#1354 – The Expat Files: Life in Buenos Aires, Real Estate, and Starting Over

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started All right still down here in Argentina Just a couple observations and comments about this place that you might not believe or maybe you don't want to believe but take it from me They're true. Believe me. We're talking about stuff. You won't read in travel blogs. That's for sure number one

[00:48] Argentina is the whitest country I have ever been to I mean white as in white people I know I know it sounds so counter intuitive since we're talking about a pure Latin American country where everyone speaks Spanish Even me when I'm walking around I'm thinking how could that be? How could this place be so white? I don't know what US state might compare to it. Maybe Utah Salt Lake City with all the Mormons there But man, this place is white and geographically It doesn't make sense a country that butts up with has a long border with one of the darkest Latin American countries That would be Brazil. Anyway, believe me when I tell you this place is extremely white now I've been hanging around mostly Buenos Aires Argentina for the past couple months now It's the largest city in all of Latin America with around 16 million people

[01:35] Just slightly edging out Mexico City and get this and all the weeks down here. I've only seen maybe four black people. I'm serious Four I know it sounds crazy and two of them were a married US couple staying at my hotel Now, of course, it's the cold season So everyone's wearing jackets and hats and scarves and all that when you're out and about people are pretty bundled up like December and January Up in the States, so you don't see much skin at all like you do in Central America But still I'm just amazed there are virtually no black people And as we are typically tan or coffee colored people like you see in the indigenous populations of Central America There are many more of them, but I'd say no more than five percent And most of them I've been told are Peruvians who've immigrated to Argentina

[02:24] Most of them illegal or with faulty paperwork sound familiar. I Mentioned in a previous show they're kind of the grunt workers of Argentina Most of them have snuck in illegally so they don't have the proper paperwork to get jobs on the books So they end up working for cash and construction gardening maids drivers part-time work stuff like that and of course as mentioned in the past show a lot of them own these Little tiny hole-in-the-wall fruit markets now speaking of grunt work. Well not really grunt work Let's just say off the books work for cash I'm singing something here in Buenos Aires. I've never seen in any of the Latin American country not to this degree anyway people just Absolutely love their dogs, and they're out walking them all the time You can't walk outside your door around your block or get into a subway

[03:13] Without seeing people clutching or walking their dogs not a bad thing. I like dogs I've had lots of them all my life The problem is Argentines do not clean up after their dogs Not a one of them has ever heard of a pooper scooper and I've never seen one of them pick up his dog's shit And I'll tell you even in the nicest high-end neighborhoods. There's dog shit everywhere You just can't walk down a sidewalk without seeing plastered mouses shit People are stepping in it all the time. You could see footprints in the stuff. It really is disgusting Luckily most of their dogs are very small so the piles are small too. Yeah, I'm telling you they're landmines everywhere sure they've got tons of dog parks everywhere as well, but the dogs still crap all over the sidewalks and People don't seem to give a damn at all and luckily

[04:01] I'm thinking at least it's the winter season and the shit kind of maintains its shape it stays in one place I can imagine how crazy the kids when summer arrives and the rains come All the while, I'm thinking no one's safe every house and apartments surely loaded with microscopic particles of dog shit How could you not track that shit into your house? I mean Argentines are not like the Japanese They don't take their shoes off at the door But here's the real irony every Argentine house or apartment I visited including every hotel bathroom. I've ever been in in Argentina has a functioning really nice So they've certainly got the human shit angle licked poor choice of boards there I know but the dog shit problems out of control. I don't get it Funny thing too. There are no stray dogs here in Argentina. I haven't seen any

[04:50] Everyone seems to have their dog nicely groomed and leashed and for some their dogs are fashion statements They've got sweaters and hats and bells and ribbons dog booties So they can step in their own in other dogs poo I suppose and not get their paws soiled and in the upscale parts of town They've even got dog hitching posts, you know, like in the old west there'd be hitching posts for horses You've seen them in the movies in front of saloons and stores, etc Well here in the upscale areas at least they've got dog hitching posts in the business areas I took a couple photos So if you want to see what I'm talking about send me an email the expert files at gmail.com It's a crazy thing to see. Oh and in the business in high-end residential districts

[05:36] There are all kinds of so-called professional dog walkers Like I said Buenos Aires Argentina has many many huge parks naturally places where people who walk their dog and I'll tell you a day hasn't gone by when I haven't seen at least a dozen or so professional dog walkers some managing the leashes of 10 dogs or more which brings us back to the illegal Peruvians in the country Guess who's been recruited to do that kind of work, you know cash off the books. No legit ID required Now the other really big thing you have to understand about the people in Argentina the culture Something you won't read about or have any idea about unless you've got a lot of boots on the ground down here For that matter it's nice to have lots of boots on the ground in other Latin American countries to to get a

[06:23] Comparison of the differences between Argentina and the rest of Latin America. There are some stark differences one thing that's really obvious to be about the general attitude and what they call comporta miento of Argentines in general is that they're referred to by other Latin American cultures nearby other countries as Papa's Sin Sal Papa is potato Sin Sal is without salt pretty descriptive because we all know what a potato without salt tastes like So unlike most other Latin countries, especially Central American Latin countries Including Mexico, which is not considered Central America by the way, you know that right? Anyway, Argentines are considered to be like a potato without salt They do not have the energy the life the vibe the general happy fun-loving attitude of the rest of most of Latin America

[07:16] I had a no since I have been to every Latin American country except Suriname Hey, most people don't even know there's an actual country called Suriname And I've lived in five or six different Latin American countries for at least three years at a time And I'll tell you Argentine people are just not excitable Very kind of laid-back and stoic like most white Europeans makes sense because the vast majority of Argentines have Spanish Italian German or French blood now take for example the rest of Latin America like anywhere in Central America You walk down the street. There's music blasting from someone's house or from someone's car or from some tacky speakers hung out on the balcony A hole in the wall tien de there's music and a kind of energy in the air everywhere You'll be in a store or a market in a rich or poor area and people break out and smiles and laughter

[08:04] Sometimes I'll even dance for a few seconds when they hear their favorite song Come on even belt out a few lines of a song out of nowhere out of tune and all But they'll just feel the moment and let loose And I know I've told you this before but my cleaning lady will break into a song every once in a while in Argentina That's just not gonna happen. It's as if except for the common language Argentines aren't Latino at all for me It's kind of like the Argentine population although they all speak Spanish Somehow the whole temperature of the country's been lowered a couple of degrees Sure, they're very industrious and creative and all that but they just don't have that Latino in the moment extra spark Or what they call cheese pie in Spanish. That's why Latinos for other countries say they're like a papa sincal or a potato without salt

[08:50] Which kind of sums it up perfectly? I suppose that's why so many other Latinos from different countries think Argentines are stuck up kind of Pretentious and haughty I can see how they earn that reputation now if you remember a couple of shows ago I mentioned that when I first landed in Buenos Aires at 6 in the morning The late-night discos were letting out and people were kind of mulling around on corners in their party rags real leather Jackets and boots the whole works and from that you might get the impression that Argentines are heavy partiers with a devil-maker attitude because hell everyone's got to go to work, right? So people stumbling out of the clubs and the discos at 6 in the morning You might think what a culture of partiers Hey, most of them have to pick themselves up and go to work in two or three hours, right?

[09:37] I think that it seems those kind of partiers are mostly well-to-do Argentine partiers kids are the wealthy the difference is in the rest of Latin America where the bars close and people head on out They bring the party onto the sidewalk and out into the street in the rest of Latin America Just because the bars close doesn't mean the parties over That's when phase two of the partying starts and it's not just the wealthy. It's that common in lower classes, too Oh and another thing that kind of weighed on me a little bit I saw almost no solar panels and only one or two electric vehicles and all the time. I've been here I didn't see a single charging station. How about that? I don't know whether it's just because people are so out of dough because of the economic crisis here Nobody's got any savings due to the super high inflation rate and they admit it So maybe that's the main reason why they can't afford things like solar. It's not even on anyone's radar

[10:28] It seems Argentines are just kind of stuck in a time warp like 20 years behind the rest of Latin America Which you know could be a good thing if the world completely collapses Argentina will survive is it's a country that's completely Self-sufficient in food and they make their own household appliances or get them from Brazil though things are ungodly expensive compared to the rest of Latin America so as a plan C Argentina is a good bet I said plan C not B You know if all else fails and a total collapse comes of course, we're expecting a partial collapse anyway We're seeing it happen right now in slow mo that said having a plan B in Central America is the way to go I don't know about you, but as for me in my kind of a lifestyle I absolutely prefer Central America over Argentina now as per real estate prices here in Argentina

[11:19] I'd say they're pretty similar to the real estate prices in places off the gringo tourist trail throughout Latin America We're talking much less expensive than similar properties up in the states anywhere in the first world I've been checking the real estate market out You could get a very nice two-bedroom place in a very clean and safe area starting at maybe a hundred fifty thousand US dollar I've looked at some very nice two-bedroom places for around 200 grand as well The only caveat being a lot of these apartments are in older buildings and no one's done any remodeling in years Because of the financial situation, you know super high inflation and all that So it would be like your 80 year old grandma died and left her house to you You definitely want to remodel if not just to get the old lady smell out of it

[12:06] Almost all these places for sale unless they're brand new have flooring kitchen cabinets bathrooms, etc 20 30 40 years old you'll probably want to change everything but the bidet Now again, because no one has any cash or savings. You got a lot of bargaining power if you pay cash Say for example, someone wants a hundred eighty grand for a two-bedroom apartment You could probably knock them down to a hundred fifty K easily with a cash off Problem is you're gonna have to dump 20 grand into the place to remodel it Unless you don't mind living in a place that hasn't had a stitch of remodeling or maintenance Since the 1970s or 80s. Oh and another thing most of these places in that price range Anyway, don't have protected parking You got a park on the street or maybe one protected spot

[12:51] No enclosed roof and people just don't seem to care about that because most people don't have cars They use that really cheap public transportation system. I was talking about on the last show You know 30 or 40 cents to take the subway. Oh, and by the way, it seems to be completely safe In most neighborhoods here to park on the street. Sure There is a certain amount of penny crime just like everywhere But that's mostly in congested areas where there are tons of people, you know Pickpockets and turnstiles and subway stations and such but in the decent neighborhoods and there's plenty of them the places where Gringo's and expats Would want to live anyway They're virtually crime-free by the way speaking of crime one of the first things Gringo's and expats notice when they first come down to Latin America is that almost all the delivery trucks whether they're delivering coca-cola or water

[13:41] appliances bicycles, whatever They've got a guy riding shotgun carrying a shotgun Just like in the wagon trains of the old west a guy right in Chicago And it's always kind of an initial shock for Gringo's and expats are thinking what the hell's wrong with this society Water and coca-cola and milk and orange juice have to be guarded by a guy with a shotgun Do I really want to live here? Do I want to have a plan B in a country? That's so insecure. There is a whole subculture of guys riding shotgun everywhere same thing when Gringo's come down and see razor wire everywhere and bars on windows and pointy broken pieces of glass embedded in concrete on top of walls and fences I mean really what are you supposed to think? Well, isn't it funny? My brother up in Chicago tells me now

[14:29] He's seen the exact same kind of thing happening up in Chicago in many neighborhoods bars on windows razor wire broken glass Intentionally embedded into concrete on top of brick walls and solid fences just like the third world What do you know and now the latest news coming out of California Governor Newsom's, California I'm looking at an article now that says and this is the title California delivery drivers are now being accompanied by armed guards due to crime concerns Hmm and here we thought that stuff only happened in the third world to paraphrase this article It says things have gotten so out of hand and utopian in the state of California that delivery drivers of all kinds are being accompanied By armed guards due to crime concerns while out making deliveries, which means in boy rooms all over, California

[15:17] Brand new discussions about on the road security are taking place Why because there's a huge upsurge in drivers being robbed in inventory being stolen. Yep, California Sounds like a wonderful place to do business The article goes on to say San Jose police officer Daryl Cortez now working in corporate and retail security says Unfortunately, this is what our society has become now with armed guards guarding merchandise becoming a necessity Companies are concerned. There now seems to be a real sense of lawlessness in our society He goes on to say it's very unfortunate prices will go up You and I are paying for the extra layer of security and no one Neither the cops nor the guards are stopping the bad guys because of the threat of violence He said with more and more companies using armed guards to ride shotgun others in the industry aren't far behind

[16:09] You watch he says it's gonna become commonplace just like it is in Mexico By the way speaking of crimes You know Ecuador has been a hot spot for crimes against expats and the question always seems to come up if expats get robbed Should they report the crime to the local cops or not? since of course not reporting crimes encourages more crime or so you'd think now because of this recent high crime problem in Ecuador a Place I don't recommend for your plan B I never did But still wrinkles and expats go there because they read international living and other regs Touting the place for the last 10 years anyway as a top expat retirement destination Anyway, one particular guy living in Cuenca Ecuador since 2002. His name is Martin Simmons

[16:55] He should be really in the know about this kind of stuff because he's a former criminology professor at San Diego State University He studied international crime trends including foreign countries and cities popular with expats So with that background, here's what he writes about what you should and shouldn't do if you're a gringo or expat and you get And I'll paraphrase this a bit and cut out the boring part She says on a recent visit to La Jolla province in Ecuador a man and his wife described a home invasion They had suffered earlier this year Although the couple lost a TV their cell phones and several hundred dollars in cash They were unheard except for bruises they received from being tied up now when Simmons a former criminology Expert at San Diego University asked them about the police investigation

[17:42] They said they decided not to report the crime the wife told him that one of the robbers Mentioned that his family was very poor and that he needed the money for food and clothing She says that she also knew of several other gringo victims of home invasions and other robberies mostly around Vilcabamba Ecuador and they decided not to report their crimes either Worried that they might be threatened later by the group if they made a report They said we love it here and don't want any trouble with the locals Well Simmons the retired criminology expert was dumbfounded with this answer Another reason the woman said for not reporting the crime was that the local police almost never conduct a serious investigation So why bother plus she said her and some of her friends believe the police are personally involved in some of the crimes

[18:32] Now Simmons says he's heard many complaints like that before about the police in Ecuador Especially around La Jolla and Vilcabamba area. He said he's certain in some cases the cops are involved and they really wouldn't investigate the crimes anyway However, he said statistically reporting crimes rarely puts victims at risk and most importantly puts the crime on the record Though he says he understands the decision not to report a crime, especially if the victims are elderly Thinking that the criminals might return to take revenge He says if that's the case and the victims are living in fear for their lives He would suggest they pack up and get the hell out of Dodge But first report the crime as for the many cases of bleeding-heart gringos who are swayed

[19:19] By the case the thieves make by saying they're just trying to feed their families Simmons says this is utter bullshit It's only occasionally the case with petty criminals that they're so poor they resort to crime But almost never the case for criminal gangs such as those who commit home invasions It's the individual thief the purse snatcher pickpocket who might be genuinely hungry and poor home invasion types are organized gangs And are not starving or living on the streets home invasion gangs He says are typically involved in the drug trade and can be potential killers So the question is if you move down here to Latin America, should you or should you not report a crime? Well, think of it this way if you come from one of the states in the US that now permits you or anyone to steal

[20:05] $950 worth of anything from a store with no consequences whatsoever Why would it make sense for you to report a crime if you were in Latin America and got robbed here? If the cops and the authorities up in the states don't give a damn about you if you get robbed and they're supposed to Be first world and first world trained and all that why would you ever expect to get satisfaction from the lard-ass third world? Inadequately trained cops here in Latin America. Now. I think most people including the Simmons guy are missing the point altogether Number one on the safety program should be not to set yourself up as a victim in the first place Somehow I've noticed and I've been down here a long long time that every time a gringo It's because he or she advertised what they had or they just simply let their guard down first of all

[20:50] You don't get your house broken into if you live in a gated guarded community or residential tower And if you live out in the boonies in our homesteading and are off the grid You don't get broken into if you got a nice big dog or two You longtime listeners have heard me go through that spiel before Secondly, you have to be careful about who you let into your house Gringos can be quite friendly and often invite Latinos over to their house Latinos They don't know very well You don't want to invite people you just met at a bar or a club or a restaurant over to your house Just because the bars were closed and people have the energy to keep partying by the way I can tell you for a fact every gringo expert I know who's been robbed did something stupid let their guard down I just had to put on the dog some gringo experts just can't get over that hump The key is blending in living well

[21:38] But not too well at least spiral appearance is not that high on the hog But a lot of gringos who were used to putting on the dog and wearing a lot of bling up in the states Just will not humble themselves Gotta keep sporting those gold chains gold rings. Oh and that Apple watch. Yeah, I know a lot of idiot gringos down here You know who you are who are sporting Apple watches? Go ahead and broadcast that you can buy something that one in 10,000 Latinos can't afford Well, you know what if you get robbed or mugged don't tell me cuz I'll have zero sympathy for you Alright moving on, you know for the last couple of shows we were talking about how so many gringo expats and gringos, too Finally out of desperation get that plan B going after they've gone through a terrible divorce up in the states

[22:26] In fact, I bet 70 baby 80 percent of all gringos and expats that come down here to live permanently Have been through a nasty divorce after all very few gringos and expats come down here in their 20s or 30s because they just don't have the nest egg or they haven't settled themselves yet up in the states You know haven't got their shit together yet So by the time you figure out you need to plan B and get it underway You're in your 40s or 50s or 60 and by that time most Americans have been divorced at least once Anyway, we had been talking quite a bit about the fallout after a divorce and people coming down here Basically to wipe the slate clean and start over again Anyway got a slew of emails after talking about that stuff like for example this one from mr. P He says hi Johnny the wife said she wants a divorce and the kid She's Chinese and wants him raised as a Chinese

[23:13] She hid these thoughts from me really well or her parents slash friends finally wore her down Prior to this I had some pretty big plans and goals that do not matter now Any thoughts about next steps Johnny my plan B that is Anyway, I can finally go visit Bitcoin Beach now I think I'm just looking for a location to start over again from zero I know this is a very broad question, but what do you think it should be Guatemala or El Salvador? Well, mr. P. Sorry to hear that but not surprised You're a statistic now like everyone else my suggestion your first stop should be Guatemala live in the Alti Plano for a while At least for six months and get yourself a car just something that's decent You can always pop down to El Salvador only takes about three or four hours

[24:02] That way you can check out Bitcoin Beach and everything else Salvador has to offer and any weekend you feel like But as for me, I absolutely love the Alti Plano in Guatemala and all the absolutely unlimited quality and quantity of food You can get here in the Alti Plano. Hell if you have some land or even a small garden, you can grow the stuff yourself Anyway as for now Guatemala would still be my number one plan B destination Salvador number two But we were talking about all these divorce responses. I've been getting since the last few shows Like this one dear Johnny. He says divorce. Why didn't I do it sooner? He says Johnny my ex-wife in the States and I had a talk about sex about seven years ago We had been married about ten years by then she knew I was not satisfied at all with the frequency of sex

[24:52] But I don't think she realized how much it depressed me or most sexually starved married men for that matter Anyhow Johnny the result of that extremely difficult Conversation seven years ago sticks with me by the way, I can picture her irritated face right now. Just thinking about it Anyway, the upshot was that she had no interest in having sex more often than we were already having Predictably our frequency dropped even more after that and Johnny to look at her to rate her in her prime You'd rate her at least an eight or a nine My how we can dilute ourselves when we're young the conversation dropped there I was reluctant to get into it again because I didn't see any good outcome from doing so he says There seemed to be no point in telling her I would come to bed hopeful every night only to feel miserable

[25:40] When she'd turn off the light and say good night and give me her backside Johnny I accepted that's how it was for years because I didn't want to pressure her to have sex when she doesn't want to Nothing good could come from that. So I almost never initiated it and talking about it would be one more form of unwelcome pressure That's how our marriage was all through it. I continued not to share my feelings with her He says I think that's the sorry state of the majority of my American friends marriages, too Anyhow Johnny when my divorce came through about three years back. I got my plan be in the gear and moved to El Salvador My wife thought I was nuts for contemplating that early on to Once I got into the Latina dating scene I just could not believe the difference in the attitudes about sex where it seems all Latin women

[26:27] I'm in a nice solid great relationship now, but now the tables have turned It's not her but me who sometimes has to say no, honey Not tonight or not this morning or afternoon Sad thing is Johnny when I was married up in the States. I kept asking myself. What the f was wrong with me Blaming myself like it was my fault Now I keep asking myself. Why did I wait so long to get the hell out of that? Why didn't I trust my instincts when I first thought to get the hell out of that? And moved to Latin America in my 40s when I could have done it Why did I wait till my late 50s to get the hell out when I could have done so in my 40s? Oh, well good things come to those who wait at least my twilight years will be all smiles and sparkle

[27:13] My friends up in the States will never understand signed Benny from, New Jersey Alright Benny. Thanks for writing. Just think about all the merry guys up in the States living lives of quiet desperation like you were and The cure was simple get that plan be going and getting the hell out of Dodge You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan be we can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at Gmail dot-com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in Central America Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B Send me an email the expat files at Gmail dot-com. No spamos