paying rent in dollars

[meaganjack]

we found an apartment to rent but need to pay in dollars..anyone know how to get dollars from the states to here? the owner would not take a wire transfer

 

[Damiancho]

Sell your dollars over paypal, go to uruguay for a weekend and take fresh dollars from an ATM in a normal country, and/or simply negotiat to pay in pesos at a mean value. (i.e.: official value+15%) about 5,55

Regards!

 

[sinagua980]

Go to Uruguay every three months and pull out the US dollars you need for the three months. Check with your bank that your daily limit is high enough for that one day (and even fraud protection turned off) and you then can pull out dollars from most ATMs at $300 intervals up to your bank's daily limit allowance.

 

[citygirl]

It's basically impossible to get dollars here which the owner of your apt is well aware of. If it's a longer term rental (ie, more than a few months), the owner can/should be accepting the rent in pesos at an agreed upon exchange rate. Period. If they tell you they will only take dollars, they are screwing you with you. Find a new apt.

But it is worth asking if they're accepting pesos. My apt lease was written in dollars but I just paid it at the offiicial exchange rate in pesos when I paid it here (sometimes the owner preferred a deposit in dollars into her account overseas). Just because the contract has a figure in dollars doesn't *automatically* mean the owner expects dollars. But if s/he does, again, move on.

 

[allcraz]

the owner can/should be accepting the rent in pesos at an agreed upon exchange rate. Period. If they tell you they will only take dollars, they are screwing you with you. Find a new apt.

We have an apt. that we only accept dollars for, and I can assure you that none of our tenants have ever felt they are being screwed with. On the contrary, they are always willing to act as a reference for the next tenant who comes along. We are up front from the beginning about only renting it in dollars, and our tenants have never complained. They normally pay with PayPal which both parties prefer. If this format doesn't work for someone, then yes, they have to move on and find something else. But just because an owner asks for dollars, it doesn't mean they are trying to screw with anyone...just as long as both parties agree.

 

[El chabon]

So that leaves you only with people who live here, have dollars abroad and are willing and can travel abroad to get them or people who come over for a short trip and bring dollars with them. Both of this groups must be really small, good luck to you if you can get them to rent your appartment but people WILL have to accept peso's or they will be stuck with an empty appartment.

Especially for the cheaper appartments this will be an big problem soon, people will just not split anymore with there fysical dollars if the blue rate is 40-50%.

 

[allcraz]

So that leaves you only with people who live here, have dollars abroad and are willing and can travel abroad to get them or people who come over for a short trip and bring dollars with them. Both of this groups must be really small, good luck to you if you can get them to rent your appartment but people WILL have to accept peso's or they will be stuck with an empty appartment.

Especially for the cheaper appartments this will be an big problem soon, people will just not split anymore with there fysical dollars if the blue rate is 40-50%.

We've rented it every time to the first person who came to look at it and the apt. has never been empty. These "groups" are not as small as you think. When that ceases to be the case, then we'll see what happens. In the meantime, there are tons of people (short and long-term tenants) willing to pay dollars in exchange for good, honest, English-speaking landlords.

 

[El chabon]

I have gotten a 25% premium on my long term rent for paying in dollars(roughly half of blue rate) and anybody in his right mind who lives here and rents in Dollars will do the same.

Good luck if you can find people who know how Argentina works and pay the full price

 

[citygirl]

We have an apt. that we only accept dollars for, and I can assure you that none of our tenants have ever felt they are being screwed with. On the contrary, they are always willing to act as a reference for the next tenant who comes along. We are up front from the beginning about only renting it in dollars, and our tenants have never complained. They normally pay with PayPal which both parties prefer. If this format doesn't work for someone, then yes, they have to move on and find something else. But just because an owner asks for dollars, it doesn't mean they are trying to screw with anyone...just as long as both parties agree.

If you accept paypal overseas, great. But if your tenants are required to come up with dollars here in Argentina, for a long term rental, given the restrictions, sorry - I do think it's screwing with them.

Tourists usually have NO idea that they can't get dollars here. Now if it's a vacation or short-term rental, sure, they can/should be paying the landlord up front in dollars. But if they're renting long-term, how is it fair to ask them to go get dollars? Where/how are they going to do it?

 

[Ashley]

I think that if your landlord/lady is Argentine, has no dollar paypal account and does not accept wire transfers (which are incredibly difficult and involve considerable involvement from the tax authorities), then it is really cheeky to insist on payment in dollars and if you're here for any longer than a couple of months, you WILL find yourself in a situation where you're buying dollars illegally, having to leave the country to withdraw dollars (at again, a not great exchange rate) or are negotiating over exchange rates with the landlord. I completely agree with other posters that given the current climate, you should move on to a place that's willing to accept a fixed rate in pesos.
I think that if you're targeting a niche market of foreigners that are here for short periods and willing to pay for the convenience of an English-speaking landlord, that's great. But if you're not willing/able to accept the online payment methods involved in that, you really shouldn't be insisting in payment in dollars any more.