 "Real Estate Commissions"
The "standard" real estate commissions for rentals are:1 month rent for 1 year contracts 1/2 month rent for 6 month contracts and 10% of a month for shorter terms. As far as the escibano. Why not call a different escribano and ask how much to prepare a rental contract. If the price is much less tell the owner you'll have your escribano write the contract. Additionally all rental deposits are required by law to be deposited in the Banco de la Hipotacaria. The advantages: - The money can only be removed with the signature of both parties, so you can be sure your deposit will be refunded. ie: it's a DEPOSIT and not working capital for the owner. - You earn "interest" on the deposit (actually, I think it is an indexed kind of thing so the increase is based on inflation or something). The disadvantages: - The account has to be in Pesos. You have to pay the bank a commission to deposit it (like 5%). - It is often a long wait in line. Disadvantages of not using it: - You might have a hassle getting your deposit back. I rented two places with cash deposits to the owners (2 months rent for a 3 month rental, and 3 months rent for a 6 month rental). On the second one the owner was doing to hold my deposit for a month or so after I moved to wait for the final electric bill. My real estate agent calculated an estimate of the bill.. to be about US$20 for my portion and the owner was going to keep US$1350 to secure that. My real estate agent suggested I would keep the keys and that resulted in the immediate refund of my deposit. - For the owners, there are horrendous penalties in the rental laws for abusing the deposit provisions. Obviously there is no "tenants union" type groups active... For short term rentals it is probably not too big a deal, if you can afford to lose the deposit. You'll probably also more likely to be hit with cleaning fees and other nickel and dime things when you move out. The maximum deposit allowed for residential properties is 5 months rent. Some owners ask for him, and I think those that agree are simply training them that N. Americans are suckers willing to pay too much for stuff. Expert Page: Quick Tips for Getting Settled in Uruguay | 
