Like minded expats

8POSTS

2 years ago

My wife and I are making an exploratory trip to El Salvador for ten days in early January 2025.

We will be looking for a small town on the Ruta de los Flores to see if we can discover a place to settle down.

We lived in Costa Rica for 6 years and then Nicaragua for over 16 years. So we are not Newbies to the idea of living full time in Central America whatsoever.

We would be interested in anyone's thoughts about some of the towns at elevation along the Ruta. We will be staying in Conception de Ataco and venturing out from there up and down the mountains and then to Santa Ana for the last few days.

We can also serve as advanced scouts if you need to discover thru our eyes what we see and find along the way.

Let us know.

Saludos,

John-Marc & Janice

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RootBeer-GMT Member

17POSTS

last year

We have contemplated such a trip, but have not yet committed. Was quite curious to see whether the Bitcoin adoption was real or mostly hype. I have heard people lay claim to both. Also, the real estate prices seem very "Miami" while the infrastructure is, perhaps, wanting. But--all I know is what I read. Would love to hear more from real world experience.

johnny2names New member

8POSTS

last year

I replied earlier today but it seemed to have disappeared. If you get it, let me know. otherwise ... I will rewrite later.

johnny2names New member

8POSTS

last year

this is the retake of my earlier reply that I am not sure you received.

Bitcoin, it doesn't work well here so definitely not going to work in El Salvador. The locals don't get it and the economy runs on cash and Yankee dollars at that so another denomination is difficult to establish. N0w, the tech savvy surfers and beach goers who own Bitcoin will find it easy to access their coins via cash machines but local beer bars, gas stations, hotels and trinket shops wont.

Real estate seems way out of proportion to the surrounding countries considering the gangs and the violence have just recently been addressed. Wishful thinking on sellers parts - inflate the the prices on the anticipation of better times to come. Not sure if that is a sustainable premise. I look forward to discovering more while there. I will talk to locals who own or know of properties to a get a feel for what they expect as opposed to chain real estate companies inflating their egos and doubling the asking price in hopes of a better profit. It is not unlike them to get a private contract between sellers and agents. the sellers ask for $10,000 the agents advertise $40,000. The buyers pay a commission to the agents and the agents split the extra profits with the sellers who get their $10,000 plus half of the extra $30,000. I have first hand experience of this in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It is the Wild West Show in spades. I expect no difference there.

All said, we are still very interested in finding a place with cooler weather, small town ,40,000-75,000 feel and some adequate restaurants and ambiance. We can always make treks into Santa Ana or San Salvador once a week or once a month to get our Walmart or Costco fix if needed.

Will keep you posted.

John-Marc