Friday, July 09, 2010
Dear Reader,
Would $12,000 for a ¼-acre lot in a lush, stunning and temperate nature-lover’s paradise… 2 hours from a vibrant capital city (and international airport) get your attention? People come to this place from all over the world to watch birds and nature. How about $50,000 for a 1,000 square foot cabin that shares a 1200-acre nature reserve?
It got my attention. In fact, this was a chance discovery. The kind of discovery that messes up a scouting trip’s itinerary…in a good way.
I’ve just returned from a scouting trip along Ecuador’s north coast. I was there to look at large pieces of beachfront land that I believe will increase in value as Ecuador’s north coast becomes more accessible.
On this trip, I took the road route from Quito for the first time. On previous visits I flew to Manta and then travelled north by road. Highway improvements made over the past five years meant that the road route was feasible this time. It’s along this road that I made this chance discovery.
The first two hours’ drive from Quito is incredibly scenic with towering mountains and amazing valleys. In fact, just 30 minutes on this road from downtown Quito you find yourself in an otherworldly mountain wilderness. Much of this area is protected as a nature preserve. Around each corner, there’s a new microclimate and foliage. In places orchids are everywhere in a misty cloud forest. Five minutes away you find semi-dry jungle. There is very little development…just a few viewing points and small cafes where you can enjoy fresh juices or a coffee.
Here’s some video I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UTu1o-Bbow&feature=channel
I’m traveling with my attorney in Ecuador (Roberto Moreno), and Margaret.
Another hour of driving and we have already begun our decent from high in the Andes. Here, the terrain is lush, green, temperate highlands. The little town of Mindo is a short drive from the main highway. Mindo has been attracting bird watchers and eco-enthusiasts from Europe for the past decade. Some stayed, setting up boutique hotels and quality restaurants. This place is so rich in delicious, natural ingredients, chefs have an easy job. Demand from European visitors has pushed land prices in the town up as high as $300 per meter. That’s $1.2m for an acre.
Here’s what the road and the terrain looks as we approach the Mindo area (in this video I say that there is 400 square meters in an acre when of course there is 4,400. My excuse: jetlag. I traveled through the night to get to Quito and was quite groggy): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvNmrkWde9U&feature=channel
The real estate deals are to be found just outside of the town of Mindo. Nine km (5.6 miles) off the highway on a dirt road, I saw this cabin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00VGsvq_77w
$50,000 here buys you 1,000 square feet and a share of a 1200-acre nature reserve with features like this waterfall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjNn88QklcY&feature=channel
Just off the main road, a number of projects are offering lots to the local market for $12 per meter. That’s $12,000 for a ¼-acre lot. Interestingly, one of these projects near the main highway was being developed by one of Ecuador’s bigger developers. This was no “mom and pop” project where a local landowner divides and sells off a few fields.
This area is beautiful, extremely accessible to Quito, well served with restaurants and tourist amenities, and offers incredibly inexpensive real estate prices even by Ecuadorian standards.
Stay tuned. I’m taking a closer look to understand the market…and hoping for more chance discoveries on future scouting trips.
Ronan McMahon
P.S. The improved Quito highway is impressive. This was a dirt road that connected little mountain villages. It was always the most direct route to the coast but wasn’t the route the road to the coast followed. When you see the terrain, you understand why. Stretches of this road have been carved out of the side of the Andes, a major engineering undertaking. Drive time from Quito to the coast will be cut from seven hours to about three and a half hours once the final stretch is complete. This new highway also links up with the main coastal highway connecting Atacames and Manta via the new bridge at Bahia.
You might also be interested in:
An Undeveloped, Pristine Coast That’s Now On The Move
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