How Does Buying A Real Estate Work Around Here?

[Vbkk]

Not really....Took me 15 minutes to get the whole thing done at the bank. His assistance typed up the letter then signed then the branch manager signed and notarized it. Cost me zero cent

 

[Silvie]

You may also show proof of sale of another property.

 

[ghost]

Getting dollars in is fairly easy. Getting them out is becoming more difficult with each flick of the Queens unpredictable pen.

 

[el_expatriado]

Here's the real scoop:

Stop freaking out about the dollar issue. You can use contado con liquidación to get money in/out all 100% legally and in white and no one can stop you. This operation has been declared legal multiple times by multiple courts. If you do a Google search or look on this forum you'll see how its done, but the short version is that you buy Argentine stocks abroad and then sell them here in Buenos Aires, thus transferring funds from a brokerage account abroad to a local account. A BA brokerage can set-up the whole operation and it ends up costing 2% more or less of the funds you bring in/out.

I did a property purchase last year and brought the funds in this way. My local accountant prepared a certificate saying the origin of the funds was related to brokerage account movements and the escribano accepted the certificate with no questions asked. You can still buy property even without an accountant's certificate, but the escribano is required to file a money laundering report with the UIF. Unless you start to accumulate multiple reports probably nothing will come of it.

Still, its better to do things legally and you can sleep better at night knowing that you've complied with all the laws and no one in the future can come and bother you. If you are a foreigner (no DNI), hold on to a copy of the accountant's certificate because when you sell they ask you about how you brought the funds into the country. They will also ask you whether you rented out the place and you will have to prove that you either didn't rent it out, or that you did rent it out and paid all taxes owed.

Saludos!

 

[ghost]

Nobody is worried about getting funds in. It's what comes out thats getting shaky.

 

[syngirl]

We are looking at purchasing a terreno in a barrio abierto (Maschwitz). The owners are in Spain and apparently have a representative here to do the closing. However we are wondering (hoping) that we can lower the price by offering to pay at least a large chunk of it outside of the country, which the agent has told us he know will be very appealing to them. It's also appealing to me as most of our $ is in Canada. So I'm wondering if people here have experience I have searched and I know some have paid to owners abroad before but I'm trying to figure out how it works My husband is Argentine so of course he is worried about it all going to sh$% and the owners will receive the money in Spain and we'll never get the property -- as you know locals have basically no experience and very little faith in money transfers (despite the fact that my husband wires money to Canada all the time and only once has ever had a problem and that's because he entered the wrong SWIF code).

So can someone walk me through how the process would work if we pay say the 70% due at close to the owners in Spain?

1) We are hoping to get an hipoteca for some of the property so that we can keep our USD to exchange for payment of the build, so if we can secure that we will attempt to negotiate paying the 30% down plus escribano/real estate agent fees here to their rep and then the rest of the boleto directly to their accts abroad.

2) We do have my brother-in-law in Barcelona so we could transfer the money to him and then have him do the transaction with the owners in person. Not sure how it works in Spain, how much faith people have in their banks compared to here -- I know a few members on the board have lived there and/or still do so hopefully they can help out.

3) Are we putting ourselves in any position of difficulty with the AFIP doing something like this? The origin of funds for here and abroad is 100% legit, but if payment on a terreno is done outside the country could it have any potential repercussions the day we go to sell?

Thanks very much.

 

[jeff1234]

No, Yes, Not going to happen.

It happened in Mexico in the 1980's. Shocked everyone. They come right out and make a law about foreigners selling property. During an economic turmoil they revalued the currency and simply put in a clause that transactions involving foreigners selling property had to use to old, worthless currency.

 

[Patagone]

It happened in Mexico in the 1980's. Shocked everyone. They come right out and make a law about foreigners selling property. During an economic turmoil they revalued the currency and simply put in a clause that transactions involving foreigners selling property had to use to old, worthless currency.

Happened and happens in Venezuela as well. We spend a night while travelling on a ex-commercial farm offering nature tours etc in the southern Los Llanos. Now it is a 'Socialist farm', expropriated by Chavez. And of course, it had become a total mess in the year after.

Anyway. When I bought a house (before the cepo cambiario), I did not have to declare anything, but to get the money in, a local exchange house was needed, as an official transfer from my USD account to one in Arg bounced, never knew why.

One more addition to the great info above: it is very likely that you will agree one price, say $100k. Once the cash has been counted and the seller gives his nod and shoves the pile into his briefcase, the papers might all be torn into small pieces and a new set comes on the table, with a substantially lower amount. This is so everybody pays less taxes (seller, buyer, escribania?). Of course the real estate agent and the escribania charge over the original, higher, amount.

It will now become your problem to tell your tax officials where the difference between the 2 amounts/values went as on paper you now own a say, $40k house for which you transfered $100k out of your native country.
All anecdotal, of course

 

[jbeas176]

the way I remember it when buying in 2006. I produced a notarized financial statement from my accountant and a recent bank statement supporting the cash available.

 

[Girino]

2) We do have my brother-in-law in Barcelona so we could transfer the money to him and then have him do the transaction with the owners in person. Not sure how it works in Spain, how much faith people have in their banks compared to here -- I know a few members on the board have lived there and/or still do so hopefully they can help out

You should check this with Spain. Money laundering policies have been growing in the EU, and I am not sure you can really move money around like this.
I believe that if you want to buy a house from Mr X, the money cannot come from Mr. Y account, and it could put Mr. Y in a bad spot (he might have to declare these money and pay taxes on them).

I don't think that you can handle 70k€ cash, nor deposit that amount in cash at the bank.
I am not from Spain, but in Italy things have become pretty strict as far as cash goes. I don't know if it is some EU regulation enforced locally, or if it is just an Italian thing (Italy is not exactly the sheer image of legitimacy and these things usually happens because they are imposed by the EU)

For example: in Italy, the limit for cash transaction is a mere 1k€. This means that: you cannot buy something for over €1000 and pay cash, you cannot withdraw more than €1000 cash without filling in a written form, you cannot exchange money for more than €1000 without filling in a written form. If you need to withdraw more than €5000 from your own bank account, you have to fill in a request form.
Now they are talking about declaring even money handed over by relatives - for example parents giving the son some k€ --> the son should report it.

These are some examples of how absurd things have become. Europe is not easy going like the US/CA.
I visited Spain recently and I wanted to open a bank account there, and I was somewhat laughed off because they told me "You cannot simply walk in here and open an account" (which is exactly what I did in the US, btw!). They said "You have to justify where the money is from (I showed them my tax returns), you have to explain why 'in Spain', you need a letter of reference from your bank, then we will hand over your request to our international acct. dept. and they will give you an answer"

It is so f****ing complicate!