Property Rights in Ecuador,
Home Sites & Building Costs
The rights of foreigners to buy and own land are written into Ecuador’s Federal Constitution. There has never been a case of seizure or nationalization of any foreign citizen’s property in Ecuador that we’ve been able to discover.
As of August, 2008, the prices for these lots range from $65,000 to $80,000. Here are the specifics:
Lot Number Price
1 $65,000
2 $65,000
3 $80,000
4 $80,000
5 $80,000
6 $80,000
7 $80,000
The current estimates of house costs are rising quite rapidly because of the increased prices of materials and costs of hauling—thanks to the US dollar's tanking in value. The 1400-square foot house (with an additional 200 square feet of roof-covered outdoor terrace) we started building last July (2007) has cost us approximately $50,000 to build, with a ferro-concrete foundation and adobe walls, tongue-in-grove pine ceilings both indoors and over the outdoor terrace areas. Today, to build an equivalent house, you'd have to add approximately $15,000, thanks to rising material and transport costs.
Since our house was built, the cost of iron rebar has gone up over 100 percent, as has anything of iron. Wood has gone up a lot, too. Cement has also gone up but not as much. These materials are expected to continue rising in price, largely because of the dollar's declining buying power and the fact that Ecuador is on the US dollar economy.
Foundation & First Floor
We very strongly recommend solid foundations and intermittently spaced ferro-concrete pillars . This is what we've done for all the buildings built so far. And, if you're planning a two-story structure, as we're doing with the internet cafe & art gallery / second floor rental units, we recommend that you build up to the top (i.e., up to the ceiling) of the first floor with a ferro-concrete and block pad or some equivalently strong structure. This is the normal modern construction process in this part of Ecuador and is very solid. We know of more than one very sad case where people tried to cut costs by building large structures—even a one story building, in one case—directly on the ground without a foundation and are now watching their buildings self-destruct by gradually breaking apart.
Our building materials for the internet cafe & gallery /rental unit in the lower field will be as follows: on top of the ferro-concrete foundation will be block, covered with field stone on the outside and block on the interior, looking much like finished (semi-glossy) brick and clean mortar. French doors and windows will be custom-made of pine and glass.
On the first floor level, under roof, will be a 7-foot-wide terrace that runs along the entire front of the house and then wraps around on one side, all the way to the back of the house. The terrace will have tile on it and hand railings similar to those on our house (made of ficus branches).
Second Floor & Materials
The second floor will be built in Ecuadorian pine which is much heavier and more durable than the pine we're used to seeing in the States. The look of the second floor will be that of a very well-made log cabin. Doors and windows will be of pine and glass. The difference between an actual log cabin and this style of working with wood is that the outside of the logs will be rounded but the inside of the logs (what you see throughout the interior) will be flat, with a unique tongue-in-groove construction. This will seal all the walls very nicely, with no need for any cement or other chinking material to be put between the logs.
Here are some photos to give you a clearer picture of what the wood looks like unfinished and, then, what it will look like finished and sealed with three applications of a pure linseed oil. The third application of linseed oil has some beeswax mixed into it. This process makes the wood a beautiful deep honey-gold color and protects it against the elements of nature.
Building Costs
Low Field Building Sites
The views from these sites are lovely—of the fields, mountains and mountain gaps, and trees lining the river. We're building houses here up on the slope, both to provide better views and also to protect the farmland / orchard area in front. (If you build a two-story structure, we suggest that the first floor be bermed into the hillside, as we're doing with the internet cafe & gallery / rental unit.)
Your lot will include a combination of level land, sloping land and woods. Irrigation water is available for gardening on and around your lot, plus we plan to put in beautifully landscaped fish ponds, fruit trees, flower beds and vegetable patches—and possibly one or more gazebos with grape arbors, etc.—to replace the current straight rows of fruit trees and vegetables that Jorge and his crew put in while we were away. (Concepts such as in designing with curves and general landscaping principles have been an eye-opener for our building and farming crew—but they're excited about learning new practices and definitely catch on quickly.)
Along the irrigation canal, a lovely stone path will connect your home with the internet cafe & gallery, the art studio and the healing center, as well as to the hiking trails that go to the top of the surrounding mountains on the farm.
These home sites are an excellent choice for those who want to be near the river (and soothing river sounds) and the pedestrian bridge—the bridge is perhaps a three minute walk, on level ground. A fairly wide path extends along the river, over a mile to the far end of the new part of our property—a lovely walk.
Here is a panoramic view of the Low Field taken with the photographer’s back to the river.
High Field Building Sites
The High Field is currently accessed by walking from the pedestrian bridge 5-6 minutes up hill to the edge of the field and another 5-6 minutes to the furthest house sites. Site 8, the nearest, is perhaps an additional 2 minutes. For bringing in your shopping purchases, local people are available to carry things for one or two dollars. (Since paid work is scarce here, these opportunities are appreciated.) Animals (burros, horses) can help haul heavier things. With some work on the narrow roadway, it would also accommodate on-property electric vehicles.
Lots in the high field have beautiful views of the valley and village of Santorum as well as of the higher mountains beyond. Lots include a small portion of the ficus forest which we will clear for you, if you like. We have a large ficus forest (about 12 acres surrounding the high field and much more on other parts of the land) and, since ficus has long thorns, we do recommend that you have us harvest the trees nearest the house sites; however, we can leave them in place, too, if you prefer. If you do decide to have us clear them, you can replace them with other types of trees and gardens.
The upper field has good access to trails for walking or riding (horse, mule) through lovely changes of ecosystems up to the top of our mountains, where the views are spectacular. We've now installed an irrigation system for the high field, which will allow year-round cultivation of vegetables, flowers and fruit trees on all these lots.
Our current use of the upper field is for grazing animals, so if you want to have a couple of horses or cows or some sheep, this can be arranged.
Here are two telephoto views of the High Field showing building site locations:
The next two photos show this Ecuadorian Pine treated with Linseed Oil & Bees Wax
We're available to help you develop your dreams and turn them into realities you will enjoy for a lifetime.
Home Sites
Below is an overview map of the entire property. The old property boundary marks the inherited family-division of our two farms. We have been fortunate to obtain both properties to give us a total of about 350 acres (140 hectares). At this time we have identified seven sites, two in the Low Field and five in the High Field.
To preserve the views, all utilities will be brought in underground.
Access to electricity and water are included in the cost of your lot. There will be (low) monthly fees for utilities (electricity & water).
The blue line in these photos indicates our property boundary along the river (view blocked by the foreground).
A side note: The man we're buying the wood from will be preparing all the wood for us. We know from his other work that he's a real craftsman. We got a detailed tour of his small restaurant, with the look of a log cabin. He built this five years ago. Seeing the woodwork led us to decide to make the houses down near the river combining rock walls and "log cabin" style logs, with lovely custom-made windows (different from the ones in the photo above).
House Sizes and Approximate Costs
While we'd like to build the three lower-field houses in a style consistent with the Internet cafe/restaurant/rental unit, you can opt for a larger or smaller house. To give you a sense of prices, the internet cafe (etc.) will have a total interior space of 1722 square feet. This will be comprised of two floors that are equal in size, a total of 861 square feet per floor of free indoor living space. The outdoor decks (on both the ground floor and second floor) on two sides of the house will add 311 square feet per floor or an additional 622 square feet of outdoor living space, all under roof. The grand total of combined indoor and outdoor living space will be 2344 square feet. This size house will run approximately $75,000-85,000, with the cost depending on the changing costs of materials and also on the types of finishing materials we use (i.e., quality of ceramic tile, bathroom and kitchen fixtures & finishing, number of rooms per floor, detail work, etc.).
If you want to build a smaller home, let us know what you have in mind (with as much detail as possible re: design and materials) and we can get you a pretty good price estimate.
For those who are interested in buying a lot in the upper field and who have sketches and estimated sizes of houses you'd like to build, please let us know and we can get you some cost estimates.
...The same view, with the lots sketched in (approximate)...
Site Prices
Because of the beauty and desirability of Ecuador’s “Valley of Longevity”, housing and land prices here are going up very rapidly. Homesites at our neighboring upriver development “San Joaquin” are now sold out. We are currently re-evaluating our circumstances and can guarantee that our site prices will remain stable for the next month only. We strongly recommend that you get in touch with us to reserve your place as soon as possible.
