properties on the block within seconds in real time as you're typing it? TRUE listings that are verified by staff members as real and genuine. Amazing professional photos, 3D floor plans, video walk-throughs.
What if they had an international reputation for good, honest and ethical service. What if they treated their employees well and gave them a living wage. What if they treated customers NOT as a number in some database but as a human being. Would you use that website?
And the best part.......
What if the buyer paid 0% commission (currently 4% plus 21% IVA tax of the property sales price!) and what if the seller paid 0% commission (currently at 3% plus IVA of the property sales price!)?! What if buyers and sellers were matched up directly and instantly.
And what if as a seller you went to list your property and the company already knew tons of buyers for that property as they analyzed data and could see people looking in that area or for that type of property. As easy as you find a specific type of rental property on Airbnb. What if you could find a property FOR SALE to purchase like that.
No middle men. No realtor's. Sellers could get leads directly to them instantly. NO pesky and dishonest realtors and best part $0 paid in commission. Like totally free! Of course many sellers don't want to deal with potential buyers. So what if they pay a monthly subscription fee to that company to handle it. Same thing with potential buyers. What if they pay a small monthly fee. Would you use a site like that? Imagine a website or App like that. Would you use it or would you use the same sh*tty websites that are all over Latin America today?
What if that company had a trusted reputation around the world. And what if that website was instantly translated to ANY language and instantly people from Russia, London, Spain, USA, Hong Kong, Singapore could instantly see the prices in their currency.
What do you think will happen to real estate prices in Buenos Aires/Argentina??? What if this was available for EVERY long term rental AND every property for sale in Argentina. Imagine the power. Imagine the control you would have as a buyer/renter/seller/owner.
Stay tuned.....
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