Completion Time Frame: 7 days (regular Stepfor domain certificate and personal annotation certificate), 1 day (urgent procedure) (simultaneous with procedures 2 and 3)
Completion Costs: Domain Certificate: ARS 65 (urgent) or ARS 32 (regular)
Personal Annotation Certificate: ARS 55 (urgent) or ARS 25 (regular)
Points to Note:
The domain certificate sets forth that the property is free and clear of liens and or encumbrances. The personal annotation certificate (“Certificado de dominio e inhibiciones”) sets forth that there is no judicial order restraining the seller from disposing of his assets. The domain certificate and a personal annotation are valid for 15 days. The cost increases by AR$ 12 for every other data subject enquired for the property.

Step 2: Obtain a “certificado catastral”

Completion Time Frame: 1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1 and 3)
Completion Costs: ARS 31
Points to Note:
The notary requests the cadastral certificate (with measures, boundaries and fiscal valuation) at the Cadastral office (“Oficina catastral”). The certificate is valid for one year. There is no need of a surveyor measuring the property

Step3: Obtain a certificate stating that no local taxes are due

Completion Time Frame: 3 days (simultaneous with procedures 1 and 2)
Completion Costs: ARS 30
Points to Note:
This certificate (“Certificado de libre deuda de impuestos municipals-ABL”) is obtained at the Notaries’ association (“Colegio de Escribanos”). Local taxes are known as ABL (“alumbrado, barrido y limpieza”, street light and cleaning). The certificate is valid for 1 year.

Step 4: The public deed is executed by the parties with the intervention of a notary public

Completion Time Frame: 14-28 days
Completion Costs: Notary public fees: 1-1.5% of the purchase price (usually paid by buyer)
Stamp Tax: 3 % of the purchase price (usually paid jointly)
Transfer Tax: 3% of the purchase price (paid by seller)
Points to Note:
The public deed is the only document which is mandatory by law to transfer a property’s ownership.
Transactions subject to Capital Gains Tax are not subject to Transfer Tax (this is the case when companies are parties to the transaction). Capital Gains Tax is paid by the seller. However, this tax is not applicable if the money collected by seller for the transfer of property is used to buy another property within a year of the sale or for the construction of a new property. In this last case, for the tax waiver to apply, the construction has to start a year after or a year before the transaction and it has to be completed 4 years after the date of the transaction.
The notary will retain the 3% for the transfer tax, but if the transaction is subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT), he will use this amount to pay the CGT. If the transaction has been arranged through a broker, his fees will be about 3% of the purchase price

Step 5: The notary public files the property transfer for registration with the Real Property Register

Completion Time Frame: 28 days
Completion Costs: ARS 48 (regular) or ARS 120 (urgent) + 0.2% property price additional stamp tax
Points to Note:
Upon registration, the buyer will have perfect and complete title to the property, opposable to third parties. The registration fees are usually paid by the buyer. The notary has 45 days to register the property transfer. At this stage, the property title can be used as a collateral for a loan, or the property can be resold.