Where Your Money Sits in a Cross-Border Purchase
The biggest fear in a cross-border purchase is the wire transfer: sending a life-changing amount of money to a country you don't know, to people you just met. The answer is not a slogan. It is knowing, in writing, where your money is at every step and what has to happen before it moves.
How payment works in Argentina
An Argentine purchase usually has two moments. When the purchase agreement (the boleto) is signed, the buyer pays a deposit. The balance is paid on the day the deed (the escritura) is signed before the escribano, and the keys are handed over that same day. Registration of the deed in the property registry follows afterwards, and can take weeks or months.
That order matters. No seller hands over a house and then waits months to be paid, so any arrangement that promises to hold your money "until the deed is registered" does not match how closings work here.
What escrow is, and what it can do
Escrow is a three-party arrangement: buyer, seller, and a neutral agent who holds the funds under a written agreement. In a cross-border purchase it can give you a written record of where your money is, who is holding it, and the exact documents that release it. A realistic release condition is a documented closing package: the signed deed, the escribano's certificate and up-to-date title and lien certificates.
What escrow can't do
- It is not a U.S. closing. There is no U.S. title company and no title insurance on an Argentine property.
- It can't hold funds until registration, for the reason above.
- It only works if the seller, the escribano and the escrow agent all accept the same release conditions, in writing, before you wire.
Questions worth asking any seller or agent
- When exactly is each payment made: at the boleto, at the escritura, or another date?
- Against which documents is each payment released?
- If a third party holds the funds, who is it, what is their license number, and under which law is the agreement?
- What happens to my money if closing doesn't happen by the agreed date?
A professional counterparty answers these happily. Hesitation is information.
How we handle it. Payment terms and release conditions are agreed in writing before anything moves, and your own attorney can review them in English. If you want a third party to hold the funds, we discuss the options with you before you commit. See our five-step process.
The bottom line
You should never have to choose between the home you want and the safety of your money. Ask for every payment, and the documents that release it, in writing before you wire. Any transaction that can't give you that deserves a hard look.