Rents in BA - what's the real deal?

[Iamzonzon]

I get that Jackson's apartment is the destination of preference for many good reasons.

But on the larger issue of rent in BA - especially for foreigners - what's the story? I have been researching a long visit for a month or two (this board has the both the horniest and most intelligent contributors. Maybe there is a correlation?

In a recent threat here dealing with "Argentinian Recession", the picture that was drawn was positive for a yankee, or one that earns and income in dollars. That is not the picture I receive from other places. Especially as it relates to rent and housing.

Is there really a double standard at work for gringos / yankees? Does this exist outside BA?

Thanks for filling in the blanks. (It is possible that my other sources are just penniless expats that have nothing to do but *****)

[Joe Hernandez]

I get that Jackson's apartment is the destination of preference for many good reasons.

But on the larger issue of rent in BA - especially for foreigners - what's the story? I have been researching a long visit for a month or two (this board has the both the horniest and most intelligent contributors. Maybe there is a correlation?

In a recent threat here dealing with "Argentinian Recession", the picture that was drawn was positive for a yankee, or one that earns and income in dollars. That is not the picture I receive from other places. Especially as it relates to rent and housing.

Is there really a double standard at work for gringos / yankees? Does this exist outside BA?

Thanks for filling in the blanks. (It is possible that my other sources are just penniless expats that have nothing to do but *****)You pay the Yankee rate because.

1) You rent furnished.

2) You rent short-term.

3) Without guarantee (Argentines normally have give a guarantee in the form of a property to guarantee payment and you maintaining it like you should)

[El Queso]

Joe has the right of it, but a little explanation.

When you come here temporarily, you will pay something like 3 times the rent of a standard 2 year contract. Basically, anything less than two years is considered as a temporary rental and usually you cannot rent for more than 180 days, and more normally 90.

There's a lot of crap tied up in the occupancy laws here, which very much favor the tenant and make it very hard for the landlords to evict non-payers if the property is considered a permanent lease as opposed to a temproary rental.

So in addition to the two year contract, about 90% (or higher) of the owners of these apartments require a guarantee in the form of real property within Capital Federal to back the lease up. This is to prevent the inquilino (renter) from destroying the apartment, living in it without paying the rent, and living in the apartment past the contract term.

Many apartments that have no guarantee required are not really worth renting, but they will be very cheap. It is possible to find apartments for a two year lease without having a guarantee, but they may require, for example, the entire two year lease paid up front, including the regular deposits they may require (1-3 months, depending) Or various other things like paying every quarter instead of every month.

It's still possible to find an apartment for a normal lease monthly payment and without a guarantee, but you will have to spend some time here to make connections, search, and find those who are willing to lease to a foreigner on different terms than they would normally rent to their compatriots. Some Argentinos (not all or even many) would trust a foreigner over a fellow Argentino.

Some are saying that the apartment rental prices are falling. It may be so on the temporaries. I don't think it's so on the 2 year contracts, which is what I am interested in and have been keeping up with to an extent. Maybe a little, and they haven't been rising very much like they were over the last two years.

The biggest advantage that we have here is that the peso has been falling against the dollar, the Euro, etc, and that makes things a lot cheaper here for us foreigners.

Buenos Aires has one of the biggest temporary apartment industries I've ever seen. It's truly amazing how many apartments are available on that basis. And if you take many major cities like New York and compare the price per square meter even on a teemporary, I think you would come out quite a bit cheaper here.

Also, according one of my Argentino programmers, places like Cordoba (where he's from originally) are a lot easier to find property to rent without the guarantee and other issues. Portenos (those from BA) are typically more suspicious and less ready to deal straight than many outside Buenos Aires.

[Argento]

Joe has the right of it, but a little explanation.

When you come here temporarily, you will pay something like 3 times the rent of a standard 2 year contract. Basically, anything less than two years is considered as a temporary rental and usually you cannot rent for more than 180 days, and more normally 90.

There's a lot of crap tied up in the occupancy laws here, which very much favor the tenant and make it very hard for the landlords to evict non-payers if the property is considered a permanent lease as opposed to a temproary rental.Minimum rental terms in the Capital Federal are 2 years with usually between 10% & 15% increase after the first 12 months. Normal requirements for the tenant are a guarantee based on the security of a property with-in the Capital Federal, one month's rent in advance and a minimum one month security deposit, refunded after the end of the tenancy when all the utility's accounts have been paid. Most apartments have no light fittings, just terminated wires and some are even without stoves. You supply the lights and the stove. How do I know? I guaranteed an apartment for an employee and the 2 years are up. Waiting for the return of the guarantee as the employee has terminated the lease. As the agents explained; "The tenants here steal everything!".

Argento

[El Greco]

Some are saying that the apartment rental prices are falling. It may be so on the temporaries.All I can see is higher prices, in hard currency, than last year.

[Joe Hernandez]

All I can see is higher prices, in hard currency, than last year.Try renting a appartment for one week with a agent www.bytargentina.com, etc and then negociate a price for the next 2, 3, 6, 12 months. You can get discounts from like 25%-30% on the price they use on the website.

[WorldTravel69]

Great company.

I have stayed at this company apartments about 13 times.

https://www.bytargentina.com/


More traffic, more people, more kids. Not sure this makes sense. So much for open space. Just because its buildable doesn't mean it is a good idea to build.

[Jim Bob]

Although the exchange rate favors us when paying in pesos based in a dollar income, there may be inflation in utilities, and also higher taxes, that cause the dollar price to rise when we're paying in dollars


All I can see is higher prices, in hard currency, than last year..