Thursday, February 28, 2013
Quito's brand new airport is Open for Business
That's right! Tomorrow I will be traveling to Crucita to shoot a Virtual Tour of a beautiful beach front home, of course there's problems! some traffic delays, flight delays, etc. I think a little bit of adjustment is necessary since I used to live just minutes away from the old airport.
I will be posting about my traveling experience!
I will be posting about my traveling experience!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
What to Expect when you arrive in Ecuador
Ecuador is a beautiful country indeed! There's so much to do in such a small country. So much to see and new things to try. I love Ecuadorean food! All these beautiful things I have to counter measure with not so good things. I am going to tell you ten things you should and shouldn't expect when you live in Ecuador.
- Expect to pay more specially if you look gringo and you don't know what you are doing. And when I mean "gringo", I mean blue eyed, tall and blond. Nothing in Ecuador has a set price. So, bargain as much as you can. You will earn some respect. And, if bargaining isn't working too well then, turn around and walk away. There's a 50% chance that you get chased down before you go out the door and paying your price!
- When you go out to eat, do not expect free refills for your soft drink. They won't be free!
- Don't expect great customer service. There's just a few places where you can get great customer service. And more likely if you are blond, blue eyed then, you might get treated better than the locals in some cases.
- When you dine out, don't expect for all the food to come out at the same time. I can only say that there's only one place where I have been where all the food for all my party came out at once.
- Expect to pay more for local attractions or museums. Yes, unless you have a valid Ecuadorian ID you will be paying the foreigner's rate
- Don't expect your appointments to be on time, and when I mean time is not just 1 or 2 hours. I am talking 1 or 2 days. And expect to hear the 1000 reasons why they couldn't be on time.
- Expect to pay a pro rated tip of 10% or 12% added to your tab. There's just a handful of places where you tip according to the service you received. The pro-rated service charge is probably one of the reasons why you don't get good service because the servers already know that they are going to make 10% or 12% percent of your tab. Always look at your tab and verify if the tip is already included.
- Don't expect a straight answer if you are dealing with people working for any government entity, It just doesn't happen, learn to tolerate this issue, it's just part of the culture
- Warranty policies? If you buy any kind of electronics or light fixtures for your home, the warranty is they test it in front of you to make sure it works, That's your warranty! Once you leave the store you are on your own.
- Don't expect the locals to change... Think of it this way: It is not their fault, it's simply part of the culture, and the most important thing... Do not generalize or stereotype, you will find great people too... and maybe a friend for life... You don't need to change, we just need to adjust.
Have a great weekend!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Getting an Ecuador Visa
Although, in the last couple of years, improvements have been set to speed things up in certain immigration formalities, it's still a good idea to plan ahead! It's not a good idea to be in front of an agent from the Ecuadorian Immigration Services without having a fair knowledge of the type of Visa or Residency status you want to obtain.
The problem is not so much about rules and regulations. It has to do with the people working for this government entity and their lack of knowledge ultimately leading to your frustration. You'll probably won't get a straight answer to your questions or you might get a different answer from one agent to another.
Most retirees or expats obtain an investment or a retirement visa. There are some restrictions with these type of visas, and one of them is that you can't be out of the country for more than 90 days with in a 24 month period, and this happened to the wife of one of my friends!a few months back! She can't return for a certain period of time...
When you apply for a retirement visa, be prepared to provide lots of paperwork, originals and certified copies (in some cases notarized and apostilled), and translated to Spanish. The documents include but are not limited to, Birth Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Certified Bank Letters that guarantee your retirement income and expect to pay anywhere in an average of $2000 in attorney fees.
Expect some issues when obtaining an Investment Visa, specially if you are planning to buy Real Estate. To qualify for this visa, you need to invest and maintain a minimum of $25,000 in a bank if single, and $1000 per each dependent, so, if you have a family of three, then you need $27,000. Just like a retirement type visa, you need to provide with all the necessary paperwork. You can also qualifying for an Investor's visa buying real estate. But the problem you may run into is that in order to qualify for an Investor's visa you need to provide the immigration services with the deed to the property you are acquiring, and, there have been numerous incidents were it turns into a nightmare to obtain the Deed Certificates eating up the time that you have been allowed to stay in the country legally.
I sell real estate for a living, and I want you to hire me to be your agent but this is one of these circumstances where if you decide to get an investors or retirement visa, I will have to recommend you to rent first, and, I can help you with that as well.
Ecuador is a beautiful country, and renting will give you the opportunity to find out if Ecuador is right for you.
Meanwhile, we can go and look at some potential properties while you decide...
But, if you are ready and decided about buying a piece of real estate.... You might want to consider a Corporation Visa or a Work Visa The corporation visa takes about 2 months to obtain.
As a business entity, a corporation does not need a visa, the visa is for the person who's behind the corporation.
The requirement is that 1% of the shares of a corporation must be owned by an Ecuadorian citizen. The corporation must have a Manager to whom you'll pay the minimum wage, currently around $340 a month plus all the benefits required by law . You file 0 on your tax forms without penalty as long as you file on time, or you can hire the services of an accountant to file for you for less than $50 a month. You will need to assign a single transaction power of attorney(meaning that the power of attorney is only for the purpose of entitling one person to act in your behalf to form a corporation and no more) whom you are going to send the necessary documentation to start a corporation in Ecuador.
Later on, you can apply for an Investors or Retirement Visa.
The advantages of the Corporation visa:
I'll see you when you get here!
Ivan Moncayo
- It costs about $1,500 to $2,000 for attorney fees
- You don't have traveling restrictions as for the Investors or Retirement Visas
- You can purchase real estate, and as soon as you get your deed you can apply for an Investor's visa
- It is not a resident visa, meaning that if you decide not to stay, you can sell/transfer your Corporation to someone else and Chao!
I'll see you when you get here!
Ivan Moncayo
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Gringos Pay More? Why?
It works in my advantage to be part of two cultures. I was born in Ecuador but I´ve lived more than half of my adult life in the US. And not to brag or anything, but.... I think I am qualified to talk about this issue.
One of the things that doesn't make me too proud of being "half" Ecuadorian is that I see how certain Ecuadorian citizens take advantage of the newly arrived visitor.
So, I decided to do a little research about this "dishonest issue" and I found out that most people see foreign visitors like they have a big dollar sign imprinted on their foreheads! It's true that $1 dollar goes a long way in Ecuador and when we just arrive, everything seems so cheap when we are really paying 3 times the cost of taxi raid if we are not careful!
Same thing happens when we are looking at properties to buy! And that is why future buyers like to work with an "Agent" whom they have already developed a level of trust knowing that they will keep a high level of discretion when they are prospecting properties for foreign buyers. In other words, keeping their mouths shot without disclosing that their prospective buyers come from other country so they pay a fair price for a piece of Real Estate.
The majority of my clientele are US Citizens, and most of them have worked with a Realtor. It's an advantage for them to work with me because I apply the same level of service as if I was practicing Real Estate in the US.
There's no Agency Law intended to protect the buyer in this country, meaning that an Agent and a "Corredor Inmobiliario" are two different levels of service. The latter works on his own benefit while an Agent (which aren't easy to find) work on his or her client's interests.
Here is the link to one of my listings where you can find my contact information and even a picture! By the way, if you are a Real Estate Professional, there's a generous amount of $$$ for the agent who refers me a ready and able buyer.
Enjoy the show! http://QuintaEsencial.com
One of the things that doesn't make me too proud of being "half" Ecuadorian is that I see how certain Ecuadorian citizens take advantage of the newly arrived visitor.
So, I decided to do a little research about this "dishonest issue" and I found out that most people see foreign visitors like they have a big dollar sign imprinted on their foreheads! It's true that $1 dollar goes a long way in Ecuador and when we just arrive, everything seems so cheap when we are really paying 3 times the cost of taxi raid if we are not careful!
Same thing happens when we are looking at properties to buy! And that is why future buyers like to work with an "Agent" whom they have already developed a level of trust knowing that they will keep a high level of discretion when they are prospecting properties for foreign buyers. In other words, keeping their mouths shot without disclosing that their prospective buyers come from other country so they pay a fair price for a piece of Real Estate.
The majority of my clientele are US Citizens, and most of them have worked with a Realtor. It's an advantage for them to work with me because I apply the same level of service as if I was practicing Real Estate in the US.
There's no Agency Law intended to protect the buyer in this country, meaning that an Agent and a "Corredor Inmobiliario" are two different levels of service. The latter works on his own benefit while an Agent (which aren't easy to find) work on his or her client's interests.
Here is the link to one of my listings where you can find my contact information and even a picture! By the way, if you are a Real Estate Professional, there's a generous amount of $$$ for the agent who refers me a ready and able buyer.
Enjoy the show! http://QuintaEsencial.com
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| QuintaEsencial Vilcabamba-Ecuador |
Moving to Ecuador?
Ecuador is once again the #1 place to live according to International Living Magazine. This is a great opportunity for local home builders and home owners to market their properties to International Buyers. The best way to advertise properties to international buyers is through the powerful combination of images and the internet! The reason is simple: It is NOT practical for a potential international to just come and visit a couple of properties, like he was just looking at properties in his own town and country! It's quite a long commute! Unless of course, they are coming to your hometown for vacation. The best way to sell properties to international buyers is to cater properties to them. One effective way of doing these is through the use of Virtual Tours. VirtuoMedia360 Interactive, is a Virtual Tour Company that focuses on Real Estate Marketing.
One of Ecuador's favorite spots for Retirees is Vilcabamba, AKA "The Valley of Longevity. Located in Southern Ecuador, this small town is home for the most diverse international community in the country. Here is the link for a Property marketed by VirtuoMedia360TM : http://QuintaEsencial.com where a web site and a Virtual Tour were combined to cater the best of this beautiful property.
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| Virtual Tour Powered by: VirtuoMedia360 Interactive |
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