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4. Before the Purchase
Before
buying property in Argentina, you have to find one that you are interested in. You can do this through the help of a
real estate agent or investment consultant, or
search yourself for available properties, followed by a line of paperwork and the final transfer of the property into your name.
If you do not have a very good grasp on the Spanish language it is required for a licensed translator to be present at the signing of both the boleto / seña and the escritura of the property. This is to ensure that all parties have fully understood the conditions of the contract.
Searching for Property
There are several ways to search for properties in Buenos Aires and Argentina, but some of the most common ones are Searching through the Internet or newspapers where property owners or the real estate agents that they work with will have published properties that they are looking to sell.
Internet
The Internet has recently become more popular in the search and publication of properties in Argentina, but there are still many real estate agents that are learning how this process works. There are several web sites like
enbuenosaires.com where real estate agents and property owners
publish their properties for sale or
rent. And many might find it easier to search this way since you get shown a list of results matching the property that you are looking for, and also have the possibility of seeing pictures of the property.
Newspaper
Large newspapers like La Nacion and Clarin are the most common places for publishing properties for sale or rent in Buenos Aires and Argentina. They have a large section with property listings, but they can be difficult to understand for someone that is not used to read them, even if they speak fluent Spanish, since the real estate agents and property owners abbreviate greatly to save space and money when they publish here.
Driving Around the Neighborhood
A common way for locals to look for
interesting properties is driving around the streets of the City of Buenos Aires looking for
properties for sale or rent that can easily be identified by the large signs that the real estate agents put on the properties saying either venta (sale) or alquiler (rent), and some times both. On the signs you can find the address of the real estate agent that is selling / letting the property and a phone number through which you can contact them to set up an appointment to see the property or ask for the price and details like square meter and number of rooms of the property. Although sometimes this is also stated on the sign.
Reserva
Once you have found a property that you are interested in and that fills the criteria for the type of investment you are planning on making, you need to make an offer on the property and leave a reserva with the real estate agent stating that you want to purchase the property. The real estate agent should then inform the property owner of the offer who can then accept, reject, or counter-offer the amount that you have proposed. It is common for property owners to set the price of the property as much as 5,000 U$S dollars higher than they are really interested in selling it at, feeling that this way they have a margin to play with since most people will always offer a lower price than the one that the property is set at.
At the point that you leave your reserva with the real estate agent, the property needs to be taken of the market and no more publications should be made during the week that the property owner has to accept, reject, or counter-offer. If the sum is not accepted, and an agreement can not be made, the reserva is returned to you and the real estate agent can then again start advertising the property and showing it to other potential buyers.
Some real estate agents, feeling that your offer is too low and that they will not make enough money on the deal, will tell you that the property owner has rejected your offer even though they have never told them about it, hoping that you will then make a higher offer. If the offer is really very low, they should tell you that they can not accept an offer that low and not take your reserva at all.
Boleto de Compraventa – Purchase Contract
When you have reached an agreement with the property owner on the price of the property you can sign a Purchase Contract that locks both parties into the deal. At the time of the signing of the Boleto the real estate agents get paid and the buyer pays the property owner a percentage of the total price of the property, usually around 30 %. In the Boleto de Compraventa the Escribano is specified, and it is a good idea to have this person read through the contract before it is signed so that you fully understand its conditions.
What the Boleto de Compraventa guarantees is that on a date specified in the contract the transfer of the property will take place and that same day the buyer will give the property owner the remainder of the money for the property. In the case of either party backing out, they will loose a significant amount of money. If the buyer changes his mind about the purchase he will not be returned the percentage that he has given the property owner, and if the property owner backs out be will have to return the double of the sum that the buyer has left him as a penalty and compensation for the trouble.
The contract will vary slightly depending on the condition of the property, if it is in construction or not, or if the payment will be made with a mortgage, etc. If purchasing a property that is still under construction the Boleto de Compraventa is unescapable, as it is the only way to guarantee that the property will fall into your possession when it has been completed.
After the Boleto has been signed your escribano will receive possession of all of the properties papers including title deeds, etc. to look them over and make sure that there is nothing else impending the sale of the property, if he finds anything the deal is off and each part gets their money back without penalties.
Seña
There is also the possibility of going straight to the Escritura after the price of the property has been decided on. This can be done without signing any type of paper work, but often a seña is signed, as it serves a similar purpose as the Boleto de Compraventa but on a smaller scale. Many real estate agents will tell you that it is advisable to sign the Boleto instead, but this is mostly so that they can get paid sooner. The seña contract should also be read through by a lawyer or your escribano before signing to fully understand its terms. The buyer will leave the property owner a smaller amount, around 10,000 U$S and they are then bound by similar conditions as in the Boleto de Compraventa.
Escritura
The escritura is when the final payment of the property takes place and where the property title deed is transferred into the name of the new
property owner by the escribano. As the property is usually paid for in cash U$S, make sure that the escritura signing takes place somewhere safe, like in a safe room provided by your bank. The bills will be counted and recounted after which the escribano fills in the escritura with the detailed information of the new owner of the property, the specific location and measurements of the property, and possibly any phone line that is attached to the property.
The escribano will then certify that he has studied all the titles and that the property owner does not have any restriction as to selling the property such as warrants or mortgages that have not been paid.
Everyone signs the escritura and the escribano gives the new property owner a copy of the new property title.
The former property owner should provide the buyer with a list of the rules that apply to the property in the building that it is located, but this can also be found in the possession of the administrator of the building.
At times the property owner will try to convince you to state a lower purchase price in the escritura, trying to avoid taxes and suspicion as to where the newly acquired money will be invested. This is not recommended, and the government is trying to push a new law making it mandatory for all property transactions to be publicly registered to avoid these understatements of prices.
