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Friday, May 27, 2005

Buying With Your Head, Not Your Heart

There were some great comments today about why buying in Palermo or some other neighborhood might be a better option than Recoleta. In fact, I saw an apartment today that was in Palermo and I actually liked the neighborhood there a lot better than Recoleta -- it was quieter, just a couple blocks from some of the great parks on Libertador, and much more private that any of the apartments in Recoleta.

However, I'm buying with my head, not my heart. With an apartment in Recoleta that's suitable for rentals, I open myself up to a lot more options. Should I could leave Argentina for 6 months to go traveling or decide I only want to live here part of the year, I can be assured that the apartment will be generating income for me when I'm abroad.

Even though I plan on staying in Argentina for the next couple years, I have no idea where I'll end up after that. I'm a person who likes to have the flexibility to move around at a moment's notice without being tied down. An apartment in Recoleta gives me a chance to have a good (not great) place to live when I'm here, but it also lets me leave at a moment's notice and allow the apartment to start generating significant income.

Should I want to take a 2 month vacation in Europe, I just lock-up my personal belongings in a specific closet and then open up the apartment for rental use. I saw the same thing done when I rented a condo in Hawaii for a few weeks. The couple that owned it furnished it with very nice things that they shared with guest visitors when they weren't using their condo. They had a specific closet that was locked that guests couldn't get into that had their various personal belongings, but otherwise the condo was easily available for rental use.

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1 Comments:

Blogger ABA said...

You're a wise investor El Expatriado. I explained to you as well as my clients the difference of buying with your head and not your heart. I also prefer many areas of Palermo over Recoleta. Still, I'll concentrate my investment properties for myself and my clients to Recoleta.

I already explained the reasons why. Recoleta will always be Recoleta. Till the end of time. That won't change. It will always be a requested area for tourists and businessmen.

One example I can give you is that I had a client that didn't listen to my advice. He liked the Las Canitas area because it was "trendy, hip and cool". He bought an expensive apartment there. He wanted to rent a luxury apartment. The problem is that that particular area is requested by a far younger crowd that doesn't have as much money as the more affluent Recoleta crowd. He wasn't able to charge as much as he wanted and sold his apartment to buy in Recoleta.

There is a big difference between buying to live in the apartment and buying as an investment.

Good luck all.

6/03/2005 12:34:00 PM  

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