For Sale in...Argentina (Published 2008) (2024)

A 17TH-CENTURY BRICK HOUSE NEAR LOBOS, 70 MILES FROM BUENOS AIRES

$400,000

This five-acre property was once a Jesuit monastery. There is a wide lawn and a copse of acacia, oak and eucalyptus trees.

The main entrance of the house leads into an open living room and dining area. Concrete floors, bordered in ceramic tiles, run throughout the common areas.

The L-shaped house has two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and an office. The kitchen is situated at the corner of the L. Water is pumped in from a private well, and one source of heating for the house is wood-burning stoves. The property also has a two-bedroom caretaker’s cottage.

Nearby, the town of Lobos has nightclubs and restaurants. The countryside around Lobos has many small farms whose owners, usually absent during the week, also have homes an hour and a half away in Buenos Aires. Polo is the area’s most popular sport. Although this house doesn’t have stables, there are several polo clubs nearby.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Buyers in the countryside around Buenos Aires choose either homes in gated country club communities or whole farms. Over the past 20 to 30 years, the former have grown in popularity, said Felix Keckeis, managing director of Maison Buenos Aires, a firm that advises real estate investors in Argentina. Homes in these developments start at about $200,000, Mr. Keckeis said, but in more expensive developments north of the city they can sell for as much as $1 million.

Small farms of around 100 acres are also popular. “Since Argentina is a polo country,” Mr. Keckeis said, many properties have stables and land to accommodate the horses.

Some owners also hire caretakers to raise livestock or grow food crops, said Federico Nordheimer, owner of the real estate brokerage firm Nordheimer, which sells rural properties in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Mr. Nordheimer said a small farm of 50 to 100 hectares (124 to 247 acres) can often earn enough revenue to cover the cost of the property’s upkeep.

A typical 100-hectare (about 250-acre) farm, 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) from Buenos Aires, sells for around $600,000, according to Mr. Nordheimer, depending on the size and quality of the house. Undeveloped land costs around $8,000 per hectare ($3,238 per acre) when buying a plot of at least 50 hectares (124 acres). Smaller plots of only a few hectares, can cost $13,000 per hectare ($5,261 per acre). Construction costs range from $600 to $1,000 per square meter ($60 to $90 per square foot), depending on the materials used, he added.

WHO BUYS IN LOBOS

Many of the second homes near Lobos are owned by foreigners, Mr. Nordheimer said. Buyers of polo farms often come from the United States or Britain. The owner of this house is Chilean, but lives in the United States.

In the past five years, Mr. Nordheimer has seen an increase in foreign buyers, especially from West European countries like Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy.

BUYING BASICS

Mortgages are very unusual in Argentina, Mr. Nordheimer said. All the farms he has sold in the past five years have been paid for in cash.

There are several taxes associated with the sale of property in Argentina. The buyer and seller each pay a 3 percent real estate agent commission, plus a 21 percent value-added tax on the amount of the commission.

The buyer pays 2.2 percent of the purchase price in the form of a seal tax, payable to the province of Buenos Aires. In addition, the buyer pays a transfer tax of 1.5 percent. Notaries handle the legal paperwork. Their fees range from 0.5 to 1.5 percent of the purchase price.

USEFUL WEB SITES

Infolobos, online newspaper: www.infolobos.com.ar

Central Bank of Argentina: www.bcra.gov.ar

LANGUAGES AND CURRENCY

Spanish; Argentine peso (1 peso = $0.29)

Real estate prices in Argentina, like those in many other Latin American countries, are usually published in United States dollars because the local currency fluctuates so much.

TAXES AND FEES

Taxes paid to the province of Buenos Aires cost 180 pesos ($52) per year, and county taxes are 25 pesos ($7) per year. (The acreage of the property determines the cost of property tax, Mr. Nordheimer said.) Staff wages are $500 to $600 per month.

CONTACT

Federico Nordheimer, Nordheimer SRL, www.nordheimer.com, 011-54-11-4807-2660