Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Salinas offers warm beach weather year-round…and very affordable property
Dear Reader,
In 2011, we’ll keep bringing you the best real estate deals in the countries on our radar. So we’ll start the New Year the right way—with a super beachfront deal.
When this property from a local broker that we work with crossed my desk this week, I had to bring it to you. It’s impressive. A spacious beachfront condo for just $79,000…
The broker is Mike Sager, and he lives and works on Ecuador’s southern coast. He uncovered this condo in Salinas. You’ll enjoy warm beach weather year-round here, with low humidity levels. Furthermore, Salinas is one of the most developed cities on Ecuador’s coast. It offers big-city amenities: Supermarkets, shopping malls, hospitals and clinics, restaurants and nightclubs. It also offers two marinas, and a choice of watersports, including world-class sport fishing.
The city feels a little like Miami…with gleaming high-rises lining parts of the beach, trendy clubs coming alive in the evenings, and the jet set’s luxurious yachts swaying gently on the ocean. But on Chipipe Beach, behind Salinas Yacht Club, you’ll see the other side of Salinas. Chipipe fills with Ecuadorian family groups, who have vacationed in their beachfront homes here for generations.
You won’t pay Miami prices for a beachfront property in Salinas. You won’t pay Miami prices for eating out or enjoying the local nightlife either. Dinner for two in a fashionable restaurant shouldn’t set you back more than $20. With lunches costing around $5, you can cut your living costs here…or save some dollars to splurge on household help for the chores at home, deep-sea fishing trips, or spa treatments.
The living space of this three-bed, two and a half bath condo covers 1300 square feet. In a quiet neighborhood in Salinas, the property comes with covered parking…and an expansive ocean view. The property sits alongside the beach, and the views are uninterrupted. There is no boardwalk or street between the condo building and the beach.
The asking price is $79,000. That’s under $61 a square foot ($658 per meter), for a beachfront condo. Compare that to similar condos in Costa Rica or Panama, which would cost two or three times the price, and you can see what good value you can get for your money on Ecuador’s coast.
The property market in Ecuador is limited, tied to a relatively small middle class. Combined with a lack of foreign buyers, that means that property prices remain low here. They have increased steadily year on year, but have not had a real estate boom. But with increased interest from foreign buyers—looking for an affordable beachfront home, or to stretch their retirement dollars—that situation could change.
Not only is this property affordable, so are the running costs. The monthly condo fees run around $55 a month, and property taxes come in at less than $200—a year.
If you’d like more details on this property, contact Mike here, and he’ll send you a full information package. If the condo isn’t quite what you’re looking for (maybe you prefer a beach house…or dream of building your own home) then let Mike know what you want, and he can give you details of suitable properties.
Margaret Summerfield
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