The "Boleto" is a contract between the parties where the seller obligates himself to transfer the property of the apartment to the buyer in a certain date, and you (the buyer) agree to make the payment/s.

The contract regulates the conditions of the sale. You should definitively make this contract read by an Argentine  Lawyer.

This contract is usually standard and will vary depending if the apartment is under construction, or has been already finished, if you are buying cash or using a bank loan, etc.

When you sign the Boleto, you have to pay a percentage of the price agreed. The usual payment for boleto is from 30% to 50%, but I heard cases where they asked up to 80%.

This contract doesn't transmit the property, but obligates the seller to do it, and the other part to pay the price.

If you don't pay in the agreed way and time, you will loose the part of the price you already paid.

 In the case the seller doesn't fulfill his obligation to transmit the property rights he will have to give you back the double of what you paid (half of it as a compensation for damages).

The parties establish in the contract the name of the Notary (escribano) who will intervene, the day and place where the escritura will be signed.

When possible you should propose the seller after making the offer and paying the Reserva, to do the Escritura directly (transfer of the property rights) and skip this step of signing the Boleto and paying at least 30% upfront.

You should be firm insisting about this condition, so you minimize the risks to zero.

This way you only risk loosing the reservation payment made with the Offer which is usually no more than a a copule of thousand pesos (U$S 300-600 dollars).

The seller may accept or not your proposal, for him is very comfortable position to have the 30% of the money while the Notary studies the property titles.

The reason for asking to sign the Escritura directly is that before the signature of the Escritura you only have creditor rights which  are  less strong than the owner rights that you will acquire once Escritura is signed by your Notary.

I said if possible, because in some cases for example if the building is under construction, the Escritura cannot be  signed until the building is finished. So if you buy off plan, or in a building under construction you will necesarily have to sign the Boleto.

Model Contracts to Download (Spanish)

 Boleto de Compraventa Model.doc

 Boleto de Compraventa Model (Building under Construction).doc