Uruguay Bans Real Estate Sales In Cash

[GS_Dirtboy]

Uruguay will be banning real estate sales in cash and other cash payments. We are expecting this to come to another friendly SA populist country near you soon!

There is every reason to believe Argentina will do the same thing. If that happens then sellers here will only be able to get Pesos for their properties. You'll be on your own for changing those Pesos to Dollars and getting Dollars out of the country. I am not a pessimist but this certainly will not be good for the non-resident sellers' market.

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/168152/uruguay-bans-all-cash-payments-over-us$5000-as-of-next-year

Fortunately, the market is currently strong for non-resident sellers but buckle your seat belts.

Have a great day!

GS

 

[lucha54]

I think a lot of Argies buy houses in UY with their undeclared money. Perhaps the measure is to curb that practice.

 

[Alicia karr]

But buyers and sellers could still do wire transfers in dollars to circumvent this? There's gotta be a work around...always is! Anyway I've always thought it was crazy bringing those piles of cash to a closing table! Takes forever to check and count the money and don't forget the sheer risk of transporting it!

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

But buyers and sellers could still do wire transfers in dollars to circumvent this?

No. The buyer will need to send Dollars to an Argentine bank through wire transfer. The bank converts those Dollars to Pesos at the official rate. The seller gets Pesos. This is the way most of the world works. However, in most of the world the seller isn't stuck holding Argentine Pesos.

 

[Alicia karr]

Uh oh! But why couldn't the buyer send the money from one non argentine account to another as long as there's a paper trail...from what the article said, that's the reason Uruguay is doing this, no?

 

[ghost]

No. The buyer will need to send Dollars to an Argentine bank through wire transfer. The bank converts those Dollars to Pesos at the official rate. The seller gets Pesos. This is the way most of the world works. However, in most of the world the seller isn't stuck holding Argentine Pesos.

In most of the world the buyer is not screwed out of 45% of money when it hits the central bank

 

[garryl]

An Argie friend told me that the country is falling apart, every week the price goes up. They are self employed and live on tourists and can't raise their price. They have to cut back/use less services. At certain point, it's going to break, and we will be back to 2001 situation, and people will suffer and situation will improve. At the same time, for the expats who have apartments here, to be or not to be ? Who knows what will happen in 5 years, maybe everything will be free again like in 2006 ?
Have you heard of the Chinese proverb: Fou Ji Tai Lai , translation: If you too much sh*t has happened to you, good things will come.

 

[Matt84]

well then ideally no one should sell during the short period when this could happen, and before the new Ruble-RMB is established as a reserve currency (LOL) or until the idea implodes and Argentina allows free trade of currencies again.
Uruguay needs to formalise its economy as it's under a lot of pressure from international regulatory organizations, it's a miracle it's never been officially considered an offshore haven. Yes it's a cash economy and it used to depend much on Argentine tourism, but now there are many Argentine Economic Refugees working from Colonia, as well as some Brazilians and Europeans who value what is perhaps the safest country in Latin America.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Uh oh! But why couldn't the buyer send the money from one non argentine account to another as long as there's a paper trail...from what the article said, that's the reason Uruguay is doing this, no?

You can do that now. You won't be able to do that when they bankarize the transaction. The buyer will be forced to bring their funds to Argentina. Do you think Argentina will allow those Dollars to pass by? LOL

 

[Rich One]

If you use your unlimited Platinum Argie credit Card you may face the NEW predicted TAX on CC used abroad going to 50 % from the current 35 %.....!!!