Friday, March 11, 2011
Dear Reader,
I’ve written before about the potential of Ecuador’s north Pacific coast. I’ve also written about the best beachfront community in this area, Coco Beach Village. In today’s dispatch, you’ll hear from a future resident of Coco Beach….who is currently building his retirement home there.
Put simply, Ecuador’s north coast is dramatically beautiful, with lush forest-covered mountains, deserted soft-sand beaches, and the sparkling blue Pacific. It’s very undeveloped. That’s because it was tough to get here. But infrastructure upgrades (including a bridge connecting the northern and southern coasts, and a new highway from Ecuador’ capital city, Quito), are opening this stretch of coast up. Opening it up to tourists, local and foreign...and to real estate buyers and developers. Property prices should rise here.
The nicest development in this area is Coco Beach Village. Frank and Beth K. fell in love with the community, and bought a home site here. Now they are building their retirement home in Coco Beach. Frank explains why:
“I am sure our story starts like many others - we wanted to retire early and just could not afford to in the States. After researching retirement in several countries, Ecuador was the place that kept coming to the top of the list. The friendly people, good medical care, low taxes, the dollar used as currency, and the low cost of housing sealed the deal.
Our list of wants included new construction, on or very close to the beach. Coco Beach Village fit the bill. Since there is no malecon (boardwalk) separating our property from the beach, we will walk out of our home right onto the sand. Construction costs are low, and the quality of the homes already built or under construction was up to US standards. Additionally, Gary and Larry Swenson (the developers of Coco Beach Village), brothers from the United States, had done a great job laying out the property and were very helpful every step of the way.
We provided the architect (who is working with the Coco Beach owners) a few sketches of the home we would like to build. He turned our ideas into plans, and we were ready to build. Our design is approximately 1710 square feet, with two master bedroom suites, kitchen, dining room, family room and computer nook. Lots of outdoor living space on the ocean side of the house… and a roof top terrace for entertaining and watching the waves and sunsets.
One of our concerns was being several thousand miles away while the house was under construction. Problem solved… by contracting with David Day, the on-site construction coordinator, who kept costs and quality in check, along with sending us many pictures as the house is going up. Overall, the construction experience has been very positive. Several suggestions for changes were made by the builders, several by us, as the construction progressed. Everything was handled easily via pictures, email, and Skype.
We just returned from Coco Beach several weeks ago. We wanted to see the "real thing" and needed to make the final decisions on finishing materials such as floor and bathroom tiles, counter tops, cabinets, fixtures and so on. Our construction costs will be in the neighborhood of $55 per square foot. It could be done for less, but we added a lot of extras to the house.
Within the next few months our home will be complete and we will be able to enjoy it as our vacation home. Towards the end of 2012, we will make a final move to Coco Beach Village and live there full time. Can't wait!”
You can see some of Frank’s photos of the house and Coco Beach here: http://www.pathfinderinternational.net/pfimgs/cocobeach/coco.html.
You can still buy a ¼-acre lot in Coco Beach Village, from $52,880. As Frank says, build costs run around $55 a square foot. So a 1300 square-foot home will cost $71,500…and the home plus lot comes in at $124,380. Not bad for a nice home just steps from the sand…
But if you want to own a piece of Coco Beach, you’ll need to hurry. Only 20 lots remain. Contact Larry Swenson here to find out more. Larry can also help you with your in-country travel arrangements if you want to come and see Coco Beach Village for yourself, and decide if it’s the place for you.
Ronan McMahon
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