I,ll provide the following experience to qualify my opinion on Ecuador real estate:
I am currently a commercial construction Project Manager. I have been in construction my whole life. I have built 1 of my homes in the past years and just finished a 1000 sq ft remodel preparing our home to sell for our permanent relocation.
I purchased our beachfront condo in Ecuador 3 years ago for a total of 45K furnished including all fees and our attorney. The exact same floor plans in the building are being listed to Americans from 80-125K. The differance is I bought directly from an Ecuadorian.
We are starting to look for our inland home this year in the Cumbaya/Tumbaco area.
My motive here is to try and help people to not get ripped off by the english websites, real estate tours, english speaking agents, ect... I dont know about you but I work hard for each dollar I earn and am not about to throw away thousands of dollars to someone saying ' trust me'.
I have met personaly, and hear stories of too many people over paying for their real estate in Ecuador. As Ecuador continues to be rated as the #1 place to retire I see these places 'that are here to help you with all your needs' sprouting up like weeds more and more each year. There are some good people out there with excellent services but generaly if real estate is one of the services provided directly or by referal its almost always overpriced.
Here is a method to keep you on the right track. There are always conditions that require adding more or subtracting less value to this method.
1) Pick any gringo website with properties anywhere in Ecuador.
2) Note the price and if its listed in square feet and convert it to sq meters with an online calculator tool.
3) Now open up a window with the website vive1.com
(Its similar to a US MLS)
4) Choose your area, departmento or casa, and look at the price per sq meter trend graph to the right and the current price.
5) Now take the price per square meter from vive1 site and multiply it by the square meters from your english speaking listing.
6) What you,ll see after you crunch several properties around Ecaudor in this manner is that the english sites have a typical mark-up of 25% on up.
7) Another consideration is that the vive1 site prices per sq meter are based on an Ecuadorian financing his home. Most of the properties an this site are newer or under construction.
8) Hypothetical example:
English site: $100,000 condo
Same condo being sold to Ecuadorians on vive1 $75,000
The Ecuadorian does not have alot of negotiating power on the price because he is financing, Maybe he gets it for $73,000.
Now:Ecuadorian paying cash has the stroke and he gets it for $60,000.
So this same condo sells beween private parties for $60,000 but would list on the gringo site for $100,000.
English real state listing agents get the great deal you read about all the time but you pay the premium. This is why alot of the places being sold by the gringo agents are already owned by them.
I proved this by way of buying my own condo from an Ecuadorian while the others that come up for sale being sold by gringos in my building are double or more in selling price.( And that does not include your lawyer and other fees either.)
The better deals are on the Ecuadorian websites.
The best deals are by word of mouth or sevende signs hanging in the window. This is how we will find our second home. Just driving around the Quito valley looking for signs, asking people, ect....When my wife went to the beatuy salon in Cumbaya last year the owner knew about 2 properties for sale.
You really can buy an unbelievable amount of house for the money in Ecuador. Absolutely beautiful places for the money.
I realize this way of doing business is not for everyone.
Not in their comfort zone to go at it alone (always use a lawyer of course no matter what. and not one recomended by the realtor your buying from.)
Be a tough negotiator on the price if you must use one of the predatory agents. You can still get a nice place and a better standard of living that the states for your money. you may however have a really hard time selling your place at the price you purchased it at if you change your mind and want to move withing a couple of years though.
Good luck to all those relocating to Ecuador with a hope you find a deal that suites you which ever path you choose.
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