Some Rental Questions

[sts7049]

oh boy. this thread took a turn.

first, nobody is forcing vaccines here, and if there even is a law that isn't happening. the pandemic is over.

hate to break it to you, sometimes you just can't skip all the rules and have what you want. you live here, you know what you are getting into.

 

[lunar]

I am not vaccinated because I know it was to implement social control.

 

[owleabf]

1. ZonaProp is good for BA, but what about the other 2 regions for searching ? Is it better to get an agent ?

The other regions you mentioned are tourist areas and almost all listing you'll see are meant to be for daily/weekend rentals (or up to a month) with very few actual long term rentals. An agent would make sense likely for these areas, but for Buenos Aires proper or GBA, I don't recommend it. Also, in the City of Buenos Aires you don't pay a realtor's commission, but in the province this can be passed along to the renter.

2. Is it possible to rent fully in Pesos and just pay directly via Western Union to landlord. Is this a typical arrangement ?

Yes it's possible to fully rent in pesos, but the paying directly via WU is not at all common.

Personally, I found my apartment on ZonaProp and proactively chose to offer to pay in dollars to my landlord for 2 reasons: 1, the dollar, blue/CCL/WU has not kept pace with inflation, meaning it is more expensive to pay in pesos than dollars, and 2, inflation is spiraling out of control and has resulted in the government permitting increases of up to 55% for last year in pesos (i.e if you rented a place for 40K ARS in 2021, your 2022 rent could be ~61K ARS), and god knows what it will be for 2023 with 90%+ inflation.

This is a way for both of you to hedge against inflation/devaluation, and some landlords given their wealth have accounts abroad making it possible to simply transfer it to their PayPal/Wise/ACH account, not having to deal with WU at all.

I'm considering travelling to Argentina for the first time, for 6 months, can I ask a follow-up question on this?

Are the dollar prices quoted on zonaprop, mercadolibre, etc assuming a conversion to pesos at the official rate? Or are they assuming direct payment in dollars at that rate? I'm assuming AirBnB ends up using the official peso rate and converts dollars to pesos.

Also, if a landlord doesn't have a US Dollar account (paypal, wise, whatever) then how are people paying their rent? That's a lot of money to be converting with WU every month.

 

[FrankPintor]

Are the dollar prices quoted on zonaprop, mercadolibre, etc assuming a conversion to pesos at the official rate? Or are they assuming direct payment in dollars at that rate? I'm assuming AirBnB ends up using the official peso rate and converts dollars to pesos.

Also, if a landlord doesn't have a US Dollar account (paypal, wise, whatever) then how are people paying their rent? That's a lot of money to be converting with WU every month.

1. Nope, Dollars are Dollars, If owners want to rent in pesos, they'll say so. You pay Airbnb in Dollars as well, what happens at the other end isn't your concern.
2. Ca$h. And yes, it can be quite annoying. WU will give you pesos here, btw.

 

[owleabf]

1. Nope, Dollars are Dollars, If owners want to rent in pesos, they'll say so. You pay Airbnb in Dollars as well, what happens at the other end isn't your concern.
2. Ca$h. And yes, it can be quite annoying. WU will give you pesos here, btw.

RE: Air BnB - my thought was to rent a place via Air BnB for a while, then negotiate a direct payment. So my thought was it matters if they owner is getting pesos at the gov't rate because paying directly I can give them the same amount of money while saving the diff in exchange rates.

 

[Rich One]

RE: Air BnB - my thought was to rent a place via Air BnB for a while, then negotiate a direct payment. So my thought was it matters if they owner is getting pesos at the gov't rate because paying directly I can give them the same amount of money while saving the diff in exchange rates.

Owners are very aware of inflation over 90% ? They will accept payment in pesos equivalent to the dollar rate, converted at the Blue Dollar rate of the day..!

 

[Wade K.]

I'm renting an Airbnb studio in a suburb of Cordoba. Learned that outside of Cordoba this small city of 50,000 is one of three regional cities that has fast internet. Learned that off of a Facebook group for expats in Cordoba. If you aren't already be sure to look up expat groups on Facebook for cities you're interested in. They often have info on towns in the region that you're interested in. I spent several weeks in the Northwest and found you could get better internet in smaller places like Tilcara but often where you're staying in those areas aren't splurging on the better internet. Even the cell service was off and on. It's a hit or miss frustrating experience. And outlying towns like Cachi may not have good internet at all. Cafayate has a bit of wealth and I found good wifi there.

In my current place I did the minimum 3 days they required then negotiated a monthly rate. Be prepared for a raising of prices. This studio with Airbnb fees was $229 a month. She claimed the XE website would short her on pesos. We settled on the equivalent of $265 a month in pesos but she wanted two months, 70,000 pesos, upfront. Said we'd revisit the amount in two months. Since it does get hot here and the studio doesn't have AC I'll be looking for another situation.

If you don't want to travel real far consider Tafi del Valle at about 6600'. Beautiful green area that you can take a bus to from Cafayate. When I first got here I traveled overnight from Buenos Aires to Tucuman then took another bus from there to Cafayate through Tafi del Valle. About 27 hrs on two buses. It's cheaper than flying but if you can spare the extra to fly it's well worth it. This is a very long country and long bus rides are indeed very long.

 

[IamRoca]

I'm renting an Airbnb studio in a suburb of Cordoba. Learned that outside of Cordoba this small city of 50,000 is one of three regional cities that has fast internet. Learned that off of a Facebook group for expats in Cordoba. If you aren't already be sure to look up expat groups on Facebook for cities you're interested in. They often have info on towns in the region that you're interested in. I spent several weeks in the Northwest and found you could get better internet in smaller places like Tilcara but often where you're staying in those areas aren't splurging on the better internet. Even the cell service was off and on. It's a hit or miss frustrating experience. And outlying towns like Cachi may not have good internet at all. Cafayate has a bit of wealth and I found good wifi there.

In my current place I did the minimum 3 days they required then negotiated a monthly rate. Be prepared for a raising of prices. This studio with Airbnb fees was $229 a month. She claimed the XE website would short her on pesos. We settled on the equivalent of $265 a month in pesos but she wanted two months, 70,000 pesos, upfront. Said we'd revisit the amount in two months. Since it does get hot here and the studio doesn't have AC I'll be looking for another situation.

If you don't want to travel real far consider Tafi del Valle at about 6600'. Beautiful green area that you can take a bus to from Cafayate. When I first got here I traveled overnight from Buenos Aires to Tucuman then took another bus from there to Cafayate through Tafi del Valle. About 27 hrs on two buses. It's cheaper than flying but if you can spare the extra to fly it's well worth it. This is a very long country and long bus rides are indeed very long.

Wade and all thanks for all the amazing info. I am going to come again this year on tourist visa to check out some of the places in details for all the infrastructure. Would like to be far away from big cities, but still have good internet.I am leaning toward outskirts of Cafayate the more I look at real estate and other considerations, but I want to visit the Bariloche/San Martin area too because I like the cold.

On the visa side, speaking with an agency, I will be doing rentista from the US since I am too young for any pension and it may entail that I create a trust that shows income... which is kind of ok, because I can leave it to my kids anway. I know many have said not to do it, but it is really my only choice and I will do it from the states -- the NYC consulate is right next door to my work ! I will first be applying for Paraguay residency, so that I have that as a backup and tax haven once I leave Argentina which I guess I will after my 3 years on Rentista or if the government goes crazy. Because of all the suggestions, I will not apply for permanent nor buying real estate -- sad really for Argentina -- it could be so easy to get the foreign investment.

 

[Alby]

Wade and all thanks for all the amazing info. I am going to come again this year on tourist visa to check out some of the places in details for all the infrastructure. Would like to be far away from big cities, but still have good internet.I am leaning toward outskirts of Cafayate the more I look at real estate and other considerations, but I want to visit the Bariloche/San Martin area too because I like the cold.

On the visa side, speaking with an agency, I will be doing rentista from the US since I am too young for any pension and it may entail that I create a trust that shows income... which is kind of ok, because I can leave it to my kids anway. I know many have said not to do it, but it is really my only choice and I will do it from the states -- the NYC consulate is right next door to my work ! I will first be applying for Paraguay residency, so that I have that as a backup and tax haven once I leave Argentina which I guess I will after my 3 years on Rentista or if the government goes crazy. Because of all the suggestions, I will not apply for permanent nor buying real estate -- sad really for Argentina -- it could be so easy to get the foreign investment.

Be aware that your tax obligations (should you choose to accept that mission) in Argentina (including the wealth tax on your assets outside Argentina) begin at the end of the first year of the temporary residency, not two years later at the point you have completed three years temporary residency and can apply for permanent residency.

 

[Wade K.]

Wade and all thanks for all the amazing info. I am going to come again this year on tourist visa to check out some of the places in details for all the infrastructure. Would like to be far away from big cities, but still have good internet.I am leaning toward outskirts of Cafayate the more I look at real estate and other considerations, but I want to visit the Bariloche/San Martin area too because I like the cold.

On the visa side, speaking with an agency, I will be doing rentista from the US since I am too young for any pension and it may entail that I create a trust that shows income... which is kind of ok, because I can leave it to my kids anway. I know many have said not to do it, but it is really my only choice and I will do it from the states -- the NYC consulate is right next door to my work ! I will first be applying for Paraguay residency, so that I have that as a backup and tax haven once I leave Argentina which I guess I will after my 3 years on Rentista or if the government goes crazy. Because of all the suggestions, I will not apply for permanent nor buying real estate -- sad really for Argentina -- it could be so easy to get the foreign investment.

I'm staying 5 months before leaving for the States. Overstaying 2 months. Will pay a small fine at the airport before leaving. From posts here and elsewhere found out that it's literally in the Argentine constitution that a person can't be an illegal immigrant. If you stay past 90 days your immigrant status is considered irregular. All that takes is paying a fine based on how long you overstayed when you leave the country. Now that won't give you the benefits of residency but for me getting money from Western Union and renting Airbnb's I just don't see the need to go through all the red tape. No one asks to see my "papers" proving I have a legitimate right to be here. I just go about my business everyday day, have Dish Satellite tv from the States on my tablet, places to eat good meals, access to great steaks at very affordable prices, and enjoying it all until I leave. And am only leaving because my 83 yr old dad wants me home to help him out. Will come back someday. This is my 14th country and I've learned that having solid wifi and being able to eat local food or even brushing your teeth without getting constantly torn up are things one shouldn't take for granted. But most importantly I feel like I blend in here and people are extremely kind, friendly, and pleasant to deal with here. Don't know if that's the case everywhere in Argentina but certainly in the Cordoba province.