Salaries in Argentina

[citygirl]

And one more thing - that apt (even if you can rent it and have a guarantia) still needs to be furnished. And buying furniture here isn't cheap at all.

 

[mini]

And one more thing - that apt (even if you can rent it and have a guarantia) still needs to be furnished. And buying furniture here isn't cheap at all.

Luckily they are so small you won't need too much furniture cuz it won't fit! I'd be surprise if you can get a double bed in the "bedroom".

 

[cassiem13]

My humble opinion is that it is silly to say the minimum income for a rentista should increase to much more than $2700 because "most" foreigners are not "able" to live on that little money.

...

I have lived on much less than that for years. I know lots of other young people who do.

I completely agree. I live on less than that, and I have a comfortable living situation in Almagro (the Palermo-ish side), renting a room — of my own — in an apartment with a few other 20-somethings from all over. I spend too much on transportation because I work in Lomas de Zamora, and I mostly cook at home, even to the extent of making my own granola, but I still go out and have a healthy social life (a frugal one, but still).

I guess it just all depends on what you consider necessary or not. I'd love to afford more luxuries, but I'm also very happy with what I have. Some months I can even save a couple hundred pesos (or go shopping! on sale, of course, jaja). But I think the $2700 minimum is just fine.

I do agree, though, that cost of living here is relatively high, and I have to watch every last centavo. I don't know how some of these families do it. I recently read that the local wages have only increased by 0.5% last year, but property prices have increased by nearly 6.5%, meaning it's getting even harder for people to buy... talk about a disconnect. Uf!

 

[citymike]

I recently read that the local wages have only increased by 0.5% last year, but property prices have increased by nearly 6.5%, meaning it's getting even harder for people to buy... talk about a disconnect. Uf!

I have considered buying property here, it appears cheap and as someone renting a tourist apartment it would pay for itself in 5 to 7 years. However, I don't think that the prices, although they seem cheap to someone from the States or from Europe, are sustainable. It's only logical that Argentines must make up the majority of the market and is they are unable to buy then I think there has to be a correction. I'd be interested in other opinions.

 

[gusgutier]

I have considered buying property here, it appears cheap and as someone renting a tourist apartment it would pay for itself in 5 to 7 years. However, I don't think that the prices, although they seem cheap to someone from the States or from Europe, are sustainable. It's only logical that Argentines must make up the majority of the market and is they are unable to buy then I think there has to be a correction. I'd be interested in other opinions.

The logic is that if Argentina grows 5 %, some people gonna make some big money, and a share of it will go to bricks, all time safest investment in this country. Real state will not be cheaper in US dollars, so if you want to get yours dollars back, you´ll get the same or perhaps more. Don´t you think the market here as the american one. Here it doesn´t depends on financial credit and historical refugee to maintain capital but not to get profits.
Figures :1 bd+ living room apt (the easiest to rent) us$ 80.000 (=arg$ 311.200) . Monthly rent :arg $ 1.300. It means a 5 % rate a year, less than 9.5% negative bank rate for a plazo fijo (I don´t how translate to English). You talk about renting to tourists but it´s an up & down bussiness and 7 years is a long way.

 

[Alzinho]

gusgutier - a 'plazo fijo' can best be described as a 'savings account'.

But even at 9.5% it's a waste of time here - if you converted your dollars originally, the peso only has to jump to 3.9 and all your interest from the previous few months is wiped out! Even though you get zero interest on a dollar plazo fijo, it's still the sensible option.
:-/

 

[gusgutier]

gusgutier - a 'plazo fijo' can best be described as a 'savings account'.

But even at 9.5% it's a waste of time here - if you converted your dollars originally, the peso only has to jump to 3.9 and all your interest from the previous few months is wiped out! Even though you get zero interest on a dollar plazo fijo, it's still the sensible option.
:-/

I only try to show that rent an apt is worse investment than a bad investment like a plazo fijo.

 

[Alzinho]

I only try to show that rent an apt is worse investment than a bad investment like a plazo fijo.

Erm, I'm not sure if that's what comes across in your post? You start by saying "a share of it will go to bricks, all time safest investment in this country", which I completely agree with.

I reckon that buying an apartment and leaving it empty is probably a better investment than a plazo fijo! For those of us who can only dream about buying an apartment (must start doing the lottery), the sensible option is to keep our money in US$ and accept that it's not going to generate any income.

:-/