Did you buy a pozo unit? I didn't know builders could combine units like that. Now larger apartments are in demand. For the past years they only built small studios and 1 bedrooms in many buildings. Now more people are looking for bigger properties.
We did combine a couple of pozo units. It's pretty common to do that here in the US.
Mine came partially furnished so I was disincentivized to upgrade to anything new. Rental has been great as far as being fully booked, but not quite that great as far as ROI. Not a big deal as I plan to be moving down soon.
Oh you didn't move to BA yet? I thought I read you were moving down last year. Good luck with the move.
Nicolas was great! I spent a week with him and his partner Gabriel and Mike from meeting to meeting. I wanted to buy a few properties in BA and wanted to get a sense of how they work so spent a lot of time with him and his team in his office. The last few properties I have purchased in Mexico were all pozo properties. I like buying pozos because of the discounted price but the the entire key with that is going with established developers. It is fun watching the progress of new constructions.
Larry the ROI has been great! Mine isn't a 2 bedroom. Mine is just a small 1 bedroom. I was lucky to buy it when it was very cheap! I couldn't believe how cheap real estate is there in Buenos Aires for how great of a city it is. I paid about $150k for my place. This is the last rental I got for my place on Airbnb which was for a 32 night rental. All prices in USD.
In my building we have larger units. And you will find many of the older buildings in Recoleta are very big. But I'm told the past few years with the economy in the dump they were mostly building smaller units because locals couldn't afford anything more than a studio.
I keep pushing it back...
That's a fantastic ROI. Are you strictly getting guests on airbnb or through anywhere else as well?
Wow!! Good for you. I didn't think rentals like this were still possible. Before there was much competition prices were high but with so much competition I thought that disappeared. I'm happy for you.
My property is managed by @BuySellBA so they have gotten me some rentals from mostly Airbnb but they have a few of their own clients that rent with them every year. I had an offer for 1 year but I turned it down because I want to use it 2-3 times a year. I could have taken it and then rented a place but it isn't the same as staying in my own place. I bought another bigger apartment to come and use with my family but it won't be done for 3 years.
I have been blown away so far. And the best thing is all the guests have told me that the photos don't do it justice. So feedback has been great and everyone has loved the location. I probably walked around BA about 10 miles a day all over and I thought the central location was wonderful. I am 4 blocks from the subway, bus lines very close, a Carrefour express across the street, a big Chinese market a few buildings down and a mega Coto supermarket one block away. Fruit stores all around the area every few blocks and a great bakery and ice cream store at the corner.
It's true that rental prices drastically went down from many years ago. I was one of the first companies to start short-term rentals in Buenos Aires. This was 6 years before Airbnb even started. Back when I started after the corralito in 2002, we could charge huge prices. For example, even on many studio apartments in Palermo I was charging $150/night $900/week or $2,700 per month. Same thing for one bedroom units pretty much anywhere in Recoleta or Palermo.
Yes you and I both keep pushing our trips to BA into the future. What is your excuse? I am allergic to mosquitos and not fond of coming down during a Dengue Fever outbreak, was told NOT to come in the winter and better to change my ticket to better weather and then my two girlfriends are planning to leave BA because it is too expensive.
Yours turned out fabulous as well! Looks like you guys have the same designer as your furniture looks the same. I love the amount of sunlight you get and those views are great. Does the building have a pool?
Thanks Betsy and Wally. Good timing indeed. I actually sold most of my personal properties in Buenos Aires in 2017/2018 at the peak as property prices were very high. I was there in June/July 2023 and it was just ridiculous how much property prices fell. From peak they fell about 50%. I just knew it had to be the bottom and started buying again for myself and my investors. I still think property prices are very cheap in Buenos Aires for being such a great world capital city.
I love love love these. I sent you a DM @earlyretirement. Not sure if you give any discounts to members but when I come to BA I would love to stay there. I just saw the location and it seems ideal. My friends stayed in a place in that area not far from Alto Palermo mall and told me it was the best area to stay in because it was so central. They said they got tired of Soho and tourist central!
I'm surprised that delinquency rates are so high. 30% to 40% is kind of shocking. What happens in buildings that consistently has people paying late? What if something major goes wrong? How will they pay for it? That is a scary statistic.
@FuturoBA what kind of ROI are you making? You can PM me if you don't want to answer. It sounds good that you're keeping it full but sad to hear ROI is so low. Maybe you are pricing too low? I guess since you are using it soon but I was curious as it is difficult to tell what kind of returns are expected for short term rentals. My friend there owns a few apartments and he said long term is a better deal now. He claims to be making 5% on long term rentals where guests pay all the bills. He had one of them as an Airbnb but he was complaining that the condo fees kept going up and utilities too so he switched to long term again on both.
Kudos on the apartments. They look great! You sure do have good timing. I read some of the articles on your website how you starting buying after the big crash. Selling at the top and then buying again at the bottom. Are there any more apartments in this building for sale?
Are there many business travelers to BA? I wouldn't think there were many companies sending employees here with the cepo. My girlfriend's father told me that many foreign companies pulled out of Buenos Aires over the past few years. Are they coming back? Congratulations @earlyretirement on your apartments. They turned out great.
There aren't any more apartments for sale here. Last year I went to see the model unit but they only had a ground floor apartment and I wanted something higher up. What a difference a bright apartment makes. The one I visited on the ground floor was very dark. And the furniture wasn't that great. These look much better but I guess the view makes a big difference. The one I went to had no view. They showed me another apartment but it was dark because there was a tree branch in front of the window. Nothing like these.
