Looking for a Real Estate Agent

[Ceviche]

Ceviche,

I believe I read in another post you said you were constantly entering Argentina due to work. Just save your passport(s) and in case later they change the law or something you are still protected if they ask where the source of the funds were how you got it to Argentina.

You can legally bring up to $10,000 US each time you enter. So each entry stamp in your passport buys you $10,000 in "cash". So that would be justifiable cash in the future if anyone ever asks.

Yes, I could do that! Thanks! But wont they ask the sources of fund abroad? Or it suffice to say, I entered with them when I entered Argentina!

And where to store that cash? I make approximate 3 entries in Argentina every month. In six month, I could have enough to buy something for 200 K. But i would be very nervous trying to exchange so much money or carrying so much money to do a deal. i have never done any similar money dealing before in my life.

 

[earlyretirement]

Yes, I could do that! Thanks! But wont they ask the sources of fund abroad? Or it suffice to say, I entered with them when I entered Argentina!

And where to store that cash? I make approximate 3 entries in Argentina every month. In six month, I could have enough to buy something for 200 K. But i would be very nervous trying to exchange so much money or carrying so much money to do a deal. i have never done any similar money dealing before in my life.

Well, don't get me wrong. I'm NOT saying that I'd carry in all that money in cash. I'm only saying if you had to later, you could use the passport stamps to justify how the funds entered in Argentina.

However, with the way the financial markets now and with the cost effectively being 0% to send in funds to Argentina, I'd just wire it in if you're buying something.

No way I'd want to store all of that cash in Buenos Aires. I have before stored that much money when I sold my property. But I have very trusted relationships with several firms there. But not many people are going to be comfortable storing that much cash there in Buenos Aires.

You could open a safety deposit box at a big bank like HSBC. I've gone that route as well and held funds there and never had problems.

You wouldn't have to "exchange funds". Realistically any real estate deal is going to be in US dollars anyway. But I would just find a reputable firm and wire it in a few days before closing. Then all you have to do is schedule the closing and make it conditional that the closing will be at YOUR bank. So you don't even have to transport around any cash. It will be the seller of the property that will have to arrange a security guard.

When the cost is effectively 0% to wire in funds, if you don't have to worry later about how you got the funds in, it doesn't make sense not to go the "blue/black" route in the scenario you described. In fact, I wouldn't go the white route in your situation because it's going to cost you money with the spread you will lose being forced to convert it to pesos then possibly back to dollars as the seller of the property most likely will demand dollars.

 

[Ceviche]

In fact, I wouldn't go the white route in your situation because it's going to cost you money with the spread you will lose being forced to convert it to pesos then possibly back to dollars as the seller of the property most likely will demand dollars.

You mean to say, the exchange house would give me pesos when I wire the money? And then i would have to reconvert to dollars for the seller?

What if I find a American seller with a DNI and I just wore money USA to USA?

 

[earlyretirement]

Yes, I could do that! Thanks! But wont they ask the sources of fund abroad? Or it suffice to say, I entered with them when I entered Argentina!

.

Well, legally you are supposed to declare any assets you have outside of Argentina when you become a permanent resident and get your DNI. But the reality is that NO ONE in Argentina does this. Many wealthy Porteños have assets abroad and almost none of them declare it.

But AFIP won't hassle you as long as you can justify you brought in the funds legally. If you're going in and out of Argentina all the time this would work as far as the justification.

And for all they know, you have a safe deposit box of gold coins back in the USA (or wherever you go for work). And you cash some in each entry to Argentina. They won't hassle you.

I've had non-resident friends that had a random audit when they sold their properties to see how their funds entered Argentina when they brought their properties. The passport entry stamps worked for all of them.

In your situation if you have a DNI, when you go to sell your property you can without getting any authorization from AFIP so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[earlyretirement]

You mean to say, the exchange house would give me pesos when I wire the money? And then i would have to reconvert to dollars for the seller?

What if I find a American seller with a DNI and I just wore money USA to USA?

Nope. The cuevas that you wire funds to will give you DOLLARS! You won't lose ANYTHING on the spread at all! And trust me...any seller would rather take dollars vs. pesos so that will be a NON ISSUE. You won't have to do any conversion going the blue route. Going the white route you WILL lose on the spread because if you go with a white money exchange firm, they will have to convert it to pesos so you will lose on that spread.

If you find a seller with a DNI and an offshore fund they will GLADLY accept the funds abroad. But realistically how it would work is they will say on the title deed you paid the funds in cash in Argentina. But the thing you really need to consider is if you can justify how you got this cash to Argentina. Either that or find an Escribano that will allow you to declare on the title deed that you're wiring abroad.

The biggest issue will be the seller (Porteño) has NOT declared this offshore account and will NOT want AFIP to know about it so most likely they will ask you to say you paid it in cash in Buenos Aires. They will NOT want to have their account disclosed on the title deed because then AFIP will know about it.

It's complex like most things in Argentina. But tons of transactions going on like that.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

If everything is in "white" then you won't be able to wire the funds to the real estate agent's account abroad. If you did that, that would make this deal "black". Just so you know.

I'm not wiring funds from Argentina to an offshore account.

 

[Heather G]

But wont they ask the sources of fund abroad?

yes, you would need to show the withdrawls from your account abroad, and if you are a resident you would need to have declared that account and paid taxes on it

another option is to do a trade with someone. I recently did the same thing to get money out of the country - I think there are quite a few people selling and leaving now. we did it with an escribano as a "prestamo" in a "contrato de mutuo" and now (with a copy of my escritura) she has legal proof of how she obtained dollars in the country to buy her apartment. and she transferred the money from her US account to my US account - it worked out great for both of us.

 

[earlyretirement]

I'm not wiring funds from Argentina to an offshore account.

OK..I was just confused because in your original post you mentioned, "Requirement; have a bank account outside Argentina."

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[earlyretirement]

yes, you would need to show the withdrawls from your account abroad, and if you are a resident you would need to have declared that account and paid taxes on it

.

Not necessarily true. My friend that did it that way just said he sold gold coins. Of course he wasn't a resident.

There are a LOT of shades of grey. But this I do know.... I don't know of ANY Porteños that get hassled when they sell their property or anyone with a DNI for that matter.

 

[Heather G]

I don't know of ANY Porteños that get hassled when they sell their property or anyone with a DNI for that matter.

true, I just sold on a DNI even though I bought on a passport and had no problems. But the value of my apt was under the limit for needing a COTI, which, I believe, is the key in that equation.