Where to live? Rent or buy, neighborhood by neighborhood

Before signing

1. If you rent: first the guarantee, then the apartment

   The accounting department and ANDA accept rents up to 40% of your nominal income, and Mapfre up to 30%. Knowing which ones accept you tells you how much to look for, and some approvals take weeks.

   Compare warranties

2. Written contract and inventory

   Ask for the contract before paying the deposit, take photos of the property's condition on the day you arrive, and document anything that was already broken. If it's not in writing, you can't claim anything later.

   First-time rental guide

3. The commission is not mandatory

   One month plus VAT is a fee charged by the Real Estate Chamber, not a law. It's only payable if you signed the agreement; listings from direct owners are exempt.

   Real estate commission

4. If you buy: the credit card with the date

   I asked for the effective interest rate with all charges, the amortization schedule, and the cost of early repayment. Two loans with the same interest rate end up costing different amounts due to insurance and fees.

   Mortgage loan

5. Certificates and debts before the promise

   The notary requests the property registry certificates and proof of outstanding property taxes and other municipal levies, which in Montevideo are linked to the property. No deposit will be paid without these.

   Property tax (IM)

6. The ITP is calculated on the cadastral value

   The Property Transfer Tax is 2% for each party on the actual value established by the Land Registry, not on the agreed price. I requested a written statement of the tax liability.

   ITP at the DGI

How to calculate

• Prices. For each neighborhood, the median asking price for a 2-bedroom apartment is calculated based on rentals from listings in the last ten days and sales from current listings, always with 8 or more listings. This is the asking price, not the actual sale price.
• The rent that is enough. The accounting department and ANDA accept rent payments up to 40% of nominal income; Mapfre, up to 30% of declared income, and allows for the combined income of up to five people. If you set your own limit, send it to us and we'll compare it against rent plus common expenses.
• What you can afford to buy. The lower of two ceilings: what your savings cover (the portion not financed by the loan plus purchase expenses) and what the maximum monthly payment allows on your net income, which we estimate by subtracting pension contributions, FONASA (National Health Fund), FRL (Retirement Fund), and IRPF (Personal Income Tax) as if it were a single salary (with two salaries, the actual net income is somewhat higher). In UI (Indexed Units), from 4,50% annual effective rate, up to 25 years, financing 90% and the monthly payment can reach 25% of disposable income (30% with direct debit from payroll). In UI, 4,00% up to 10 years and 4,75% from 11 to 30 years; for the general public, terms up to 20 years are advertised, financing 80% and the monthly payment can reach 35% of income. The monthly payment is calculated using the annual effective rate converted to a monthly rate.
• Purchase expenses. Transfer tax (ITP) 2% of the buyer's percentage of the cadastral value, deed registration 3% to 5% of the price (market reference, not a tariff), and commission 3% + VAT if a real estate agency is involved. The higher end of the range is used to determine the potential savings.
• What is the neighborhood like? Complaints from the Ministry of the Interior, power outages from UTE (the state-owned electricity company), water outages from OSE (the state-owned water company), complaints regarding sanitation, cleaning, and street lighting from the Municipality, and nearby services from OpenStreetMap. Each neighborhood is compared to all other neighborhoods measured: "fewer complaints than 70%" means that 70% of the neighborhoods have more. These are records, not an individual risk. The water data is published in its entirety, zone by zone, in scheduled water outages by neighborhood, with how many did OSE notify in each one.
• The order. Each neighborhood is scored based on price, square footage per square meter, complaints, services, electricity and water, and, if you're buying, profitability. What you mark as important is worth triple, and any missing information is worth half a point.

It does not include property tax or primary education tax, which depend on the cadastral value of each property, nor mortgage insurance. For the complete rent-to-own calculation, including the opportunity cost of the down payment, there is the calculatorTo compare neighborhoods on a map, the neighborhood comparison.