Holy cow! I can't believe we're already in May. One of the reasons I haven't posted since the New Year is because we've been dealing with a lot of setbacks with the properties we own. Last year wasn't a picnic on this front either, but 2026 has really been kicking us in the butt.
It all started because of a decision we made late last year not to renew a long-time tenant's contract. We thought this was a good idea because he had been renting from us for nearly a decade, and in Argentina, that can sometimes lead to a tenant choosing to stay in the property without paying, while the law tends not to favor homeowners. Now, I'm not saying we had any reason to believe this particular tenant was going to do that, but we simply couldn't take the chance.
A couple of weeks into 2026, we discovered the downside of owning a tenant-free property. One day, I received a call from a nearby neighbor telling me that someone had taken the metal gates from the empty house. This in itself was not surprising, but it was still frustrating. It is Argentina, after all. Worse than that, it's Córdoba City, and crime here is the worst.
My dad filed a report at the local police department, expecting little to nothing to come of it, which is typical with Argentine law enforcement.
Two days later, when my dad went to work on the property to get it ready for the next potential tenant, he discovered that the house had been broken into. Obviously, there was nothing of value inside, and yet that didn't stop these hoodlums from breaking the sinks, toilets, bidets, and windows. On top of that, they had ripped out the electrical cables throughout the property. Essentially, they made the house unrentable until the necessary repairs could be made. There was seemingly no reason for them to do this, though we suspect the police themselves may have been involved.
It's been several months, and we still haven't been able to complete all the necessary repairs. At this point, the house has turned into a money pit.
It certainly doesn't help that two of our other properties are currently unoccupied and not bringing in any income either.
And it's not like we haven't tried. We've spoken with two different realtors but have yet to find a decent tenant with co-signers or a stable job. In fact, the realtors themselves have proven to be less than reliable. The first one we worked with showed interest but, in true Argentine fashion, failed to show up for a scheduled meeting. That alone wasn't enough to disqualify him. What really sealed his fate was that three weeks later, he still hadn't put up "For Rent" signs like he had promised, and there were no listings for our properties on any of his websites. So, we fired him and started looking for someone else.
I wish I could say I have faith in our current realtor, but she hasn't advertised the vacancies on any of her sites either. She also seems to be moving at a turtle's pace. This is not uncommon in Argentina. A lot of professionals work on their own timeline, and getting them to move faster is next to impossible.
Suffice it to say, the financial and emotional impact of the repairs and the lack of rental income has affected both my husband's and my mood, as well as our plans for a more exciting start to 2026.
Despite all of this, we have managed to have some fun along the way, but I'll get into more detail about that in my next post.
