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HGQ2112
Joined 2009
Posts: 1640

Real Estate Report - Montañita

12 years ago

I generally release extremely condensed excerpts from real estate country analysis reports on July 1, 2012, for public consumption. This year, business matters and various personal matters have kept me from being punctual. Utilizing the better late than never theory, I offer them as segmented summaries, with each city having its own thread. I wanted to present them in one Ecuador thread, but it would be huge. Frankly, many people won’t even read them and those that do will likely want to focus on one or two cities. I would say that this format will cause folks to have to “hunt and peck” for data, but I still deemed it the lesser of two evils.

This data is presented only for those who have an interest in their real estate purchase, also being an investment asset. For those just looking to buy a pretty house, no point in reading further. The perspectives shared are not for every buyer. Some have different motivations for their purchase, besides sound investing, and those perspectives should be equally respected.

We have a simple system for rating a locale:

Sell - We recommend selling your asset or portfolio as quickly as possible.
Hold - If you have bought already, hang onto the asset and wait for further market developments. If you have not bought already, then do not buy now, but perhaps begin to look around for future opportunities.
Buy - Means that it is a good time to acquire an initial or additional real estate asset in that sub-market, due to favorable long-term market trends.
Strong Buy - Means that an exceptional market opportunity exists and that the time is right for the immediate consideration of an initial or additional real estate asset acquisition in this sub-market. For those looking at portfolio diversity, spreading assets across “strong buy” markets is advised, prior to focusing on “buy” markets, if investment opportunities is your sole or primary reason for purchasing real estate.

We also employ two trending systems. The first is an upward mobility and downward mobility system intended to dictate if this property market is in an upswing or downswing from the last time we reported on it. Upswing markets will be denoted by an ? and downswing markets by a ?.

Also, we place certain markets “on watch”. This is neither a necessarily good or bad thing, but a caution that a pending review to upgrade or downgrade the market is imminent. We try our best to project whether that review is likely to be positive or negative, but some market dynamics are so complex that this projection is not always 100% accurate. it should be used for guidance and not as statements of certainty.

Without further delay...here is data for the market you selected to view:

Montañita Strong Buy (Commercial Space Only)
The only locale that makes it to this report, lifted from the commercial, not residential, section of our consulting data. In short, Montañita, proper, really has limited, near non-existent - “residential investment grade” real estate to speak of, but in 5 years it has risen to challenge and possibly dethrone Salinas as the coastal “entertainment hot spot”. What I can say, without a doubt, is that in the last 5 years, Montañita has run marketing circles around Salinas and it shows. No need to remind me that it sits half-vacant a good deal of the time (for now), but where in Salinas can you find an establishment to rival Nativa Bambu or the Dharma Cafe and, its soon to be completed, Dharma Hotel complement? You can feel the commercial sector driven energy in Montañita on any Friday or Saturday night and try to equate that “commercial frenzy”, with either Salinas or Manta. In fact, I could argue that not even the Mariscal in Quito has that much energy and vibe, all driven from a commercial base, which seems generally willing to help each other grow, for the better good of the local market (and their bottom line). In short, if you are looking for a hot spot to place a commercial enterprise, it would be sinful to forsake Montañita. For the commercial market, it remains a “strong buy” for yet another year, with the only drawback remaining a woefully inadequate sewage system.

Hector G. Quintana
[email protected]
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell, “1984”

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Real Estate Report - Montañita

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