Buying Argentinian government bonds

[elhombresinnombre]

That is just the limit before you are required to declare it. You can bring in more. Unless something has changed recently.

Yes, you are correct. You may bring in as many millions of dollars as you like. You just have to declare anything over USD10,000 and be prepared to provide proof of its source. Oh: and avoid the muggers who will mysteriously know you are walking out of the airport with a load of cash.

 

[Agribotics]

That is just the limit before you are required to declare it. You can bring in more. Unless something has changed recently.

You're right. Just checked it. I don't know where I got the idea Argentina had a limit on the amount of cash you can bring into the country. There's got to be a right way and a wrong way though to carry, say, one-thousand hundred dollar bills into Argentina.

 

[Ries]

Besides bringing in cash and declaring it, there are numerous options. First, its perfectly legal to use a bank transfer- when we bought our apartment, in 2007, we did a legal, safe, and easy transfer from a bank in the USA to a bank that hosted the closing in BA. Yes, there was a transaction fee- but its less than the real costs many pay for crypto transfers. Or, you can arrange to pay the sellers chosen bank account in the US or Europe. Or, there are halawa type services, where you pay in one country, and an associate of theirs pays you in Argentina. I am sure there are other ways as well.
Most have either legal taxes associated with them, or the risk of being caught and paying more.
I guess it depends on how ideologically driven you are.
The cost of property here is pretty low, and paying to get the money in is just one of the purchase costs you must consider before commiting to buy.
Same as everywhere.

 

[Agribotics]

Besides bringing in cash and declaring it, there are numerous options. First, its perfectly legal to use a bank transfer- when we bought our apartment, in 2007, we did a legal, safe, and easy transfer from a bank in the USA to a bank that hosted the closing in BA. Yes, there was a transaction fee- but its less than the real costs many pay for crypto transfers. Or, you can arrange to pay the sellers chosen bank account in the US or Europe. Or, there are halawa type services, where you pay in one country, and an associate of theirs pays you in Argentina. I am sure there are other ways as well.
Most have either legal taxes associated with them, or the risk of being caught and paying more.
I guess it depends on how ideologically driven you are.
The cost of property here is pretty low, and paying to get the money in is just one of the purchase costs you must consider before commiting to buy.
Same as everywhere.

Thanks for the information-rich reply. When you do a bank transfer are you forced to convert to pesos on receipt at the official rate or can you keep your transfer in US dollars and purchase real estate in USD?

After much thought and research I think this might be the opportune time to buy Argentine real estate while things look darkest. If a center-right government is elected in October currency controls/fixed exchange rates could be lifted and "all hell could break lose" in the real estate market as buyers flooded in looking for bargains.

 

[SanTelmoForever]

Thanks for the information-rich reply. When you do a bank transfer are you forced to convert to pesos on receipt at the official rate or can you keep your transfer in US dollars and purchase real estate in USD?

After much thought and research I think this might be the opportune time to buy Argentine real estate while things look darkest. If a center-right government is elected in October currency controls/fixed exchange rates could be lifted and "all hell could break lose" in the real estate market as buyers flooded in looking for bargains.

In Argentina, thinks only look darkest until they look darker.

 

[sts7049]

Thanks for the information-rich reply. When you do a bank transfer are you forced to convert to pesos on receipt at the official rate or can you keep your transfer in US dollars and purchase real estate in USD?

After much thought and research I think this might be the opportune time to buy Argentine real estate while things look darkest. If a center-right government is elected in October currency controls/fixed exchange rates could be lifted and "all hell could break lose" in the real estate market as buyers flooded in looking for bargains.

if you wire USD from the US to your dollar bank account here, you receive dollars in the bank. it doesn't get converted to pesos.

 

[Ries]

Generally real estate closings take place in either a bank, or a hired room at the colegio de escribanos (kind of the notary society).
Wired money from the USA to a bank will be rolled out on a cart in US dollars, run thru a counting machine, then placed on the table and divided into various stacks, which then get shoved, like poker chips, to the various players. If there is a realtor, they will get one stack. Your escribano will usually get one stack for their fee, the sellers representative will get one stack for unpaid taxes and utilities, and, occasionally a loan, and then, the seller will get a stack.
At this point, its not uncommon for the seller to want pesos for some or all of their payment- another run thru the counting machine, another bigger stack of bills.
It is, literally, Napoleanic.
I would not count on election results to alter Argentines basic feelings about real estate.
With no mortgages, and no real way to seize property for lack of payment of taxes or utilities, there is no motivation for Argentines to lower real estate prices, regardless of the economy. Contrary to many societies, Argentinians often will take properties off the market if prices fall too much, and just wait it out, sometimes for generations.
To own property in Argentina, you have to WANT to be here, or else the vagaries and complications are probably too much. Its not easy. It can be quite fufilling to live here, but its not for the quick speculator, or the weak of heart.
Generally transaction costs of buying and selling are higher than in the US or other countries, but because ownership can often be over multiple generations, the amortisation times are assumed to be longer.
I know many people who live in apartments their grandparents bought, or who live off rents from properties inherited from relatives long dead.

 

[Agribotics]

Generally real estate closings take place in either a bank, or a hired room at the colegio de escribanos (kind of the notary society).
Wired money from the USA to a bank will be rolled out on a cart in US dollars, run thru a counting machine, then placed on the table and divided into various stacks, which then get shoved, like poker chips, to the various players. If there is a realtor, they will get one stack. Your escribano will usually get one stack for their fee, the sellers representative will get one stack for unpaid taxes and utilities, and, occasionally a loan, and then, the seller will get a stack.
At this point, its not uncommon for the seller to want pesos for some or all of their payment- another run thru the counting machine, another bigger stack of bills.
It is, literally, Napoleanic.
I would not count on election results to alter Argentines basic feelings about real estate.
With no mortgages, and no real way to seize property for lack of payment of taxes or utilities, there is no motivation for Argentines to lower real estate prices, regardless of the economy. Contrary to many societies, Argentinians often will take properties off the market if prices fall too much, and just wait it out, sometimes for generations.
To own property in Argentina, you have to WANT to be here, or else the vagaries and complications are probably too much. Its not easy. It can be quite fufilling to live here, but its not for the quick speculator, or the weak of heart.
Generally transaction costs of buying and selling are higher than in the US or other countries, but because ownership can often be over multiple generations, the amortisation times are assumed to be longer.
I know many people who live in apartments their grandparents bought, or who live off rents from properties inherited from relatives long dead.

Very helpful reply. Thank you. I currently own a house in the U.S., an apartment in Taiwan, and a small farm in Japan so I know how convoluted the process can be. Real estate in Taiwan is similar to what you describe in Argentina. Taiwan's population is declining and buyers along with it but sellers won't budge on price. New apartment buildings - judging from the lights on at night - are mostly empty as families park their money there as if in the bank.

I'm currently selling my house in Japan since my days in Taiwan are numbered. Buying the land it sits on and building the house was an interesting process as I was the first foreigner with no Japanese spouse to buy property in the area and the local officials weren't quite sure what to do at first:

https://realestate.co.jp/en/forsale/view/999046