Coming to ecuador in May 2014.

Plenty of good information about visiting Ecuador on the internet.

International Living is not among them. Stripped of its pretty pictures and glowing reports, IL is otherwise a real estate con. They are to be avoided.

Not everyone, myself included, would agree with gardener 1. IL does not go out of it's way to highlight the negatives but what is one person's minus is another person's plus. It all depends on what is important to you. I am very well traveled and I would rather live in Cuenca, EC than anywhere else I have ever been. It may not be for you because it's high, it's large and it's cool but I love my adopted city. Whatever, if you are interested in the southern highlands it would be a good place to start. On these forums, it is considered good sport to badmouth IL so I would not pay any attention to that sort of comment if I were you.

Happy hunting, Sequimite

I have no interest in being any kind of popular groupie badmouthing any entity here or anywhere else. What other people think or believe is not my problem, I have a very active intellect of my own and I make my own evaluations based on the evidence available.

It should take the average reader approximately 30 minutes of perusal to determine that International Living is just one more scheme in the great tradition of a sucker being born every minute, and the quick parting of a fool from his money. This is what their website oozes in glossy photos, half truths, and slick promotions designed to extract the participants dollars on questionable get rich quick and real estate *investments* and information seminars.

sequimite, I am incensed that you take it upon yourself to warn the OP about my questionable character and disregard my side of the story. Your post is without foundation or fact, and totally bereft of any kind corroboration or substantiation.

And frankly your response raises questions about your motive in advising that my reply should be disregarded.

To paraphase Upton Sinclair "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary [or real estate investment] depends upon his not understanding it."

gardener1, I did not mean to single you out, for you are but one of several folks bad mouthing IL on this and other forums. I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings and I do not think I said anything to reflect on your character but I disagree with your assessment of IL.  For the record, I am a FULLY retired attorney and I have no connection to real estate sales or promotion or to IL other than I have subscribed to the magazine and found it a useful starting point in my research. It's true, the magazine does contain ads for real estate and professional services relating to the expat experience. That's how they make their living, after all, and anyone who does not understand that negative articles do not sell subscriptions, won't make a living in publishing.

Please forgive me for my view, Sequimite

Dallask
Make your own list what is important to you number one my husband Internet, mine was washer and dryer
Why are we coming? Low cost of living is it true?
Health care? I have health problems we came two yrs ago. I was in the hospital two weeks almost died included every thing except medicine which we paid daily $1800.00 no tv no phone wonderful care..keep in mind i was the only gringo in the hospital sick the only one wow.
Weather what kind do you want?.but tough...you must work on spanish now a must if coming to latin america a must to want to  mingle....also.  this is a big big culture change big time bigger the going west in the wagon days honest....some towns dont have high rises....condos, gringos, and some dont want gringos, now think about this carefully 400 yrs old town that is old and they dont throw out any thing think about that carefully.  a cab looks great from the outside but you open the door and towels are holding up the seat now itsa bumpy ride and handles do not work and you hope the brakes do.
One last comment when we went to beach it was run down and not a lot to do only 2 or three blocks or places not beautiful just get by places...totally different the i pictured the american beaches and after the blocks it became dangerous very dangerous no not what i pictured.  dont come to you see it and if you come go to a social affair of Gringos talk with them also go to gringo tree phamplet it is a local paper for gringos in Cuenca ecuador if you are interested in that area.  you can get a lot of their feelings.  only advise is a lot of con people so be very careful very.  good luck

I've witnessed IL trying to sell off property that was under water a year previous.

Try reading peoples blogs, this is very helpful.  Then you can narrow it down to what part of Ecuador you want to visit by what you want.  Coast, highlands, mountain, jungle... Then just travel around and see for yourself.  Here is my blog of how we did it.  It should help a lot. Good luck. atruetalltale.wordpress.com

Hi:

It depends what you are looking for. There are towns like Loja or Vilcabamba in the southern part of Ecuador, which are nice. Loja is a city as Vilcabamba is small but many people like Vilcabamba. I would prefer Loja.
I am Ecuadorian and I know the country very well. When you come may be we can meet for coffee and talk about places to visit depending on your preferences.
Take care,

gardener1 wrote:

should take the average reader approximately 30 minutes of perusal to determine that International Living is just one more scheme in the great tradition of a sucker being born every minute, and the quick parting of a fool from his money

Unfortunately, many IL readers are likely to be naive and/or desperate to salvage their retirement.  That's what really sickens me about International Living: they're preying on the fears and hopes of the foolish and the elderly.

WOW!!! I can't believe the venom being displayed for IL. I seem to remember my dad telling me to believe 80% of what I see, 60% of what I read and 40% of what I hear. That formula has always paid off for me in day to day living.
IL serves a very real and useful purpose and they never said they're non profit. They like all papers rely on ad dollars to keep the doors open Does anyone know of a similar paper that offers all of the drop down icons IL has on their link? Doubt it, I have used several dozen of the recommendations I found there and in almost every case I was satisfied and treated fairly.
As for IL's link to real estate, I don't seem to recall anywhere or time where IL has pointed me or anyone to a realty project. Does anyone out there want to dispute this with fact based knowledge?? If so, please correct me.
I am acquainted with David Morrel one of IL's writers and I believe a principle. Yes he has real estate ties in the city some his and others managed. Fact is his live in partner has her own very succesful realty service and I have never seen it posted nor IL recommending it/..David also has links to Kathy Gonzales a major Realtor in Cuenca with roots going back several generations. As with his own fiancee I have never seen any recommendation from IL on her behalf. Anyone wishing to dispute this please do with actual real which is verifiable information. Let me also say that my wife and I used Kathy Gonzales on our first visit 2 years ago and we almost purchased a unit through her but backed off for paranoia reasons which proved later to be  unfounded and damaging statements from blogs. She was understanding and simply asked that we keep the door open should we change our minds.
I also point out she is highly recommended in the tree by a large group of folks shes assisted on realty, furnishings and other services. Kathy is reputable and professional and I'd use her again without reservations.
Folks IL is a very important source of information and anyone with intelligence should recognize it for what it is and does. Nothing corrupt, compromising or misleading on their part occurs with any deliberacy.
As for the comments regarding under water acreage scams and the other very dumb and uneducated comments, I see more dishonest and self serving bios on other blogs with topics such as 'best places" to live or "the most for your money" headers. IL is a bastion of integrity compared to these deliberately misleading bastards who are trying to separate you from your money.
Use IL for what it is, an info source. The homework is your responsibility to do not theirs regardless of what anyone writes or says.
If you're still unhappy after reading this, please start your own Cuenca/Ecuador newsletter and show us how to do it better. OR, as we say in America, put your money where your mouths are!
BUYER BEWARE!

sequimite wrote:

I have subscribed to the magazine and found it a useful starting point in my research. It's true, the magazine does contain ads for real estate and professional services relating to the expat experience. That's how they make their living, after all, and anyone who does not understand that negative articles do not sell subscriptions, won't make a living in publishing

I guess International Living is a starting point for everyone thinking about moving overseas - it certainly was for us.  However, they go far beyond the usual business over-hyping; they've written some of the most misleading, sleazy things I've ever seen.  It's not ethical or necessary to succeed in publishing to claim the "entire world banking system is going to collapse, so you better buy overseas real estate," or to present the founder of IL as a "behind-the-scenes friend of Kings and Presidents."  Two years ago, IL said you could live like a king in Ecuador for $600 a month.  I've read about what happened to the people who believed that, and it isn't pretty.

timo31750 wrote:

Does anyone know of a similar paper that offers all of the drop down icons IL has on their link? Doubt it, I have used several dozen of the recommendations I found there and in almost every case I was satisfied and treated fairly.
As for IL's link to real estate, I don't seem to recall anywhere or time where IL has pointed me or anyone to a realty project. Does anyone out there want to dispute this with fact based knowledge?? If so, please correct me.

Sure, no problem.  Go to InternationalLiving.com and click on the drop down icon at the top of the page called "Real Estate."

timo31750 wrote:

WOW!!! I can't believe the venom being displayed for IL.
I am acquainted with David Morrel one of IL's writers and I believe a principle. Yes he has real estate ties in the city some his and others managed. Fact is his live in partner has her own very succesful realty service and I have never seen it posted nor IL recommending it/..

I don't have much experience with IL but the fact you have a high regard with one of their contributors doesn't speak to the credibility of the ownership and the organization in general.

And I don't share your high regard for David Morrill because I have a low regard for the journalistic practice of the web site he owns --Cuenca Highlife--for reasons I have already explained in detail on my web page. Further, on another thread on this website where I discuss real estate pricing, his company consistently had prices higher for the same properties. While there is not anything unethical with listing a property for more than a owner is asking, I don't want to deal with a company who pads the asking price because they expect their gringo clientele to always offer less than what is being asked.

Have personally found one just needs to learn how to decipher IL, and other such publications. They come up with some interesting locations. Now if you just go 15-30 minutes east,west,north, or south of where they are recommending then there is usually vary nice places where the cost of living is still quite low, and the cost or real estate, and or rentals is also still quite low.

Nards Barley wrote:

And I don't share your high regard for David Morrill because I have a low regard for the journalistic practice of the web site he owns --Cuenca Highlife--for reasons I have already explained in detail on my web page.

If he's Head Plagiarist at Cuenca HighLife, I can't say I have much respect for his business ethics.

As for IL, I agree somewhat with j600rr: I also used to use them for some basic info -- but I just made darned sure to verify everything from another source, and apply large doses of salt to everything they told me.

Eventually, I decided their stories were getting so wildly fanciful that even with truckloads of salt their info was worthless (that was when they were telling me that anybody can go into the free-lance writing biz and make a hundred grand in their first year.

What a load of BS.

hola eres de quito y has visitado vilcabamba espero hayas y visitado o estado en la llegada de la virgen del cisne. Soy lojano y con orgullo decimos en loja que quien NO CONOCE LOJA - NO CONOCI MI PAIS!!!
saludos

Hello my name is Roberto Rosado a retired Boston Police Officer living in Portoviejo, Manabi, Ecuador. I have been here for 15 years and I love it here. I like the beach and ocean better than the hills and mountains of Cuenca and Quito. Portoviejo is the capital of Manabi and we have lots of sleepy fishing towns along the coast of Ecuador they have beautiful palm trees and the Pacific Ocean. Lots of Americans and Canadians living here. If I can be of help to you just let me know