The top beach in Ecuador to find cheap beachfront real estate right now?

This is part 3 of 3 in this series on where’s the cheapest, undiscovered places to still find your own small piece of the beach in Ecuador in August of 2013… front-line beachfront lots for personal use preferibly under $15k or a beachfront house under $50k.  
Today’s pick might surprise you.
Chances are you’ve never seen it mentioned before now.
Actually, most Ecuadorians haven’t even heard of it, but it’s just minutes from one of the top tourist destinations on the coast… Atacames.Sua.Sua is a tiny, little village on the sea where most of the inhibitants work in agriculture or tourism (in the nearby town of Atacames).  There are only a couple hotels sprinkled through the town and barely a hint of tourists. There is a vast list of online shops for you to visit to, after that you can decide on which store can give you products and services at a very reasonable price. In this way, you can be sure that the amount you are paying for is equivalent to its value. The best way to evaluate the website, which you are planning to acquire specific materials, is through reading the customer reviews and product description. Through this, you have a cool way of comparing things, making you decide on what is better, what will give you long lasting materials and better results from the moment you involve yourself in water sport or any other boating experience. Visit https://www.merrittsupply.com/ for the best wholesale merritt supply.
But unlike many small, undeveloped towns on the coast of Ecuador it’s NOT a fishing village!  Meaning no ‘fishy’ smells, no hooks baried in the sand waiting to be embedded in your foot, nor ugly fishing boats docked just off the beach.We buy houses projects can offer advantages to battling mortgage holders. However, they can likewise cause more damage than anything else. At whatever point there is a chance to make cash, you can wager there will be con artists. With the current lodging market emergency, a lot of chances exist. On the off chance that you have to sell your home brisk, odds are you’re now in alarm mode. In the present recessed lodging market it is elusive a certified buyer. Also, the individuals who are buying need a low-ball cost on an over-esteemed home. The colorado springs real estate investor Bonnie Buys Houses fast.

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The rise in the number of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages has increased so much that a very large number of them have decided that they cannot afford to stay in their homes. They would rather sell their home and buy a comparable home for a much lower price, and take the loss so that they can improve their cash flow situation by having a lower mortgage payment each month. And since there is no shortage of properties to buy, these people had no problem finding a suitable home for a good price.

And another result of the rise in available properties is that more and more people are becoming first-time homeowners. Since prices on homes are falling, more and more people are able to afford a home for the same amount they are currently paying in rent. So the logical choice for these people is to buy a house rather than continuing to rent.

And the beach is a beautiful little cove with white sand and sapphire-blue transparent water.And it is arguably the best beach for swimmers in all of Ecuador with table-top flat, still water and with little boat traffic.
And now as I sit here in August, the sun is out, which is a rarity for this month further south on the coast.
The locals are friendly, vibrant mulattos used to the sight of outsiders being just a 5 minute Tuk-tuk ride from Atacames.Food.  Forget about it!  Its amazing, you’ll love the Esmeraldas food, primarily seafoods marinated in coconut juice and other spices.  (Encocados)Both along the boardwalk in Sua and particularly in neighboring Atacames you’ll find plenty of good restaurants.  Hospitals and shopping centers can be found in neighboring Atacames or 25 minutes away in Esmeraldas.

And did I mention there are MANY smaller properties available right on the beach for sale by private owner… front-line beachfront.  Most have ‘for sale’ signs, some don’t.

One two-story house is asking $62k.  Another is asking less than half that but it is a tear-down, only the beachfront lot is worth something.  There is also a 14-room beachfront hotel for sale asking $200k (negotiable).

It’s a true buyers market, a low-priced hidden gem, which can’t be said for many beaches further south on the coast.

Did I mention, you’re also just a half hour from the nearest airport (in Esmeraldas)?

But is it safe being near Esmeraldas and so close to Colombia?

Well, this place is south of Esmeraldas, and Esmeraldas is actually much farther from Colombia than people realize, being several hours south of the border.  So in my experience, you’re fine.  Esmeraldas itself gets a bad rap but the locals are actually quite friendly and Sua is still a bit of a distance from the city itself.
One negative to buying beachfront here might be that for many of the properties there is a malecon or boardwalk between the property and the beach, but it does not have much traffic (if any) other than the occasional pedestrian.

Also, for most of the year it would be quiet but for Ecuadorian holidays it may get noisy towards the north end of the boardwalk when restaurants place boom boxes outside their storefront to attract Ecuadorian customers. They tried following examples of other big companies like Salesforce, which stress the importance of introducing chat bots to improve customer service.

But overall, I see real short-term potential for growth for Sua as the spill-over from beautiful Atacames has to go somewhere (and it can’t go north, so it must come south).

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The 2nd best beach in Ecuador to find cheap beachfront property

This is part 2 of 3 in this series on where’s the best, undiscovered places to still find your own small piece of the beach in Ecuador… cheap, small front-line beachfront lots for personal use preferibly under $15k.  
Today’s pick is probably not on your Ecuador beach property house-hunting itinerary.
But it is one of the sunniest beaches in Ecuador (by far).

Has very little humidity nor insects (comparatively).

Is within an hour and a half of an international airport and first-world style hospitals.

Has great, empty waves for surfers.

At night, you can see stars, lots of them, and like in many small towns, hear a pin drop. (Ok, almost.)

And is only minutes from an already well-known Ecuador beach town and a new, large SuperMaxi mega-shopping center.

And did I mention the forgotten beachfront lots that are cheap… very cheap.

Welcome to todays pick… Engabao.  

In Engabao you’ll feel like you’re on the edge of the world.  Not many people here.  There are a few hostels though that cater to the surfers that seasonally migrate to these shores.

Only 15 minutes northwest up the coast from Playas, you’ll feel a lot farther away.

Heading north away from ‘town’ a few folks have already ‘seen the signs’ and have bought in and erected vacation homes for sale.  But vacant, often abandoned beachfront lots can be had, and had cheap, recently, I’ve seen smallish 250m2-1000m2 beachfront lots for sale in this area anywhere from $15-30 USD per square meter while beachfront land in other areas of the coast often command $60-150 per m2.

Surf is the key for a town to have explosive growth potential.  Discos, hotels, restaurants and other amendities can be added later.  But a town either has surf or it doesn’t.

Don’t look far for an example of a town on the Ecuador coast that started with not much more than a decent surf, that exploded in a matter of 2-3 years since about mid-2009 as it got discovered by both the local and international travel community (Montanita).

And while Montanita is 3 hours from the nearest major city and international airport (Guayaquil) this town is only about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours away.

Now, I don’t expect this place to explode, not overnight anyway, it’s too raw just like the last pick, Chanduy.

And frankly, its not for the mainstream expat looking for the standard services (just yet) and put down roots.

But it is an interesting investment option.

Now, Engabao does have its disadvantages… like (lack of) population, (lack of) basic food options, spotty basic services (water, electricity, internet), the dry, desert-like moon-scape, and the access road from Playas is 20 minutes of pot holes.

But that’s why its cheap.  And as of now, there is inventory for sale, and potential indeed is here.

After all, what else would you expect from a cheap, low priced, undiscovered beachfront option!

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Chasing the ‘holy-grail’ of Ecuador: Cheap beachfront property, part 1 of 3

 

 

What if you only had 5 days to look for cheap beachfront property in Ecuador?
And you were only interested in something front line, I mean right on the ocean.
You want to walk out the front of your house and be able to wiggle your toes in the sand.
You know, something that would cost millions in California, New Jersey or even Costa Rica.
A block back… no good… not interested… and you got a LOW budget, you want something small just for you, I’m talking $20k or less.
You can’t dick around.
You’d be wasting your valuable time going somewhere like Olon, Montanita or Canoa where prices have already jumped in recent years and there is little to no front-line beachfront availability.
I’d start in these 3 places that stand out in my mind as the ‘top three opportunity’ areas right now in July of 2013.
3 undiscovered places on the coast where you can still find that holy grail, or in other words really cheap, yet desirable, undiscovered beachfront property.
You can always buy one or two blocks back…  But let’s face it, front-line beachfront property is a limited commodity.

And the first town in this series, the one I reveal to you today is where i found the one I bought the 500m2 front-line beachfront lot a few months ago for $4300.
Of course, these are not the only places in Ecuador with cheap beachfront.
And big lots with cheap ‘per meter’ values can be had all up and down the coast particularly between the towns, but you are still looking at a several hundred thousand dollar investment with those larger lots.  So that’s not what im talking about with these three picks.
These 3 picks are a good place to start for someone looking to spend a few thousand bucks to have their own piece of the beach, a slab maybe big enough for a house with a small yard.  Maybe 500m2 or so.
They’re completely undiscovered, and this is probably the first time you’ve even heard them mentioned… anywhere!
Over the last 2 years I’ve witnessed places like Montanita, Playas, Canoa, Ayampe and Ballenita jump in beachfront prices.  Could these 3 be next?
Here is my first pick to find CHEAP beachfront property (over the next week you’ll get the next two picks in this series):  
Chanduy.

“Where?”  You might say.
Maybe I have you scrambling for a map.
Don’t worry, if this town wasn’t put on your house-hunting itinerary you’re not the only one!
This town is south of Salinas and north of Playas, almost right inbetween.
What?

You didn’t know there was a town between those two?  Well, there is, its just not well known and certainly not touristy.

To date almost zero foreigners have bought here.  Ok one if you count me.  This is where I found that 500m2, $4300 beachfront lot (that has proper title).
Chanduy is a fishing village, with a large fishery on the far end of town.
There’s one little hostal in town only open on (some) weekends.
Its about 45 minutes from the boardwalk of Salinas, or 30 minutes from the big malls and shopping of Santa Elena.
It’s a dusty,dry, rather vacant town on one of the sunniest stretches of beach in Ecuador.  Raw… yes!
The beach is golden, long but not wide, and there is surf, but its better for body surfers than for surfers.
So how has this town remained a completly undiscovered secret being so relatively close to the Salinas area?
Because its out of the way.
It’s not anywhere near the main coastal road like so many towns on the coast of Ecuador.
Its VERY easy to drive past the sign.
You actually have to turn off the highway that connects Guayaquil to Salinas and drive down a shoddy (yet paved) road with some pretty big potholes about 15-20 minutes just to get to the town and the beach.
The going price for most lots seem to be around $10-20 per m2 and that can even be for a beachfront smallish lot for a single family residence.
Does this place have potential?
Well the location is great, less than a half hour from amendities and shopping malls (in Santa Elena near Salinas).

And less than two hours from an international airport in Guayaquil (GYE).

Its also one of the sunniest, least humid beaches in all of Ecuador.
The locals are friendly but not very used to the sight of foreigners.
And its not a big place so with just a couple dozen foreigners buying in the price could really move.  But it won’t happen overnight.  I see this as a good 1-3 year investment.
For pics just Google “Chanduy”.  There’s some decent ones on there.
Can’t say I dont put my money where my mouth is!

 

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Guayaquil: the top short-term rental opp in Ecuador?

guayaquil real estate
Las Penas near the boardwalk in Guayaquil.

Most expats and travelers in Ecuador just skip it.

It’s hot, it’s humid and the mosquitos plentiful. But if you stay there for a while, you’ll automatically be compelled to know the best way to stop mosquito bites from itching.

Ecuadorians will tell you not to go there cause it’s dangerous.

Welcome to Guayaquil.  Ecuador’s largest city and top international port.

But after a year of living there I can honestly say it is also a great investment for short-term, furnished, up-scale rental properties.

There simply is more demand than supply.  And it’s year round!

Guayaquil along with the heat and humidity also happens to be the main crossroads of Ecuador.  Wherever you’re going, chances are you’ll need to pass by Guayaquil.

Locals in the city haven’t quite grasped the idea, and almost all the properties for rent ask for long-term leases (1 or 2 years) and come unfurnished.

But…

…it’s an easy sell to many executives and travelers alike as to why stay in a hotel room for weeks or months when you can enjoy the privacy of your own apartment and kitchen.

There’s money in Guayaquil.

And you’ll soon discover you’ll have just as much interest from local, Ecuadorian executives as you will from foreign travelers just passing through maybe on their way to the Galapagos… or maybe on their way from Salinas/Montanita to Cuenca (they have to pass through Guayaquil).

You could rent by the night, week or month to month.

So where in Guayaquil is best for this type of rental?

Well, I’d avoid the city center like the plague although the river boardwalk (malecon) while nice to visit in the daytime it’s dodgy at night.  I’d avoid the south of the city too cause it’s just plain ghetto.  Samborondon is nice, and where the local rich live but it’s far away from everything and your renters will need a car to rent there from you.

Urdesa is a pleasant neighborhood with lots of restaurants that is nice to live with tree-lined streets but being in a narrow valley the traffic during rush hour can get untolerably bottlenecked, not for me.

I’d stick to the north central part of town between the city center and the airport.  Particularly, I like the Kennedy Norte area and even more specifically the Plaza del Sol area.

The Plaza del Sol area is the new city financial center, right next to the Mall Del Sol and where both travelers and the locals (with money) want to be.

You’re in the middle of everything.  A few minutes from the airport, a few minutes to Urdesa or Samborondon or even the old city center.

There is a Sheraton and Howard Johnson in the area too.  The Hilton is nearby.

There are a few condo towers I like specifically with pools, parking, elevator and 24 hour receptionist.  Two are the twin towers adjoined to the Howard Johnson, and another is the Elite Tower across the street.  In any of these towers you can find a luxury one bedroom suite starting around $85k resale.  The two bedroom start about $10-20k more.  The suites rent for $1100-1200 a month, or around $80 a night.  But there are VERY few for rent as short-term furnished rentals!

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Ecuador a safe haven for enemies of the USA?

I recently got this email from a subscriber…

“I enjoy your emails about Ecuador but have become concerned that it  is becoming known as the safe haven of enemies of the United States.  First it was Julian Assange from Wikileaks, and now it is Edward Snowden.”

My response: 

Well, yes, it is becoming a safe-haven, isn’t it obvious!

This is what happens when a leader plays to his own ego instead of doing what’s truly best for the country.

Maybe, being an oil-producing country with plentiful fresh water sources and extremely fertile farmland, Ecuador really doesn’t need the US, but someday it might.

What I do know is there’s quite a few folks in Ecuador whose clients are primarily North Americans (paticularily in the tourism and exporting industries), and if Ecuador starts to garner a bad rap, than yes, these businesses will be hurt.

Now I hate politics as much as anybody and don’t want to get into it but I look at it like this…

Any little guy like myself with leanings toward dorkiness… yet survived middle school in the USA knows it doesn’t pay to tick off a bully.  There’s nothing to be gained from it, you’re best to lay low, mind your own business and let the authorities sort out the injustices.

If I were Ecuador my response would have been to simply not get involved in the “Assange, Snowden” cases.

But does this effect Ecuador as a quality, safe, inexpensive place to live with a mild climate somewhat near the US that accepts foreigners wholeheartedly?

No, not really.

Most Ecuadorians have family in the US, and feel a special bond with Americans so i don’t think rascism towards North Americans will ever be an issue and it will remain a nice place to live despite these very-political occurances.

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