How much are your ´expensas ´?

[steveinbsas]

It looks like monthy "espensas" are on the rise..again. A friend of mine from California bought an apartment in Palermo last month. The espensas for the previous two months (Sept and Oct) were about $575 per month, and no one (selling agent, owner, buying service) mentioned the possibility (if not certainty) of an upcoming increase. The espensas for November were $798 and the only non-recurring expense added less than $100 pesos to his total. I haven't seen other facturas for this building, but I would imagine there are some non-recurring expenses every month...

He was also told he would not be liable for the bienes personales tax for 2009 (1.25% for foreign non-resident owners).

I know from experience that is not accurate. The owner of record on December 31 gets the bill. Well, actually, there is no bill sent. It's up to him to register with AFIP and pay the tax or have an Argentine acting as his agent pay it for him. If the taxes aren't paid by the deadline (sometime in April) a hefty fine (30-40%) is added.

http://www.afip.gov.ar/english/taxInformation.asp

 

[trapiche]

This is one of the reasons that expats or soon to be expats think about "its time to leave Dodge" in the US. If I have to pay what you are paying I would be laughing to the bank every month. My breakdown is as follows:
US$1800.00 monthly for Mortgage
US$201.00 monthly for Home Insurance
US$359 monthly for Property Taxes
US$368.00 month for Water, Electricity and Garbage pickup
All of this for a 5 bedroom, 3 baths, 2-story home with pool (3100 sq ft)

 

[steveinbsas]

Thanks, Trapiche!

Does this mean you will be joining us soon?

 

[Ries]

that isnt really an apples to apples comparison, though-
In Buenos Aires, since almost all property sales are in cash, there is no interest paid- which, on most US mortgages, usually accounts for about 2/3 of the total mortgage payments over the life of the mortgage.

The expensas are more like Condo association fees in the US, with a bit of property tax thrown in- although in my case, and I am sure others, my city tax is in addition to my expensa, which pays for shared building areas utilities, upkeep, repairs to the building, encargado, and so on.

Also, the Argentine government heavily subsidizes many of the utility costs, so while in the US you pay a lot to private companies for utilities, here you pay much less.

No question that monthly expenses are much cheaper for my property in BsAs than for my property in the US.

 

[HotYogaTeacher]

1 BR 1BA 110 SM inside 56 SM outside
includes all building espensas including 24/7/365 door man, cleaning, electric, lift for 23 floors etc.
Our gorgeous place is for sale by the way....

 

[RSPlayer]

Expenses in Recoleta have gone up over 30 percent per year since 2006 meaning that some people are now paying over 2000 pesos per month in the exclusive sections of Alvear, Posadas, Quintana, Libertador etc etc.

The consorcios seem to have the upper hand over tenants and is something that will be looked into in the coming years by incoming governments.

Pericles, aren't the consorcios actually the tenants?