Salinas, Ecuador
This is part 9 of this not-so-common look inside a real, live property transaction (of my own) in Ecuador. Follow me as I reveal all the dirt as it happens.
Today I just finalized the process of clearing up the title issues of the lot.
It helped to have a few contacts in the Municipal.
You don’t need contacts to do what I did but it makes the process faster.
So I now have a notarized Escritura (Deed) and its registered in the Registrar proved as such by the Certificate of Registry (Certificado del Registrador de la Propiedad).
The whole process to legalize the communal land… took me about 2 weeks.
Now it can be sold privately without having to go to the local Commun.
The only setback at the end of the process was that the Notary had made errors about my personal information that needed correcting. Without even asking the folks in the notary mistyped both my gender and marital status and I didn’t catch it at first.
It was a hassle that caused me a few extra trips both to the Notary and Registrar.
Be sure you read carefully, or have someone read the Deed to you while translating, before signing.
Now, the fun part.
Pricing the lot.
Reasonably priced, front line, oceanfront property in Ecuador is getting harder to find.
Once bought by a foreigner a beachfront property will usually double or triple in price instantly unless its already priced high.
But you can still find deals like the one I found.
Last week, I know of a 1000m2 (10763ft²) beachfront lot in Cadeate (a town near Montanita) asking $35k ($35 per m2) that sold in 3 days!
I’d say the average price I’m seeing in Ecuador for beachfront land is around $35-45 per m2 with prices on the southern coast being a bit higher.
For larger, multi-hectare lots you can still find people selling at $1 per m2, but the investment will still be in the hundreds of thousands.
But the prices are all across the board.
It’s common to also find lots asking in the $60-80 per m2 range all the way up to one development I know in the Olon area that sells smaller beachfront lots, and has sold many, at $200 per m2!
And one block back off the beach it gets a lot cheaper, quick, with lots usually asking around $15-25 per m2.
In the better parts of the cities of Ecuador, like where I’m at in Guayaquil, the land goes anywhere from $300-500 per m2.
So as the coast populates and internationalizes there’s still a lot of room for growth.
I think if you sell in 3 days you priced too low.
But if it takes months or years then you’re either not promoting well or priced too high.
So for my 475m2 beachfront lot in a small fishing area 25 minutes from downtown Salinas, I’m going to start by asking $25k ($52.60 per m2).
That’ll give me a little room to negotiate.
If someone came along and offered me near that price but a few thousand less so the price got into the $40s per m2, I’d probably take it.
It’s a nice lot, raised 15 feet above the ocean with outstanding views, but flat and ready to build, with no road in front, just the ocean while the lot is in an urban area so water and electric are easily hooked up.
So there it is, it’s officially for sale…
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