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Buying property in Argentina

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Christine

Hi,

can a foreigner buy property in Argentina?

If so, is it complicated? What is the process of purchasing a property in Argentina?

Any tips for buying property, such as a check-list of items to verify ?

Thanks in advance for participating!

Christine

el escondido

Hi

  I am a foreigner ( french citizen, sorry nobody's perfect) and I live in Argentine for 4 years now and I  am the happy owner of my house. I elected a site in the mountains close to Cordoba, second biggest city of Argentina.

So, is a foreigner authorized to buy a property in Argentina, the answer is YES. But this is the only simple thing to do.

If you want to stay more than 3 months ( tourist visa) there is no problem, otherwise, obtaining one of the available visas ( rentista, jubilado,investor ) is a real pain in the A..... administratively speaking. Opening a bank account is also impossible if you don't obtain a DNI ( National ID)which obviously goes together with your visa..

  Back to the purchase of a house, despite of the fact that the official money in Argentina is the Peso, most of the transactions are in USD and importing USD at that moment is simply olmostimpossible due to change policy of the government. There are some ways to make it work but it's everything but easy to finalize

Important is to obtain via a SERIOUS lawyer (escribano) ALL the official documents and administrative history of the property while a lot of lands have been acquired in the past via illegal ways so be VERY carefull to get all the documents before signing any commitment( land only or land+ alreay built house on it) Escept few places, avery construction should have a construction permit and possible extention limits. Don't trust people on words ( because with most of them everything is easy and doable) but only on facts and figures otherwise this could cost you a fortune and a lot of nightmares.Dont count on justice to help you and judge something if you're in trouble while a snail is a formula 1 compared to the performance of the judicial system. Remember that here, as a foreigner, a bad gentlemen agreement will always be better than a good lawsuit.........

Be also aware that, most of the sellers believe that their property is unique and are sat down on a pile of gold. So the margin for negotiation is pretty small so do not hesitate to visit various sites before cracking up for a particular one.

One thing is important to study : is the property you want to buy at its real value, is it over estimated and would this site be sellable with added value in some years? Because if you buy something which is at the top of its market value, it's not a good deal to close.

So in summary, YEs you can but be prepared to get many sticks in the wheels during and after the process.

Should anybody want to know more details on expenses, who pays for what, taxes etc.. I can be of help via private message.

  So good luck and trust the ones who went through the process at least one time.....

Best regards

Armand

Hi el escondido!

Thanks a lot for your help ;)

Armand

karlandcindy

Hello, El Escondido

Thank you for the information.

KarlandCindy

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