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🇦🇷 Argentina /Economy & Trade

How to spot structural and maintenance problems in a building before buying or renting

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Real-estate experts advise buyers to inspect the entire building, not only the apartment, before purchasing or renting.
  • Poor maintenance of façades, elevators, halls, corridors and amenities can reduce property values and discourage prospective buyers.
  • Brokers also recommend checking construction quality, materials and the building’s maintenance schedule, while warning that unusually low fees can lead to higher costs later.

An apartment’s value can fall quickly when the building around it is neglected. Real-estate professionals advise prospective buyers to inspect more than the unit itself, including the façade, elevators, entrance hall, corridors, terraces, pool, laundry facilities and gym.

Marta Oriozabala, CEO of Real Capital, said poorly maintained buildings lose value much faster than those whose owners keep them in good condition. She said buildings just five or 10 years old can already show serious deterioration in their façades and shared amenities. The damage is not limited to repair costs: buyers may avoid moving in because they expect maintenance problems later.

The devaluation of buildings that are not maintained is very rapid compared with those that are.

· Marta OriozabalaThe Real Capital CEO described the effect of neglected maintenance on building values.

Buildings with relatively little age can be especially vulnerable when amenities are neglected because keeping them in good condition is expensive. Owners may have paid extra for those features and expect to recover that investment when they sell. But Oriozabala said valuers cannot assign full value to amenities in poor condition, and their deterioration can instead reduce the property’s price.

It is very common today to see buildings built five or 10 years ago that are already in very poor condition.

· Marta OriozabalaShe cited façades and shared amenities as areas that can deteriorate quickly.

Diego Migliorisi, managing partner at Migliorisi Propiedades, said maintenance problems often become visible when a unit is put up for sale. The impact depends on the condition of the façade, elevator, entrance hall and corridors, as well as on what a buyer is willing to sacrifice to live in the apartment. He distinguished routine maintenance needed for the building to function from aesthetic modernization, saying both can influence a purchase.

Brokers also advise buyers in new buildings to examine the construction system and materials used. Each system has different maintenance requirements and schedules, so the building association should follow the timetable recommended by the architectural firm and construction company. Low building fees may appear attractive, but the article warns that saving money today can create larger expenses later.

One issue is maintenance for the normal operation of the building, and another is aesthetic modernization. Both cases influence the purchase.

· Diego MigliorisiThe managing partner distinguished functional repairs from cosmetic upgrades.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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