Renting: short or long

[knutschis]

Hey all,

There may be some crossover into existing posts so apologies - but I wanted to check your views based on current rental market conditions.

Shortly we (couple) will be transferring to BA for 12-14 months minimum. Palermo and San Telmo look like probable Barrios, but very open to others. Based on the forum posts, it looks like our options are:

1. Short term rental. Get on that's furnished, bills included, Wifi etc. Craigslist can be okay. Do your best to avoid tourist prices, but it's difficult to avoid these. Haggle hard. After 6 months, roll agreement over.

2. Long term rental. Must sign a lease of 2 years. A guarantor is mandatory (I think?) and having one will reduce the lease price. Work may act as guarantor. There are additional building maintenance costs, will need furniture, pay bills etc. Beware losing security deposit. After 12 months you can cancel the lease with a 2-month penalty.

3. Sublet. You find someone who is renting on a 2-year lease. You sublet from them. Might be attractive if: furnished, bills included, trustworthy etc.

4. Share accommodation. We'd be open to sharing a place with locals/other expats. How common is this kind of arrangement?

5. Convince the Four Seasons we are Egyptian royalty, get a free suite for a year.

What do you think is the best way to go? Any help greatly appreciated...

knutschis

 

[AlexfromLA]

Short term is the best option unless you are sure you are staying for at least a year. If you sign a two year contract you will need a guarantee and if you leave early you are looking at paying out at LEAST 2-3 months in penalties. Worst case scenario your guarantor is taken to court for the full amount of the contract. Also remember that unfurnished usually means no light fixtures, no air conditioners, and no blinds. This is not always the case but it's what the standard is.

If you are sure you want to invest in fully furnishing an apartment, you have a guarantee and you plan on staying at least a year, go for it. If not, I would suggest you try a short term rental and just work on negotiating a good discount on a 6-12 month contract.

Whatever you decide, don't sign any contract unless you are sure you will fulfill your end. This is Argentina and property owners and their lawyers take these contracts very seriously.

I have no experience with the other 2 options so i wouldn't be the able to help you out there.

LOL@ #5

Best of luck.

 

[Alzinho]

3. Sublet.

Definitely 'illegal'....though that doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad idea!

It states in my contract that the dueño has the right to visit me once a month to check that I'm looking after the place and that it is just me living here. He's never actually been here in the 6 months since I moved in though.

 

[Ajg]

I used rentinba.com for a short term rental - If you ask for Zohar he speaks very good english, is prepared to take you around in the evenings, weekends and is generally very accommodating. I've been in my place the last 3 months and have a friend who has been in his apartment for around a year with him. The contract has been rolling since I moved in.

Hope it helps

 

[orwellian]

Hey all,

There may be some crossover into existing posts so apologies - but I wanted to check your views based on current rental market conditions.

Shortly we (couple) will be transferring to BA for 12-14 months minimum. Palermo and San Telmo look like probable Barrios, but very open to others. Based on the forum posts, it looks like our options are:

1. Short term rental. Get on that's furnished, bills included, Wifi etc. Craigslist can be okay. Do your best to avoid tourist prices, but it's difficult to avoid these. Haggle hard. After 6 months, roll agreement over.

2. Long term rental. Must sign a lease of 2 years. A guarantor is mandatory (I think?) and having one will reduce the lease price. Work may act as guarantor. There are additional building maintenance costs, will need furniture, pay bills etc. Beware losing security deposit. After 12 months you can cancel the lease with a 2-month penalty.

3. Sublet. You find someone who is renting on a 2-year lease. You sublet from them. Might be attractive if: furnished, bills included, trustworthy etc.

4. Share accommodation. We'd be open to sharing a place with locals/other expats. How common is this kind of arrangement?

5. Convince the Four Seasons we are Egyptian royalty, get a free suite for a year.

What do you think is the best way to go? Any help greatly appreciated...

knutschis

If you have never been to BA before I would definitely suggest getting something temporary over craigslist first. Me and my gf thought we wanted to live in San Telmo too first. But boy after living there for 2 months I couldn't think of living there again.

Sharing accommodation is pretty common it seems. This is a good way of meeting people too.
You forgot the option of alquiler temporario. Check out clarin:
http://www.inmuebles.clarin.com/

Definitely 'illegal'....though that doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad idea!

It states in my contract that the dueño has the right to visit me once a month to check that I'm looking after the place and that it is just me living here. He's never actually been here in the 6 months since I moved in though.

Is subletting here illegal? It doesn't say anything about it on my 2 years contract.

 

[steveinbsas]

Hey all,

There may be some crossover into existing posts so apologies - but I wanted to check your views based on current rental market conditions.

Shortly we (couple) will be transferring to BA for 12-14 months minimum. Palermo and San Telmo look like probable Barrios, but very open to others. Based on the forum posts, it looks like our options are:

1. Short term rental. Get on that's furnished, bills included, Wifi etc. Craigslist can be okay. Do your best to avoid tourist prices, but it's difficult to avoid these. Haggle hard. After 6 months, roll agreement over.

Shop til you drop (for a good deal) but don't expect haggling to work here. Short term rentals are, by definition, for tourists and there may be a bargain here or there, but not many. Nonetheless, a nicely furnished one bedroom apartment in Palermo (which you may find more desirable than San Telmo as a place for a foreign couple to live) can still be found for less than $1000 USD per month. If your employer isn't paying you enough for that you should be haggling with them.

2. Long term rental. Must sign a lease of 2 years. A guarantor is mandatory (I think?) and having one will reduce the lease price. Work may act as guarantor. There are additional building maintenance costs, will need furniture, pay bills etc. Beware losing security deposit. After 12 months you can cancel the lease with a 2-month penalty.

Do you have any idea how much money will cost to furnish an apartment, and how little you would get for your stuff when you sell it? It will cost so much more (in time as well as money) to go this route

3. Sublet. You find someone who is renting on a 2-year lease. You sublet from them. Might be attractive if: furnished, bills included, trustworthy etc.

Anyone who did this without knowing you well would be risking a lot. They would be liable for your actions, damages, failure to pay, etc. And it isn't legal...giving the owner the right to take action against the original lessee.

4. Share accommodation. We'd be open to sharing a place with locals/other expats. How common is this kind of arrangement?

This would be far more likely with Bohemian singles (versus executive couples). You would also be far more likely to losing everything you own if others have access to your living space.

5. Convince the Four Seasons we are Egyptian royalty, get a free suite for a year.

The last Egyptian royalty was Cleopatra. If you can prove the family ties, the Four Seasons might give you a year free, but beware of the welcome basket of figs.

What do you think is the best way to go? Any help greatly appreciated...

If you're coming for at lest 14 months, I suggest that you rent a short term apartment in Palermo for a month (even on line prior to arrival) and spend some time looking for a six month lease. That way you can explore other barrios, including San Telmo, and even with meet with others with whom you might consider sharing a place.

Hopefully, your employer is helping with your work visa. If you have lived in two different countries in the past five years you will need criminal background checks from both. Other members have recently posted that getting the FBI report isn't fast or easy and may now require the seal of the Apostille.

 

[citygirl]

Palermo and San Telmo are world's apart. You say transfer so I assume you are coming here for work. So the first and most important question is where will your office be? And how are you planning on commuting (subway? cab?) That would determine location.

Work can/should act as a guarantor. Regarding short vs long term - as mentioned, it really depends on how long you want to stay and how much hassle you want to deal with. Renting an unfurnished means starting from scratch and buying EVERYTHING. The rent savings can quickly be erased by the expenditures to buy everything (of course you can sell it when you leave). Also, will one of you have the time to deal with paying bills, setting up phone lines, cable, everything? If not, furnished may be the way to go. I wound up renting a furnished apt despite having access to a guarantor just because I didn't want to deal with the hassles of everything. YMMV.

If you haven't been here, I would definitely recommend asking your company to set you up with a short-term (1 month) rental when you arrive and sussing out where you want to live, commute times, etc. After that, you can explore your options.

Of course the convincing the Four Seasons sounds like the best option

 

[ElQueso]

There are cases where you can rent a furnished apartment long term (2 year lease). Not many, but they exist. The biggest problem with any two year lease (already stated) is that you need to know someone that has property in order to get a guarantee (not a small thing), or you (or your company, which would make it less of a problem) would have to pay the full two years in advance. Even paying two years in advance with a hefty deposit does NOt guarantee that you will easily find an owner willing to rent long term. You will - but you may not rent the apartment you found and really wanted.

You could probably mostly furnish an apartment for around $6000 - $8000 US (maybe less) - depending on how big it is, how much you want to put in it, etc. Long term leases are much cheaper than tourist leases, but yeah, you have to factor in the cost of furnishing the place in most cases and over a year and a half or so it may be cheaper just to rent temporary overall.

Short term leases by law cannot be longer than 6 months. Although you MAY find someone willing to agree to lease it to you longer, you will probably not find someone in a month or two. Best case scenario for something like that would be to get the owner to agree to a year, 18 months occupancy, and then sign a new contract every 6 months. Of course, that only gives you rights to that apartment for 6 months, not the time agreed to by the owners; i.e., if they changed their mind at the end of that 6 months and refused to resign a contract, they can have you fairly easily removed.

Problem is that short term contracts operate under a different law than long term. Tenants have fewer rights and can be kicked out easier on non-payment (under most circumstances) than long term leasers, which is why there is no guarantee needed. Therefore, you will get owners that are less willing to even let someone in their apartments on 6 month running contracts because the courts here could conceivably say they fall under long-term lease laws if they actually occupied the apartment more than 6 months.

I would say if you are going to be here semi-long term and can get your company to buy a lease and furnish an apartment, that would be great, otherwise just look at the short term apartments and move every few to 6 months. Maybe in that time you'll get lucky and find a better situation.

 

[citygirl]

You can absolutely extend 6 month leases and if you rent directly from the owner, it shouldn't be a problem. I've been in my current apt for 18 months & will be here until I leave or buy an apt - whichever comes first.

They do have the option to increase the rent after 6 months although in my case, it has not happened. I did however get a rent increase after 1 year, which was substantially less than the one I would have had with a 2 year lease.

 

[jp]

if you leave early you are looking at paying out at LEAST 2-3 months in penalties.

You sure on this?
I understood that legally you could leave a contract after 6 months. You'll lose your deposit, but thats about it.