House Hunters International, Ecuador - on HGTV

I like this show (guilty pleasure) There was just a new episode aired tonight about a couple moving to the Esmereldas. Their budget was $300. Interesting episode and some unusually down-to-earth people.

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-inter … index.html

Here's another HHI Ecuador episode that never was:
Why We Didnt Accept "House Hunters International" Feature Offer

"Last week House Hunters International asked Frank and me if we would like to be featured on one of their shows doing an episode about house hunting for rentals here in Cuenca. This version of HHI is just another spinoff of the house hunters show. It was pretty exciting to be asked to do one of their shows and we gave it some careful thought.

We believe that if we were to go on this show it would inflate rental prices even more and that is something we are not willing to do. We cannot stop others from hyping up Cuenca with high priced rentals and real estate prices, but for us it is not an option. We love being the Frugal blog about Cuenca and we love being able to tell our readers about how not to be a gringo target and how to find good rental deals.

We live in a pretty nice rental now for only $250 a month and we know there are other rentals out there in the local rental market as well. If we were to go on the show we would be asked to look at high priced rentals that are actually out of our price range and that is not who we are. "

More here: http://www.discovercuencaecuador.com/20 … nters.html

Ecuador and Ecuadorian Coastal Properties in Manta http://www.ecuadoriancoastalproperties.com/   are being spotlighted again on HGTV's House Hunters International on March 9 and March 10.  http://www.hgtv.com/shows/house-hunters … ta-ecuador

Hi
We appreciate your sentiment!!

Our visas were submitted on 11 February, and as soon as they are approved, we will be shipping our container!

After looking extensively for property we have decided upon Gualaceo, Paute, Jadan areas but would like to rent on the outskirts of Cuenca until our house is guilt.

We will be immigrating with 4 cats (all house trained, or course), and are wanting to rent a 3 - 4 bedroom house preferably with a garage (to store all of the stuff from the container), obviously, for a reasonable (NOT GRINGO) price.

if you can help us locate such a place we would be most thankful.

DrKaren wrote:

we have decided we would ... rent on the outskirts of Cuenca until our house is guilt.


Classic Freudian slip. :cool:

--------

Don't move too fast into EC property investments.

cccmedia

@Sawman -

I saw an HHI episode filmed in Crucita a few months back.

Our expat retirees didn't seem especially savvy, but you never know, and I've read the shows are heavily scripted (no surprise there).

They were shown one new condo, I think it was a 4 floor building right on the beach, it had an elevator. The realtor proudly told them that it was the only elevator in Crucita. I believe it.

They finally bought a house that looked fairly isolated. For all the concern about finishes and closet door handles and a host of other stupid stuff, no mention was ever made about the source of the incoming water supply nor the outgoing sewerage. These are definitely questions I'd be asking. Nobody ever does on the TV show though.

Dumb show but entertaining.

gardener1 wrote:

@Sawman -

I saw an HHI episode filmed in Crucita a few months back.

Our expat retirees didn't seem especially savvy, but you never know, and I've read the shows are heavily scripted (no surprise there).

They were shown one new condo, I think it was a 4 floor building right on the beach, it had an elevator. The realtor proudly told them that it was the only elevator in Crucita. I believe it.

They finally bought a house that looked fairly isolated. For all the concern about finishes and closet door handles and a host of other stupid stuff, no mention was ever made about the source of the incoming water supply nor the outgoing sewerage. These are definitely questions I'd be asking. Nobody ever does on the TV show though.

Dumb show but entertaining.


Yeah, I think most of the show is fiction, but entertaining as you say.  Here's another one getting started that I've enjoyed:

http://www.hgtv.com/shows/caribbean-life

SawMan wrote:
gardener1 wrote:

@Sawman -

I saw an HHI episode filmed in Crucita a few months back.

Our expat retirees didn't seem especially savvy, but you never know, and I've read the shows are heavily scripted (no surprise there).

They were shown one new condo, I think it was a 4 floor building right on the beach, it had an elevator. The realtor proudly told them that it was the only elevator in Crucita. I believe it.

They finally bought a house that looked fairly isolated. For all the concern about finishes and closet door handles and a host of other stupid stuff, no mention was ever made about the source of the incoming water supply nor the outgoing sewerage. These are definitely questions I'd be asking. Nobody ever does on the TV show though.

Dumb show but entertaining.


Yeah, I think most of the show is fiction, but entertaining as you say.  Here's another one getting started that I've enjoyed:

http://www.hgtv.com/shows/caribbean-life


Think I read somewhere that they have already decided on a property before the show is even filmed, and they just show several other properties for entertainment value. Despite that, and being scripted, like many others, I still enjoy it.

HGTV puts on some good shows. Caribbean Life as mentioned by SawMan, and they also have Beachfront Bargain Hunt, and Hawaii Life which are pretty decent. Think they also had a show called something like Lakefront Cabins, or Lakefront Homes, but can't seem to find it at the moment.

MSN just posted an article 5 places to retire for under $1,500/month.  Number one was Cuenca, then Managua, Nicaragua.  The last three were Peru, Colombia and Guatemala.  Since IL was quoted often, the list is suspect.  They said that Mongolia and African cheap places were not listed because of the safety factor.  Why not the Philippines?  Too close to China?  Perhaps the fact that foreigners cannot own land in the Philippines has something to do with it.

mugtech wrote:

MSN just posted an article 5 places to retire for under $1,500/month.  Number one was Cuenca, then Managua, Nicaragua.  The last three were Peru, Colombia and Guatemala.  Since IL was quoted often, the list is suspect.  They said that Mongolia and African cheap places were not listed because of the safety factor.  Why not the Philippines?  Too close to China?  Perhaps the fact that foreigners cannot own land in the Philippines has something to do with it.


So they won't list some places because of safety concerns? That's probably fair, but then how can they list Guatemala? It does have one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Colombia has made a ton of progress over the last decade or so, but still has a very high homicide rate. Seems like a pretty subjective list (which they usually are).

j600rr wrote:
mugtech wrote:

MSN just posted an article 5 places to retire for under $1,500/month.  Number one was Cuenca, then Managua, Nicaragua.  The last three were Peru, Colombia and Guatemala.  Since IL was quoted often, the list is suspect.  They said that Mongolia and African cheap places were not listed because of the safety factor.  Why not the Philippines?  Too close to China?  Perhaps the fact that foreigners cannot own land in the Philippines has something to do with it.


So they won't list some places because of safety concerns? That's probably fair, but then how can they list Guatemala? It does have one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Colombia has made a ton of progress over the last decade or so, but still has a very high homicide rate. Seems like a pretty subjective list (which they usually are).


Yeah, the "good news" is you can "live" (READ: exist) on $1,500 a month. The "bad news" is that's ten to twenty times the rest of the community, making you a constant target of assaults and home invasions.