Apartments in BA

[gsi16386]

Hi,

I'm a bit confused as to BA apartment prices/situation. i.e. I've been to several sites like buenosaireshabitat and buenosairesstay and see 1 bedrooms, for example, anywhere from around 800 to upwards of 2,000 depending on square footage and exact location, in Palermo, let's say. And, these apartments are listed in dollars. So my questions are:

(1) Do locals pay these same prices, and do they also pay them in dollars (assuming they are not signing 1 year contracts also like a tourist would)?

(2) If not, I imagine they find apartments in local newspapers and websites. What then, would the locals pay, for the same apartment that is listed, for let's say 1,000 US, and what are some of the local websites that they go to?

Thanks a lot!!

Steven

I read through most of the posts and all I can say is....WELCOME TO BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA!!! haha

I think it makes sense if you're going to be here for a shorter duration to pay the extra coin rather than be bothered with expensas, rentas, utilities, red tape, anal probes, and whatever else the Argentinian gov't requires (that is if you can keep up with the laws, which are everchanging). Not to mention, furnishing your apartment which will cost twice, if not three times, more only to decide to move back to your country and end up selling it back out for rock bottom prices (I still have an aquarium left for sale if anyone is interested

The prices you see on the websites are a joke, straight up. I went through the same search whenever I first got to BA 2 years ago. Shoot out email inquiries and ask them to half the price or just try to negotiate with them. There are some nice places out there that are affordable, you just have to do a little searching and negotiating.

Good Luck!!

 

[jb5]

I don't think too many Americans would consider what you get for $600-$700 luxury apartments. Many, many of the tourist rentals cost much more. Look at Luxuryba.com, which has a range of the better temp rentals.

 

[steveinbsas]

I posted the following in the thread "Compiling list of BA Apartment Rental Resources"

There are a number of threads that deal extensively with this subject.


Here are just a few of the 225 that I found using the terms "apartment" and renting" in the search engine:

Buenos aires apartment rental faq

Rental agencies - are they good? Which one to choose?

Apartment Rental Fees

this long apartment hunt...any suggestions?

apt. q's: are agencies the safest? how long do they take? USDs?

Here's a great post from the "admin" in the thread Renting an apartment in BA

 

[perry]

Most properties for tourist rentals in Buenos Aires are of bad taste with cheap furniture, threadbare towels and sheets, and with small kitchens and bathrooms. For me if you are going to pay over US $ 1500 it is fully justified if the apartment and furniture are of high standard. Per day this is 50 dollars which is much cheaper than a comparable hotel where you will be lucky to get any change from US $ 100 per night.

 

[Globecruzer]

If you're spending a lot of money to fly here for your vacation and really want to enjoy your stay it makes sense to pay for a beautiful apt. in an excellent location which will enhance the quality of your trip, if you can afford it. So to Perry's point if you don't want cheap threadbare towels & will be unhappy sleeping on an old lumpy mattress in an apt. with small rooms with old furniture & so noisy that it feels like the traffic is driving thru the living room & you can't get any sleep then look to upgrade because all those things cost more. On the other hand if that's all fine and you are ok with the lower quality you can look for the lower priced apts.

I've been in both situations at different times in my life so there is a market for everyone But understand the difference & the reason for the difference which doesn't mean you are being taken advantage of if the rent seems a little high & don't forget if the rent is really low beware that the conditions may not be great.

 

[waldo_jeffers]

Hi guys, I'm new here but I have been living in BA for 3 years now.

I am yet again looking for a place to rent (in "temporario" fashion as I don't have a warrant [garantia]) and I have to disagree with the user who's a realtor and tries to justify the prices charged to foreigners.

To make it short and not bore you today I went up to see 15 (yes, FIFTEEN) apartments. From Belgrano to Barrio Norte (almost at 9 de Julio) with an argentine friend as part of a bet.

We would set up interviews one after the other to see what the tenant would say and in 14 out of the 15 places my friend got no higher than 2300 pesos per month with a 2 month deposit to act up as a garantia.

The lowest offer given to me was of US$950 with a 4 months deposit for garantia.

We visited 5 agencies (including REMAX) and a bunch of owners.

I am pretty sad to feel excluded and seen as a walking dollar sign but I won't give up. I am sure there must be at least 1 or 2 honest people that are interested in making biz without robbing you.

Bottom line is, be prepared to pay triple than a local or have pretty good negotiation skills.

Cheers

Waldo

 

[evitaduarte]

It is easy to blame the realtors or other reasons for high prices for rental or sale but the reality of the market is that there is high demand for quality products and the prices are the same for foreigners as they are for locals.
I am tired of reading this misinformation that furnished apartments are for foreigners only . The prices are the same for locals and foreigners . There is absolutely no difference in the rental price for the two.

Hi guys, I'm new here but I have been living in BA for 3 years now.

I am yet again looking for a place to rent (in "temporario" fashion as I don't have a warrant [garantia]) and I have to disagree with the user who's a realtor and tries to justify the prices charged to foreigners.

To make it short and not bore you today I went up to see 15 (yes, FIFTEEN) apartments. From Belgrano to Barrio Norte (almost at 9 de Julio) with an argentine friend as part of a bet.

We would set up interviews one after the other to see what the tenant would say and in 14 out of the 15 places my friend got no higher than 2300 pesos per month with a 2 month deposit to act up as a garantia.

The lowest offer given to me was of US$950 with a 4 months deposit for garantia.

We visited 5 agencies (including REMAX) and a bunch of owners.

I am pretty sad to feel excluded and seen as a walking dollar sign but I won't give up. I am sure there must be at least 1 or 2 honest people that are interested in making biz without robbing you.
Bottom line is, be prepared to pay triple than a local or have pretty good negotiation skills.
Cheers

Waldo

I am new here and find it hard to reconcile these two posts. Can it be true that Waldo's Argentine friend recieved better terms on 14 out of 15 apts the two visited. Amazing.

 

[Davidglen77]

Luckily I came here 5 years ago, when things were still fairly cheap and I had a few months of my old New York City salary saved up in the bank. My first apartment was a lovely studio near plaza San Martin and that was $500USD per month including everything. I then met a friend who rented me an apartment in Barrio Norte for $1200 pesos without any garantia, and that included everything as well. I then bought a brand new 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apt with a, terrace, roof deck and parking space in Villa Urquiza and got lucky again, only cost $80,000 U$D. Then reality set in.......new apartment full of construction defects and had to sue the builder along with the other owners.......took about 2 years to settle and then he had to fix everything. As soon as that was done I sold it for a nice profit got out of that mess quickly. I then bought a small commercial property, which I ended up renting to a friend. BIG MISTAKE, I didn't ask for a garantia, thought I could trust him, however, he paid only the 1st and 2nd months rent, then never paid again, stopped talking to me, sent me carta documentos, lawyers, threatened to sue me, and I had to spend about $10000 pesos to get rid of him. Of course he did about $10,000 damage to the place before he left.......bottom line is.......you cant trust anybody here with property, NEVER rent or expect to be rented to without a garantia or a huge security deposit. Its too risky and people just cant be trusted here. Sorry Argentines but my opinion was formed by personal experiences.......I was a VERY trusting person before I came to Argentina, now I trust absolutely NOBODY any move I make is done before a lawyer with a contract and triple signatures and guarantees.......

 

[evitaduarte]

Hi guys, I'm new here but I have been living in BA for 3 years now.

I am yet again looking for a place to rent (in "temporario" fashion as I don't have a warrant [garantia]) and I have to disagree with the user who's a realtor and tries to justify the prices charged to foreigners.

To make it short and not bore you today I went up to see 15 (yes, FIFTEEN) apartments. From Belgrano to Barrio Norte (almost at 9 de Julio) with an argentine friend as part of a bet.

We would set up interviews one after the other to see what the tenant would say and in 14 out of the 15 places my friend got no higher than 2300 pesos per month with a 2 month deposit to act up as a garantia.

The lowest offer given to me was of US$950 with a 4 months deposit for garantia.

We visited 5 agencies (including REMAX) and a bunch of owners.

I am pretty sad to feel excluded and seen as a walking dollar sign but I won't give up. I am sure there must be at least 1 or 2 honest people that are interested in making biz without robbing you.

Bottom line is, be prepared to pay triple than a local or have pretty good negotiation skills.

Cheers

Waldo

Hard to square this with the above post that foreigners pay the same as locals for apt rentals.

 

[waldo_jeffers]

Luckily I came here 5 years ago, when things were still fairly cheap and I had a few months of my old New York City salary saved up in the bank. My first apartment was a lovely studio near plaza San Martin and that was $500USD per month including everything. I then met a friend who rented me an apartment in Barrio Norte for $1200 pesos without any garantia, and that included everything as well. I then bought a brand new 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apt with a, terrace, roof deck and parking space in Villa Urquiza and got lucky again, only cost $80,000 U$D. Then reality set in.......new apartment full of construction defects and had to sue the builder along with the other owners.......took about 2 years to settle and then he had to fix everything. As soon as that was done I sold it for a nice profit got out of that mess quickly. I then bought a small commercial property, which I ended up renting to a friend. BIG MISTAKE, I didn't ask for a garantia, thought I could trust him, however, he paid only the 1st and 2nd months rent, then never paid again, stopped talking to me, sent me carta documentos, lawyers, threatened to sue me, and I had to spend about $10000 pesos to get rid of him. Of course he did about $10,000 damage to the place before he left.......bottom line is.......you cant trust anybody here with property, NEVER rent or expect to be rented to without a garantia or a huge security deposit. Its too risky and people just cant be trusted here. Sorry Argentines but my opinion was formed by personal experiences.......I was a VERY trusting person before I came to Argentina, now I trust absolutely NOBODY any move I make is done before a lawyer with a contract and triple signatures and guarantees.......

I am sorry to hear your bad experience David. Yet, from what I understand you can't ask for a local warrant if making a contract as temporario.

This is why this contract model exists in the first place. I might be wrong but from what I understood from my lawyer:

- Temporarios are a 6 months lease that can be renewed up to 1 time or else the owner will risk to get the contract voided and changed for a 24 month contract that does require a warrant as the law understands that if you are living for more than a year it is not temporary.

- No one can ask you for more than 1 month of deposit, even though it's well known by experience this clause is never met or honored neither by owners, locals nor lawyers.

This if course applies to local - foreigner contracts. You can safely assume sames rules won't apply for a foreigner - local deal.