7 Tips for Expats Buying Property in Ecuador
#1: Know your preferences and narrow down locations based on your parameters: Coast vs. Mountain vs. Amazon, city vs. rural, humid vs. dry, dry season vs. year round rain, expat community vs. no expats in the region, warmer vs., cooler, are some of the things you should think about and then narrow down and rule out regions based off of your answers to these questions.
Once you have identified areas that meet your parameters you can focus your search on those regions and cut out a lot of would be wasted time.
#2 Due diligence, due diligence, due diligence: There are no comps available in Ecuador, no Title Insurance and Attorneys/professionals do not have the same level of fiduciary responsibility you may be used to elsewhere. In addition, Ecuador may represent a new language, culture and business climate to what you are accustomed to.
This puts a huge onus on the due diligence process.
Hire a trusted real estate professional and attorney and make sure the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed.
This means; checking the Title by requesting the ‘Certificado Simple’ from the Property Register, checking the zoning and any potential restrictions on land use by requesting ‘La Linea de Fabrica’ from the Municipio, checking the boundaries and ensuring the legal boundaries match the actual boundaries and checking for any water or mining concessions.
