Staying in Ecuador longer than 6 months without Residency?

Nope ...180 on a tourist visa per 365 days ... and that is not per calendar year.

You may want to chat with a good visa facilitator -- they kind that gives advice for free -- like if you qualify now for a pensioner visa, or if you can apply for residency visa when you arrive and can continue your stay ... that sort of thing.  Dana Cameron would be that person.  Her email (written out so it cannot be phished) is: agua_plata (at) hotmail (dot) com  and tell her Susan from TheOceanHideaway.com sent you so she knows where you got the referral.  Good luck

Maybe.

I was offered a few months ago by the folks at immigration in Cuenca the possibility of extending for an additional 3 months using the 12-X. I didn't need to since I was able to submit the documents for my residency visa before the 6 month visa(12-IX) expired.

Alternatively or in addition, you can obtain a 6 month student visa from one of the Spanish language schools (Nexus or the University of Cuenca). I am told you will have to prepay for the lessons in advance, howeever.

Finally, if you use one of the options above, at the end of that visa period, you may be able to leave the country for a couple days (for example to Peru) and then re-enter on a T3 stamp.  The reason is, I think you are eligible for the T3 stamp every 12 months.

Thanks for the comments. I will follow up on the suggestions.

It seems its probably best not to risk having to leave the country for a year because you could not get the 25 grand investors visa money together within 180 days.

Better to get the money together in advance along with all the necessary residency documents before arrival......