Exchanging Currency

I'll be visiting BsAs in a couple of weeks and it's clear after reading this forum that "cuevas" are the place to exchange money.

I see this particular one mentioned quite a lot, and I will be staying in the vicinity of that intersection (Scalabrini Ortiz & Cerviño). But how do I find this cueva? I assume there are lots of storefronts on all 4 corners of that intersection. Feel free to PM if this info is too sensitive for a public forum.

Thanks in advance.

[QUOTE=AllIWantIsLove;432068]That was for $400 US. Three 100s and two 50s, although I doubt that the 50s changed the rate. (He wouldn't take the 200 dollar bill.)

Bob[/QUOTE]

I don't recall any sign on the cueva, but it's next door to the Freddo's which does have a prominent sign. (Freddo is a chain of ice cream parlors here.) As you are facing Freddo's it's to the left. You have to push a buzzer to the left of the door to be let in. The door is glass and I think that the entire front of the place is glass and you can see two tellers' windows through the door / window.

Bob.

[QUOTE=GlobalNomad5;432165]I'll be visiting BsAs in a couple of weeks and it's clear after reading this forum that "cuevas" are the place to exchange money.

I see this particular one mentioned quite a lot, and I will be staying in the vicinity of that intersection (Scalabrini Ortiz & Cerviño). But how do I find this cueva? I assume there are lots of storefronts on all 4 corners of that intersection. Feel free to PM if this info is too sensitive for a public forum.

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info Bob. I assume I can get by there with minimal Spanish, right?

[QUOTE=AllIWantIsLove;432166]I don't recall any sign on the cueva, but it's next door to the Freddo's which does have a prominent sign. (Freddo is a chain of ice cream parlors here.) As you are facing Freddo's it's to the left. You have to push a buzzer to the left of the door to be let in. The door is glass and I think that the entire front of the place is glass and you can see two tellers' windows through the door / window.

Bob.[/QUOTE]

If you are close enough to walk all you should need is a map. If you use a cab write down the intersection and show that to the driver. His meter will display the fare. He might ask you something, like which side of the street, but it shouldn't be anything critical and they are used to passengers which don't speak Spanish.

Bob.

[QUOTE=GlobalNomad5;432173]Thanks for the info Bob. I assume I can get by there with minimal Spanish, right?[/QUOTE]

Got 7.6 there today.

[QUOTE=GlobalNomad5;432173]Thanks for the info Bob. I assume I can get by there with minimal Spanish, right?[/QUOTE]Global:

I have yet to encounter an Argie cabby who spoke any English, during my 30 or so visits to Bs As. However, as the guys who have met me in Bs As can attest, my Spanish skills are abysmal. I haven't had any problem with any cabby, so far. However, it is to your benefit to familiarize yourself with the map of the city, major roads, intersections and landmarks (e.g. Florida, Ste Fe, Recoleta Cemetery, etc).

If you are getting near your destination and the driver starts babbling and pointing with his finger (towards the far side of the intersection) you can tell him "here" by saying "aqui" (pronounced "ah-key") or "there" by saying "alli" (pronounced "ah-ghee").

Thanks again for all the info. I've studied the maps and plan to walk as much as possible (for exercise's sake if nothing else).

I have no doubt I'll find the place, my only concern was, will I be able to explain what I need when I get there. Or is it enough to just show some dollars and say "cambio"?

[QUOTE=WildWalleye;432181]Global:

I have yet to encounter an Argie cabby who spoke any English, during my 30 or so visits to Bs As. However, as the guys who have met me in Bs As can attest, my Spanish skills are abysmal. I haven't had any problem with any cabby, so far. However, it is to your benefit to familiarize yourself with the map of the city, major roads, intersections and landmarks (e.g. Florida, Ste Fe, Recoleta Cemetery, etc).

If you are getting near your destination and the driver starts babbling and pointing with his finger (towards the far side of the intersection) you can tell him "here" by saying "aqui" (pronounced "ah-key") or "there" by saying "alli" (pronounced "ah-ghee").[/QUOTE]

I don't think that you have to say cambio.

[QUOTE=GlobalNomad5;432184]Thanks again for all the info. I've studied the maps and plan to walk as much as possible (for exercise's sake if nothing else).

I have no doubt I'll find the place, my only concern was, will I be able to explain what I need when I get there. Or is it enough to just show some dollars and say "cambio"?[/QUOTE]

Got 7.60 this afternoon changing $800 USD at Arenales and Libertad.

Changed in Cordoba / Florida 500 $ for 7.7 today.

Guys- Can anyone please tell me are there any trustworthy cambios in Recoleta where I can get a good exchange rate.

Thanks.

Got 7.75 there today.

[QUOTE=Lionadwc;432281]Got 7.75 there today.[/QUOTE]How much did you exchange to get that rate?

[QUOTE=Tummyargentina;432280]Guys- Can anyone please tell me are there any trustworthy cambios in Recoleta where I can get a good exchange rate.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]1245 Arenales.

[QUOTE=Kazzooey;432285]How much did you exchange to get that rate?[/QUOTE]2,000 but they gave me that rate before I told them how much.

Exchanged $500 for 7.7 today.

Sign saying the office is now in the basement of Galerias Pacificos, and the booth there wants passports and advertises 4.92.

TL got me 7.5 (would have been more were I less gringissimo) somewhere around Arenales or Santa Fe / 9 de Julio: thanks!

[QUOTE=PurpleThomas;432478]Sign saying the office is now in the basement of Galerias Pacificos, and the booth there wants passports and advertises 4.92.

TL got me 7.5 (would have been more were I less gringissimo) somewhere around Arenales or Santa Fe / 9 de Julio: thanks![/QUOTE]I was not happy with 7.5 because I told him to give you 7.7 but then again it was'nt that much.

That was on Lavalle at a store called Harry Truman, maybe 900 block. It's a clothing and general junk shop but it was convenient as we were in a hurry.

Better luck next time.

The Tour was nice, we must have walked 100 blocks.

Thanks,

TL.

I need to offload some pesos (all in good condition, no writing ect) as my plan to change them back in Australia has come unstuck-western union have just changed their policy and won't buy them now at the official rate. So I suppose back to the cueva unless someone is interested in an exchange to $us at a good rate. I am in Recoleta.

[QUOTE=Lionadwc;432487]I need to offload some pesos (all in good condition, no writing ect) as my plan to change them back in Australia has come unstuck-western union have just changed their policy and won't buy them now at the official rate. So I suppose back to the cueva unless someone is interested in an exchange to $us at a good rate. I am in Recoleta.[/QUOTE]You might want to give an idea of exchange rate and amount you can handle. I realize why you would want to be circumspect but you might get more responses with a little more info.

Also I got 7.9 for 3300 today at my guy on Florida right across from Galaria Pacifico.

[QUOTE=Lionadwc;432487]I need to offload some pesos (all in good condition, no writing ect) as my plan to change them back in Australia has come unstuck-western union have just changed their policy and won't buy them now at the official rate. So I suppose back to the cueva unless someone is interested in an exchange to $us at a good rate. I am in Recoleta.[/QUOTE]Sure, good advice. Really just want to get rid of them so happy to exchange at 7.8 have 20000 pesos.

Happy to change at 7.9 see my previous posts.

[QUOTE=PurpleThomas;432478]Sign saying the office is now in the basement of Galerias Pacificos, and the booth there wants passports and advertises 4.92.

TL got me 7.5 (would have been more were I less gringissimo) somewhere around Arenales or Santa Fe / 9 de Julio: thanks![/QUOTE]Sorry about this, my fault: [B]on a weekday[/B] there are guys in the 800-900 block of Florida who are sufficiently delighted to exchange at 7.7 that I wonder if I could have got more.

[QUOTE=Tummyargentina;432280]Guys- Can anyone please tell me are there any trustworthy cambios in Recoleta where I can get a good exchange rate.

Thanks.[/QUOTE]Tommy: For most of the 'stuff' (cell phones, SIM cards, good exchange rates, etc)., I have found that I need to go to Centro. That said, if you go back in this thread several pages or so, I am pretty sure that Toymann or one of the other local legends has a cambio on Junin (if I recall correctly) that I probably walked past a million times.

Good luck.

8.1 for 500 USD at cervino cueva today.

Will be open Saturdays again starting 23 March, if I read it right from 10:00-13:00, Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00.

[QUOTE=SunSeeker;432560]8.1 for 500 USD at cervino cueva today.

Will be open Saturdays again starting 23 March, if I read it right from 10:00-13:00, Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00.[/QUOTE]I haven't bothered to do a regression analysis, however, it seems to me that the spread between the official rate and the blue rate is growing. I would interpret that as a leading indicator and what it is indicating isn't positive for anyone hold large amounts of pesos.

My best Argie friends cousin works in finance here and he told me yesterday morning there was no price to buy dollars. That may have changed during the day but yesterday morning there wasn't a price. I'm thinking the peso is about to shoot to 9 or 10. I'll be changing as needed over the next couple weeks.

Disclaimer; I'm not an economist, nor have I ever played one on TV. Additionally I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last evening so my thoughts about the peso could be horribly wrong.

[QUOTE=DaddyRulz;432572]My best Argie friends cousin works in finance here and he told me yesterday morning there was no price to buy dollars. That may have changed during the day but yesterday morning there wasn't a price. I'm thinking the peso is about to shoot to 9 or 10. I'll be changing as needed over the next couple weeks.

Disclaimer; I'm not an economist, nor have I ever played one on TV. Additionally I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last evening so my thoughts about the peso could be horribly wrong.[/QUOTE]I sold a lot of pesos today for $US at Arenales. Price was changing buy the hour, started at 8.45 at 11 am was 8.7 at 1.30 pm. Guy told me that all the cuevas will sell dollars.

The traders closed today at 8.70-8.75. This is after yesterday's hike from 15% to 20% on all purchases made in foreign currency with credit cards. Cristina had a meeting with the president of the central bank this evening. It will probably lower a little tomorrow but it will be interesting to see what happens next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Looks like we may be close to a breathtaking opportunity to buy prime BA real estate.

[QUOTE=Canardly;432585]Looks like we may be close to a breathtaking opportunity to buy prime BA real estate.[/QUOTE]Almost ALL the real estate I have looked at here is priced in USD, and overpriced in my opinion.

I was last in BA a year ago and I agree with you on general valuation.

But here is what has changed: in July Christina made it illegal to transact in dollars for real estate and transactions are down big YOY.

Because sellers don't want to accept a price which is effectively less than the blue rate and buyers won't pay more than the official rate!

[URL]http://en.mercopress.com/2012/07/07/argentine-central-bank-announces-pesification-of-real-estate-operations[/URL]

[URL]http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/argentinas-economy-hurting-housing-market-59916.aspx[/URL]

Because the market is not functioning there is a growing pent up demand of people who need to sell and will eventually transact at the clearing price.

If the blue market continues to rise, there will be a major advantage for holders of US dollars to compete with locals who hold Pesos ARS.

[QUOTE=SunSeeker;432587]Almost ALL the real estate I have looked at here is priced in USD, and overpriced in my opinion.[/QUOTE]It always has been, overpriced and priced in dollars!

[QUOTE=SunSeeker;432587]Almost ALL the real estate I have looked at here is priced in USD, and overpriced in my opinion.[/QUOTE]I don't follow them religiously but I've noticed a lot of flyers in the windows of real estate offices with prices that seem to be dropping. I'm pretty sure those flyers are more bait and switchy than the Esmeralda VIP web site but seems like the prices have really come down. I don't remember seeing a lot of Recoletta Apt's for under 150 K in a long time and now there are a lot in the 130 K range.

Again, not something I'm expert at, just something I've noticed.

DR.

[QUOTE=DaddyRulz;432594]I don't follow them religiously but I've noticed a lot of flyers in the windows of real estate offices with prices that seem to be dropping. I'm pretty sure those flyers are more bait and switchy than the Esmeralda VIP web site but seems like the prices have really come down. I don't remember seeing a lot of Recoletta Apt's for under 150 K in a long time and now there are a lot in the 130 K range.

Again, not something I'm expert at, just something I've noticed.

DR.[/QUOTE]Could be DR, I haven't looked in agency windows in Recoleta, though I have looked at "for sale" signs when wandering in that area, anything I have seen for less than $150 k USD was usually 45 m2 or less, and a couple of houses, 3+ bedrooms, 300 m2+, (in serious need of renovations) I looked at were $750 k+ which to me was nuts!

I'll have to look closer at agencies my next time in Recoleta.

[QUOTE=Canardly;432591]I was last in BA a year ago and I agree with you on general valuation.

But here is what has changed: in July Christina made it illegal to transact in dollars for real estate and transactions are down big YOY.

Because sellers don't want to accept a price which is effectively less than the blue rate and buyers won't pay more than the official rate!

[URL]http://en.mercopress.com/2012/07/07/argentine-central-bank-announces-pesification-of-real-estate-operations[/URL]

[URL]http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/argentinas-economy-hurting-housing-market-59916.aspx[/URL]

Because the market is not functioning there is a growing pent up demand of people who need to sell and will eventually transact at the clearing price.

If the blue market continues to rise, there will be a major advantage for holders of US dollars to compete with locals who hold Pesos ARS.[/QUOTE]I hope it turns out that you are right.

According to Reuters blue hit 8.70/8.75 Wednesday.

[URL]http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/argentina-peso-idUSL1N0CCBCN20130320[/URL]

Wow, I was hoping to get 7.9 and got 8.2. Definitely is a reaction to the increased tax of 20% on locals using credit cards outside Argentina. Scramble (panic?) to buy USD.

At this rate will be 9 in a few weeks and 10 by June.

I probably should have waited to change dollars, but it seemed too good to be true so I changed 2 k.

At 8, BsAs is as cheap as it was 2 years ago. At 9 or 10 it will be like 2006.

It will be a great opportunity to buy an apt within the next year. Dollars will rule. Fantastic deal to buy a nice apt in Palermo for 100 to 150 K in one of the great cities of the world. Thank you Kretina!

As I predicted, the Dollar dropped a little to 8,42/8,48 to close the week after hitting a record high of 8,70/8,75 earlier this week. The method the government used to make the Dollar come down can only keep it like this for a very short time. They are desperate not to devalue the peso till after the elections later this year and are using all the resources they can. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't reach 9 later next week or the week after.