A brief summary on how to buy real estate in Ecuador. Avoiding pitfalls, potential problems and excessive costs by dealing with locals
The advantage of Ecuador’s open business climate and lack of stifling regulations is a palpable sense of freedom that many think no longer exists in the ‘first’ world. The downside has been some ‘interesting’ transactions in the past where our fellow Ecuadorean citizens have not been paid all of the final transaction price. Addressing this concern is why Casa Bonita (Tax ID: 1191732991001) was established: to treat everyone fairly and keep prices at a reasonable and affordable level. What may seem to be a fair price or even an excellent value compared to prices outside Ecuador, may actually be overpriced.
Procedures, Process, Fees & Commissions
To find an Ecuadorean property you love, first you must find it and then see it, or a video and pictures of it. This website and e-mail or RSS updates are obviously free. If you’re in Vilcabamba and use an internet cafe, the cost is $1/hr. or less. To see properties in person, we will show you properties for a ‘good faith’ retainer of only $96. This includes 6 hours of taxi fares. Each additional hour of taxi fare is $8/hr. These fees are of course, fully refundable when you buy one of our listings.
After finding your dream property, we translate (if necessary) and present your original and any follow-up offers directly to the owner. You of course can bring your own translator if you wish, or present the offer yourself. You probably met the owner already when viewing the property.
Important Details & Considerations
When your offer has been accepted, the actual transaction can be done directly with the landowner. If you choose, you can pay them directly, not us. As a federally regulated real estate company, we can also accept payments in your name to our Ecuadorean bank account. We would never ask you to send money to a bank account that was not in Ecuador. All sales commissions are built-in to the final negotiated price. Both you and the owner can be assured that we are not selling the property for far more than the owner receives and pocketing the difference. Our tax ID# is an additional assurance that all our activities are being done in a legal, traceable way.
Do not be surprised to find, when a survey is prepared for the title transfer, that a quoted land size is not accurate (our listings specify ‘accurate’ or ‘estimated’). Land surveys are a new phenomenon in Ecuador where historically, land divisions were determined with handshake agreements. While it seems disconcerting, how big a piece of land is is simply not known in many cases. If a property has had any type of mortgage on it in the last five years, the survey will probably be accurate. The costs for legal surveys that are paid for by the buyer are very inexpensive. Municipal taxes must be paid in advance and are about $300 per $25,000 in declared land value, depending on the municipality.
In Ecuador, unlike in common law countries, real estate transactions are supervised by the courts. We can advise you on the most cost-effective, yet safe way to proceed. While it is simple to transfer a title yourself, we understand that foreigners have a 'comfort level,' and would prefer to use an attorney. We absolutely encourage this and can provide you the names of both bilingual; and less expensive, unilingual (Spanish-speaking) lawyers. When can you get here?