What they don't tell you

Great web page, great find. Thanks for posting this j600rr.

I join in the thanks.

I particularly enjoyed this quote from the US State Department website, which I found there and have bookmarked for a blog post I've been meaning to do about International Living:

“Retiring In Ecuador: In recent years, Ecuador has become a top overseas destination for retiring U.S. citizens. Bear in mind that organizations promoting Ecuador or any other place as a retirement destination may have a financial incentive to attract retirees, and may not always present a balanced picture. Consider multiple sources before choosing a destination.

I'm not saying that the State Department had IL specifically in mind when they wrote that. But it applies so well, they may have.

No problem guys. Like I said found it by complete accident, but thought it was very accurate, and fool of good info.

Bob, one of the ironic things I find is there is a quote from a lady of I.L. fame, and it's sister publications, who is recommending the importance of renting, and learning about the country before investing any significant money, yet she's always promoting some project her husband is involved in, and trying to get people to buy.

BobH--International Living, indeed....did they invent the word 'shyster'?

I am flabberghasted by the number and variety of real estate scams currently running in Ecuador and other south American/central American retiree expat getaways.

You'd think people wudda learned something by now.

gardener1 wrote:

You'd think people wudda learned something by now.

Especially considering that we're talking about retirees, fergawdsake. You'd think by 60+, people would at least have figured out the "Look before you leap" concept.

I am STILL trying to get UNSUBSCRIBED from Int'l's website.

   Carlos  "ElGringoBueno" 

PS  Her/their "renting" ploy is simply part of a process to suck you into their database, or perhaps they also have property management operations or else get spiffs from others who run prop mgt operations.

PPS  Ironically,  a large part of my impetus in moving out of the US is to get sales monsters out of MY FACE! 

HeHe, guess we know this crowds view of I.L. In all fairness, and openly admit am not a fan, as believe many of the tactics they use are questionable, and unethical. Nevertheless, compared to some of the scams, and con men they are pretty tame.

Look, sometimes it might seem I knock South American, and Central American countries a lot pointing out negatives instead of positives, which could be true. Non the less as have stated many times my overall experiences have been much more positive than negative, but I think it's important for people to know what they are getting into, and pass along info. which could help them save much money, and also hopefully make their experience positive. Have seen so many people full of hopes who have wound up going back to their original home broke and bitter because they had no idea of what they were getting into. I'll say this once, and only once. People can like it or not. If you get scammed, robbed, conned, any number of things, then that money is gone period. Buy in a development, and developer runs off with your money, then go ahead and take them to court in Ecuador, and let me know how that works out for you. Nothing like throwing more good money after bad money away. Better do your homework, and dot every i and cross every t, because if you don't your probably not going to like the end results.

When we were in Ecuador we spent a couple of weeks in the coastal area around Manta. There is a lot of poverty in this area. We also saw oodles of gated expat developments going up along the beach front.

But where's the water? That country is largely barren desert. Methinks the future may not be kind to people who invest in these remote expat developments.

Reading later, I discovered that Manta literally had no water supply before 1959, when a pipeline bringing water from higher elevations was installed to service the tuna processing industry. From the looks of Manta, there were still plenty of places without running water.

Plenty of coastal towns and villages had not even one paved road.

Some of the aspiring expats who post in this blog don't realize how much of Ecuador is still very much a third world country--which isn't such a bad things in many ways--but I don't think they really grasp the infrastructural differences between north America and Ecuador. They just want to pack up their big screen TV's and live some place cheap.

Yes, plenty of them will be sorely disappointed in a few years time.

gardener1 wrote:

When we were in Ecuador we spent a couple of weeks in the coastal area around Manta. There is a lot of poverty in this area. We also saw oodles of gated expat developments going up along the beach front.

But where's the water? That country is largely barren desert. Methinks the future may not be kind to people who invest in these remote expat developments.

Reading later, I discovered that Manta literally had no water supply before 1959, when a pipeline bringing water from higher elevations was installed to service the tuna processing industry. From the looks of Manta, there were still plenty of places without running water.

Plenty of coastal towns and villages had not even one paved road.

Some of the aspiring expats who post in this blog don't realize how much of Ecuador is still very much a third world country--which isn't such a bad things in many ways--but I don't think they really grasp the infrastructural differences between north America and Ecuador. They just want to pack up their big screen TV's and live some place cheap.

Yes, plenty of them will be sorely disappointed in a few years time.

Very good points. Water kind of goes without saying. Other parts lacking infrastructure becomes a personal preference. Some like places a bit off the beaten path, others not so much, but important to realize that just because many upgrades are taking place, and you've gotten word that whatever area you bought/rent will be seeing major investments coming in, until it actually happens don't count on it. Look at Ecuador's past, and is pretty simple math. If price of oil tanks the economy gets in trouble, and all that investment money you thought was coming is no longer there. By the time the economy stabilizes again there could be a different administration looking to go in a different direction, or really a whole myriad of different scenarios.

It's a lot of small little details that get overlooked of which can really start to add up financially. Actually we are stating kind of the larger things here that are pretty obvious, but would say it's a lot of the small overlooked details on a day to day basis that eventually becomes to much for some people to deal with on a long term basis, and becomes one of the primary reasons they leave.

I've seen a lot of posts concerning where to live in Ecuador, what about the high altitudes in la sierra, etc.

I just stumbled upon the following article ...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/map-shows … 41620.html

The article features a world map indicating pollution levels' impact on mortality and compares how that mortality has changed over time.

As others have mentioned, the air quality [especially PM or Particulate Matter pollution which would include the effect of diesel bus fumes] in Quito, Cuenca, etc. is not "pristine".  This article puts it in perspective in relation to other cities we might be familiar with ...

   Carlos  aka  "ElGringoBueno" 

PS  Hey, at least the Ecuadorian air won't kill you as fast as in the Philippines ...