Capital gains.

Last I looked if you sell a house in which you lived at least 2 of the previous 5 years you could exclude the first $200,000 of gains, $400,000 If a couple.  I believe the idea of rolling a capital gain into a lower basis in the new property, essentially deferring the gain, has been eliminated.   I haven't updated my tax reading since 2017 taxes, so you should probably  ask an accountant who is up to date.

rriiccaarrddoo wrote:

In April 2020 we are planning to move to Ecuador and purchase a hotel or Bed. N breakfast  property. (  no we don’t know yet where.  in November of this year we are going to come down and spend eight days driving down the coast and seeing as many properties as we can and then deciding which one )

Eight days may not be enough time to do due diligence for a successful Expat purchase of a hotel or 'hospedaje' in South America.

Transactions here do not move at the rapid pace they may in North America.

More importantly, legal customs, terminology and pitfalls specific to a deal come into play.

A woman living on the West Coast of the USA came down for about a week and posted on this forum that she had placed a downpayment on a fixer-upper in San Clemente on the Ecuador Coast.  Back in the US, she was notified that the property owner turned out to be multiple siblings who were heirs to the property and lived in three different countries. 

Such complications, not always knowable to the buyer at the outset, cause unanticipated headaches and financial losses to those trying to move too fast in an Ecuador property market.

With the Ecuadorian economy so troubled, national protests continually happening and the financial devastation caused by the fuel-subsidy elimination, this may be a poor time for Expats to invest in commercial properties in Ecuador.  The exception might be a purchaser who is highly knowledgeable in the local market, who knows first-hand the ins-and-outs of property acquisition in that market .. and who is confident in the quality of one's legal representation.

In the past few days, the president of Ecuador abandoned central Quito and moved to a more secure location 150 miles away in Guayaquil .. to avoid the protests in the capital city*.  This season is not a great time to visit Ecuador, let alone invest in the country.  That's true even if some property prices are depressed and apparent bargains are being offered.

cccmedia


*Google the cnn.com article posted yesterday (Ocotber 8, 2019) about the abandoning of the presidential palace and the ministry of defense's disclosure that the military had to rescue 50 of its members held hostage by Indigenous protesters in Quito.

mugtech wrote:

Last I looked if you sell a house in which you lived at least 2 of the previous 5 years you could exclude the first $200,000 of gains, $400,000 If a couple.  I believe the idea of rolling a capital gain into a lower basis in the new property, essentially deferring the gain, has been eliminated.   I haven't updated my tax reading since 2017 taxes, so you should probably  ask an accountant who is up to date.

Sorry about the wrong amounts, one can exclude $250,000 in capital gains, couples $500,000

Thanks for your  thoughts. We are definitely hiring a family recommended lawyer, both real estate and another for visa requirements. 
So if we have to postpone our move date we certainly will.  Right now we are on hold to see how the riots play out and if we need we certainly will change our plans.   
Gracias