Mortgages!

[carride]

these are NOT available for foreigners. And even for locals it's almost impossible. Yes. there were a few but for all intent and purposes they really don't exist. Almost all property purchases/sales are CASH.

I was simply answering the original question. Long term mortgage does exist. There are people who have a regular job who qualify. Not many expats, but some. 20% down payment is not huge, though it is some time to save or be gifted from family. Correct, a modest property is all you can build or buy for 15million pesos plus your 20% savings which is what the BBVA says today. Certainly fine for a young person to get started, probably not for the expats reading this.

Yes the transaction can be in cash at the buyers bank. The seller can be handed the cash by the buyers bank and the deal is done.

 

[Quilombo]

My account rep at Galicia told me they don't exist beyond a page advertising they do, the risk isn't worth the reward.

 

[earlyretirement]

My account rep at Galicia told me they don't exist beyond a page advertising they do, the risk isn't worth the reward.

Ha, ha. Exactly. Take a look at the % of these compared with the total market. It's like a fairytale dream. It might exist but it's very rare. Even bankers will tell you the same thing. However, if anyone can quality and find them, go ahead and take them. But in 20+ years I've never seen a foreigner (even with a DNI) get one.

 

[Utopos]

My Argentine daughter and son-in-law got a rather standard mortgage in 2018 to buy an apartment, under a special program offered by the Macri administration. That program was quickly terminated when the administration changed, though their mortgage still remains valid.

Other than that, I've never known anyone who didn't pay cash for any real estate... well, excluding squatters, thieves, politicos etc.(apologies for the redundancy there).

 

[FrankPintor]

My account rep at Galicia told me they don't exist beyond a page advertising they do, the risk isn't worth the reward.

My executive at Itau did the same. I could see he was tempted to laugh, but he was kind enough not to. However I'm certainly interested in private or bank mortgages and have assets in Argentina to back one, so I'm following this thread with some interest.

 

[earlyretirement]

My Argentine daughter and son-in-law got a rather standard mortgage in 2018 to buy an apartment, under a special program offered by the Macri administration. That program was quickly terminated when the administration changed, though their mortgage still remains valid.

Other than that, I've never known anyone who didn't pay cash for any real estate... well, excluding squatters, thieves, politicos etc.(apologies for the redundancy there).

Yes, these were extremely rare, lasted a short while and not many people got them. GREAT for the very few that did but it wasn't a lot. Do the due diligence and see the # and it was tiny. You can go on websites like https://www.reporteinmobiliario.com/. You will have to pay a subscription but in pesos it's very cheap. All the data is there. I've been reading for years.

I heard a rumor that a website is translating all those articles to English and will be posting free.

Squatters I could write a book on! I know some clients that bought buildings in San Telmo and they thought they were getting a good deal. It took them 4 YEARS to get them out and they had to get a court order and took the Argentine Army to get them out. 200 people living in his building.

 

[carride]

Yes, these were extremely rare, lasted a short while and not many people got them

These UVA mortgages were in the news quite a bit last week. With the government Senate voting how to let those who have asked to renegotiate or who have already defaulted. Following the July discussion in Chamber of Deputies. These in distress loans are 1.2% of the currently active loans of 95,000 people. So, many people were able to take advantage of this program in the past.

Still you are correct, there are not many people getting these days:
“The changes occur at a time when mortgage loans are at the lowest levels in the history of Argentina . Today they only represent 4.4% of total credit to the private sector and since the end of 2019 they have fallen by more than 65 percent according to data collected by Fundación Libertad y Progreso , based on information from the Central Bank. In numbers, the report details that mortgage credit to the private sector went from US$17,094 million in March 2001 to US$1,557 million in June 2023 – which represents a drop of 89% – at the official exchange rate. Although if the conversion is carried out at the value of blue, it is equivalent to US$947 million – in this case the decrease is almost 95%.

The report also reveals that if only the last 10 years are analyzed , the maximum occurred in January 2019 when they represented 10.5% of credit to the private sector.”

Créditos UVA: uno por uno, los cambios que se aprobaron para favorecer a los hipotecados

Hubo posiciones encontradas ayer en el Congreso al momento de votar el proyecto que modifica las condiciones de los créditos UVA, y hay posiciones encontradas hoy luego de su aprobación; cuáles son los puntos que se modificaron y los beneficios para los hipotecados

www.lanacion.com.ar

 

[Quilombo]

Just saw this while browsing the news:

Short terms and specific purposes. With mortgage loans verging on extinction, what loans exist and what the fine print hides

 

[toongeorges]

The lack of credit makes you wonder how banks earn money in Argentina. In Argentina banks take your money and earn interest by depositing it at the central bank. This way, the central bank has more funds and the government can spend more, it has all been "cleverly" engineered.

 

[earlyretirement]

Just saw this while browsing the news:

Short terms and specific purposes. With mortgage loans verging on extinction, what loans exist and what the fine print hides

LOL. Yes, this is what most of us have been saying for a while now. Yes, SOME people got them but they are rare. Not sure why people want to try to argue around this fact.

The lack of credit makes you wonder how banks earn money in Argentina. In Argentina banks take your money and earn interest by depositing it at the central bank. This way, the central bank has more funds and the government can spend more, it has all been "cleverly" engineered.

Well, you have to remember the banking system in Argentina is essentially broken. I'm not sure if it's the same % and fees. But remember in Argentina for corporations it's illegally to do a certain amount paying more than $X in cash. Now it's probably shifted more towards wire and electronic transfers but it used to be the bank charged you something like 0.6% EVERY time you wrote a check or sent a wire and EVERY time you deposited a check or got funds 0.6%. But I assume they are still charging this scam tax to corporations for every transaction. So that means they are making 1.2% on every transaction! And I believe it's essentially illegal to take payments outside of Argentina (although many, many do).

But the banks are a scam essentially charging companies for every time they deposit or send. THAT is how they make money. They make doing business in cash illegal and forcing you to use a bank and they charge nosebleed prices for it. A totally inefficient and inefficient system and society.

To outsiders or even ex-pats that never have to see this or pay this they don't understand how things work. You just read articles online and think you're an expert and know or understand how Argentina works. But you don't.

Can you imagine what people in the USA would do if they tried taxing you to deposit money???!!! They would pull a "Milei" and blow the place up! Like literally.

The system is horribly complex there. I had my company and had to have 7 in-house accountants. We were managing the properties and taxes for hundreds and hundreds of foreigners and the saving grace was we never had issues as they basically wrote the laws on these things. It was comical them teaching AFIP the laws.