Cuenca Rentals

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Monday May 31st 2010

Hola Everyone,

HOME EXCHANGE

I have been dealing with a lot of new expats lately who are coming to town and looking for suitable rentals - either fully furnished or unfurnished. I think I have mentioned many times that rentals come and go quite quickly and sometimes if you don’t take what you see and like immediately, it will more than likely be gone when you go back. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this happen.

And it is not just in rentals, it also happens when people are looking to purchase a property.

The other idea that you may like to consider if you are coming here first to get a feel of the place is to think about Home Exchange.

On our first trip to Ecuador we did not think of a Home Exchange. Instead we rented out our apartment for the 8 weeks we were away. This worked out well and our tenants were fantastic. It also paid for one of our tickets to Ecuador. Being from Australia it is quite expensive to fly here, and it is a very long way.

So for you expats already living in Ecuador and who may be considering taking a trip to Australia, why don’t you think about a Home Exchange? Take a look at Home Exchange below. They have some wonderful homes that people are wanting to exchange all around the world.

 There are not that many houses with gardens available for rent, and generally if there are, they are usually taken very quickly. Houses generally require a long term rental.

Small one bedroom fully furnished apartments are available for short term rentals. The larger apartments that are furnished sometimes require a longer stay with maybe a minimum of a few months.

Many of the larger unfurnished apartments are long term rentals and they generally like to be rented for a minimum of 6 months. One thing you must remember about renting, or even buying properties here, is that most of them do not come with a stove, cook top or refrigerator. The majority of unfurnished apartments certainly do not supply these appliances. Furnished apartments generally do.

Usually when being taken out with a Realtor there is a property showing fee of approximately $15 per hour. Now before I hear you say “What on earth for” well, unless you can speak fluent Spanish and have your own car so that you can drive around, and know where you are going, then you will require someone to take you through the process. You are paying for the time and services that they will give you plus the usage of their car and the arrangement to meet owners of the rentals.

Imagine being in a new country, not knowing the language, not knowing the areas etc. This can all become very daunting. It does not have to be like this at all.

Lately my local colleagues and I have been taking many new foreigners out looking at rentals and also properties to purchase. I am now getting to know the areas quite well and seeing the good and the bad of rentals and purchases.

But you can rent a beautiful unfurnished apartment for about $350 per month. This does not include utilities such as water, gas, electricity, internet or cable TV. Then there are also monthly apartment fees which the tenant is required to pay. This can range from $40 to $60 or more dollars a month and depends on the area and the building that you are moving into.

Some apartments are rented with the utilities included such as gas, electricity, water, TV cable and internet and in some cases the monthly fee. This great one bedroom fully furnished apartment overlooking the Tomebamba River comes complete with everything included for $450 per month.

Also remember to be mindful of the traditions here. For instance lunch is from 1 - 3 p.m. and it is considered family time and very important in the Ecuadorian culture. So viewing would be from 9 - 1 and then from 3 till whenever. Also weekends are not the best times to look at properties, especially Sunday. Again weekends are spent with families and Sunday is definitely a day that you would not be taken out to view properties.

I hope the above information has been helpful and if any of you who live in Cuenca know of rentals please send them my way. I have many people on our waiting list. Especially for houses with gardens and mainly unfurnished.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Chao for now
Dixie