After weeks of traveling through the US, we’re finally settled in Buenos Aires and all unpacked in our new apartment! Thankfully no nasty or unexpected surprises upon arrival. Check it out!
Finding this “departamento” however, was not easy at all. As foreigners, living long-term in Buenos Aires can be pretty tricky. To rent an apartment at local prices in pesos you must have Argentine citizenship or a ”garantia”, (someone who owns land within Capital Federal and is willing to sign for you using their property as collateral).
Like most travelers, we didn’t have either one.
That’s not a major problem though and there were still tons of apartments available for us to rent without citizenship or a “garantia”…just at insanely high prices! For example, Porteno’s usually rent decent 1 bedroom apartments for about 800 pesos ( roughly US$200) per month; the 1 bedroom places listed online for foreigners, were all priced in dollars and rented for a minimum of US$1200. That’s about $4800 pesos per month and 6x the local prices paid by Portenos!
If we were serious about sticking to our long-term travel plans and set budget, then we had to find something for much, much less.
After endless searches online, we finally came across our apartment in Montserrat, a barrio in downtown Buenos Aires, for US$730 per month. Still 3x higher than what locals pay, but without a “garantia”, it was the best we were going to find! The total cost breaks down to just US$28 per day, which is waaaaayy less than we’d pay at even the cheapest hostel. Peace and privacy on budget= success! :)
Here’s a list of our favorite resources for finding apartments in BsAs:
14 comments
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sam waiseghoby
January 25, 2011 at 5:57 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I adore your wordpress web template, wherever do you get a hold of it from?
Brittany
January 26, 2011 at 6:38 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Thank you Sam, we’ve worked hard on it!
small business grants
January 12, 2011 at 7:57 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Finally, an issue that I am passionate about. I have looked for information of this caliber for the last several hours. Your site is greatly appreciated.
Brittany
January 13, 2011 at 7:33 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I am so glad you enjoy it! We’ll make sure to keep the updates coming!
Shannon DeBraal
January 12, 2011 at 8:28 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I Love it ! Simple and perfect! I miss you guys, hope your having an awesome time. Baby D will have a name soon we find out today what the sex is. Ill let you know soon as we know. Love you
Christopher Pappe
January 12, 2011 at 7:36 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Brittany,
All is well here at Chatterbox, although a little slow in January. Thanks for the lovely card. Kyle and Andrea are crushing it on Jonata and Andrea just beat Christian’s one day record….Nice! How is the weather down there? Did the Hobbs thing come through for you guys? I am visiting them next week and we start a new campaign in March. Maybe we can work on the Argentine stuff. Put in a good word for us and stay safe.
Peace! CP
Brittany
January 13, 2011 at 7:23 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Hi Chris! I’m so glad everything is going well at CBX, those two rock and can sell anything you give em! The weather is beautiful, warm and moderately humid, but not unbarable at all. It’s so nice having an actual summer, especially since Napa’s was so mild!
Jeff contacted the woman who runs their marketing and she was very helpful and receptive to us coming out for harvest; when he mentioned CBX, she knew it right away and was really excited I wked there! The winery’s closed until the 17th for holiday so we’ll be in contact next week to get the ball rolling! It’s so nice to hear from you and please tell everyone hello for me!
Salud,
Brittany
Amy & Justin
January 11, 2011 at 9:07 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Love the open bottle of wine on the table! Definitely a necessity for vino vagabonding!
Brittany
January 12, 2011 at 6:08 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
You know it! Its funny though, alot of the wines were finding are from the 2010 vintage (which was bottled in March) but still crazy to see that vintage already bottles and on the shelves! No hating here, well try em all
Matt
January 11, 2011 at 5:54 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Nice Digs! I am so Jelly I need toast!!!
Elizabeth Valois
January 11, 2011 at 10:27 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
This is adorable! You think $1200/month in insane? Try living in Boston
$1,850/month for a 700sq/ft 1 bedroom apartment.
I’m so glad that you guys are blogging about this, and I can access it from work! I wish you best the both and look forward to following the vino vagabonds
xoxo.
Brittany
January 12, 2011 at 6:16 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Thank you so much Liz! It’s so good to hear from you and Im really glad you’re able to check out the website! $1850 for a 1 bd is crazy, even in the states thats alot, but when you think about it in pesos (about 4x), I could almost pass out!!
I still havent been to Boston, but Jeff LOVES it there…maybe we’ll have to vino vagabond over there next!
janet
January 11, 2011 at 8:55 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Good luck kids we missya, enjoy and be safe.
love momma #2
Brittany
January 12, 2011 at 6:20 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Mamma Jan! Everything’s great here so far, but we have so much exploring (and wine drinking) to do!
We’ll keep you posted on the best wines we come across and hopefully you can try some of them back home!