Category: Ecuador for Investors

This past weekend I was catching a bus from Guayaquil to the coast of Ecuador, when a subtle scam in the bus station of Guayaquil almost caught me off guard.

As I waited to buy my ticket I was approached by a bus driver of the bus line where I was going to buy my ticket.

He said, “You going to the coast?”

I said, “Yes”.  And he followed with “OK, follow me”…At first I liked this cause there was a really long line to buy the tickets.

We followed him upstairs and at the gate of the bus departures he attempted to sell us blank tickets for his company.  Basically, he was trying to charge us under the table so he could keep the money for himself.

Right at that moment, a bus station worker saw what was happening and informed us to go back downstairs to the ticket window and buy directly from the company.

We could have been out our money or simply standing in the bus aisle for 3 hours surrounded by people sitting down who bought their tickets correctly from the window.

This struck me as something that happens commonly so I decided to inform you all about it…see you in a couple days for my next big post!

Hasta pronto, Domenick…hey, if you liked this, you’ll love my weekly Foreign Investor’s newsletter for insider tips and opportunities in Ecuador…subscribe below(unsubscribe at any time):

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Q: Hey Dom, what’s the mosquito situation like in Ecuador?

I can tell you from personal experience, Ecuador is far better than other Latin countries like the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Nicaragua, or southern Mexico.

In the Andes the mosquitos are few and far between.

On the coast, there are a few problem areas. The good thing about the coast of Ecuador is that there are dry parts (with fewer mosquitos) and wet, green parts (yikes).

Most everywhere on the coast is fine with normal to few amounts of mosquitos, but there are two beautiful areas to avoid if you hate mosquitos (like me) which are Montanita (in the south) and Mompiche in the north.

Both are green areas and beautiful places, but with a lot of nearby standing water, and in my opinion have a mosquito problem.

Every 3 months on my Weekly Ecuador Insider’s Newsletter I try to bring you a market pricing report, instead of the normal investor news; here is a rundown of the real estate pricing changes I have seen over the last year in Ecuador:

BUILDING IN ECUADOR

As seen by me:

Building in Ecuador- $30-35 per square foot of construction for finished house. ($50/ft for a luxury finishing)

As reported in a good article by the NY Times in 2010:

Building in Ecuador- $46 per square foot of construction for finished house. ($73/ft for a luxury finishing)

OVERALL PRICES

As seen by me:

Overall:

Over the last 5 years prices have risen about 10-12% a year (even during the financial crisis years)…but in well known towns appreciation has been a little more….

And I have seen more appreciation on the really cheap properties. Especially due to the new low interest loans the government is issuing to locals for purchases under $60k.

The cities:

Quito and Cuenca are the most expensive places to buy a suite or apartment, with prices for a small one bedroom suite starting around $30k and for a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment in a decent area starting for around $50-55k.

Nearby Quito, in the Tumbaco Valley the real estate market has really taken off, 10-15 years back the area was just farm land, but now prices are ranging from $75-110k for a 120 sq meter 3 bedroom house.

Today, in Quito’s Colonial center, prices for renovated apartments are about $1,000 a square meter but fixer uppers can be had from $75-400 a square meter.

Renting in Quito is still relatively cheap…. A furnished room in a nice area is starting around $100-150/month, while a luxury furnished suite in a nice area is around $400-480/month, a 2-3 bed apartment decent area furnished $420-490/month, and a 2-3 bedroom apartment unfurnished located in an acceptable but lower income area $200-240/month.

In Cuenca costs for a new 2 bedroom apartment with nice tile and teak wood furnishings average around $45k-65k. A more luxury, 3 bed 2 bath condo…

To read the rest of this article, fill in the following blanks and I will email it right over and subscribe you to my weekly Ecuador Insider’s Investor list (you can unsubscribe at any time)…domenick:

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In Ecuador, like in most of South America, the favorite sport is soccer, the second favorite sport is…soccer, and the third favorite sport is, well, soccer. Motorbike Sport is such a wonderful platform where any sports person or sport lover can find many of useful information.

That can be a problem if you are like me and love American Football, Baseball and Basketball!

Ecuador still has a severe lack of good sports bars that show international sports. Many channels even encourage betting and show the pointsbet sign up promo on a daily basis. There are a few (but in my opinion they are rather weak and don’t often have many of the games I want to watch).

For instance, just recently, I tried to catch the NBA playoffs but I had zero luck until the NBA Finals appeared.

Yes, there is Direct TV and cable but even that in Ecuador seems to lack many American sporting events.

You could also check games result by visiting ผลบอลสดมีเสียง, the ผลบอลสดมีเสียง can also provide you prediction for the betting result also.

It is possible, if you are willing to pay, to get NFL or NBA packages through DirectTV, similar to the states.

But all in all, I hope one of you reading this seizes the opportunity and puts a good solid American sports bar in Quito or Guayaquil!

Hasta pronto, Domenick…hey, if you liked this, you’ll love my weekly Foreign Investor’s newsletter for insider tips and opportunities in Ecuador…subscribe below(unsubscribe at any time):

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Hey y´all,

If you´d like to meet new, friendly foreigners in Ecuador, and have a great time watching the world cup final, we are going to have a meetup this coming Sunday July 11 2:30pm local time…at Mulligans Sports Bar in the Mariscal…open to all…if interested please RSVP here…or call me locally to my cell at 080-201199.

saludos, domenick