BUYING REAL ESTATE IN CHILE
UPDATE:
We moved from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, Chile in January and we are now offering a real estate consulting service on the other side of the Andes. Valparaiso and the Central Region of Chile offer many excellent investment opportunities. Chile is a safe, stable country with levels of corruption that are judged by Transparency International to be no worse than the USA and Belgium and better than Spain. It has a steadily growing economy and a respected financial and banking system. Standard and Poor's international credit rating for Chile is "A", the highest in Latin America. Inflation is carefully controlled at around 3% and the government is competent and generally respected.
Chile is a beautiful country and has some of the world's most spectacular scenery, from the driest desert in the world-the Atacama-to Patagonia. You're never more than 150 miles from the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. The climate in the Central Region is Mediterranean-summer is almost 6 months long and rainfall is virtually zero.
Valparaiso is one of the world's most unique and spectacular cities. It offers some excellent areas for investment. The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 and is undergoing rapid regeneration with new boutique hotels, restaurants and shops being opened in some of the city's stunning 19th century mansions and houses.
If you would like to know more about buying real estate in Chile, please go to Pacific Five and feel free to get in touch with us. We'd be happy to help.
If you are looking for contacts in Argentina, below is a posting i made on an expat forum. It lists all the people we trusted in Buenos Aires and who will be able to help you if you should go ahead and buy property in the city. There's also information from the old full version of this site about the costs involved in purchasing property in BA. You might also find realbapurchaseguide useful. **Please note that this information was correct as of January 2007-things change quickly in Argentina so be sure to check, double check and triple check before believing anything**
Good luck!
realbuenosaires@hotmail.com
costs to think about when buying property in buenos aires:
• Real estate agents charge the buyer between 3% and 5%.
• The escribano (notary public) will charge between 1% and 1.25% (plus VAT) of the purchase price. On top of this the registration fees with the central government office run to about 0.25%. This is all paid in one go to the escribano so in total you’ll pay between 1.25% and 1.5% on the day of completion to the escribano.
• If you are buying outside of Capital Federal you will pay a 2.5% Stamp Duty. This tax is not levied on first time purchases within Capital Federal unless the property is valued at more than roughly US$200,000, where the first US$200,000 are tax free and anything over is taxed at 2.5%. We only deal with purchases within C.F. If you are planning to purchase in the Mendoza area then you might wish to contact www.english-associates.com -a firm that specialises in rural property and vineyards in the region.
• Bank charges of 2% of the currency to be brought into Argentina. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: BRINGING MONEY INTO THE COUNTRY BY ANY OTHER MEANS THAN THROUGH AN OFFICIAL BANK TRANSFER OR BY CARRYING UP TO US$10,000 IN CASH PER TRIP TO ARGENTINA IS ILLEGAL. USING A 'PRIVATE BANK' OR EXCHANGE HOUSE AND NOT DECLARING THE FUNDS TO THE GOVERNMENT (as many, many foreigners are doing) IS ILLEGAL. THE GOVERNMENT IS BECOMING STRICTER AND STRICTER REGARDING THIS MATTER. OUR ESCRIBANO WILL NOT WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO DON'T FOLLOW THIS RULE. OUR ACCOUNTANTS HAVE ALSO MADE THIS VERY CLEAR. ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU DIFFERENTLY IS EITHER UNINFORMED AS TO THE REALITY OF THE CURRENT SITUATION OR LYING TO YOU. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU TAKE THIS ISSUE VERY SERIOUSLY.
An example:
Value of property US$100,000
Bank charges Up to US$2,000
Escribano US$1,250-1,500
Real estate agents (4%) US$4000
Total $US107,200
"i've made my move to chile now so i thought i'd leave a list of my contacts and people you can trust to help you if buying a property here in Argentina.
escribanos:
Ruben Orona is the guy we trust most and we used him with our property purchases and with our clients. I know he did a good job as we've now sold our properties in buenos aires without the slightest problem. Our 2nd purchase was extremely complicated but he sorted out the mess left by a previous, incompetent escribano very quickly. he speaks no english and works out of a grotty little office in Once, near the station. He can also appear a little grumpy and if you take him the wrong way he can also be a little difficult to manage. At the end of the day, he's an excellent escribano who we got along with very well and i recommend him 100%. Phone number is 48643945.
Esteban Soler was the escribano contracted by the buyer of one of our properties and i was quite impressed with him. He's a really nice guy, speaks a little english (his mother works in the same office and speaks good english). I can't give a heart-felt thumbs-up as we only dealt with him for one sale but as i mentioned i was quite impressed and got good vibes. Contact details: esoler72@hotmail.com and 4826-8440
Plumber:
Gustavo, speaks no english, isn't the cheapest around but does an excellent job and completely trustworthy (we left him alone in our flat on a number of occasions without the slightest problem, for example). if there's any problem with the work he does he'll come back and sort it out and won't try and get more money out of you. He does central heating (his partner does this part) and general plumbing. Phone: 15 6130 3916
Antique radiators for central heating: We bought these completely restored and beautiful cast iron antique radiators for less than it costs to buy cheap new ones which last a few years and then die. The guy's a talker but really nice and completely honest. This is his www.mercadolibre.com.ar link and if it doesn't work then search for his username ' dariopezoa ' http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-25767774-radiadores-de-fundicion-eternos-no-aluminio-_JM No English spoken.
Looking for antique pinotea flooring and don't want to pay Palermo prices? Go see Hernan who has a demo yard in caballito just up from the Ferrocarril stadium on Av Avellaneda (can't remember the number). His phone is 15 57 1546 49. Another really nice guy. We got pinotea floor boards for 40 pesos/m2 (costs 120 and up pesos in palermo) and also has higher quality stuff for around 90 pesos/m2 (goes for 200/m2 in palermo). We also bought a huge cast iron antique door from him for 1400 pesos. similar doors in palermo are on sale for 3-5000 pesos. I'm pretty sure he speaks no english although it's possible he might as he mentioned he's visited his brother in states a few times.
Our carpenter Rodolfo is an absolute artist and one of the best carpenters i've seen anywhere. Reasonably expensive but worth every single penny. He and his partner did 2 kitchens for us along with floating shelves, tv cabinet and corner cabinets. They also do entre-pisos and anything else to do with wood. They've done so many kitchens that you just give them an idea of what you want, they'll bring some samples of wood or melamina to choose from and they'll design everything else. Completely trustworthy and the only guys out of everyone mentioned (manual work-wise) that we just left to get on with the job without having to check up on the work every few minutes. No english spoken. Number: 1545 77 5948
Finally, our decorator and general builder, fernando. A guy i can't recommend enough. Trustworthy, honest, hard working and generally one of the good guys. He helped us out of a hole another builder left us in and did a great job with our major house renovation. Just be aware that he quotes very high and it's easy to get anything from 10-30% off his initial quote. Like any tradesman he comes up with a number in the hope it'll be accepted without question. Another one that speaks no english...phone number is: 1158896908
Paying your taxes-make sure you pay your taxes (Bienes Personales) or you'll end up in trouble and have a nightmare selling your property. We dealt with Victor Galeano- vgaleano@sms.com.ar 15-6128-8434 He works for San Martin Suarez & Assoc, a large, well known accountancy firm who i'd also recommend for any other type of accountancy work. Speaks good english.
Immigration-contact Gabriel jredley@hotmail.com speaks fluent english, honest and a really nice guy. he can help you get residency should you want or need it.
If you want to be 100% that you're bringing your money into the country legally then use Banco Piano on San Martin and Corrientes. You can't miss it. They charge 2% total fee to bring your money in, including the double exchange etc and are the only bank we found that is registered to *legally* bring money into the country for non-residents buying property. Make sure you do this part right or you'll be in trouble in the future. It's really important.
Mention to the escribanos, Gustavo, Victor, rodolfo, gabriel and Fernando that you got their details from matt and lorena (just so they know we kept up our promise to recommend them!). You can mention us to the others but they may not remember us now. hernan the demo guy probably will.
Good luck with everything,
matt"
