Casas de cambio for US dollars

[AlfajorEfi]

You are right but i am not meeting anyone at my house nor do I have endless amounts of dollars under the matress, it's all outside of the country...hehe
Also, will meet in public places with small amounts to exchange, also not with just anybody...
It's also a risk to walk to the casa de cambio with cash when people around know you are going there to exchange money...also there I tend to bring company and not to go alone..as well as to the ATM.

 

[perry]

There will be a lot of very unhappy expats as I have heard that 70% of them are being denied by Afip the right to change their currencies into dollars.

The black market rate seems to have risen to 4.70 pesos per dollar.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2011/11/argentina’s-currency-controls

 

[Phryne]

Hi Efi,

Have sent you a message if you are still looking to exchange some monies.

Thanks,

Sonia

So weird! Today I went to exchange USD for PESOS and where I always go for more than 2 years has been closed! Never have I seen it closed before!
My situation is the opposite- I have USD and sell it for pesos so I can pay salaries to the locals, pay for school for my daughter, etc.
I ended up going to the ATM to withdraw pesos since I couldnt exchange my USD.
If anyone needs to buy USD I would be happy to exchange for pesos, given a good rate for both sides. I am in Pilar but often in Capital, next week will be in Capital 3 times..send a PM if you want to work something out for next week..

 

[jb5]

Why unhappy expats? Maybe the few who own properties they were renting in US dollars. I haven't met any expats in the Argentine bond market though, or trying to shield their life savings from the next crisis.

 

[ndcj]

Why unhappy expats? Maybe the few who own properties they were renting in US dollars. I haven't met any expats in the Argentine bond market though, or trying to shield their life savings from the next crisis.

I presume he means people who are withdrawing pesos from the ATM and then converting them to US dollars because their short term rental requires payment in US dollars.

Someone earlier hit the nail on the head though, ask your landlord for his CUIL or CUIT so you can pass it along to AFIP when you change money along with a copy of your rental contract. See if he still requires dollars!

In theory though, if you're a non-resident, you should be able to show up with your passport and the ATM receipts that prove how the pesos entered Argentina and you should be OK.

 

[jb5]

Finally, I agree with you ndcj!

If the expats can't get dollars, the landlords will have to accept pesos from them or resort to getting a quarter of the price on the local market. These aren't the landlords with the best properties-- those have US or Uruguay bank accounts you can wire the money into from your overseas account and deal with expat executives on an expat package with a multinational. These are landlords with very price sensitive renters who can't pay more.

They will have to accept pesos to keep getting anywhere near what they're getting, and my guess is they will suffer the losses here. They will not get more as the peso depreciates. Not much will change for expats other than avoiding the pesky monthly trip to the casa de cambio.

Note, many of these owners are foreigners, but I do not consider most expats.

This could impact real estate prices in barrios where dollar based rents are typical.

 

[ndcj]

Finally, I agree with you ndcj!

I feared this may happen one day!

This could impact real estate prices in barrios where dollar based rents are typical.

I wonder if it'll make much of a difference, other than a few landlords grumbling that their easy source of dollars just got turned off.

The government is obviously working on removing the US dollar as the defacto second currency of Argentina. It's surely an uphill battle given history.

A logical next step would be to repeal Menem's decreto that permitted rental contracts to be in any currency.

 

[MaGRon]

Yesterday, an owner refused three of my notes (dollars) because someone had written on them!!!

On point:

If you know an owner wants dollars, and that's what was offered and you accepted and you do not bring them with you, you cannot expect to take up residence - can you? I have never known owners of properties (that includes me until recently) accept pesos. The terms offered and accepted are surely the terms whether you like it or not. Threatening people with the AFIP is very poor advice/behaviour.

 

[PhilipDT]

I doubt this will really affect real estate prices, they'll just rent the way most peso rentals are, with inflationary adjustments. What will bring down rental prices is when the argentine government's stranglehold on the dollar starts to slip and Argentines cease to be able to afford the same dollar denominated prices. Of course, that won't affect jb5's barrio parque and retiro darlings but I'm guessing we'll see a dip in the average barrio norte/villa crespo etc price.

 

[jb5]

Investors have been buying up high end real estate for the tourist and multinational expat market. Walk through Palermo Soho and Hollywood where there's barely a block without extensive construction on soon to be high end rentls. No more dollars? No more buying. Impacts prices. It has to.

And I do think it will effect my favorite barrios! The owners there can't imagine living without dollars!! They will be packing up and taking advantage of the new legislation, about to pass in the US, allowing them to become permanent residents with an investment of $500K in US real estate. Their pesos await them in US banks. Of course they won't be living quite as large, but their almighty dollars will be safe.