There were so many inquiries about the Cotacachi Ecuador condo we fixed up and are selling that I cannot answer them all individually.

Here are many of the questions and answers… plus more shots of this Cotacachi condo building we call Casa Blanca.  This was our last Cotacachi condo fixer upper.

One great thing is that what is expensive up north…tile, hardwood etc. is the standard construction material here.  So the less expensive way creates a premium product.

For example tile work is really inexpensive so we put in top-of-the-line tile in the kitchen areas.

The building began like this.

It sure looks better now.  The process was fun.

Construction costs are low and the craftsmen are handy…they’ll do things you ask and also make excellent suggestions along the way.

For example, outside our top unit, we have a small roof garden… with really great views.

Here’s what it looked like…We added flower boxes. We did not quite know what to do so just asked the builder…”use your creativity.”  He did this great job in concrete for not much at all.

The flowers will grow really fast in the Ecuador sun!

Here are shots from this sunny balcony.

These are on the back of the top floor studio.

Here is the view from the front of the studio.

Here is sunset from the back of the studio.

and from…

the front.

The entire building… three apartments are for sale… furnished including appliances, furniture…

but not the paintings.

Inside the curtains is the sleeping area and… here is a view looking…

out of the sleeping area.

out.

The top unit has high walls and needed more light, so we asked…”How about windows?”.   The builder simply knocked out the space and built hardwood window frames to match.

The bathroom looked like this.   The workers used hardwood to build a bathtub frame… then tiled it.

Here…

is…

the bathroom in the studio now.

and a couple of more shots…

of…

the studio.

This building has four floors… no elevators. There are three apartments that we currently rent. All are rented at $600 a month.

The apartments are not condominimized.  The entire building is being sold. The next owner may wish to divide the units or keep them as rentals.

The top (4th) floor (all pictures here are of the top floor) is a studio with kitchenette and sleeping nook.

The current renter wrote:

Hola Merri, arrived the 26th and am now rested and enjoying the condo!!! The views are just magnificent!!!! ……wonderful coffee with these panoramic views………. you should change the name to Casa Heaven !!….. look forward to seeing ya’ll soon…….Peace and Love

The previous renter wrote:

Merri,  I just wanted to let you know how beautifully the workshop went. Great attendees were a big part of it, but the performance of your staff,  particularly Mauricio, kept everyone in a great mood.  He was a fountain of local information, as well as dedicated to making sure that everyone’s needs were attended to.

The new apartment rivals La Mirage in comfort and beauty. My wife showed it off to about half the attendees. Particular praise came for the unique dining table on the top floor.

Thanks again for helping to make everything a success.  Regards to Gary and Ma.

The third floor also has great views and has three bedrooms plus a full kitchen.

The bottom apartment is on the first floor and second floor mezzanine.

In all the building has about 3,500 + square feet of floor space… tremendous views and is exactly in the center of town… next door to our hotel and just down the street from the main plaza and this main Cathedral.

The $189,000 sales price means it is selling at below $50 a square foot, well below construction costs and the furniture is included!  When fully rented at $600 a month, the cash flow is 11.5%.

We’ll include additional pictures of the unit in upcoming messages.

This offers a good income opportunity but we will not sell to a buyer until they have inspected the property. We never recommend buying real estate site unseen and will not sell it unseen.

Here are questions and answers that we have received so far.

Question: How long did the renovation take?  Did you have to be there to watch over it the through the entire process.

The answer is:  We have spent a year and a half fixing this building up and we inspected the work from time to time but were not always on site.

Question: Please forward basic info as to the landlord’s cost of operation versus potential cash flow.

The answer is:  water $7.78 a month for all three apartments. Electricity $26.86 a month for all three apartments. four cylinders of gas per apartment $2.50 each cylinder.  The taxes for the last year were $61.71 for the entire year.  Insurance is in the $250 a year range. We pay $10 a day for cleaning.

Question: As I recall the top floor and next floor down were fairly complete. I believe one floor might of already had tenants. It also seems to me that the bottom floor had a high ceiling in it and it had not had a lot done to it as far as build out. What condition is it in now? When you say three condos does that reflect there being one residence per floor? I’m I correct in thinking that the building is four floors in height but is really just three floors with the first floor having a tall ceiling?

The answer is:  There are four floors. One unit is on floor four. one unit on floor three. One unit is on floors one and two which is now fully complete with kitchen, two bathrooms and full furnishings. All the units are rented.

Question: We are interested in your condo.  Please be specific and tell me know what kind of weather and temperature you have in your condo areas for the month of June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov.

The answer is: This is the dry season beautiful weather… high 70s to low 80s in the day and 50s at night. Lots of sun!

Question: Where is Cotacachi

The answer is: Cotacachi is two hours north of Quito on the Pan Am Highway.

The condos are next door to our hotel Meson de las Flores which is across the street from Cotacachi’s main plaza on the corner of Garcia Moreno and Sucre.

You can inspect these condos on any of our upcoming October Imbabura real estate tour.

Gary

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Or head south to Ecuador!  You can visit the Guayllabamba Ecuador Property on your way to or from Cotacachi.

Cotacachi’s main plaza.

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Oct. 25-26 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

In Cotacachi and surrounds the weather is always spring like.

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Nov. 11-14 Ecuador Coastal Real Estate Tour

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