This past week I began my property hunt here in Ecuador… with a $30k budget.
I did quickly notice prices have risen a bit since I last looked in 2009, but desirable properties under $50k can still be found. In fact, it only took me a couple days to find some very interesting buys (more on that in next weeks newsletter).
But this week, while property hunting with a friend of mine who has a much larger budget than me, I witnessed something astonishing.
We found a small hotel for sale on the coast. We sat down with the owner, a young Ecuadorian girl married to a Foreigner. During our conversation she mentioned the asking price was $500,000.
A few days later my friend (as I was sitting by his side) emailed his offer to her, $135,000. And to my surprise, the owner received the offer very warmly, responded quickly and was very close to accepting, I believe my friend will up a bit to $150 or $175k and it just may do the trick.
Which serves for a very important lesson this week! In Ecuador, asking prices are HIGHLY negotiable, and its not uncommon people offer from 25% of what is being asked. This kind of stuff never ceases to amaze me but this is how it really is down here in Latin America. Gotta love it!
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