Apartments

[z55]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the group and hopefully will be arriving in BA by the end of the summer. I've been looking all over the internet trying to find an apartment. I'll need a two bedroom that allows dogs (bringing the whole family!). Naturally, I am looking for something inexpensive (I'm a teacher), but safe and clean. Any suggestions as to where to find one? What is a fair price range for what I am looking for? Should I go through a real estate agent? There is so much contradictory information out there; I don't know what to think!

Thanks a bunch,
Z

 

[igor]

If you are trying to rent an apartment on the same terms as local people, you should check out these real estate classifieds first:

Clarin
La Nacion
Segunda Mano

We will have an extended guide for renting an apartment posted here very soon, for now on I will just give a few basic facts:

two bedrooms = 3 ambientes (3amb);
listed prices are in argentinean pesos even if they have $ in front (if it is priced in dollars it is stated specifically like D, USD or u$d);
safe family-oriented neighborhoods: Recoleta, Barrio Norte, Palermo, Belgrano;
City of Buenos Aires is referred to as "Capital Federal";
if real estate agent is involved, tenant usually has to pay to him an equivalent of 1 month rent.

Unless stated otherwise, it is assumed that you are going to sign a 2 year lease contract and you have a cosigner with a property in Buenos Aires who will take personal responsibility for your debts related to the contract. The latter thing is called a "garantia". There is no credit history system here.

Apartments that are available for a short term lease are advertised as "temp" what means "alquiler temporario".
If landlord does not need a garantia, there is a "s/gtia" abbreviation in the listing (sin garantia).

You can negotiate (with a different degree of success) personally with the landlord or real estate agent that represents him to drop any of these requirements. Many landlords are ready to go for a short term contract for an increased rent, naturally. The requirement for garantia is stronger. You can ask them whether you can pay in advance for, say, 6 months to get rid of this garantia requirement (pago adelantado).

There are several agencies that specialize specifically in renting to tourists. They rent apartments for short terms and there is no need to have a garantia, but prices are about twice higher. You may consider to rent an apartment from them for the first month of your staying here while you will be searching for a more permanent place.

The biggest agency of this type is ByT Argentina. I personally rented from them twice without any problems.

Igor.

 

[travelgoddess]

You are receiving contradictory information because there are so many different way that renting is handled here. The info that Igor gave was top notch. However, I tried looking for a room in a locals home but was not happy with the condition/size/location of the places available in my price range, which was about 500-600 pesos for a room.

What I ended up doing (no joke) was walking around San Telmo (which is not as unsafe or creepy as some people let on that it is) with a local friend. He was such an angel. He literally went into different stores and restaurants and asked people where a good place to rent an apartment was. At first I went with him and a lot of people kept telling us about hostels, caus they saw I was a foreigner. Then I hung back and waited outside and he started to get some leads on places. It took us about 1/2 hour tops, but we stumbled on an AMAZING place on Bolivar in San Telmo.

The place is fully furnished, two bedrooms (thus three rooms, including the living room, how its all counted here, as Igor pointed out above) with a small security deposit (NOT the 6 months most people told me about) and NO local with property. I am the only one that signed the lease, but am able to rent the other bedroom out to other people according to my lease, which brings the price closer to my price range.

I dont know if this is a strange situation or common. I am just offering it up as an example of how different things are from one part of the city to another.

Having said that, I also know a foreign teacher here who has a furnished 1 bedroom/2 rooms in Belgrano for 700 pesos per month, but his school was his sponsorer on that one.

Hope this helps!
Debra

 

Thanks for the quality info here. Much appreciated. Don't you love the internet?

Anyways, travelgoddess, if you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying for your apt rental? It sounds like a good find, I'm just curious how much you pay per month.

Thanks again for the help...this includes Igor, too.

Peace.

 

[Adam]

Hey, I am an american in search of a place to stay. This is my first time in the city and I plan to be here for a while. If anyone has any leads, dont hesitate to let me know. Thanks.

Adam

 

[syngirl]

Hi -
I'm a web designer thinking to come down to Buenos Aires for about 4 months. I need a place with high speed internet. So far I've looked on craigslist and I haven't seen any mention of this whole needing a local for guarantee etc -- is this always the case? For what I need, I'll be honest, I'm not too picky if I end up spending about the same as at home, as long as my internet connection works reliably! I'm not looking for the cheap getaway, just a change of scene and culture from home. I've tried to do it cheap before and ultimately with my work, it just doesn't work out too well. My ex and I tried working via dial-up from Mexico last year, and he was ok (he's a programmer/does client contact) but as soon as I need to do an image search my day can just turn to hell without a reliable connection. Is there anyone else on this forum who's tried out the same thing? Is it best to find a place with internet already set up for you or is it fairly easy to get done yourself without having to sign mega-contracts?

Right now I'm only thinking to come for 3-4months so don't want to end up tied into anything. Any info from fellow web workers would be much appreciated! Cheers! Leslie

 

[igor]

Leslie,

I assume that apartments on craigslist are advertised for foreigners and priced for foreigners, so they don't require a garantia.

If money is not such an issue, I think the best approach would be to write an email to ByT Argentina and explain them what you want. Just be persistent, since they seem to forget stuff. Make sure that you ask about the connection speed. Sometimes even 128k connection is considered to be a broadband here.

As to getting connected by yourself, I think that Fibertel is the only reasonable option. It is division of a cable TV company that provides broadband connection via cablemodem. All the DSL providers have painfully slow installation that can take up to 3 month. Fibertel normally does it for like 4 business days, but it may take a month occasionally ("We have so many installation requests because of a recent promotion"). And if they say a month it is a month. Questions like "Can I pay more for an express installation?" will not find any understanding on their part. So, make sure that place that you rent is within the Fibertel service area and that your landlord does not mind you to install the internet connection.

There are also internet cafes/locutorios almost at every corner, so that even if you don't have a connection at home you can always go there. I understand, that it is not so convenient as having your own connection, but it is still an option. There are many free dial-up providers with a decent (for a dial-up) quality. They don't charge you at all, phone company pays them from the money you spend for the local calls.

 

Hi!

I hv a house (in fact a "terror house") near downtown (only 10" from Plaza de Mayo).

It is vy CHEAP!!!

It´s an internal house, vy sunny n secure.

Many buses, train, 2 block from public hospital and 3 from the YMCA. U can practice tennis, soccer, swimming, etc. for few coins.

We can arrange for month or week.

Discounts on improvements.

Think: u will hv a house 4 the 3rd part of a room in downtown.

Don´t hesitate to contact me asap.

By, Albert

 

[sapphos]

If you want, drop me an email at [email protected] Since we're going through the same search but will be in BA this coming week, I'd be happy to share any things I find that might be useful for you as well. I've got several possiblities already.

Hi Everyone,



I'm new to the group and hopefully will be arriving in BA by the end of the summer. I've been looking all over the internet trying to find an apartment. I'll need a two bedroom that allows dogs (bringing the whole family!). Naturally, I am looking for something inexpensive (I'm a teacher), but safe and clean. Any suggestions as to where to find one? What is a fair price range for what I am looking for? Should I go through a real estate agent? There is so much contradictory information out there; I don't know what to think!



Thanks a bunch,

Z

 

[daninargentina]

Hello

My name is Danielle. I moved to Buenos Aires a few months ago, and I myself went through the horrible apartment search. It was a tough task! I am actually working with an apartment agency now, so I might be able to be of assitance. If you can find an apartment for pesos...than you are doing great! Unfortunately, this is a very hard task, especially because renting to foreigners is a booming business in Buenos Aires. I wanted to put this message up because I think I would have loved some assistance when I arrived. I find that many English speakers are relieved when they call and can speak to someone in English. I have put a link to the agency´s site, Best Rentals Buenos Aires, at the bottom of this page. If we do not have what you are looking for, I can get in contact with other quality agencies and continue an individual search for you. This might help you out and make the searching process a little smoother!