Project list.

I have noticed that in starting this blog the profile and - posted by -sections of the blog reflect my wifes information and that by changing it on this blog it changes it on her blog. So I am leaving it alone - my inclination for fixing things involves a hammer or a bigger hammer.

I bought property in La Paz, Azuay, Ecuador about 3 months ago and have been sitting on it until our residency in Ecuador had been approved and all the paperwork and documentation completed. Now that, that is done I can move ahead with the land and get some work done. I paid $35,000.00, after all was said and done, for a little better than 20 acres with water on the property, a small brick structure, long overgrown driveway off of the Panamericana highway and high tension electrical lines pulled to a pole in the middle of the land. Is that a good deal ? Not really. I have learned a few things early on in Ecuador, one is not to use a realtor. I guess some realtors might be honest but even an honest realtor will tag you with a commission, the others will get you at both ends of the transaction and you may not get title to the property. I had a realtor with U.S. affiliations try to sell me land in the Caja National Park. If you follow the rules and the laws of Ecuador and hire a good real estate lawyer, you will pay a little more but at least you will own what you buy. While we are on the subject of buying stuff in Ecuador - no you don't have to have a Cedula to buy property, a vehicle or open a bank account but you better be sure you want to live here before you do that stuff. It's hard to undo once it is done.

As you can see the price of land isn't much different than the Mid-West U.S. but for me the one asset you don't have to pay for makes all the difference - the weather. When I build it doesn't matter what time of year it is, no heating or air conditioning, no insulation. That makes for a pretty good time and cost savings, especially when you are doing it all yourself. The cost of building materials here runs from about the same as the U.S. to a little higher. There is no lumber to speak of here so " while in Rome ...." applies and the building process will involve mostly masonary products. Bricks and blocks are a little cheaper here, Portland runs about the same, sand and gravel run a little higher and steel is way higher than the U.S..

The second project after the front gate to secure the property will be to expand the existing building on the property to be used as a guest house after the main house is built

Here is what we are dealing with, a poorly constructed brick structure that I was going to tear down initally but I need a place to sleep while I work on the property and there are puma's and mountain lions in the area. So I am thinking I will expand on it and use a reinforced stucco over the brick - as long as I keep a verticle load on the bricks it should be okay.

Well we'll see how it goes.