Yes, it does resonate with me. Full disclosure, I have 9 apartments in CABA and 1 in La Costa that I rent out, all, long-term leases. I have had an occupancy rate of 96% over the last 10 years. I had no experience in renting out apartments, but it is a basic business principle; have a good product (quality apartments in a good area) and offer excellent service and the market will come looking. These apartments are rented to “young professionals”. Unfortunately, in Argentina, with basically no Credit available for home ownership, a young professional (physician, lawyer, engineer, etc.) that makes a “good monthly income” cannot buy an apartment (without help from parents or elsewhere), but can afford to pay Rent and all the Services, Expensas (Building Fees), Taxes, etc. It is sad but true. The leases signed between 2020 and end of 2023, were for 3 years, with annual adjustments stipulated by the previous government. Those signed/renewed in 2024, were mostly for 2 years, but some 3 year that were requested by the tenants. Adjustments are based on the IPC (Consumer Price Index). So, what happened, as all the news articles have regurgitated for months is; between 2020 and 2024 many property owners thumbed their nose at the government (and screwed the people looking for apartments, as well as themselves) and decided to take a loss and not offer their properties for rent. I took a different approach; I offered my apartments for rent. I believe that an empty property not only has $0 income and a lot of costs, but it is just not good to have an apartment sitting empty for years. Under the previous Administration, supply decreased, demand did not change, so prices for those units available increased. When the current Administration removed the regulations, many of the owners put their units back on the market; supply increased, demand did not change, so prices for those units available decreased. It’s not Rocket Science, it’s Econ 101. It has increased the housing supply, that is a good thing to be sure! My opinion has not changed in the last 5 years, the problem is not the Regulations/Rent Control, the problem is Inflation! The reality is that the economic and political situation over the last decade here in Argentina has dramatically distorted the rental market. Example: a rental contract signed today at “market value” (which of course only means what you think you can rent the unit for, based on ZonaProp, etc.) to begin in Oct. 1, 2024 is going to be much lower than another tenant will pay on Oct. 1, 2024 for an identical unit you signed a lease for 3 months ago (it’s math), because the IPC is simply an aggregate of consumer products that may or may not accurately reflect the economic situation the previous month. My Example is not speculation or guessing, it is simple mathematics that is clear in my Excel Spreadsheet of rental income. To make the adjustments every 3 months on Contracts that stipulate the IPC, I simply use one of the several online calculators like Arquiler.com and notify the tenant (with a screen shot of the calculator) 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the following month. Complete transparency, and what I still find bizarre is 99.99% of the tenants reply, “OK, perfecto, Gracias.” Now, I also feel the need to mention that my experience and my thoughts above are slightly different than the issue of Airbnb and short-term rentals in BA and all over the world. Airbnb seemed like a great idea 15 years ago, today and in the future, not so sure.
