Ecuador has the least expensive real estate of any country on my beat. In most countries, it’s hard to find a beach house for $100,000. But in Ecuador, if you’ve got $100,000 to spend on a beach home, you can get all the trimmings—luxury house, big beach lot, upscale community.
Last year I told you about my #1 pick for a $100,000 beach home: Coco Beach, Ecuador. A week ago, I visited Coco Beach video camera in hand to catch up on progress.
To remind you…the cost of land here is low, construction quality is high, and construction costs are the lowest I’ve seen. This means that you could buy a lot here and build your own high-end home for less than $100,000.
Ecuador has 1,400 miles of coastline. The most under-developed and nicest section of coast lies between Atacames and San Vicente. Virgin forest covers the hills. The beaches extend ribbon-like along the seashore—pristine, empty, and beautiful. This time of year, the foliage is lush and green…almost luminous. The water is clear and blue. In parts…when the sun hits it in a certain way…it almost looks turquoise. In other parts, lone surfers have miles of beach and awesome surf breaks to themselves.
Major development hasn’t come here—yet. This has been Ecuador’s least accessible stretch of coast. That’s changing. Once it does, deals like this will be a distant memory.
Life here is simple, relaxed, and friendly. Locals are as likely to get around on horseback as by car. Swinging in hammocks is a popular way to pass the tropical afternoons. Beach towns Canoa and Jama are popular with surfers, who pick up the pace a little at weekends.
Four miles from Jama along a new road and just outside the village of El Matal you will find Coco Beach Village. I know the developers, brothers Gary and Larry, behind this gated community. They didn’t like the way the local planning authority encouraged unsightly, ecologically unsound building practices. So, impressively, they spent three years getting the local government to change the rules.
Thanks to Gary’s and Larry’s determination, instead of a large group of small lots with busy streets…Coco Beach has a small group of large lots—just 66 subdivisions set amid 21 acres—with two quiet streets.
Instead of a big boardwalk separating the homes from the beach…you can step out your front door and wiggle your toes in the sand.
And because all the utilities are underground, the views over the virgin beach are uninterrupted. Every building lot has green areas, and 1,000 coconut palms spread throughout the development.
When I say that you can step out your door and wiggle your toes in the sand here what I mean:
This is one of the homes under construction.
When I was there, two beachfront lots were still available. They have been reserved in the last couple of days. If you want beachfront you need to put your name on a waiting list today incase one or two of the pending closings fall out. If not, don’t worry. A block back from the beach the lots are elevated and have unobstructed views of the beach and ocean. This is the view from the back of the project:
You might prefer it there…or maybe you just want to step out your door and wiggle your toes in the sand…that’s your choice.
Today, you’ll pay a bit more to buy and build here than when I first told IL readers about this opportunity…not much more though! It’s not too late…but you need to act now.
Editor’s Note: Ronan McMahon is the Executive Director of Pathfinder (International Living’s preferred real estate advertising partner). Ronan has just returned from a scouting trip to Ecuador’s finest stretch of Pacific Coast. The beach property here for less than $100,000—sometimes a lot less—can’t last long. In a special White Paper, we’ve put an up-to-the-minute account of the super-affordable beachfront opportunities that you can take advantage of right now on this, one of the last coastal frontiers. Best of all—it’s free. Here’s how to get it.
