tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-128689262012-02-16T17:26:49.231-03:00Never buy real estate in a foreign country without advice from others that have purchased property there. Before I purchased here, I interviewed dozens of foreigners that purchased here. I was amazed that a large majority made mistakes or got cheated. I started a consulting firm to provide clear, honest and detailed advice about the buying process here. I am now purchasing more real estate in Argentina for myself and my consulting clients than anyone else in the country.ABAnoreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116294989997289802005-05-16T22:56:00.002-03:002010-12-07T09:18:48.079-03:00

BA blur The comment I have probably heard the most since moving here from the locals is that I'm a "visionary". I'm flattered when I hear that. It is true that I have been perceptive when it comes to the real estate market. My biggest regret is that I did not purchase at the bottom immediately after the crash in December 2001. When everyone was moving all of their money outside of Argentina I was

ABAnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116211982333368782005-05-15T23:53:00.002-03:002010-12-07T09:27:37.584-03:00

Capital Gains Taxes when selling One of the true benefits of exiting your investment and selling your property once you want to sell it is that there is a 0% Capital gains tax here in Buenos Aires. Yes, you read correctly. There is no capital gains tax. There is a 1.5% tax called the "Transfer tax". It is 1.5% of the sales price listed on the title deed. Locals can get this waived if they are

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116201176495971312005-05-15T20:52:00.002-03:002010-12-07T09:29:47.685-03:00

El Cabildo For those of you that aren't familiar with Argentina and the local Porteños, they HATE paying taxes. None of us likes paying taxes but these Porteños tax tax evasion to a new level. I have traveled around the world but I've never seen anything like the system here.Basically there is a "white" system and a "black" system that the locals talk about. Many businesses in Argentina have two

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116177329583105252005-05-15T14:15:00.001-03:002010-12-07T09:23:47.753-03:00

Condo Fee Breakdown This is a monthly building "condo fee" bill that every apartment in Buenos Aires has. It lists all the property owners in the building by their name and apartment number. A bill comes every month and is given to the property owner. This is an unedited bill except for editing out part of the owner's names.As I mentioned earlier, all the affluent families that I know here in

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116175104463145202005-05-15T13:38:00.000-03:002005-06-12T23:34:50.350-03:00

Telephone Bill This is my last statement for an apartment I own in Recoleta. It is unedited except for removing the personal information and the phone number from it. The two main phone companies in Buenos Aires for residential and business service are Telecom and Telefonica. Both are priced similarly. Both companies are a nightmare dealing with if you are having a problem or trying to get

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116173901372034812005-05-15T13:18:00.000-03:002005-06-12T23:35:20.666-03:00

Electricity Bill This is an actual bill from my last statement for another apartment I own in Recoleta. It is totally unedited except for removing the address and the account numbers.You can see that the utility bill format is quite similar to a typical electricity bill you would receive in the USA. (Of course the utility bills in the USA are much more expensive). The electric bill is billed

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116169730726912452005-05-15T12:08:00.000-03:002005-06-12T23:35:51.763-03:00

Gas Bill Above is an actual gas bill I just received for one of my properties. It is totally unedited except that I deleted the name on the bill and the account number. The gas bill comes every two months. Most apartments have a gas water heater in the apartment that heats the apartment and also the hot water. Some apartments have central services that control the heat and the hot water but

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116169239437557872005-05-15T11:57:00.000-03:002005-06-12T23:36:27.353-03:00

As if the cash flow from rentals and the capital appreciation potential weren't enough, another amazing benefit is the monthly expenditures of owning a property here are extremely low. In fact, my company has been contacted by several REIT's (Real Estate Investment Trusts), corporations and individual investors throughout the world. Although my company initially specialized in purchasing real

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116037430032863212005-05-13T23:23:00.004-03:002010-12-07T10:03:18.552-03:00

Different people have different reasons to purchase real estate in Argentina. Most of my clients aren't buying to live in it. They are buying purely as an investment. Sure they might use the property once or twice per year for vacation but they won't be spending the bulk of their time living in it.

The biggest mistake I have seen people make is buying a property based on them living in it. They

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116027746467994612005-05-13T20:42:00.000-03:002007-06-19T10:14:14.150-03:00

Ok, I researched the real estate buying process for a few years. I built up relationships. I understood the laws and I looked at about 50 apartments before I bought my first apartment. I told myself that I wouldn't get cheated or conned. After walking into a loft apartment, I knew I would purchase it. I was accompanied by my realtor, the seller's realtor and the owner was also there that morning.

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116027686795509372005-05-13T20:41:00.000-03:002005-06-12T23:38:07.606-03:00

As if the realtor's commission and the lawyer's fee wasn't enough.... there is also a cost to get u$s dollars into the country of Argentina. Short of bringing it on a carry on bag (which I do know some clients that have done that), it is impossible to get dollars into the country without some sort of fee.After the devaluation, Argentina made it difficult to get U$S into the country. Basically the

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1116027655915238922005-05-13T20:40:00.000-03:002007-06-19T10:18:26.060-03:00

In the paid surveys that I conducted before purchasing here I found that many foreigners were cheated by their lawyers or realtors. One of the questions I asked foreigners that purchased here in Argentina was, "what mistakes did you make", "how were you cheated", "what would you do differently". A large percentage of them told me that they were incorrectly charged a phantom tax or fee by their

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1115999246339186832005-05-13T12:31:00.000-03:002005-06-13T00:36:32.200-03:00

Before buying my first property in Argentina, I scoured the Internet looking for information. I found conflicting information. I emailed realtors and I got 5 different answers to the same question. I talked to lawyers who also gave different answers to the same question. It was very frustrating.Before moving to Argentina, I starting researching the laws here. I found that owning property here as

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1115991609239802422005-05-13T10:37:00.002-03:002010-12-07T10:04:34.916-03:00

Here are just a few of the dozens of clients we have assisted in purchasing property here.When my brother and I decided to purchase an apartment in Buenos Aires we spent weeks searching for accurate information about the process. The internet seemedlittered with conflicting facts and incomplete information. More worrisome still were the numerous posts from people who had been scammed in one way

ABAnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12868926.post-1115986955757136612005-05-13T09:22:00.001-03:002010-12-07T09:20:16.436-03:00

Here is my story:I was a corporate executive (Partner) in a successful company in the USA. I made the big bucks, lived in the huge house, drove the BMW, etc. One day I asked myself, "what would I honestly do if a doctor told me that I only had 3 years to live"? I mean what would I seriously do. How would I change my life?The answer was I'd travel and see the world. I made a list out of all the

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