Now I’d been told that Tooting Bec was a very-up-and-coming area and well it might be, but I had that feeling, sitting there drinking my tea, that if this is all there was to life then heaven help me. But as we all know sometimes life is like that. It seems a little predetermined, and even though you may want to change you just can’t find the way to accomplish it. 

If a fairy god mother had sat down and shared my pot of tea, and said “don’t worry, in a few years time you will be buying a large plot of land on one of the most scenic deltas of the world and you will be living in one of the most exotic locations, on the other side of the world”, I probably would have asked what she was on, and ask her to pay her share of the tea and leave!

Dreaming of BA 

As you can imagine, two blokes painting a house in Spain involves lots of breaks to take in the sun together with a few beers and lots of chat. We had many a good conversation, most of which I can’t write about here. But since we were what is termed “middle aged” we  eventually got round to discussing things left to do in our lives, things that we didn’t want to regret not having done before it was too late.

We had both travelled a lot and we talked about places we had been and places we would like to visit but maybe never would because we had left it too late.

I was lucky to get tickets to see Argentina play Holland. Not only was it a great game (not for Argentina unfortunately, as they lost), but both groups of fans were great fun. I talked to many of the Argentine fans that said that Argentina was a fabulous country to visit and to get there if I could because I would love it. 

My friend, whose house we were decorating, had also been something of an Argie-phile, having filmed a documentary of Ossie Ardiles, a member of the Argentine team that won the World Cup in 1978, and had eventually come to the UK to play for Spurs (indeed he is still reckoned to have been one of their best players). While Brian was filming the documentary in Japan (Ossie was managing a football team there) Ossie told him that if he wanted to experience a real football match he must go to Argentina to watch one.

So over a few more beers we talked about maybe we should plan to go to Argentina.  Over the next few days, as walls become whiter and beer supplies shorter, we talked more about Argentina, and if we could really find the time to fulfil one our middle-aged dreams travel there. 

Take off

Where there is a will there is a way! A few months later and we were on a Varig flight (thank God they went broke!) out of Heathrow, bound for Buenos Aires. The idea at that point was to spend a week in BA, see a football game, and then spend 4 weeks in Chile skiing and generally exploring the country. Well that was the plan. However after spending what can only be described as a few fantastic days in BA we decided to delay our trip to Chile a few days. Then we delayed it a few more days.

My experiences affected me so much in BA that I decided that here was my opportunity that I had been thinking about in that café in Tooting Bec – the opportunity to change my life. In those 5 weeks in South America, I decided then and there that I would make Argentina my home. I went back to the UK, packed the rest of my bags, said goodbye to friends and family and came back to live in BA. That was in September of 2003. 

Help - how do I make a living? 

So there I was in BA. Now what? I had put all my energies into just getting here, that I had given little thought to the little matter of how to earn a living. My experience was in buying property and land in UK and selling on a property where needed. Could I do the same here? The country had just been through an economic crisis that had left it on its knees. Ok, things were cheap but that didn’t mean they were a bargain – after all the country wasn’t showing much signs of an upward curve in its economy.

To cut a long story short, I took Yazz’s sound advice (plus the results of somewhat more concrete research, studying the market) and invested in Argentine property. 

I started to buy property here in 2003. I mainly concentrated on areas that were considered top notch, such as Recoleta and Palermo. I also made sure that I purchased property that could be rented out easily. Pretty soon friends who had visited me were asking me if I could find a nice property for them that they could use when they were in BA and rent it out when they were out of the country. 

After awhile I decided that since I was getting so many requests, I would set up my own company, and Tierra Estates www.tierraestates.com was born. It was to be a company to help ex-pats buy property and land here in Argentina.

Living on an Island!

It was through my work with Tierra Estates that I met Hugo Barwick, a Cambridge graduate. Previously he had been living in Guatemala, where he had been a co-founder of a regional telecommunications company. Following that venture, he had decided to make BA his home with his wife Jane.

Hugo rang me one day at my offices in down town BA and introduced himself. After a brief meeting, in which I told him of my interest in land and property in Argentina, he invited me to the Parana Delta where he was in the process of buying a virtual island consisting of 74 hectares of land he was planning to develop, something I may be interested in being involved in. He was right. I was very interested. 

The following weekend I met Hugo in Tigre, the mainland centre for the Delta. His boat was waiting to take me out to the island he was buying. On the way to the island Hugo explained to me what his plans were. He described how after just one visit to the Delta, on the suggestion of Jane, he had been totally smitten by it. From this first encounter, he had become determined to buy riverside land. His objective was to develop a project that he had been thinking of doing for years, but hadn’t been able to find the right location. 

His concept was to create a residential and vacation community in an ecologically-friendly location, in perfect harmony with nature. It was to be a place where people could enjoy peace and tranquillity, but still be near a major conurbation (in this case BA, just 30 kilometres away), so homeowners could quickly access their private haven to de-stress. It also needed to be in an area where it would be possible to enjoy the facilities that riverside living can offer i.e. fishing, boating, sailing, swimming, bird watching or just chilling out in a hammock. The idea would be to implement a stringent building and condominium code so as to ensure the community didn’t turn into a concrete ghetto, so fondly preferred by discount holiday-makers in certain areas of Spain. The ecologically-friendly project would include a communal swimming pool and a quincho (an area for BBQ’s), both on a raised deck with stunning views over the site). 

The island would also have walkways stretching across the island, thus offering both exercise trails and opportunities for bird watching and enjoyment of the wonderful nature that the Delta offers. And, just as importantly, the project would have to offer designs to buyers for ecologically-sensitive houses that could be built efficiently, both in terms of cost, energy conservation and construction timetable. Dos Rios would offer a total service from purchase of the lot, design of the house and construction of the house to the finished product. The owner, if he wished, would only be required to choose the plot and colour of the hammock!

We arrived in 20 minutes to a location that can only be described as wonderful.

Paradise Found

The Delta is a perfect location for Hugo’s ‘Dos Rios’ project. It consists of 74 hectares of land, of which only half will be used for lots and houses. There are just 32 lots, each in excess of 1 hectare. Each plot has a minimum of 75 metres of river frontage. The rest of the land will be a communal wonderland of naturist glory - a place to totally rest and de-stress. There are not many places in the world that can offer what the Dos Rios project can offer you. I was so impressed I immediately made an offer to buy one of the plots (even though at this stage none were for sale!). Upon returning to the mainland however, I decided to do the cautious thing and do some research.

My research revealed some surprising facts. One being that it was impossible to purchase a plot of land in the Delta with the facilities being offered by the Dos Rios project for less than $45 000 USD.  What’s more, this price was for only 400 metres, and with no river frontage! Hugo’s first release on Dos Rios was going to be offered at $25 000 USD, the plots would be at least 10 times bigger, and all were going to have at least 75 metres of river frontage.

It didn’t take much to persuade me that once the first release the plots where put on sale I would buy one. After all, I already had my chic apartment in the centre of BA. Now I would be able to build my own river-side property, and with building cost at say $500 USD per m2 I could build a 100 m2 house with its own water frontage for $75 000USD – a dream come true.

I bought a plot on Dos Rios along with ten other eager purchasers who snapped up the first releases. As we purchased early, we were able to get them a bit cheaper than they are being offered now. But even at second release prices, the lots are still without doubt a great buy. Land in the delta at Dos Rios prices is still a bargain but lots are now in short supply. All 10 lots have been sold from the first release, and there will be a subsequent limited release of lots as from 1st December, with prices from $30 000USD per lot. 

Why Dos Rios?

Why so cheap compared to other projects in the area I hear you ask. Easy really – in this location you will pay at the minimum of 40000US for a plot 10 times smaller and that’s without direct river frontage and you could pay double that for a 500sm2 plot with river frontage but only 40m2 of it. What makes Dos Rios even more attractive is that these alternative plots are located within the same location as Dos Rios. One of the differences is that these plots are on islands where the infrastructure work has been completed. You can see the finished product i.e. crystal clear swimming pools, finished houses, walkways, and people enjoying a drink in a shady place or just chilling in a hammock. Dos Rios is some months away from seeing the swimming pool, walkways, electricity network and communal areas finished. However, once they are finished, the prices are expected to go up – considerably. Dos Rios plots are being sold off-plan, and those that have the vision to see the future value will reap huge rewards.

The other distinguishing feature of Dos Rios is that, unlike ostensibly competing projects in the region, it offers a true ecological focus, with an emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the local environment. The other aforementioned product is very much ‘suburbia on the water’, with the typical features you would expect on a gated community in the mainland – manicured lawns, tennis courts and typical suburban housing styles. And added to this, destruction of most of the natural vegetation.

At the very least you will own a valuable plot of land in a unique location. Don’t forget the Argentine economy is growing at an impressive rate, and wages and consumer demand are both rising – and are predicted to continue rising (http://www.buenosairesherald.com/business/note.jsp?idContent=327716).  Plots like these are going to be more and more in demand. If you do decide to go ahead and build your house you will have a house in a location that you will absolutely fall in love with, and what’s more, it will have been purchased at a price that will soon be impossible to find. And if you want a service that includes everything, then Hugo can offer this with no problem. On the other hand, if you want to be hands-on and build your own house, you will be more than welcome, subject of course to compliance with the provisions of Dos Rios’ environmentally-oriented building code.

As I write, work is already progressing on Dos Rios and by Christmas the structures of the Show House and Caretaker’s House will be complete – it’s all systems go. To me Dos Rios represents an excellent investment – even if you never build a house on your plot you will be the owner of an exciting piece of property. If you decide to build (and I sincerely hope you do) you will have a haven away from the stress and strains of the modern world. If you live in Europe or North America you can come here in the northern winter months and enjoy fabulous weather while the snows fall back home. I remember the famous phrase by Victor Kiam who said “I liked the product so much I bought the company”. Well I haven’t purchased the whole of Dos Rios but I have confidently purchased a plot and am confident it will turn into an excellent investment.

My next dream is the Estancia I am buying in La Pampas, but that’s another story. In the meantime I just want to say that to me Argentina is country where your dreams really can come true. I’m a living, breathing example of that. Hey is that Annie Lennox singing “Sweet Dreams Are Made of These” I hear on the radio? 

Saludos,

David Cummings