Is this the right time to buy a property in Argentina?

[Gringoboy]

Thanks for the post Alfajor.
But who wants to live in a gated community?
We live in one nr Nordelta; a 1000m plot, house 220 m covered, 3 bedrooms, dependencia and a pool.It's now for sale. (bargain at USD173K)
We only bought it in 2007 as to buy similar in La Lucila etc would have been impossible.
The only thing is, the commuting to Olivos everyday is a real slog and so we are moving back and 'downsizing'.
Horses for courses.

 

[AlfajorEfi]

Well at least you saved on some roofing last year at La Lucila after the granizo...

I like living in a gated community, don't need to fear my daughter walking outside to visit friends, cars drive slow, I can park all my cars (have 4) and they are not attractive for thieves since they have to pass the guardia in order to steal a car..4
Why don't you keep your place for weekend use?
You can always rent in Olivos...prices are good I think. Horses? Where?

 

[Gringoboy]

We can't afford to keep it and buy another. Buying is a much better investment than renting, punto.
I don't like gated communities because they are sterile environments and chock full of silly rules and regs.Nature of the beast.
That's just my opinion of course.

 

[AlfajorEfi]

yeah but then you pay the price, no infrastructure, no security, etc..
What nature is there in Olivos? There is no campo there..
So where are those horses?

 

[jb5]

Everyone who doesn't like the ownership/rent ratio should buy a tourist rental. Those owners do well. They charge in US dollars and don't pay tax.

 

[Matt84]

yes, they invent all kinds of laws and ideas here and the public here goes with it without asking questions, so it works.
It's all a legal mafia...for example- the professional associations here are a big big mafia, and this is why-
Each professional such as architect, lawyer, notary, whatever, belong do an association here called "colegio de Fill in the blank". However, it is the client who pays those professional fees on top of what the professional charges.
Example:
You use an architect to build 100 sq meters house, so you pay him his fees for the drawings and signature and tramites to get the approval from the city, as well as the construction costs which they also mark up.
This is legit everywhere and pretty much makes sense.
Where this gets tricky is that the architects signature is not good enough! You also need a seal from the Colegio de architectos!
So after you pay the architect for those 100 meters plus his fees you additionally pay his mafia colegio per METER even though you have no benefit and are not a member of this association!this fee is usually quite high and for every signature you submit even if it's some renovation you get charges this.

Same goes with a lawyer. you pay legal fees and after that you get the stupid colegio de abogados fee.
Notarys don't fall behind and charge it as well. This is very stupid because to pay taxes when it's to the province and not to the city, and it's for AFIP you have to do it through a notary (escribano) and after you pay the taxes since they are doing a service which you have no choice but to use them, you also pay that stupid colegio fee!

You need to find out all these fees when you prepare to buy a property.
2 months ago I was about to buy an office space, I came with the deposit and signed after asking a million times everything, got the realtor to take a flat commission and not 6% , lowered the price by quite a bit, and then I saw a paragraph saying I have to use their escribano. I told the girl I specifically asked if I can use my own and she said no problem, and now she said I can't.
I was not willing to pay 30,000 pesos for this so I ended up not buying the office and took my deposit back. I had someone who would do it for me for 1000 USD.
What the hell, transferring a title is the same job whether the property costs 10,000 USD or a million! People here don't negotiate and accept what they are told so they just pay it! Idiots!

thank you for that horror story.
it s called economic corporativism, fascismo in italiano, peronismo en argentino, new deal of hope and change in American. the word that describes this system in the always charming German language is not polite to say out loud and its certainly not ok in this or most forums.

corporativism means that thenation is like a body, corpo, and instead of individuals or castes therevare guilds of professionals and laborers, colegios de x and sindicatos in argentina's and some ither countries case.

then we ask ourselves why it s demoralizing to do most anything productive in this country. dont get me wrong, argentina is charming in other ways but social organization is not the one.

 

[steveinbsas]

It is if you want to live where I live.

I think it's a good time to use the dollar to buy something of value while the dollar still has value. I will be happy to stay right where I am. I will be creating more work for myself if I sell my house buy hers and start new construction, but that's whay I want to do. If and when the you know what hits the fan (worldwide), this is where I want to be.

Click on the link below to see additional details about my property.

 

[jb5]

Sorry Steve, I'd have to disagree that this is a good time to buy. It will take some time until the reality of the current situation is fully reflected in prices. Owners don't get realistic over night. Add to that the slowdown in LAM economies and weakened commodity prices and you understand real estate has nowhere to go but down.

 

[steveinbsas]

Sorry Steve, I'd have to disagree that this is a good time to buy. It will take some time until the reality of the current situation is fully reflected in prices. Owners don't get realistic over night. Add to that the slowdown in LAM economies and weakened commodity prices and you understand real estate has nowhere to go but down.

Do you have any idea what may happen to the dollar, the euro, and the peso in the next 18 months?

I remember when a new luxury car cost $5000 USD in the early 70's and a decent house in the Midwest cost about $30,000. gas was 30 cents a gallon.

That was before the inflation of the mid to late 70s kicked in...and everything increased in price, including cars and real estate. Cars that cost $7,500 in 1973 were priced at close to $30,000 by 1980...911 Porsche, e.g. Check the price of a 911 today.

There is too much debt worldwide (and too great an increase in the money supply...especially dollars) for inflation NOT to rear its ugly head in the coming months. In spite of official figures, inflation in the US is much higher than several years ago, This is obvious if you buy fuel or food. Their cost is not factored in the "official" inflation figures.

Good luck if you are waiting for a serious decline in the price of anything...including real estate, especially if it is already priced below it's replacement cost.

 

[perry]

Do you have any idea what may happen to the dollar, the euro, and the peso in the next 18 months?

I remember when a new luxury car cost $5000 USD in the early 70's and a decent house in the Midwest cost about $30,000. gas was 30 cents a gallon.

That was before the inflation of the mid to late 70s kicked in...and everything increased in price, including cars and real estate.

There is too much debt worldwide for inflation NOT to rear its ugly head in the coming months. In spite of official figures, inflation in the US is much higher, especially if you use fuel or buy food.

Good luck if you are waiting for a serious decline in the price of anything...including real estate, especially if it is priced below it's replacement cost.

Good post Steve and fully agree that to many people are speculating on the dollar and they can soon be waking up without pants. Keeping fiat currencies for an investment is a huge risk . Buy gold, land, and a nice antique property in Buenos Aires and you will be minimising your risks .