Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing fine in this relatively tough time. So essentially I'm in the process of buying a flat in BA, and I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how the money is actually transferred to the owner. Some of the estate agents (and friends) have told me that many Argentines prefer cash, but obviously for foreigners it's pretty difficult for us to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, whether in USD or in pesos.
None of the owners of the flats that I've been looking at have overseas bank accounts, so I would either need to bring suitcases full of cash or transfer the money somehow to their arg. bank accounts. Am I correct in understanding that all wire transfers into Argentina are converted to pesos at the official rate? I have a Banco ciudad account but I'm pretty sure it's a basic free one so iirc there's a monthly transfer/withdrawal limit. I am not from the US, and Western Union does not allow me to transfer money from the account in my home country to my arg. bank account (only cash pickup).
Interestingly enough, one estate agent told me that I could pay in pesos if I wanted at the blue rate of $8x, which is far lower than the WU rate at the moment!
In short, what are your experiences with getting large sums of money into the country, whether through wire transfer or in cash? Thanks a lot for your help in advance!
PS. for those that are interested, I'm deciding between 3 flats and the owners of all of them have offered to knock 10-20% off the original listed price without me even asking, YMMV.
None of the owners of the flats that I've been looking at have overseas bank accounts, so I would either need to bring suitcases full of cash or transfer the money somehow to their arg. bank accounts. Am I correct in understanding that all wire transfers into Argentina are converted to pesos at the official rate? I have a Banco ciudad account but I'm pretty sure it's a basic free one so iirc there's a monthly transfer/withdrawal limit. I am not from the US, and Western Union does not allow me to transfer money from the account in my home country to my arg. bank account (only cash pickup).
Interestingly enough, one estate agent told me that I could pay in pesos if I wanted at the blue rate of $8x, which is far lower than the WU rate at the moment!
In short, what are your experiences with getting large sums of money into the country, whether through wire transfer or in cash? Thanks a lot for your help in advance!
PS. for those that are interested, I'm deciding between 3 flats and the owners of all of them have offered to knock 10-20% off the original listed price without me even asking, YMMV.