Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua,

[pcjensen61]

Originally Posted by WorldByBrian

Any Americans here currently living in or considering any of the above listed countries?

-Brian

Have been in Costa Rica since early august, looking to go farther south. PJ

[elle67]

Hi all,

My husband and I live in the US and would like to retire to Cuenca, Ecuador. We are planing a vacation to check the area out.

If anyone has visited or lived in Cuenca, we would appreciate any information on the area; cost of living, home or condo prices, etc.

Thank You

[docjr]

Andre,

Thanks for the positive posts. How has your child enjoyed the bilingual school? We have an 11, 8, and 6 year old with the oldest our girl. The boys are heavy into soccer here in the US and we love to watch them play.
Thanks.

[alaia]

Any more info on life in Ecuador. I had heard some really nice things but the things I heard was from individuals and they had NOT spoken to realtors or lawyers who are both sometimes cut from the same cloth and needing to line their own pockets.. Did you meet any english speaking people who were on their own and not behind the walls of expat cpmmunities...wondering what your plans are now...

[Radley1]

I am considering moving to Ecuador with my daughter, which is how I became aware of the growing Expat community there. This post is not really about that, although I do look forward to my first trip there,and will be asking some advise as I go.
This question is for a friend, of course, not me, a friend. He has had a very stressful,and emotionally draing last 5 years. Trust me, one of the saddest string of events that you could imagine happening to a guy who was living right. During this time he injured his back quit severly, and has been on high doses of pain meds for years (although he takes less than is prescribed each month it is alot). He has also been prone to depression on and off his whole life,and there is no real safe anti-pressant for him as he is prone to seizures if not careful. He has been stressed beyond the point of being functional more than 3 hours a day or so,and needs to get well, he is in a really deep whole that an hour a week with a shrink wont fix, he needs a month of intensive, multidisiplanary assistance,and to reconnect with nature.
He is looking for an inexpensive place to get well. Counseling,Reiki healing, cleansings, massage,accupuncture, the works. He is looking for an inexpensive place that is close to nature (so by definition close to the higher power). Not a drug rehab clinic, or mental health facility persay, but a place to get well, and be taken care of for a month,give or take (people to ask "what can I do for you" he has not heard that in years,and spent all day everyday taking care of so many family members who needed him, they all died,or are children, He needs to be taken care of for a bit. American counselers would be preferred,as they understand american life best,I would think, but it nationality makes no difference for any other players, and for counselor if when all is taken into account seems like the right place. I have found nothing online that fits the bill I am looking for, they are either rehab, or strait up spas, with healers and such as well. He needs a nurse and counselors on staff type of facility, that does not feel like a clinical setting, and is focused on wellness,not illness.
Does anyone know of a facility in ecuador that would fit his needs? Of course money is an issue,which is one of the main reasons we are looking here. Any help would really be appreciated, he really could use some help from a few well intentioned strangers, may even give him a bit brighter attitude, and let him have a good day, anbd earn you some karma points. Thanks for your help

Originally Posted by quickincome

Hi there!
My family and I moved to Cuenca, Ecaudor about a year ago and have loved the experience. We looked around the country when we made our first trip over to see what areas would suit us best and settled for Cuenca. It has been a great decision. We feel it is extremely safe and find the people very gracious towards my lack of Spanish. There is a decent size expat community from which we have made many friends. We have been active also in the local community and feel the laid back environment is perfect for us. We have a 9 year old that is home schooled but tried a bilingual school for a semester. I could go into schooling if interested.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away.

All the best,
Andre

[billbob865]

Originally Posted by berniebrust

wife and I have just returned from 2 weeks in Ecuador. we stayed in a Quito hotel most of the time taking day trips as far as Banos 4 hrs and Cotacachi 2+ hours out. Otavalo, Cayambe, San Rafael, Chillos, Nayon Cumbaya, Ambato etc. roughly 1 hour out of Quito. We spoke with 2 attorneys and 2 realtors and came away with the following information.

the people of Ecuador are just great, family oriented, kind and generous. the kids are well dressed, happy and totally looked after. in the malls the teenagers are really well mannered and i could not tell the color of their underwear. not a one. Driving in Ecuador, in the city or through the mountains is a different matter, better bring along a change of underwear.

the gated communities are nice, we especially liked San Rafael, but quite expensive. the homes are relatively smaller than in the US, we would not be able to fit much of our furniture in homes selling for $150K-200K, however building to your own specs is considerably cheaper than in the US. we were told that the construction laborers earned $2.50/hr (unconfirmed). Getting a mortgage requires 20%-30% down or more with interest rates >7.5%. Bringing your car is a very difficult and likely not permitted. A Hyundai costs $40K. the food if grown in Ecuador is inexpensive but meat (beef,pork), chicken, fish of any reasonable quality is over the top costing the same as $/lb here as $/100gms in a large Quito grocery store. did not find a butcher shop.

A big negative for us was to see the people living behind window bars, steel doors, cinder block walls topped with broken glass, barbed wire or electrified.
this was not only in Quito, it is the rule of thumb there. The low cost housing that you read about in international magazines we could not find in an area that we would want to live in nor do they exist according to both realtors and one attorney.

i was really charged up about moving to Ecuador, but now i am not so certain. I wish i could feel better about going back.

Bernie

Did you move to Ecuador ?

[kittyses]

Hi
I was considering Ecuador until I started reading these forums. I was only reading the International magazine
about how reasonable the prices are. Does everyone agree that this is no longer the case?
I am fluent in Spanish and was thinking of trying to transfer my Realtor skills to Ecuador?
Any thoughts? I would very much appreciate any feed back
Thanks!

[gringotim]

Originally Posted by lasmsp2mx

Bernie, let us know how you liked Ecuador? Please...

My wife and I recently returned from 7 days in Ecuador, all of it spent on the Pacific coast, because that is what we want for our retirement, ( year round warm weather, ocean front, ocean view condo, low living costs). For years we had been planning on retireing to Manzanillo Mexico, but then 4 years ago Ecuador sparked our interest when it was #1 on International Living magazines top retirement destination, and has been #1 for 4 years in a row now, so we decided to go check it out, and can only say we loved it. Not that we don't still love Manzanillo, but cost of living there is creaping up, as are the monthly financial reqirements for obtaining residence, but in Ecuador, finacial requirements are next to nothing. Ocean front condo's are in the same price range as Manzanillo, but everyday things are cheaper, (and in U.S dollars), unlike Manzanillo, couldn't find a Walmart, Burger King, KFC, Home Depot, etc, but those are the tradeoffs when moving to another country, not as much english spoken by the locals compared to Manzanillo, but we got by, people were friendly, didn't see very many bars on windows or barbed wire fences, even in sparsly populated areas. Lots of construction (mostly condos) in the beach areas, really seemed to be up and coming, loved Salinas, Punta Carnero, Playas. will be going back in November to narrow down our choice for buying a condo for our retirement in a few years.

[Belgium3800]

I have lived in Nicaragua for 6 months, in Léon. It was a fantastic time and a beautiful city with quite a lot of expats from all over the world.

Léon, is not that expensive and its location is perfect. 20 min from the Atlantic coast and 1.30 hours from Managua.

You can find almost everything you need in Léon (only the schools are not at a US/European level)!

[jimgkiss]

Originally Posted by pcjensen61

Have been in Costa Rica since early august, looking to go farther south. PJ

We're going to check out Costa Rica, including San Isidro de General in the south next month (Jan 2013). Would be very interested in your impressions of southern CR. Tks. Jim