Real Estate Sales Real Estate firms to buy properties in Palermo

[IgnaMe]

In the past, there used to be small real estate firms that specialized in nice properties, catered toward expats or at least not listing the usual anonymous modern monoambiente or ugly apartments from the '60s. The websites I had bookmarked five years ago are down and ZonaProp/ArgenProp do not list nice properties. I tend to believe that specialized real estate firms do not publish their properties there, but first offers them on their website, only. ZonaProp/ArgenProp are a last resort.

The idea is to buy a property to put up for short term rentals to foreigners.

I am also interested in sharing experiences about this kind of arrangement. What is considered a good ROI in real estate here? All my literature is about the US short term rental market, so it is not comparable. Thanks.

 

[earlyretirement]

Try using one of the real estate portals: https://www.zonaprop.com.ar/ (Buenos Aire's closest thing to Zillow) or https://www.properati.com.ar/

Realtors mostly totally suck in Buenos Aires. There used to be a few good ones but a TON of people have left the business. I find most to be totally flaky there.

If you're buying an apartment for short-term rental just make sure the building allows it as a lot of buildings have changed the HOA rules to forbid short-term rentals. So make sure when you're making an offer you specifically check the HOA rules and that short-term rentals are accepted. Even if they are, there is no guarantee that they won't change the rules after you buy it.

ROI is all across the board here. There is a TON of competition now as a ton of people are doing short-term rentals. If you're renting to a local your ROI can be really horrible. For example, I have several friends that are in amazing properties and they are paying really low rental rates. I recently went to a friend's place in Palermo Chico that had a penthouse apartment with huge outdoor space. Super nice. That property is probably worth $375,000 US or so and he was only paying $800 US a month! I guess his rent was $1,200 before COVID but his landlord lowered it as he was struggling. His landlord would rather have someone paying something than paying nothing. It will go back up but even at the higher rate that's not much at all.

One great thing is with the high blue dollar rate, you're income is in USD if you're renting on Airbnb and your expenses are all in pesos. For example, my HOA fees in US $ terms has actually gone down over the past few years as the US$ is much higher now. It's gone up with inflation but they can't raise it too much. It's 40,000 pesos a month for the HOA expenses but now that's only around $105 US whereas before it was much more.

Property taxes and ABL are relatively inexpensive compared to other countries. But as mentioned, you have a sh*t ton of competition these days. Plus I assume Argentina will go the way of many other countries and start adding on IVA and income taxes on Airbnb. My rental properties in Mexico the ROI has actually gone down this past year as Airbnb is charging 19% IVA and also they are charging all owners income tax on the income. I'm sure Argentina will do that as well soon.

 

[InesBorges]

Lots of info about ROI here: https://www.infobae.com/economia/20...-un-departamento-para-destinarlo-al-alquiler/

It puts the ROI in CABA at 4.1%. I had previously read that ROI in Montevideo or Asuncion would be around 8%, for comparison.

It also puts the ROI in North GBA at 6.7%, which corresponds with what I've heard anecdotally, that the rental market in places like Pilar, Campana, and so on is much more buoyant than in CABA. These would be houses, though, people want more space after the pandemic.

 

[earlyretirement]

Lots of info about ROI here: https://www.infobae.com/economia/20...-un-departamento-para-destinarlo-al-alquiler/

It puts the ROI in CABA at 4.1%. I had previously read that ROI in Montevideo or Asuncion would be around 8%, for comparison.

It also puts the ROI in North GBA at 6.7%, which corresponds with what I've heard anecdotally, that the rental market in places like Pilar, Campana, and so on is much more buoyant than in CABA. These would be houses, though, people want more space after the pandemic.

I'd say you have to take a grain of salt with anyone that gives specific ROI. If you're doing short-term rentals you have to account for some periods of no/low occupancy. Also, it was a complete nightmare during COVID as many, many buildings wouldn't let short-term rentals continue and it was a pain showing properties for long-term rentals as well.

I think 6.7% sounds optimistic or at least over the long term. I'd say 4%-5% range sounds about right but of course YMMV.

 

[Digital Nomad]

There are a lot of Airbnbs and I see prices all across the board. How are some owners able to get so much more on Airbnb vs. others? I plan to buy an apartment and use it while I am in Buenos Aires and then rent it on Airbnb when I am not here. I have talked to some different property managers and some are saying I can get $100 a night and others for the same unit are telling me only $50 a night. What gives?

 

[BuySellBA]

There are a lot of Airbnbs and I see prices all across the board. How are some owners able to get so much more on Airbnb vs. others? I plan to buy an apartment and use it while I am in Buenos Aires and then rent it on Airbnb when I am not here. I have talked to some different property managers and some are saying I can get $100 a night and others for the same unit are telling me only $50 a night. What gives?

This is a great question and there are many components to pricing. For example, Super Hosts on Airbnb can easily get much higher % vs. non-Super Hosts. Also, the # of years you have been a Super Host or on the Airbnb platform can also help with both occupancy rates and also nightly prices.

But mostly it will come down to amenities in the building and in the property itself. For example, for many properties in Buenos Aires the properties are furnished very cheap with low-quality mattresses, cheap TVs that aren't Smart TVs, slow Internet with cheap plans. Kitchens that aren't well furnished either can play a part in longer-term rentals. And as always location is a factor.

Some owners and property managers are just completely unrealistic. We recently reached out to a property manager to spot-check what they spend in each property on everything for a brand-new apartment. Including decorations, furnishing, lighting, electronics including TVs, artwork, etc. and they told us only $3,000 to $4,000 USD for a 1 bedroom apartment. That just doesn't seem realistic to us. A higher-end rental you will yield more ROI by spending more on nicer things.

Also, one should make a detailed spreadsheet that outlines everything that one should have in a high-yielding Airbnb. We will post in the future our spreadsheet list of all the things one should have in their Airbnb.

For example, we have always used Simmons Beautyrest mattresses and these alone are about $1,300 USD. You can always get a premium on rentals by being a Superhost, hosting for many years and having a good track record and having a very well-furnished property in a great area. These are the most important things typically on a high-yielding Airbnb.

Several property managers we reached out to weren't even Super Host which drastically decreases nightly rate as many people only filter and look for Super Hosted properties. these days.

We would also recommend smart locks on your property so you can always have a real-time history of when people are going in/out of your property. And on our new properties now we are installing two high speed Internet companies. Typically I-Plan and also Personal Flow in case one company goes out we have a back up.