Merri and I have made fortunes over the years by spotting value in real estate. A recent message at this site shows how Ecuador beach condos are often a tenth the price of Miami even though Miami condos are often half the price of condos in Columbia and Brazil!
Ecuador coastal condos offer extreme value.
There are a growing group of our readers… and I suspect expats overall who followed us to Ecuador early on. They bought a condo… moved in… have grown t0 know the area and want to expand. They love Ecuador and have decided to have a their own house.
This appears to be the case around San Clemente where a number of the Vistazul condo owners are now reselling their units and building larger homes.
One reader sent this note. Hi Gary, Shirley and I would like to have our condo # 501 for sale on your real estate listing service. We wish to build a larger home for ourselves with 3 bedrooms. Thank you , Kind Regards Larry
This shift to growth means that two condos in the Vistazul condo project are for sale. I have suggested that the owners share the ad below.
Gary
San Clemente Ecuador Beach Condo Unit 401 for Sale
Located by the sleepy fishing village of San Clemente, Vistazul is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful developments on Ecuador’s Pacific Coast. Currently it consists of 38 identical condos like those shown below.
Vistazul residents enjoy the use of spa and swimming pool at the Palmazul Hotel across the road, walking along the beach each morning as the local fishermen bring in their catch, and viewing spectacular displays of color each evening as the golden sun slowly sinks below the blue Pacific.
View, view, view. Although all the units at Vistazul occupy the same grounds and have the same floor plans, for many it’s the views of the ocean and sunsets that bring color to the palette.
Units in blocks 3, 4 and 5 at the back of the Vistazul development have the best views simply because they are located highest up the hill leading back from the ocean. And of the units in these three blocks, none has a better view of the ocean and sunsets than unit 401 which looks down directly through the center of the beautifully landscaped Vistazul complex with no other units close by to interfere with the view. Consequently, if it’s view that you want, this unit has one of the best views in the entire development.
Below are pictures of the front of unit 401 during construction, what the back of all the units look like, (again during construction), and the kitchen of unit 401 showing the granite countertops and bar before any appliances were installed. Note that 401 is an end unit which has extra side windows both downstairs and on the upstairs master bedroom, opening up these rooms and letting in more light.
All the current 38 Vistazul units have the same floor plan with 1,290 square feet of living area on the first and second floors plus an additional 645 square feet of roof terrace. The roof terrace has a 3 foot railing around it and many residents cover their terrace with an inexpensive ‘ramada’ (thatched roof which keeps off the sun under so they can sit, eat, or sleep outdoors).
Included in the $98,000 asking price are the following items:
• Refrigerator with ice maker, washing machine, and bottled water dispenser;
• Three air conditioners (one downstairs, one in each upstairs bedroom);
• Two room dehumidifiers on rollers that can be moved from room to room;
• Queen size bed in master bedroom;
• Three large ceiling fans downstairs plus a ceiling fan in each upstairs bedroom;
• Attractive light fixtures throughout the unit;
• Patio table with four chairs used for eating plus two bar stools for the granite bar;
• Dishes, cooking and eating utensils; sheets and full set of bedding items; brooms, mops, laundry cart, and other cleaning items; bathroom items and mirrors; etc.
This is the only unit in Vistazul where the owner has installed solar film on all the East-West windows. Solar film blocks 97% of UV rays and solar heat from pouring in through the windows before noon and after 3 pm, thereby reducing your air conditioning needs and electric bill. It also makes all the colors brighter when you look out your windows. (The blues are bluer, the greens, greener; etc.) In addition, the owner has installed drapes on all the windows to block out the early morning and mid-afternoon sun.
If you want to either rent or live in the unit yourself, the only ‘necessity’ you probably would want to buy would be a downstairs living room set (couch, chairs, and coffee table), television, and arrange for Direct TV service. The unit receives four or five bars on the Vistazul Internet. Currently a number of owners have bought their units to rent and are enjoying a high return. Vistazul has an Administrator who will rent and manage your unit if you so desire.
For more information please contact Roger at rosenwalds@hotmail.com. Thank you for your interest.
San Clemente Ecuador Beach Condo Unit 501 for Sale
View from Vistazul unit 501
Unit 501 shares the same features as the unit above, plus the owners, Larry and Shirley Humphrey, added the following improvements.
1) Built a nice patio and garage for motorcycle and storage plus added storage under stairs.
2) Changed all the wood windows doors etc. to aluminum
3) Changed all the wooden railings to aluminum
4) Changed the front steps from wood to cement steps with non slip ceramic tile on them
Unit 501.
5) Installed privacy screens on the terrace.
6) Installed an oven in the kitchen.
Kitchen in unit 501.
7) Installed two air conditioners 18000 BTU in master bedroom and a 12000 BTU in the living area.
Price $110,000.
For more information please contact Larry Humphrey at larry@sanclementeecuador.com
Vistazul is where Merri and I purchased our condos and continue to maintain a penthouse at the Palmazul boutique hotel which is the Vistazul clubhouse as well.
Learn Spanish in three days on Ecuador’s coast
Gary
Ecuador Mid Coast Real Estate Tour
Mid Ecuador coastal real estate offers sun and sea… beauty and convenience from Manta to Far North of Bahia at a low cost.
Here are delegates overlooking Crucita on a previous Ecuador mid coast real estate tour.
Ecuadorliving.com was the first website to recommend Ecuador real estate well over a decade ago and our Ateam Ecuador conducted Ecuador tours as the most efficient way to learn about Ecuador’s real estate market.
Ecuadorliving.com was the first website to recommend Ecuador real estate nearly two decades ago and we continue to assist Ecuador Living Club members in arranging Ecuador tours as the most efficient way to learn about Ecuador’s real estate market.
Ecuador real estate markets have evolved to the point that group tours are counter productive. When Ecuador Living began, there was not enough property… easily reached… for sale. Little English was spoken and the properties were often hard to reach and spread far apart.
Ecuador real estate group tours helped readers reach these properties.
Today there are many properties and group tours can inhibit zeroing in on specific wants and needs.
Ecuador Living’s Real Estate Tour service helps its members create custom tours that fit each person’s schedule and particular desires.
The personalized tours are like AAA Trip Tics and help in three ways.
#1: The dates of your tour can be set to fit your schedule. Ecuador Living makes sure you don’t book a tour on holidays or times when you would not be able to see property.
#2: The tour service helps you zero in on your particular needs in real estate so you do not want to spend time viewing properties that are not of interest to you. Once we have your tour dates and specifications, we contact brokers, developers and sellers of real estate in advance to help focus your search.
#3: You can turn these tours into adventures and overall Ecuador introductory tours so you see many different areas of Ecuador as you wish.
Ecuador Personalized Real Estate Tours are the most efficient and inexpensive way to get an overall view of Ecuador real estate.
Because we are publishers who owe our loyalty to our readers and not real estate agents, you can be assured that the tours are based on your wishes, not on any broker’s desire to sell a specific property. Ecuador Living does not participate in any proceeds, commissions etc. from real estate sales.
For example if you only want to view farms with acreage and want to see farms in three areas… such as Cuenca, Imbabura and the coast we can help you organize a tour for this.
A recent article entitled “Building a charming destination” by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.
You can see this article below.
Organizing the tour is a three step process.
#1: This is a service unique to our Ecuador Living Club members. To begin, become a member here.
If you are already a member please go to your password protected page at the link below.
#2: Once you have enrolled please use the real estate tour page to describe your real estate needs and email to us.
#3: We will research the trip… airfare and internal travel costs… hotel… food… guide and time required for each aspect of the trip.
To begin the set up of your tour please join the Ecuador Living Club here.
Existing members please go to your password protected page.
The article entitled “Building a charming destination” by Paola Vellejo in the Bienes Raices Clave (Key Real Estate), Ecuador’s leading real estate magazine shows how experienced we are in Ecuador real estate.
A translation of the article says: In conversation with Britain’s Steve Marchant, familiar with the housing boom of Cotacachi, you can see the origin of the phenomenon of its growing popularity as a destination for retirees is the result of the sum of a series of coincidences that inevitably arise from one person: Gary Scott. Scott was the spark that ignited the housing boom of Cotacachi for retirees.
You can read that article in Spanish here.
See a Google translation to English of the article here.
