Best places to live in Argentina (real estate, apartments, foreclosures)

[jja100]

Originally Posted by quiqueee

Thanks everybody for the great information. It gives me an idea of what to expect when I get there. If anybody has information about good schools and universities would be greatly appreciated.

I know of a good English school in Olivos, Buenos Aires. I don't have the name of it though.

[DBCC]

Rosario: High Unemployment...Crime rate high
Mendoza, Safe, beautiful, dynamic
Santa Fe......avoid it
Buenos Aires: Good schools, universities (details available if needed) high cost of living, high crime rate, etc) After a year there you will want to get away from the "portenios"
Cordoba City: Intellectual capital of country. Excellent schools, Universities, cost of living pretty good, all facilities, 680 km from Buenos Aires (7 hour trip at "normal and responsible" Speeds on freeway) large English/German populations, close to tourist regions, lakes and mountains.
Catamarca/La Rioja/San Juan : wind your watch back a couple of years........
Salta: very dynamic City, great people, average cost of living, good schools and Universities. Large movement of foreign tourism/investment industry. Year Round.
Bariloche: Again, large volume foreign tourists/related industries. Year round. Lakes, Skiing, mountains adventure sports trout fishing / hunting etc....
Would need more details on ages of children. Remember that the university careers are very limited in Argentine universities compared to US Universities and it is necessary to do research in this regard.

[ampretty]

I would suggest Buenos Aires...

[vantexan]

Originally Posted by DBCC

Rosario: High Unemployment...Crime rate high
Mendoza, Safe, beautiful, dynamic
Santa Fe......avoid it
Buenos Aires: Good schools, universities (details available if needed) high cost of living, high crime rate, etc) After a year there you will want to get away from the "portenios"
Cordoba City: Intellectual capital of country. Excellent schools, Universities, cost of living pretty good, all facilities, 680 km from Buenos Aires (7 hour trip at "normal and responsible" Speeds on freeway) large English/German populations, close to tourist regions, lakes and mountains.
Catamarca/La Rioja/San Juan : wind your watch back a couple of years........
Salta: very dynamic City, great people, average cost of living, good schools and Universities. Large movement of foreign tourism/investment industry. Year Round.
Bariloche: Again, large volume foreign tourists/related industries. Year round. Lakes, Skiing, mountains adventure sports trout fishing / hunting etc....
Would need more details on ages of children. Remember that the university careers are very limited in Argentine universities compared to US Universities and it is necessary to do research in this regard.

Can't tell you how much I appreciate your info! Any opinions of San Luis, San Rafael, or Tandil? I'd like to find a city big enough to have some amenities but not too big. The exceptions I'd consider are Salta and a nearby town to Cordoba. Possibly Mendoza if it's affordable. What do you consider the minimum income needed outside of the big cities to be minimally comfortable? Are there any smaller places that aren't too isolated that you'd recommend? Sorry for all the questions but many who post on Argentina forums know Buenos Aires well and are familiar with some resort towns like Bariloche but are sketchy on the rest of the country. You should get with Moon Handbooks and do an Argentina edition of their Living Abroad series! Thanks again.

[DBCC]

San Luis: Slow, some industries, tax breaks available. To find out more details on Tax breaks you would have to go to their web page...they have a resort city called Merlo which is a summer refuge for a lot of people from all over the country. Good Services, hotels, but I don't think I, personally, could live there.......not a fast enough pace and very laid back......slow progression compared to the rest of the cities I have favorably mentioned.
San Rafael. Great City. Probably one of the prettiest in Argentina, super people. 120km south of Mendoza City. Not too expensive, go ahead, dynamic. Lots of tourism from Chile and abroad.
Excellent wine area, fruit and olive. Cost of Living pretty much the same as living in Cordoba province (Cordoba City/Villa Carlos Paz)
Remember the advantage of living in Mendoza province. Direct flights via Santiago de Chile with LAN to the USA (Dallas/LAX/MIA/ATL - maybe more now) - so one avoids the hassle of passing thru BsAs and the trials of travelling long distances to the airport/taxis/attitudes of people etc. There is a direct fligt from MZA (Mendoza) to COR (Cordoba) which also helps.
Tandil is also pretty nice in the province of Bs As. Makes a comfortable place to live with easy access to the Capital...Cost of living is reasonable and comparable to that of COR/MZA and San Rafael.
Remember utilities have all increased by 100 % in the last month. This means they are still about 40% of what you would be paying in the USA.
New monetary restrictions are coming in for taking out foreign currency or eschanging to foreign currency effective September 2009.
If you want a great handbook on Argentina, go to B&N and order the Perrelli Guide to Argentina. It is better than the Fodors or any other similar I have come across.
I am able to suggest as I have travelled the length and breadth of this country more than 20 times over the last 25 years......and visited more than 90 countries worldwide. What Argentina has is something special, the people, the cost of living, the beauty, the extremes (deserts in the north and glaciars in the south - all the extremes) Food is great and reasonably priced, and one can buy a super home for less than U$200K, have staff to clean, chofer, garden and/or cook (if required) and be able to walk on the street at night (in CERTAIN CITIES, not all of them)
Great place to raise kids.

[DBCC]

Oops: If you own your own home, have your own car, paying utilities, a staff member to come in and clean, food for 4 people, plus two nights out a week for dinner or ordering out, and depending on your whims and fantasies on how you budget...... one could live comfortably on US$3500 per month.
Public schools are free. Public Universities are free to residents. Private education can be costly. My kids went to Public schools and all have University degrees that they obtained later on in the USA.
Of course, this would only apply if you are cautious. If you are a big spender, the sky is the limit. It is better to purchase an average car/average home in all of South America. Do not attract attention or be ostentatious or this will bring you problems....try to fit in.

[jja100]

Originally Posted by DBCC

Oops: If you own your own home, have your own car, paying utilities, a staff member to come in and clean, food for 4 people, plus two nights out a week for dinner or ordering out, and depending on your whims and fantasies on how you budget...... one could live comfortably on US$3500 per month.
Public schools are free. Public Universities are free to residents. Private education can be costly. My kids went to Public schools and all have University degrees that they obtained later on in the USA.
Of course, this would only apply if you are cautious. If you are a big spender, the sky is the limit. It is better to purchase an average car/average home in all of South America. Do not attract attention or be ostentatious or this will bring you problems....try to fit in.

Wow, I don't think I spend that much here in SoCal per month. Things must have gotten more expensive since the last time I was there. I think if you drop the car your expenses should be no more than 2k and no more than 1k for a single/couple.

[DBCC]

Agreed, you could, no problem. My Family of five lived on far less than that per month, we have two large houses, two cars and three motorcycles, Permanent live-in staff, and a large amount of entertaining. As I have said before, it depends how you want to live.

[jja100]

Originally Posted by DBCC

Agreed, you could, no problem. My Family of five lived on far less than that per month, we have two large houses, two cars and three motorcycles, Permanent live-in staff, and a large amount of entertaining. As I have said before, it depends how you want to live.

That is cool. I have been thinking of Argentina myself. Are you Argentinean?

Because I have a question about DNI. Is it better to get a DNI before buying property there? I have heard that there is a wealth tax of 1.25% on the valuation of your property every year but the bill doesn't come in the mail an it is your responsibility to find an accountant that will pay it for you or else there are penalty fees of up to 25%/year. Honestly, I don't think the locals even pay this tax and it looks like another one of those "foreigner" taxes. The only way they find out if you paid is if they check the title for liens when you sell and supposedly the AFIP only does this if you are a foreigner with a CDI and no DNI. So my question really is if portenos actually pay this tax? (I am not talking about the ABL)

[DBCC]

Nope not an Argentine. I am a South African. We pay Municipal, State and national Taxes on properties. there are two values. Real value (in U$ - what you can sell it for) and Fiscal Value. the fiscal value is surprisingly low and one could never even consider the ridiculously low amount that the state values your property. It is the fiscal value that is the evaluation medium for your taxes.

Land taxes have to be paid every year, and I have heard that if one does default on paying them, then one can negotiate with the "Rentas/AFIP" to pay in installments the amount due.

I have had properties in Argentina for 25 years. On none of them have I ever paid a "foreigner tax" In fact, I was benefited greatly when I bought farms here in the 80's and got all sorts of tax breaks for making the investments I made. At the same time, managed to get telephone and three phase electricity installed on the farms without the normal delays, reason being that I was going to give employment to Argentines and was a benefit to the community.

When you purchase a property in Argentina, you will ahve to go to a notary public who ensures there are no liens against the property/ taxes overdue, and all is above board. I do not trust the Notary public and have the contract/deed of sale/purchase reviewed by my lawyers. Lawyers know the laws, Notary publics do the legal aspects but in no way protect your interests and may favour the seller. Get a good lawyer to revise everything before committing yourself.
A DNI can be obtained. You will ahve to initiate emigration proceedings in your home country. It can take many years if you do it internally, and you will always be missing a paper that they can invent. It is far more streamlined to do it from overseas, takes less time, and you will arrive in Argentina with your DNI in your hand as a legal resident, although it will say that you are an "extranjero" or foreigner.

A word of advice on selling property. It is common in Argentina to have a verbally agreed price which is paid from buyer to seller. This may be different to the value stated in the title deed and signed before the Notary Public after being reviewed by a lawyer. You will get, as part of the paperwork in the Natary public's offices, a Fiscal value of the property, which will be less than a third of what shows in the Title deed. Confusing , isn't it? That is the way things are done here.