Buying a House in Argentina

[Alfred_Arnold]

Buying a property down here was perhaps one of the most bewildering chaotic financial transactions I've ever made. I would have cried, were I not so busy laughing. At one point I was walking down the street with my life savings in a backpack. When I complained to the agent about the informality, he told me the last buy brought $200k on a bicycle. God speed.

It's been a few days but i still think about this post...lol. Same EXACT experience! And riding my bicycle to the office was strongly considered but ultimately rejected (by the better half, less experienced at riding). It was an unforgettable day for sure...

 

[Goata]

We purchased our property only a few months ago so everything is still quite fresh.

We had already been to the country many times over many years so while we had long planned to move to Argentina, we were not planning on buying anything until much later. But the right property presented itself and we started the process. And from finding the place, to visiting it and others, to the offer, and to closing, it was about a 7 month journey (from formal acceptance of offer to closing was about 4 months). All that time we were not living here yet, so this was done mostly remotely, except for a few visits including for the closing, which complicated some things—like not having a DNI—or CDI/CUIT, which we did get during the process. But now we are here and have begun the formal residency process, so eventually the DNI will come.

Yes we had to do a cash transaction so had to figure out how to do this. We did not have a boleto but went to escritura. Through our lawyer we actually started the process of a casa de cambio and it was a very low fee (less than a percent) but it was taking too long to get things set up and moving since we had a small window that we could be in the country for the closing (some documents have deadlines so this was also another cause for trying to get things done in that window). So we pivoted and just brought all the cash down. It was a process getting the money from our bank in the US, and a slight delay in receiving because of their multiple security checks, but all easily manageable. Obviously we did not want to be carrying around a bag of cash (on either end), but for our situation bringing the money ourselves was the most effective way. Yes nerve-wracking and stressful but ultimately pretty straightforward. While you can bring $10000 without declarations, you can bring more if you fill out forms (can be online, both from country of origin and Argentina), have record of the provenance of the funds you are bringing, and have clear reasons why you are bringing the money. Wasn’t much hassle on either end beside a few extra questions and checks (the tricky part was in US to FINDING customs office when entering airport, since it’s not TSA and the same at EZE, which is different than the usual line to exit customs). Another bonus, there’s no fee on either end to get or bring your money! We had researched and then contracted for two security firms, one to bring us to airport in US and one from airport straight to the closing with the cash in Argentina. Both were professional and surprisingly affordable, all which increased our level of comfort with the whole situation (and while this wasn’t a real factor, the cost with bringing the money ourselves and hiring security was ultimately cheaper than if we went with a casa de cambio).

All arrived and we sat at a table counting the money and once done, signed, given keys and we had our property!

Having purchased in US, some things were similar but really the whole Argentine process was very different, with different customs and traditions. The realtor was also great and helpful. And while technically you don’t need a lawyer to go through the process, we found it was wonderful and another comfort to have one to help guide and lead us through the experience.

Best wishes on your journey!

Hello, I like the sound of your transaction. My Argentine wife and I bought a house in Mendoza by bringing in 10K at a time over a couple of years, now we are buying an apartment and not selling the house so we have to bring in 50K or so. JFK to MDZ Mendoza.

do you have any links where said forms/info for such a transaction for the US and Arg. Would we need a signed purchase agreement to do such a thing? To show my bank in the US why I am withdrawing 50K, show Customs in US and Argentina??? or any other details that might be helpful. Thanks

 

[DotConnector]

I purchased this book "Argentina Residency and Retirement" by Delores Johnson, and I've found it helpful on several topics. The book was published in 2008, so maybe a lot of the information is outdated. I'm planning on renting in the short term, but eventually buying a house once I find a suitable area to live and get familiar with the country. I understand it is a cash purchase and you have to pay for it in US dollars. It says you have to use a money exchange house, or a "casas de cambio" to bring the funds into the country. I don't feel comfortable bringing a large sum of money into the country and carrying it around. Does anyone have any experience with buying real estate in Argentina and maybe could clue me in on the process?

If you are a permanent and even possibly a temporary resident (not precarious resident), you should be able to open a bank account in US dollars and just wire transfer the amount from your bank overseas.
the bank may ask you to provide documentation for the funds and a letter from your bank. All documentation should be apóstilled and translated to Spanish just in case.
You will then wire the funds, and once funds are at your argentine bank account you can start choosing a property.
Once a property is chosen, drop a down payment (‘seña’) of less than 3% of the total amount and if it all goes well, after the seña for the apt/house you will have about 30 days for closing. About ten days or so after the seña the real estate agent will ask you to ‘reinforce’ the seña (another 10% or so, they just want to make sure you are serious about buying the property.

Another way to bring money and someone already suggested so, is to bring cash (up to $9999) per air trip.
You can also bring more cash but you’d have to disclose the amount to US customs (assuming you are a US citizen/resident) and also let argentine IRS authority (ARCA) that you are bringing say $30k.
This is a risky move since you don’t know the integrity of the ARCA agent. Some may sell you out the moment you leave the airport unless you deposit it at a bank inside the airport.

DO NOT DO ‘casa de cambio/money exchange’. The probability of being sold out to thieves is pretty high!
Another way is to buy argentine stocks or bonds and then sell them locally (in pesos).
Last but not least, crypto is coming up in the horizon but very few home owners want to sell their properties for say bitcoin since Argentina’s IRS will know about the selling party’s wallet transaction. It is however the safer way to buy a property but we are about 5-10 yrs away from it being a ‘normal’ transaction.
Sorry about grammar/typos I just typed it all out at once!

 

[DotConnector]

Hello, I like the sound of your transaction. My Argentine wife and I bought a house in Mendoza by bringing in 10K at a time over a couple of years, now we are buying an apartment and not selling the house so we have to bring in 50K or so. JFK to MDZ Mendoza.

do you have any links where said forms/info for such a transaction for the US and Arg. Would we need a signed purchase agreement to do such a thing? To show my bank in the US why I am withdrawing 50K, show Customs in US and Argentina??? or any other details that might be helpful. Thanks

Just type US customs form for over 10k in Google and follow the link.
You can bring 50k BUT… after you fill out the online form in the US and BEFORE you board the plane, customs will visually check the funds. Do not board the plane without them reviewing your funds.
That’s the US side. Once you land in Argentina you have to declare the amount to argentine customs and at that point at least one agent will know you have a large amount of cash with you…
There is a Banco Nación at Ezeiza (not sure about Aeroparque) where you could possibly deposit the funds but you’d need to know bank hours etc.
Getting out of the airport with such large amount is just too risky. If you can prove the origin of the funds in the US just wire transfer the amount to a local argentine U.S. dollar account. Much easier and safer… until the moment you need to withdrawal it to pay for your property.

 

[DotConnector]

It is better to do it at the escribano office.

No, if you can, always choose a bank where to do the transaction. Many times it is the selling part that chooses the place where to transact but stay firm and at bank is your best option.

 

[DotConnector]

If it's 250K, just bring 10K each trip from home, in 25 trips you'd have the 250K hard cash in hands.

Beware that properties over 200 million pesos have to pay certain taxes. It would be risky to go that route as you could be double taxed (US and Argentina).
I’d check with a local accountant in order to understand different tax brackets properties pay depending of the purchase amount.

 

[Goata]

If you are a permanent and even possibly a temporary resident (not precarious resident), you should be able to open a bank account in US dollars and just wire transfer the amount from your bank overseas.
the bank may ask you to provide documentation for the funds and a letter from your bank. All documentation should be apóstilled and translated to Spanish just in case.
You will then wire the funds, and once funds are at your argentine bank account you can start choosing a property.
Once a property is chosen, drop a down payment (‘seña’) of less than 3% of the total amount and if it all goes well, after the seña for the apt/house you will have about 30 days for closing. About ten days or so after the seña the real estate agent will ask you to ‘reinforce’ the seña (another 10% or so, they just want to make sure you are serious about buying the property.

Another way to bring money and someone already suggested so, is to bring cash (up to $9999) per air trip.
You can also bring more cash but you’d have to disclose the amount to US customs (assuming you are a US citizen/resident) and also let argentine IRS authority (ARCA) that you are bringing say $30k.
This is a risky move since you don’t know the integrity of the ARCA agent. Some may sell you out the moment you leave the airport unless you deposit it at a bank inside the airport.

DO NOT DO ‘casa de cambio/money exchange’. The probability of being sold out to thieves is pretty high!
Another way is to buy argentine stocks or bonds and then sell them locally (in pesos).
Last but not least, crypto is coming up in the horizon but very few home owners want to sell their properties for say bitcoin since Argentina’s IRS will know about the selling party’s wallet transaction. It is however the safer way to buy a property but we are about 5-10 yrs away from it being a ‘normal’ transaction.
Sorry about grammar/typos I just typed it all out at once!

Thank you very much.

 

[Música]

Hello, I like the sound of your transaction. My Argentine wife and I bought a house in Mendoza by bringing in 10K at a time over a couple of years, now we are buying an apartment and not selling the house so we have to bring in 50K or so. JFK to MDZ Mendoza.

do you have any links where said forms/info for such a transaction for the US and Arg. Would we need a signed purchase agreement to do such a thing? To show my bank in the US why I am withdrawing 50K, show Customs in US and Argentina??? or any other details that might be helpful. Thanks

Hola! Along with your funds you'll need FinCEN 105 to exit the US https://fincen105.cbp.dhs.gov/#/ and OM 2249-A to enter EZE and Argentina
https://serviciosweb.afip.gob.ar/genericos/formularios/pdf/interactivos/OM2249.pdf (they make this hard to find online, I remember this when we had to find it months ago). The US form you can fill out online and then when you get to JFK you have to find where Customs is. DO NOT fill out the form online and then go through TSA and security without going to Customs. They wrote online that they could come to the gate and find you before the flight, and who knows what would happen then! The terminal we left out of at JFK, Customs was a nondescript door outside security down in baggage claim. You'll need to tell the officer(s) you filled out FinCEN 105 online and you have money to declare that's more than $10,000 (we printed out the form just in case). They will take you to a room and inspect/count the money, ask about reason you are transporting and the provenance of the funds, and then if all ok, send you on your way, where you can go up to security and to the gate. The process didn't take too long, but you'll definitely want to add at least 30 minutes--after finding Customs, there were a some minutes wait before someone came). On the Argentine end, at EZE, after passing through border patrol and getting luggage, you'll go to the "something to declare" line. There's usually no one going in that line, but usually there is a person sitting by a door. You explain that you have money to declare and that you've filled out OM 2249-A. Then the process is similar to JFK--they will take you to a room where they will inspect and count the funds. While we had papers and receipts to show the provenance of the funds and documents about our house purchase and why we were bringing the money into/out of the country, it was only in Argentina that they wanted to see those (but in the US, they do want to know that too so it would be important to have it ready to show in both places). And then you can be on your way.

As far as our bank in the US is concerned, I had personally gone to our branch location to ask about withdrawing a large amount of funds. I explained the reasons and the manager said it wouldn't be an issue and could be pretty quick. But when the time came a couple days later, there was a little more scrutiny from the higher ups at the bank, so we had to explain and submit documents about why we wanted to withdraw the large amount, where the funds came from, and (importantly for the security of them and us) how we were going to transport the funds from the bank. But once all of those concerns were answered satisfactorily, it was straightforward and quick to get the cash. Overall, our experience with bringing a large sum into and out of both countries was easier than we expected. As I mentioned months ago, even with hiring security on both ends (which in both places were very professional and surprisingly affordable--and ultimately cheaper than transferring the money and picking up cash through a casa de cambia, even with the very low rate we were offered) and which really did help to alleviate much worry and concern, overall it still was a nerve-wracking experience and the mind wandered into all of the possibilities of what could go wrong (crooked agents (in both countries), funds seized, someone stealing on flight, carjacking in BA, etc.). But in the end, with all of the preparation, it went off quite well (except for the horrible traffic from EZE to the escribano office and the closing) and we purchased the property with no problem!

 

[Goata]

Hola! Along with your funds you'll need FinCEN 105 to exit the US https://fincen105.cbp.dhs.gov/#/ and OM 2249-A to enter EZE and Argentina
https://serviciosweb.afip.gob.ar/genericos/formularios/pdf/interactivos/OM2249.pdf (they make this hard to find online, I remember this when we had to find it months ago). The US form you can fill out online and then when you get to JFK you have to find where Customs is. DO NOT fill out the form online and then go through TSA and security without going to Customs. They wrote online that they could come to the gate and find you before the flight, and who knows what would happen then! The terminal we left out of at JFK, Customs was a nondescript door outside security down in baggage claim. You'll need to tell the officer(s) you filled out FinCEN 105 online and you have money to declare that's more than $10,000 (we printed out the form just in case). They will take you to a room and inspect/count the money, ask about reason you are transporting and the provenance of the funds, and then if all ok, send you on your way, where you can go up to security and to the gate. The process didn't take too long, but you'll definitely want to add at least 30 minutes--after finding Customs, there were a some minutes wait before someone came). On the Argentine end, at EZE, after passing through border patrol and getting luggage, you'll go to the "something to declare" line. There's usually no one going in that line, but usually there is a person sitting by a door. You explain that you have money to declare and that you've filled out OM 2249-A. Then the process is similar to JFK--they will take you to a room where they will inspect and count the funds. While we had papers and receipts to show the provenance of the funds and documents about our house purchase and why we were bringing the money into/out of the country, it was only in Argentina that they wanted to see those (but in the US, they do want to know that too so it would be important to have it ready to show in both places). And then you can be on your way.

As far as our bank in the US is concerned, I had personally gone to our branch location to ask about withdrawing a large amount of funds. I explained the reasons and the manager said it wouldn't be an issue and could be pretty quick. But when the time came a couple days later, there was a little more scrutiny from the higher ups at the bank, so we had to explain and submit documents about why we wanted to withdraw the large amount, where the funds came from, and (importantly for the security of them and us) how we were going to transport the funds from the bank. But once all of those concerns were answered satisfactorily, it was straightforward and quick to get the cash. Overall, our experience with bringing a large sum into and out of both countries was easier than we expected. As I mentioned months ago, even with hiring security on both ends (which in both places were very professional and surprisingly affordable--and ultimately cheaper than transferring the money and picking up cash through a casa de cambia, even with the very low rate we were offered) and which really did help to alleviate much worry and concern, overall it still was a nerve-wracking experience and the mind wandered into all of the possibilities of what could go wrong (crooked agents (in both countries), funds seized, someone stealing on flight, carjacking in BA, etc.). But in the end, with all of the preparation, it went off quite well (except for the horrible traffic from EZE to the escribano office and the closing) and we purchased the property with no problem!

Thank You Very very much. It's a lot to digest and I appreciate your generosity in giving such a detailed answer.