Real Estate in Argentina

[Jeff D.]

Anyone have real estate investments in Argentina? If so, how you feeling about them? The fragile economy scares me a bit. Since I have been visiting the country 2012, the peso has gone from 7 pesos per dollar to around 65 pesos per dollar today. I have been looking at touristy areas: Tilcara, Pumamarca and Mendoza.

[Mike Lambert]

Argentina and Venezuela are the two countries where the odds that you property could be confiscated by the government are significantly above 0.

As mentioned by @Matt Vaughn, the peso regularly plummets against the US dollar. You can’t take advantage of that because properties are traded in US dollars and therefore relatively expensive. It’s obviously a good thing if you own a property.

However, aside from the risk of confiscation, there are exchange controls. Argentina regularly prevents US dollars from leaving the country so you might not be able to get your money out if you sell.

Because of this, very few international investors buy in Argentina and only the wealthy (the minority) can afford to buy nice properties, so your odds at a capital gain are much lower than normal and you might have an issue selling at any decent price, let alone getting the dollars out of the country.

And yes, sadly, the economy is a basket case and corruption is very high.

There are so many other great countries in Latin America where you can make a smart real estate investment. Why would you choose Argentina?

Of course, if you love the place, want to use the property for yourself and can afford to never see your property or money again, it is another story.