Paying Cash Deposits on Apartments

[syngirl]

Hey -- I'm coming down to BsAs for 6 months at the beginning of October. I've been looking around and need to find an apartment with high speed internet. For peace of mind I've decided that I will go with a tourist apartment for the first 6 weeks or so, just so that I don't have to deal with the headaches of setting up my internet etc right off the bat, and so I can get myself a bit more oriented in the city.

The thing is, these places cost about $500US a month and up (basically sky's the limit). And since I will be doing a "long term" stay, a lot require a full month's rent for deposit, and then first month's rent right off the bat.

So what I'm wondering is, am I just supposed to arrive in BA with a few grand American in my wallet? I won't be setting up a bank account so I'm just wondering how to get around all this -- I know the Argentines don't trust the banks, and I don't blame them, but what's the solution? Should I just withdraw pesos off my bank acct when I get there and convert them? Can you do money orders? (One thing it seems I will miss about home is the ease of paypal...)

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Deirdre]

Hi,
You can just withdraw the money from an ATM when you need it, though you may need to go a few times in a row depending on yours and the bank's limit. While they might quote you a rate in dollars for an apt deposit, you can easily pay in Pesos...you definitely don't have to come with your pockets full of money!
Deirdre