Apartment Rental Issues

[Jackson]

A recent forum poll indicated that an overwhelming number (90%) of the poll participants prefer to stay in rental apartments instead of hotel rooms when they visit Buenos Aires. However, the several Forum members who offer apartments for rent have recently experienced less than stellar occupancy rates, which is rather surprising given that there are typically between 30 to 50 Forum Members visiting Buenos Aires on any given day. Therefor, I'm initiating this poll in anticipation of identifying the issues that may be inhibiting some visitors from considering the option of renting an apartment instead of renting a hotel room when they visit Buenos Aires.

This poll is open to all Forum Members, but it is specifically intended for Forum Members who typically rent hotel rooms instead of rental apartments when they visited Buenos Aires. The idea is to identify specific concerns so that they may be addressed by apartment owners.

As an inducement to obtain the opinions of the Forum Membership, the voting is confidential, thus you may be assured that your participation in this poll will not result in a bombardment of solicitations to rent apartments.

This is a multiple choice poll, so please feel free to indicate all of your considerations.

[AllIWantIsLove]

I've been looking seriously recently, and one thing I have noticed is that in general the furniture is pretty crappy. More money seems to get you more space but not better furniture.

Bob

[MCSE]

I've been looking seriously recently, and one thing I have noticed is that in general the furniture is pretty crappy. More money seems to get you more space but not better furniture.

BobI agree with Bob, many argentineans can offer cheap rates because they save money on furniture but also services and mantainance. Not only furniture, but also old and bad shape of liens and towels, cleanning with cheap products, etc. Jackson furniture is not crappy nor my Baez Apartment which even has an authentic leather couch, original artworks, wider bed, powerful a / c.

[Monger514]

The problem begins, IMHO (but keep in mind I have been called a clown and a troll) with the websites used to market the apartments. I looked at a number of these recently before deciding to again rent Jackson's apartment.

Typically the sites have pictures that are too small, and not enough of them. Sometimes there are hyperlinks that don't work. The site may not show you a map as to exactly where the apartment is located. And my biggest beef is a site with a hundred apartments and no search capability beyond neighborhood. What if I have to have fast internet access? Sometimes you don't know until you click on a link for apartment details that that apartment doesn't have it. And if the apartment does have it, where the hell is the connection? I want to know what piece of furniture is going to serve as my desk.

Some sites show you the availablity in a calendar, that's nice, but others you have to email to find out.

Did I mention that many of these sites are painfully slow?

But, hey, what do I know? I'm a troll.

[Dickhead]

Is there anyone left on the forum who does NOT know that MCSE's apartment has a genuine leather couch? Big fucking deal.

[AllIWantIsLove]

Is your rental experience determined by the web site, e.g. ByTArgentina, or by the apartment owner? I. E. If I search here for any bad experiences with, e.g. ByTArgentina will the answer mean anything? Or are the web sites just a bunch of ads and you end up dealing with an owner, and so two people who both find their apartments on, e.g. ByTArgentina might have completely different experiences because the two apartments have different owners?

Let me turn it around, what do I need to look for to avoid being ripped off?

Thanks, Bob

[Cowpie]

I've used this site 3 times and for the price you can't beat it. Stay 6 days the 7th is free. 150 USD / week everything included.

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geusJkiuJEFF0BM5ZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE3NXJtYmZwBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANTUzAxXzEwNw--/SIG=11nomq0uh/EXP=1155783652/**http%3a//www.ba-accommodation.com.ar/

[Barney Lobo]

I think the poll adrressed the many things that were not rectified by Saint's staff. Hot water heater gave out. He charged me for daily maid service, which was not provided. Etcetra. But maybe this business model works for the unknowing and those who you flash for or act like a legitamite service provider. Hook up with corporate dorks or overcharge the unknowing with corporate expense accounts. Maybe its because I'm on this board. Damn you Jackson. Best Regards J.

Whow - genuine leather couch. Gee whiz

[Jackson]

For the record, my rental apartment has two new fake leather couches, and you can fuck and / or receive a HJ on them as you wish.

I also have an inventory of 16 full size towels, which at $35AR each it's easy to understand why some apartment owners will skimp on this item.

As an side note, I can tell you that I've had some apartment guests burn through 16 towels in as little as four days, apparently unaware of the concept of hanging them up to dry for a second use. In anticipation of this situation, I have an additional stash of 4 more towels in the apartment to accomidate my quests during the additional day it takes for the laundry to return the normal 16 towel inventory.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Hemin]

This poll idea is very good, but I feel it is missing a space to add "other problems and be able to explain". My main concern and probably that of others living in BsAs with obligations is that to rent the apartment one needs to provide credit card as security and perhaps for payment. This creates a trace that could lead to some serious family consequences. Thus, I would much rather prefer to pay cash upfront and put cash (lots if need be) as deposit and have none of these issues. In addition, I had an experience last year where rental to non-americans become an issue.

Thanks

=================================================

Hi Hemin,

Actually, the thread itself is the place to comment on issues not itemized in the poll.

Regarding the credit card trail, I can tell you that I accept credit cards as a deposit for the rental and as a damage security deposit (just like all hotels do) but I do not (and in fact have never) actually charged anyone's credit card because the rent is always paid in cash. Problem solved.

Thanks,

Jackson

[LimaBusy]

As a landlord in Lima for a high-end apartment (Two Leather couches + brazilean cherry floors) I am very interested in the concerns and responses the members of this board provide.

Jackson has provided us (landlords) with a valuable resource for reaching our target customer. In return I think it is my responsibility to seriously consider all the poll results and the concerns expressed on this forum.

Rio and BA are probably two of the biggest markets for rental apts and in my periodic research I had the feeling that the occupancy rates were very low, I would certainly be interested to find out the reasons!

Jackson, thanks for the towel tip! Anybody know of a Latin recipe that calls for toilet paper, because the chica's are eating thru 16 rolls a week!

Best regards all,

LB

[Jackson]

Greetings everyone,

I've closed the Apartment Rental Issues poll, and I'd like to thank the 63 Forum Members who took the time to provide their opinions. The poll yielded some interesting results by identifying two principal areas of concern which I categorize as "Physical" and "Financial".

Physical Concerns

The category with the most votes were "Physical" concerns, with 65% of the members expressing concerns about the "quality of the apartment being misrepresented", and 45% expressing concerns about "possible deficiencies not being properly rectified".

My observation here is that the AP apartment owners need to do a better job of describing their properties and probably take more photos, including the street scene, the building entry, and possibly even photos of their apartment (s) in less than flattering detail. I'm getting the idea from the poll that potential guests know that they're not renting a 5 star hotel room, but that they would still be more comfortable knowing exactly what they were renting in advance.

I am somewhat surprised at the concerns about deficiencies not being properly rectified. I understand that this forum has a number of reports from apartment quests expressing their aggravation with this issue at times, but the record for the AP apartment owners is quite different. I think that potential apartment guests need to understand that if they rent an apartment from myself, Roxana, Paolo, Capt Dave or Ruggerio, that they are going to have our personal contact info, and that if anything in the apartment isn't correct that we would be available to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

In other words, none of the AP apartment owners are agents or absentee managers, and you can call any of us on our cellphones at any time.

Financial Concerns

Under the category of "Financial" concerns, 62% expressed concerns about "securing the return of the security deposit", and 44% expressed concerns about "needing to send cash to secure a reservation". This also surprised me in that not one of the AP apartment owners requires a cash deposit to make a reservation, and thus there is no issue with returning a deposit. It would seem then that the AP apartment renters need to do a better job of getting their message out.

Unimportant Issues

I was surprised to note the very low number of votes for issues such as "staying in an unfamiliar residential neighborhood", "lack of front desk and / or daily maid services", or "the image of staying in an apartment" My read on this is the potential apartment guests know that apartments are not hotels, and that's not an issue.

Thanks,

Jackson

[David]

Jackson,

While I have never been to Argentina, I would plan on staying in an Apartment (for a month or so) and wouldn't rent from one of the members here -- but the reason I wouldn't rent from a member is that in general, the prices appears to be about twice the price of a semi-longer term rental when you rented from a more "local" source.

Best,

David

[El Aleman]

David,

While you might be right with that observation, you run into a significant risk with those "local sources: you pay your stay up front, and if the place turns out to be a dump (happened to me once) there is no chance to get your money back. If you really plan to stay for a longer time, spend your first few days in a hotel and go looking for a decent apartment.

Also, it seems that some of the "local sources" furnish their rentals, politely said, extremely economically. Jackson's place, which I know and just take as an example of the "member apartments" contains about the same kind of furniture one would buy for his home.

Just an attempt of an explanation.

El Alemán