Sunday, May 16, 2010
Dear Reader,
What can $110,875 buy you in southern California these days... certainly not your own quarter-acre lot, and house, in a private beach community.
And we are talking about a 'walk a few steps from your front door and wriggle your toes in the sand' beachfront community...
On our recent scouting trip exploring Ecuador's undeveloped north Pacific coast, myself and Ronan took an up-close look at a rare opportunity to own a slice of pristine unspoilt sandy beach, in a tranquil gated community. Read below to find out more...
Margaret Summerfield
You might think that owning your own slice of Pacific Beach is outside your budget...but the start price for your house on a beach like this one is $110,875
Dear Reader,
In most countries, it's hard to find a beach house for around $100,000. I should know--I spend about 40% of my time scouting real estate near coasts.
But in Ecuador, if you've got just over $110,000 to spend on a beach home, you can get all the trimmings--a nice house, and a big lot, in an upscale beach community.
The cost of land here is low, construction quality is high, and construction costs are the lowest I've seen. This means that you can buy a lot and build your own home here for $110,875.
Ecuador has 1,400 miles of coastline. The most under-developed section of coast lies between Pedernales and Canoa. Semi-dry forest covers the hills. The beaches extend ribbon-like along the seashore--pristine, empty, and beautiful.
Life here is simple, relaxed, and friendly. Swinging in hammocks is a popular way to pass the tropical afternoons. Canoa's a popular spot with surfers, who pick up the pace a little at weekends.
Four miles from Jama, along a new road, and just outside the village of El Matal, you'll find Coco Beach Village. I know the developers, brothers Gary and Larry, behind this gated community. They didn't like the way the local planning authority encouraged unsightly, ecologically unsound building practices. So, impressively, they spent the past three years getting the local government to change the rules.
Thanks to Gary's and Larry's determination, instead of a large group of small lots with busy streets...Coco Beach has a small group of large lots--just 66 subdivisions set amid 21 acres--with two quiet streets.
Instead of a big boardwalk separating the homes from the beach...you can walk a few steps from your front door and wiggle your toes in the sand.
And because all the utilities are underground, the views over the virgin beach are uninterrupted.
Every building lot will have green areas, and a thousand coconut palms spread throughout the development. You can see one of the homes in the development being constructed below.
Even in a high-end project like this, you can still get a beach house for $110,875.
Lot sizes are big in Coco Beach, averaging a quarter-acre, with a start price of $52,375. Construction costs run from $35 to $60 a square foot; $45 per square foot gets you a good standard of construction. This means that a $58,500 budget builds you a 1,300-square-foot beach home in this gated community...and your lot plus home comes in at $110,875.
While today this stretch of coast is the least developed, this is set to change. This has been the least accessible stretch of Ecuador's coast. Access is set to improve dramatically. This area will become the closest beach area to Quito and its new international airport. Construction on a new highway that is being built from Quito to Pedernales is well advanced.
Work is also progressing ahead of schedule on the bridge from Bahia De Caraquez to San Vicente. It will be the longest bridge in Ecuador. According to Ecuador's President, Rafael Correa, this project is second only to Quito's new airport in importance for Ecuador's tourism industry.
Put simply: this stretch of coast will become accessible. These projects are elements of the overall infrastructure plan, which is to connect Manta with Quito via Bahia with a 4-lane highway.
This is good news for readers of The Pathfinder Alert who have bought at Coco Beach. The project is progressing. The third house is under construction in addition to the first spec house. This stretch of coast will become more accessible and desirable. Today, you can still buy a lot and build a house here for $110,875--but this situation won't last long.
Ronan McMahon
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