Country Article / Postcards
In Search of Ranch-land in Argentina
Date: 10/21/2005
Holdings so vast, you can't see where your land ends and your neighbor's begins...land so abundant you could fit a small country in your backyard...a ranch-land so immense that a man could spend years ranging on horseback and not see one-tenth of what he owns...
It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
I'm recently returned from a scouting trip to Argentina's interior, on the trail of good land deals in this country. I'm working through the numbers to see if this vineyard makes sense, if that ranch is a good investment...
But, I have to admit, my first reaction was: Who cares? This much land, at this low a price...I could do a lot worse than own such a large chunk of the Earth, I found myself thinking more than once.
Real estate values in Buenos Aires have gone up in the last three years, as I guessed they would. Prices have doubled since we bought the three International Living apartments, and I believe they will continue to increase, albeit at a slower pace.
But ranch-land is where real bargains can still be found. If there's one thing Argentina has no shortage of, it's land. With a land mass one-third of that in the States...but a population one-eighth of that in the U.S., you'll find plenty of wide open spaces, much of it farm- and ranch-land.
This type of land has held its value better than any other type of property in Argentina, because what's produced by this land--crops and livestock--are commodities priced in U.S. dollars on the world market.
I'll have full details for members of my Global Real Estate Investor but when I was hunting for bargains around the interior of Argentina (from San Rafael to Salta--land here reminds me of Arizona and New Mexico), I saw parcels of good land (big and small), ranches, farms, and vineyards. You can buy big here for as little as $4 an acre.
Comparable land elsewhere in the world--assuming it wouldn't be impossible to get, at any price--would go for 12 to 15 times as much as the prices I was quoted on this trip.
Lief Simon
Real Estate Editor, International Living
P.S. This is a dry country--you have to make sure you have enough water rights to do what you want to do. Even if you have a good well, it's probably--at best--a backup.
P.P.S. For more detailed analysis of farm and ranchland in Argentina--and just about everything else you need to know before investing in this country--consult the current edition of the Argentina Owner's Manual , which I contributed to.
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