About Ecuador?

Travel Info
I am looking for information on: real eastate, economy, government, and lifestyle concerning Ecuador. My parents are thinking of moving there. I would especially like information from anyone who's lived or visited. All Opinions Welcome. Thank You...

Travel Tips

i was born in equador, but my parents moved out when i was about 4, so i never really knew how life was there, but going back from time to time to visit relatives, ive gotten some ideas on how life is there. first of all,its true what the first guy mentioned, that it is hard to find work there and the salary isnt that much at all. from what i recall, i asked one time, one of my aunts, how much is it that they pay their maids monthly to clean the house daily? she told me, around 300. i couldnt believe it...how can someone live out of 300 dollars a month??..i mean im not saying that everyone is poor there. most of my relatives are engineers, doctors, lawyers, business owners and they all live fine there, big home, big lifestyles, not to the extreme, but well enough and they survive because they have lived there all their life, they have connectoins, they have a degree, they know where to get hte job, what to do, who to contact. if someone was to just move there not knowing anyone, i would think it would be really difficult.

i dont know, i might be wrong, but im guessing from what i see and think. in anyways, about housing and real estate, the costs of homes are like extremly low (in comparison to american homes). for example, from my mom's side, the house she lived when she was a kid with her 8 sibblings, had been vacant for the last 15 years, not even rented, so just recently decided to reconstruct the house and divide it in apartments. the reason why was because it is a colonial historical home located in the very eye center of quito. the 3 story house was split into 7 apartments in which my bf just recently purchased one, why? because of the extremly low price. he bought one of them, a 75 square meter apartment for 42,000. and the fact that its a historical home, with much more value than a regular home, in the very center of historical quito, with a direct view to the 'panecillo'. so you can guess how much other homes can cost outside of the center.

in government, im not that familiar with politics, but i know its not at its best. about 8 months ago or more, i had heard in the news that the president had to flee the country for whatso ever reason...i forgot what it was about...but you can guess from there how its being run.

have your parents already chosen the house? apartment? my parents have a large house in quito, more like in the country side, that is vacant. i think they are planning on refixing it since its an old house, but really really nice. i grew up in that house. it has huge gardens from and back and on the side, theres a huge wall in the back of the house you can play tennis against it or basketball. theres a garage, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1 playroom, 1 studio(or can be bedroom), 1 large kitchen wiht another room added to it, walk in pantry, 2 balconies, 1 dinning room, 1 large living room, 1 dead end hall for plants (sounds odd right?? but its really really cool), 1 large basement. i dont know if my parents are planning on renting it again soon, but if your parents are interested, i can find out more. i can even recommend you a maid i use to call, 'mom' as a kid, (thats how close i am to her, and i still keep in touch).

anyways, hope the info helps!

Others
if your family wants to move to ecuador i hope they have money there is no jobs available the life style is cheap if you have money
so even if a person wants there own bussiness the people have
no money to buy to mush the country is beautiful they are on
the european system lunch at one stores close open up at four
like i said if you have money ok if not forget it
i am from ecuador and i have lived there
They use American dollars, You can find areas like Cuenca that has a near perfect climate. Quito can be cold at night even though it is only about 20+ miles from the equator. Manta, on the beach north of Guayaquil seems to be more and more popular with expats. Don't go to Guayaquil.