Being a property owner in Argentina is a lot tougher than I thought it would be. My parents have been managing properties here since they moved in 2007, and honestly, I have no idea how they've kept it up all these years.
I used to think it was as simple as telling tenants how much rent to pay, keeping contracts current, and handling repairs when needed. Turns out, it’s way more complicated than that.
Now don’t get me wrong—I actually enjoy administrative work. Back home, I had entire teams or companies supporting me, so everything was pretty straightforward. But here, it’s a different story. I'm on my own, navigating unfamiliar legal systems with limited knowledge of Argentine property laws.
Saying the last few months have been a steep learning curve would be putting it lightly.
For those of you who haven’t read my earlier post, we’ve been dealing with a serious issue at one of our properties. My parents tried to evict tenants without following the proper legal process, which backfired hard. We ended up going months without rent and with zero communication from the tenants. Fortunately, the situation was eventually resolved—but not without some costly lessons.
By March 2025, the tenants had finally caught up on overdue rent and most of their utility bills. Even better, they agreed to move out by the end of the month because they could no longer afford the rent.
Music to our ears.
But when they left, they didn’t exactly go quietly—or cleanly. The paint was peeling off the walls from the humidity. The front door was damaged and wouldn’t lock properly.
Normally, tenants are expected to return the property in the same condition they received it. But given the drama—legal threats, physical threats—it was just safer to let them walk away.
So, was this a win? Maybe. We got rid of tenants who were clearly a problem, but the property now needs major repairs before it can start generating income again. Time and money we hadn’t planned to spend.
And that wasn’t our only headache.
In early March, we hired a real estate company. They seemed okay—not great by American standards, but decent enough for Argentina, where service quality tends to be... inconsistent.
The company sent a salesperson to assess the first floor of a two-unit apartment in another location. He was friendly, seemed knowledgeable, and took a few photos while we filled him in on the unit’s quirks—most notably, the low water pressure, which is common in southern Córdoba City. He assured us it wouldn’t be a problem and promised to disclose it to any potential tenants before signing a lease.
While he was there, I also asked him to help renew the lease for the tenant in the upstairs unit. “Sure, no problem!” he said. “Just send over the details and our admin team will handle it.”
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Too smoothly.
I waited through the second week of March and hadn’t heard a thing. I assumed they were working behind the scenes to find a tenant for the first floor and drafting the new lease for the upstairs unit.
But when I followed up on WhatsApp, the administrative team had no clue what I was talking about.
I could literally feel my blood pressure spike.
After pressing for answers, they finally admitted the issue: the salesperson had entered everything into their system, but never informed the admin staff to act on it. Apparently, he only handles sales and hadn’t passed the info along.
I had made it clear—I wanted the first floor rented by early April. That would have been ideal, but not essential. What was essential was getting the upstairs tenant’s new lease signed before her contract expired at the end of March.
I told them that was non-negotiable. That contract had to be finalized by March 31st.
What happened next? Well… let’s just say it turned into a full-blown nightmare.
But I’ll save that story for next time.
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