Las Olas Ecuador development

Hey rastadan
We as well are looking for information on this project as well. Hope someone has some info to pass on.

I have seen the site and construction is due to begin mid April.
Sales haven't officially started yet but a number of the homes have already been sold.

Hope this helps.

Hey rastadan
We decided to to take a short trip to check out the property.
They have a great piece of property 1.5 km wide x 6 km deep. Also they have purchased more property beside for a phase 2. They are surrounded by mountains with a nice low area for the golf course and homes. 90% of the homes will have a view of the ocean as the land slopes upwards from the water. The beach front is very clean when the tide goes out and they also have an area cleared so when its high tide you have a place to relax on the beach. When we were there I took a jog from town to the property which is 10 km and it was one of the nicest jogs ive been on as its very private and great views. We have our lot picked out now and are looking forward to the start of the development which they should start in a few weeks. They will start building homes after they carve out the mountain in front of the ocean. We cant wait to see the finished product as what we seen should be amazing. To us it was a well worth visit as the owners went out of there way to answer all questions we had and tour the surrounding area. Just so you know they will be taking the founders club away shortly. Hope this helps.

We are too looking for property near Bahia, went on their website, do they have completion dates anywhere and the prices/ payment plan?

Hey Eva
lasolasecuador.com under founders club.
Its there newest website and has a ton of info on it. As for completion date you will have to send them an email.
From the info we got im guessing move in probabley 2 years but then again im guessing. They will be opening an office in Bahia in July with a full staff to start the selling process after they take away the founders club and then start advertising on alot more sites. Hope this info helps you but you should talk with the owners.

This is copy and pasted from there website.

Oceanfront Residence Founders Club ~ $200,000 US?2,000 square foot oceanfront home
?Lifetime Founders Club Family Golf Membership
?One transferable Las Olas Club Membership
?Use of Oceanfront Residence dedicated Founders vehicle
?No annual golf dues for two full golf members for life

Terms:?$1,000 deposit
?$69,000 paid within 60 days
?Remaining balance paid evenly over 36 months with every third payment reduced by the 5% interest earned on the outstanding investment balance

Golf Course Residence Founders Club ~ $160,000 US?1,720 square foot golf course home
?Lifetime Founders Club Family Golf Membership
?One transferable Las Olas Club Membership
?Use of Las Olas Golf Club Residences dedicated Founders vehicle
?No annual golf dues for one full golf member for life

Terms:?$1,000 deposit
?$49,000 paid within 60 days
?Remaining balance paid evenly over 36 months with every third payment reduced by the 5% interest earned on the outstanding investment balance


Hillside Condominium Residence Founders Club ~ $85,000 US?1,000 square foot hillside condominium residence
?Lifetime Founders Club Family Golf Membership
?One transferable Las Olas Club Membership
?No annual dues for one full golf member for life

Terms:?$1,000 deposit
?$19,000 paid within 60 days
?Remaining balance paid evenly over 36 months with every third payment reduced by the 5% interest earned on the outstanding investment balance

Thank you Siv 1, that looks good, I  did email them, no response yet, went on website and it looks great, time to go there after summer

We were down there  and we're so impressed with what will be an amazing community we put the 1000 down and then scooped up an oceanfront bungalow, the prices have gone up since we committed with our 69000 first instalment. oceanfront bungalows are now 250000 and golf ocean view are 170000 , because they increased the floorplan size, hillside condos remain the same price. We saw the raw land and the first clearings it is a beautiful site with amazing prospects.Visit Las olas founders club site to find out more.

Grammajan

We are also travelling down to Los Olas to decide if the community looks right for us. We also have a hold via deposit on an ocean front bungalow. We hope to permanently move later this year and rent while we watch the development progress.

Any other observation you would like to share about Los Olas, Bahia and Ecuador in general?

Curious about  medical  and  food at Las Olas,   how far from the site does one have to travel  for those items?

The development is still in the initial stages, they will have a medical clinic on site when they are up and running but there is a hospital 20 minutes away. There is already an organic farm on the site which they will continue to run for members. They will also have an organic and non organic items when not possible store on site.  Google Las olas founders club for more info.

I would love to know which of the obvious boosters of the Las Olas development (in this thread) have any potential economic gain for the success of this development.  Are any of you investors with or without a property interest, or any of you who have purchased the right to a property there, or who work for the developers?

Sorry - but the rah rah makes me think it is a buyer beware "opportunity".  I would hope that the development actually prospers and all investors do well.  However, the history of "founder" opportunities is littered with failed developments where the developers make a very good income without any downside if they go belly up.

we purchased the rights to a beachfront bungalow there, but have great faith in its development. Our property will be ready to move in to in about two years after the infrastructure is built. We do not work for the developer,

My wife and I visited Bahia and toured Las Olas in June.  After meeting one of the developing partners, *** and his wife and children we were able to have all of our questions answered.  The property is quite impressive and the pictures on the internet do not do it justice.  We are purchasing a condo unit as we are newly retired educators and that is all our budget would allow.  The organic farm already has many passion fruit, mangos, and papayas on site.  We went with  David and his family to tour a banana plantation as they plan to plant bananas.  We also went with them to shop for horses which they purchased to add to the equestrian center.  We spent a week in the Bahia area talking to the locals and buyers in Las Olas who are currently renting in the area.  Every night was a great casual social gathering at dinner and made many friends in the area.  My wife and I are not savvy real estate investors with lots of cash to play with.  We realize the risks involved but there are so many perks associated with the Founder Club purchase.  After visiting Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and Roatan we realize that Ecuador is where we would like to purchase.  We spend 18 days in Ecuador last summer but concentrated in the Andes areas and visited Galapagos.  This year we visited the coast.  What it boils down to us is having the ability to be apart of a healthy, active, self-sustainable lifestyle.  Having the opportunity to earn 5% on our investment and with the developer buy-back option helped reassure us to take a risk.  The updates and pictures we have been getting from the developer and others in the area suggest much progress has been made in the month we have been back.  My wife and I are young healthy retirees and can afford to wait two to three years.  We plan on keeping our home in Texas.  If I appear as a "booster" for Las Olas it is only because my wife and I are excited for the property to come together and the developers welcome our honest feedback.  We are looking forward to our new lifestyle in Ecuador. "Nothing ventured nothing gained."

Rastadan, I hope everything works out for you in this project. From my perspective, your options are to buy now or when the project is substantially complete. The advantage of buying now is potentially a lower price and perhaps a better selection of properties. The advantage of buying later is assurance the project will be completed. I would insist on a significant price discount to "pay" for concern project will not be completed.

Very nice looking project. Out of curiosity does the developer/developers have any successful track records in Ecuador or abroad in property development that can be checked out?

For anyone that wants to invest in property (anywhere) one must execute significant due diligence and scrutiny to assure that ANY development project is real and the owners are credible. This will provide you with peace of mind and lessen fear of the "what ifs" which will haunt you-if you are not assured of the safety of your investment

I have invested in the LAS OLAS development, and have executed background checks on the owners, checked business references, etc...both in the USA and Canada...moreover, have talked with a number of people in Bahia whom deal with David (Professional and personal) and he is well thought of. By the way, even though this is the first venture for David and Randy in Ecuador, it is not the first MAJOR construction project of David's Partner Randy. Randy has been in the construction business over 30 years in states and has been THE  developer for Michaels (seen across the USA). 

Las Olas is beautiful, the developers are credible, they own the land and are debt free. If you are interested in the property talk with and meet them both. But as I said in my opening paragraph YOU must feel comfortable...it is your money..

all the best everyone---
ed

Ed,

Agreed that due diligence is necessary, and the individual must make an educated decision. Nothing in life is risk free. If you look at posts from another thread I'm sure you'all see where I stand on the subject.

It's nothing personal, and don't wish failure on the developers, or investors. The world has always revolved around economics, and I think the economics of such large projects in smaller, still unproven towns does not make sense. Small scale projects can see being very successful, but just don't see enough people interested, and investing in such a large project to make it viable. However that's only my opinion. Wish the best for the developers, and investors. Hope it all works out well for everyone.

No worries at all....gosh, I appreciate the feedback!

Yep...nothing is ever risk free. One has to mitigate risk but weighing all of the data in front of him, utilize their frame of reference and base ones decision on sound judgment and facts.
Thank goodness we have a choice in life, ehh?




In my life I have always tried to minimize risk while maximizing the reward. This is no different for me.

Property, price, Bahia growth and proximity, safety, developers credentials, I can keep on going, but you know all that...Heck,  if someone wants to buy in an established area go to Manta, Salinas, Los Playas, where ever, there are many "established" areas to shop around looking at Real-Estate.

I encourage people to do that as I did... it's all part of the due diligence that I spoke of...you need to be educated and informed.. THEN make a choice...

At this moment The largest distracter for the Las Olas development is that it is just a VERY large chuck of leveled out dirt with a heck of a lot of Ocean Frontage and view....which will change very soon...

Ed, once again I can find no fault with anything you say. Life is so much about perceptions, and experiences. My experiences tell me to run as far and fast as I can from pre-construction projects. Yours tells you differently. We both try and weigh the facts, and come to a conclusion. Am I right, or are you right? Does it really matter? It's out of my comfort level, but not yours. Again I have no Ill will, and hope it works out well for you and others. In the end all I want to do in life is have enough money to be able to live comfortably, ride motorcycles, and drink beer. All the in between stuff I find to be stupid, and meaningless, but an economic reality to get to where I want to be.

hello heading to check out Las Olas at the end of October, my wife and I have put a deposit on a beach front lot, just wanted to know how the construction is going and if all trhe heavy equipment has arrived.

Hello, not sure if i am doing ythis correctly, hope so, anyways my wife dona and I will be in bahia at the end of October, we are very excited, have a beach front lot, it's very hard to get up dates on the progress of the development, would love to have your view of the progress or any other information that would get my juices flowing
'

Confused: If you've put a deposit on a lot, why are you asking questions about its progress here? Didn't the developer give you contact information? If he did and you can't contact him, that's pretty onerous.

We have, I thought one of the bloggers lived there, nice to have a perspective of others, we recieved airials yesterday from David, but you are on the ground, if you are in Bahia we will meet

[Moderated: Off topic.]

check-out this  lasolasecuador.com/content/las-olas-ecuador-launches-new-website

Hello everyone!
There is little apt available in Puerto Lopez. ocean front, has wifi, utilities are include for $250 monthly.
If someone is interest, can check it here

Ed

I really do hope this works out for the investors and developers.
You have done your due diligence with a North American viewpoint. There are so many red flags I absolutely would never do this and am not in a financial position to lose that much money. The developers however ambitious, have never done a project in a Third World country. I don't know if you have ever spent any significant amount of time in one but they are very different. Things move a lot more slowly in Latin America among other things.  Legal recourse to recoup your money if things don't work out is probably not that good. As has been suggested in an earlier post it is a huge project for such a small relatively unknown place. Lack of infrastructure, particularly water, are a problem in many areas of the coast and would be INCREDIBLY expensive to mitigate if possible at all. Maybe there is a way that you can check into this independently as you have done with all other aspects of this project and the people behind it. Everyone seems to have absolute confidence in these developers   but it's possible they are in over their heads. There are a LOT of North Americans in Ecuador trying to  make  money from people with money-other North Americans As they say-buyer beware.

Best of luck,

Sue

suefrankdahl wrote:

Ed
There are a LOT of North Americans in Ecuador trying to  make  money from people with money-other North Americans

I liked this part of your post.

gardener1 wrote:

suefrankdahl wrote:

Ed
There are a LOT of North Americans in Ecuador trying to  make  money from people with money-other North Americans

I liked this part of your post.

So did I

suefrankdahl wrote:

Ed

I really do hope this works out for the investors and developers.
You have done your due diligence with a North American viewpoint. There are so many red flags I absolutely would never do this and am not in a financial position to lose that much money. The developers however ambitious, have never done a project in a Third World country. I don't know if you have ever spent any significant amount of time in one but they are very different. Things move a lot more slowly in Latin America among other things.  Legal recourse to recoup your money if things don't work out is probably not that good. As has been suggested in an earlier post it is a huge project for such a small relatively unknown place. Lack of infrastructure, particularly water, are a problem in many areas of the coast and would be INCREDIBLY expensive to mitigate if possible at all. Maybe there is a way that you can check into this independently as you have done with all other aspects of this project and the people behind it. Everyone seems to have absolute confidence in these developers   but it's possible they are in over their heads. There are a LOT of North Americans in Ecuador trying to  make  money from people with money-other North Americans As they say-buyer beware.

Best of luck,

Sue

Excellent post Sue. So true about people pursuing things from a North American viewpoint/perspective. It's Latin America. Rules change, laws change, work crews don't always show, building supplies aren't delivered, or get delayed, work tools go missing, rainy season starts sooner, and ends later than normal. Costs and delays can add up quickly.

As for getting money back, you're at the mercy of the developer. If he wants to give you it back great, if not, then go ahead and pursue legal action. See how much extra you'll spend, how many years it will take, and how much you'll actually get back.

As there seems to be two Las Olas topics I think we can probably concede that the developers are pretty genuine, and honest people. Thing is there is so much beyond their control, and unless you actually have experience doing business, or building/constructing in a Thirld World country you really have no idea just how many things can go wrong, and how difficult it can be.

Thanks guys. I learned a lot of this from reading the  "Building Supplies and Stuff" topic. Ed should check that out and also the other Los Olas topic. James had the best advice about putting your deposit in trust in your own lawyer's care. He is/was a developer .The more you read the more you see the "I'll scratch your babk you scratch mine" goes from Quito to the Coast. Lots of hustlers, some scammers. Have been following this blog since March.

My sister is a civil engineer who does project maanagement for big projects like schools,prisons,hospital wings,etc. There are always problems, cost over runs, scheduling conflicts for various aspects of the construction. The tradesman are all licensed people. Funding comes from guaranteed places like bonds,goverment, tax dollars. I guess I'm comparing apples to oranges but this whole thing just seems so shaky and I hate to see people lose that kind of money.

I am here in Ecuador in Puerto Lopez.  I just closed on 3 lots and plan to start building on 2 of them in next few days.  I see many half started  development with just a couple of buildings on them. These developments have a well built entrance and that is about all.  You really need to be here or have someone who you really trust to give you honest info.  I would caution all not to buy into someone's else's dream.  This is a beautiful country that has many stectacular places to live.  I am not one for living behind locked gates I have chosen to live amoung the people as the are very warm and caring.  I feel much safer here in the barrios where I will be building than I did in most cities in US cities I visited. I would suggest you come see this land they have a great bus system that will take you to all the towns, when you have found the place you would like to live.  Rent as you look for land and find a home that is being built they way you would want your home built and start from there.  I will be over seeing all the work of my 2 homes and have people picked out to do different parts of work.  There are many who say are " mistros" masters who are not.  I am asking to see there work and go from there. 
I wish the best for you, but beware there many just started developments that have been here for years.  There is no substitute for being here and seeing for yourself. Take care.

Good for you!!! I also can't understand the gated golf community mentality. I really like what you said about buying into other people's dreams. Have looked at the posted photos of the Los Olas excavation and "roads." It will be a damn shame if this never gets of the ground because this beautiful piece of beach property will never be the same again.

Why don't you start a new topic and keep us posted about your progress and problems you encounter which is so helpful for people doing the same thing?

suefrankdahl wrote:

Good for you!!! I also can't understand the gated golf community mentality. I really like what you said about buying into other people's dreams. Have looked at the posted photos of the Los Olas excavation and "roads." It will be a damn shame if this never gets of the ground because this beautiful piece of beach property will never be the same again.

Why don't you start a new topic and keep us posted about your progress and problems you encounter which is so helpful for people doing the same thing?

In all fairness to the people who have invested here I don't really get the impression that they want to really be completely isolated from Ecuadorians, and what Ecuador has to offer. Think probably is people buying what they believe will allow them to live the safest, and most secure life they can afford. Is a gated community in Ecuador any safer than buying somewhere else, and taking certain precautions, and safety measures? I have my doubts.

As you pointed out Sue in another post be careful about applying North American standards, and viewpoints. First of all gated communities in North America get broken into, but for the most part they are generally pretty safe, and secure. Key difference between North America gated communities, and Ecuador or any other third world country is that North America has the infrastructure, technology, and qualified people to make it viable. Sorry if this ruffles some feathers, but Ecuador doesn't.

Yep; Guess that's why the advice about renting for six months or a year is so sound.

I think I'd feel safer in a gated community in EC than one  somewhere east of LA..

Sue

The Columbian wrote:

...There are many who say are " mistros" masters who are not.  I am asking to see there work and go from there...

Very good advice. Also, I would advise keeping a close eye on even the best mistros. Things here are done diffently, and sometimes you have to step in and tell the mistro "yes, I really to want the pee-traps intalled correctly and the wax rings used under the toilets, even if no one else in town does it that way." There is no substitude for dirrectly managing the construction of your project.

Like many responders here, I hope everything goes well for the developers, investors and home owners.  Wish nothing but the best for everyone.  BUT, I agree that this project carries the weight of way too many unknowns right now to warrant a large investment from any individual.  I guess if you can afford to walk away from $250,000 or $100,000 or whatever you're contemplating, that's one thing.  But if you have worked too long and hard to accumulate that amount of money to risk losing it all, that's another thing altogether.

These folks are probably wonderful human beings and are no doubt hyper-qualified to pull off a development of this magnitude in their home environment, but when you ask that same team to assemble and execute a successful plan in South America, in a country that seems to welcome foreign investment but may change that approach overnight, that's too iffy for my taste. 

Regarding the "promise" of 5% on your investment, how is that promise backed?  Money kept in a trust sounds safe, but it could be tied up for YEARS in the event of a major fallout.  Again, I don't get the feeling that these folks are crooks, I'm just saying bad things can happen to good people.  Unfortunately, you may get caught up in their misfortune and lose a big chunk of money if things spiral out of control for them.

For me the great attraction to this project is the ocean side golf course.  That element of the development alone will require several million dollars, if done correctly.  I would look to the developers to complete the construction of the course and practice facilities before committing to the purchase of residential property.  Without a golf course, and one that fulfills the promise this site provides, you would have just another very nice residential community. 

I truly hope they get this done.  However, I prefer to wait until the golf course is in before I commit.  If the golf course is done and beautiful, the rest of the project should sell itself.  That is a much more comfortable formula.

There was a guy called David here in Uruguay that was involved in a stalled development called Sugarloaf near Piriapolis.  Would not be the same person would it?  There were supposedly a lot of lots sold and promises of a restaurant, spa etc. but nothing much was ever built and the few people who did buy in and built a home are left with all the costs for maintenance etc. and little possibility of reselling their homes.

Just keep a close eye on the development and make your own research before buying, If you are really serious about buying a lot it would be better to come see the project