[Tango-L] Abuse of tourists for rentals

[Deby Novitz]

I don't know of anywhere in the world that one can rent a fully 
furnished apartment which includes cable tv, telephone, and internet for 
the same price as a local can rent an empty apartment.  A local person 
furnishes the apartment (which includes buying your own refrigerator), 
pays all the expenses, AND plans to stay for more than a couple of 
months.  Here in Buenos Aires to rent an apartment such as this one must 
have a garantia.  This means there needs to be real property to hold 
against in the event the renter defaults.  You also need to rent for 2 
years.  This is true regardless of where you are from, and it includes 
Argentines.

If you don't have this, then you have to pay for the ENTIRE span of the 
lease up front.  SO, if you want to rent an empty apartment for a year, 
you need to pay the whole year up front, plus deposit, plus the 
commission for the real estate agent.  This does not matter if you are 
born and have lived in Buenos Aires your whole life or you are here from 
another country.

I am not saying that some of the prices aren't a little high, but you 
need to look at facts and not emotion.  It costs to keep an apartment 
nice.  Believe me, I know.  I rent two rooms in my apartment.  I use 
quality linens and towels.  If something is damaged, I replace it.  My 
guests do not sleep on torn or stained sheets.  The towels are not 
threadbare.  The TV works. I need to keep the plumbing in order. I have 
a maid to keep the place clean.  I have had guests stop up my toilet, 
use so much toilet paper I thought they were eating it, destroy the 
blinds in the bedrooms, lose the cell phone they are given, break 
dishes, steal towels, (oh yes they do!)and many other things too 
numerous to mention.  In two years my apartment expenses have gone up, 
my cable has almost doubled, and because people do not like to turn 
lights off - my electric bill sometimes hits the sky. 

I am not complaining.  I rent my rooms as a business and because I 
really do like having people stay with me.  However, someone needs to 
support the expenses I incur doing this.  What that means is that I 
charge more for a room in my apartment to a foreigner who is here for 
usually a month or less, than I would for a person who would be here for 
a year or longer - and of course they would supply their own sheets, 
towels, etc.  They would pay half the bills.

Let's be realistic.  A hotel is usually around $65 a day or higher. 
(Usually higher) A youth hostel is $30 a day ( a decent one) with a 
private room.  A nicely furnished apartment is less.  My rooms are 
less.  Why is it people always want to complain about this?  Why is this 
such a problem with people only here in Argentina?  I get so sick of 
hearing people complain "I am being charged more for my accent:"  Any 
Argentine will tell you that a bad person is a bad person and he or she 
will treat whoever they can bad - Argentine or foreign.

I used to live in Oakland California.  Right across the bay from San 
Francisco.  A furnished studio apartment overlooking Lake Merritt rents 
for about $900 a week.  The same apartment rents unfurnished for $1500 a 
month.  I don't remember anyone ever complaining about this.  In San 
Francisco a furnished tourist apartment rents for $1200 a week  The same 
apartment rents for $1800 a month. 

And while I am on a roll let me add one more thing.  Inflation is 
rampant here.  Prices are skyrocketing.  Every time I go to the store 
something costs more.  The same yogurt I bought 2 years ago for 79 
centavos is now 1.69.  Tango shoes that were 160 pesos 2 years ago are 
now between 210 and 240.  Restaurant prices, costs of milonga entrances, 
taxis have gone up.  Everything has gone up but salaries.  I am still 
making 25 pesos an hour teaching English.  I live in a 1 to 1 economy. I 
just love to hear people who come here with 3 to 1 and 4 to 1 money 
complain that we are charging too much.

Alberto, shame on you.  You ought to know better.  That article about 
the renters was filler for a Sunday.


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