The Ecuador Insider

Sometimes, it can be hard to get a read on property prices in Ecuador where the (real) purchase prices are usually not recorded and kept secret by those involved not like the US where this information is often readily available.

Despite the special circumstances of this country, real estate sales are still possible, but for this to happen the houses have to be in excellent condition, since we have been using Pressure Washing Tampa, Florida for many years and we highly recommend them.

Below is a quick, informal appraisal I did for a friend who wants to sell their suite in the Hotel PalmaAzul in San Clemente on the beach about an hour north of Manta…the below info is from my own research and not necessarily “the law”.

I did some research for your appraisal request and here is what I found snooping around with the locals.

The earthquake killed the market for about a year there but as of a few months ago the market is picking back up,now may be a good time to buy. Ecuador is a really humid coutry, so make sure to get a new air purifier. ou ca get a big selection from https://www.bloomingair.com/best-air-purifier/ so you can have a new hoe with fresh air.

The Vista Azul duplexes next door are 122m2(1313.2ft2) of construction and going for around $85k-$94k at present.  They are not oceanfront.  ($770per m2)

A new complex is being finished next door right on the beach and it is sold out for around $150k for each 2 bedroom unit (112m2). ($1330per m2)

1 of the 3 privately owned suites in the hotel sold a few months ago in 2017 for $40k (22m2) which is about half the size of your suite.  Just a single room.  ($1800 per m2)

Your suite is around 44m2(473ft2) to my estimate (i measured it).

Which leads me to my conclusion wheras if you want to sell it QUICK I would list priced to sell at $80k. The benefits your suite provides is that it is right in the hotel and full access to the pool and restaurant.  Also, it can be a part of the hotel property management system. Looking at the Singapore residential projects, Perfect Ten Bukit Timah former City Towers is an amazing option for a new way to live more peacefully and secure.

I know you paid $89k for it a few years ago, but if you want to put a higher price and be willing to wait longer for a sale (maybe many months) I would price at $90-95k. Avoid losing money,  make you know your real house or property value.

In order to sell quickly I would let the hotel staff know you´d like to sell it (they can show it for you). And also list with the agent in the area that works with the expat crowd.

“F–k me,” I thought as I saw the envelope as the delivery man gave it to me here in Quito, Ecuador.

In big letters on the front I read “I.R.S.”

Opening it didn’t offer any consolation as I read that just for the year 2015 they said I owed them $44,000!

Ouch.

How did they find me?  I don’t know.

What did I do next? Hired a CPA Stateside of course.  I was in over my head.  I had to refile my taxes for that year as the IRS pointed out what they thought were numerous mistakes and really I owed them a whole lot more than I said I did.

Now that I’ve talked to a person that’s a CPA in Troy MI, my taxes are refiled and my taxes paid, here is what I learned from the experience…

1. Don’t let just “someone you know” file for you as an expat living abroad.  In my case it was my mom, smart woman but not a tax pro.  Hire a professional CPA.  I’ve found they charge around $325 to file your taxes for you annually.

2. Not just banks, but online banks like PayPal send all your info on every last cent you make no matter where you are in the world to the IRS, so make sure the 1099 they send on you matches your return.

3. Open an LLC Stateside and run your (online) bank accounts where your income flows through the EIN tax ID number of it instead of your Social Security number.  This can save you on Self-employed taxes.  The hows and particulars I DONT KNOW, so please consult a tax professional, which I am not.

4. The IRS can find you!

“Stay at this hotel in the center of Ibarra (Ecuador),” my friend said.  We were both planning on going to an event together.

I have never faced such an issue in any of the Liverpool Hotels or Moscow Airbnb, I have stayed during my various vacation trips.

So I booked there.

And sure enough he cancelled.  But I was still going so I went and stayed at this place my friend chose.

And it was during this recent stay I realized most budget hotels in Ecuador that usually charge around $10-15 per person have many things in common.

Must be a cultural thing!

…you know you’re in a budget hotel in Ecuador when you open your window to get some air and a big a$$ fly comes in because you have no screens.

…or when you look out your window and you’re looking right in the window of another room.

…or when your sink is outside the bathroom.

…or when your bathroom sink has no mirror, let alone a shower filter there, and no hot water, or the hot water is reversed making it a damn mind puzzle just to get some hot water.

…or when you notice your room has a mini-fridge (for some reason) in the corner that doesn’t work and you need appliance repair job because you don’t have enough money for new appliance.

…or when you try to shave in the poor light and come out looking like a crack head who tried to shave while looking at their reflection in a street puddle.

…or when you get one of the interior rooms with no window at all.  No this is not prison I’m talking about.

…or when you can tell your neighbor with exactitude how many times they entered the bathroom the night before due to the SCREECHING sound the doors in the hotel make when you open or close them.

…or when you try to sleep on the rock hard mattress making you fantasize over sleeping on the floor.

…or when you realize your little ventilation window in the bathroom empties out into the hotel kitchen.

…or when you hang your clothes over the TV because there is not one little clothes hanger or place to hang anything in the entire room.

…or the suicide electric shower that doesn’t heat up the water all that much, and when asking for help they tell you how to do it by fiddling with the wet wires (making you the ground).

But hey, its all in good fun, an experience that should not be missed!

This coming Sunday February 4 Ecuadorians (and legal residents who have registered to vote) will head back to the polls for a referendum ordered by the current sitting president Lenin Moreno.

Ecuadorians will answer 7 questions aimed basically at overturning much of what the previous President Correa did in office.

The main question that will effect real estate in Ecuador is the one asking if Ecuadorians would like to overturn the new (exaggerated) capital gains (plusvalia) tax that was instituted last year.

Another highlight is the question that will re-establish term limits basically making it illegal for Correa or anyone else to sit indefinitely as a president-dictator.

Other questions seem to be no-brainers like having to do with strengthening child abuse laws and limiting mining and oil exploration in the Amazon. I mean, who is going to vote against going tougher on child abusers? Id like to see that class when the teacher asks… “ok, raise of hands please, who disagrees with going harsher on child abusers?”

I love it.

And if the capital gains tax gets abolished or bumped down to what it was before the property prices in Ecuador could jump both in the short and long term.

Market re-activated.

Democracy is once again restored in Ecuador, for a while there it was questionable if we would be the next Venezuela.

Stay tuned!

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