I wasn’t as mad as I was awed. Who knew renting an apartment in Buenos Aires could be such an ordeal? For the second day in a row our real estate agent in Buenos Aires (think a Boratesque Israeli who had an Argentine parent and spent most of his life in both countries) had not lived up to his word. The four beautiful apartments that he had been referring to the other day manifested themselves as one rubbish apartment and two others that “probably weren’t worth seeing” – according to him – so we didn’t.
Now, I’m pretty passive and relaxed so at this point I wasn’t too fed up; I was excited to be looking at apartments in Buenos Aires to call home for a few months. But not everyone is like me, thankfully, so some advice is in order.
First, getting an apartment in Buenos Aires is a worthwhile alternative to hostelling or hoteling even if you are here only a week. And the longer you are staying the more it makes sense, especially if you aren’t planning on running around the country to check out other regions. It’s not that shared bathrooms and bunk beds aren’t sweet, but in many cases a furnished apartment can be just as cheap while coming with the mental health benefits of peace and quiet, space and privacy, and a semblance of rootedness. Heck, you can unpack the suitcase and leave the seat up.
Secondly, the amount of time and energy it takes to find an apartment in Buenos Aires is entirely up to you. The market for short and semi-short term rentals (weeks to months) has exploded. And this market is directed specifically at foreign travelers coming to the city, mainly from the United States and Europe. The easiest place to begin the search is online. There are a plethora of sites advertising apartments for rent. Most provide pictures, prices, and availability. After a day or two in Buenos Aires you will be able to recognize neighborhood names and find an area that you think is suitable for you.
Thirdly, one thing that certainly makes the process simpler is direct contact with agents via phone or office visits. A cell phone is great because you can arrange meetings while gallivanting about to meet other realtors as well. However, a land line from a friend’s house or hostel/hotel is still much more efficient than playing email tag.
Now, if you aren’t picky or simply just a ¨yes¨ person you can probably find an apartment in a day, more or less. However, given the market, if you like comparing options you could easily find yourself bogged down. Afterall, there are many options to consider: full kitchen vs. European kitchen, number of bedrooms, full bathroom or not, in house broadband, balcony, and building amenities (24 hour security, pool, gym). For people coming from the United States and Europe these might sound pretty costly, but comparatively priced you are looking at a lot less than cities back home. A friend and I finally decided on a two bedroom with balcony, full kitchen, full bath, heating, air conditioning, washing machine, and spacious living room in a great neighborhood and all together it costs about the same amount as my old apartment in Boston I nicknamed ¨the coffin.¨ And we take that price and split it.
After we stopped wasting our time with our first bullroar peddler, we saw a few nice apartments being shown by an American who came to Argentina, met a woman here, and helped start her real estate rental business. He showed us some nice places at reasonable prices, but thanks to a random search on buenosaires.craigslist.com, my friend and I found a cheap place that three students were leaving. We did have to wait ten days for them to leave, but we took that payoff because the place was so nice. But this just goes to show how much there is out there and that looking for deals could go on endlessly.
The most useful websites that were given to me by hostel owners were www.alojargentina.com and www.4rentargentina.com. Both of these sites offer well organized databases with available apartments and more, all searchable by a number of variables. Another useful site is the Buenos Aires Craigslist (above). When it has loaded look under housing in the category you want. In addition to apartments for rent you can also find sublets and people looking for a roommate, which is often much cheaper. Another resource is this article on Buenos Aires apartments by Buenostours.com.Â
When you are finalizing your decision be sure to be very clear about the details of price. Often times the advertised price does not include the realtor fee or some of the amenities, such as cable or broadband. For all rentals make sure the inventory and condition of the apartment match the descriptions in the contract so you don’t get charged for damages or shortcomings that already existed. For long term rentals it is worth while to check the status of the owner’s payments of AV tax, which is a building tax in Argentina. After the economic crisis many owners stopped making the payments and could potentially try to tack the substantial debt onto your bill through some technicality. The record proving that the owner has been paying on time is easily retrieved from an online database, so don’t let a realtor tell you anything otherwise.
