[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Hi Steve,

I can chime in here with our experience on this subject. We retired to Ecuador 7 months ago, but bought our condo 3 years ago when it was being built. We planned to rent it out until we could retire so had it furnished locally.

After living here awhile, we do notice the inferiority of imported appliances. Plus they are much more expensive, as Jim pointed out, for less quality.

My husband wanted his upright digital piano so he looked for one here. There was nothing similar but other models were much more expensive, plus we could not sell ours in the States for any decent money. So we decided to ship since we also had 3 guitars, a nice leather reclining couch, an elliptical machine and other odds and ends hard to replace here. So for less than the price of a local piano, we shipped 2 large crates (not a container, we couldn’t fill one) for $7,000. Yes, it is expensive, but as Jim said, replacing these items would be more.

In hindsight, I would have filled a container with appliances, including kitchen sink and faucet, perhaps mattresses. We brought a Temur-Pedic topper in one large suitcase. Beds are hard here. Electronics like TV’s or stereo systems should be shipped. We were quoted $8,000 for a 20′ shipping container from “Ecuador Relocation Services” who are very reliable. So far anyway…have not received the shipment yet. It takes about a month, so we expect it later this month.

Be aware you only have 6 months from time of entry into the country, NOT 6 months from date of getting residency. We were not told this in advance so misunderstood and ended up having to go back to the States to “start the clock” over. A costly mistake. But, we “muled” back a few more suitcases loaded with more stuff!

On the other hand, handmade furniture from local hardwoods is not expensive and wonderful quality. We had a fabulous hardwood desk custom-made for $600. Bed frames and dining tables, coffee tables, etc. can be custom-made very reasonably. At least that is the case here on the coast…north of Salinas. Good luck, it is wonderful living on the beach here!

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Thank you, Jim. I will contact this attorney. Paul Wilches is who we are using for our shipper, and he is insisting the 6-month window started at entry to EC, not at gaining residency. Another shipper, C2C Moves, also says this. Paul says we can leave the country and come back to restart the clock.

Sandra Baquero says the clock starts at gaining residency. Hence our confusion. We just now got residency, after waiting 7 months. I’ve never heard of it taking that long for anyone else. A friend just got theirs in one month….

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Thanks for your reply. Two other major shippers say the opposite of Sandra, so I am not confident of any of their answers. Perhaps you can provide me with a customs lawyer recommendation, since my immigration lawyer won’t help? Thank you….

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Thanks to you all for chiming in. People seem about evenly divided on this. My sister lived in Peru for 40 years and said on their annual check-up, they always needed a treatment but did not do it pro-actively. Our PCP back in the States knew nothing about overseas stuff so I am just asking around.

JIM SANTOS—NICE article in the Wall Street Journal! I wish our buses were 30 cents here on the North Coast. They are $1 and taxis to town (8 miles or so) are $7 or $8. We actually looked at your building but paid half that to be further out of town and slightly smaller. Still beachfront. And we can’t walk to stuff (except a couple open-air cafes) which is a drawback, but we knew that. As you said, trade-offs. Hope to get to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu someday too…..

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Warren Hardy has excellent physical and online Spanish tutoring. He lists Cuenca as one location—see this link.

Immersion Schools

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

I’m late chiming in here, but our beach condo is ON the north coast about 3 miles from Canoa which suffered much damage. Our other nearby town that we shop in is Bahia de Caraquez and it was devastated. Since our complex had an American builder, it did not suffer the damage it could have, but it was also the whims of fate, as his other complex a mile away had to rebuild walls and had some structural damage in certain units. Our unit has superficial cracks in walls and floor tiles we are told. We weren’t there for it and so are uncertain exactly what we will find. But we received the approval from government inspectors to occupy it. Fortunately the building has insurance which I understand many expat homes don’t have. I guess living on the beach has its downside too…maybe we should have joined everyone else in Cuenca! I guess we’ll find out when we arrive next month….kind of scary.

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

I’ve never seen a no-reply to a question here, so I’ll add my own reply now that I’ve gone through the experience in the hopes it can help someone else floundering on this issue.
http://www.travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/apply.html

Is the site for passport questions. The individual agencies seem to have no local phone number, so you just get a call center. After reading an article in the Huffington Post on 3rd party expeditors vs. DIY, we decided to do it ourselves and made an appointment by the automated system you get when you call the call center. There is no live person to verify your appointment and it does not repeat, so catch the date when the computer voice first gives it.

If it is your first passport, you must go in person instead of by mail. If you can live with a 2-3 week “expedited” service, you can go to a post office or other acceptance agency, but if your need is more pressing, as mine was, you must go to the local passport agency, of which there are few. We were lucky to be only a couple hours from Houston. The 3rd party expeditors did not necessarily require “proof of travel” (which makes me wonder, since they just do the same thing by courier), but the agency requires it. So we had our travel itineraries (airline tickets) printed out, along with birth certificate, driver’s license, passport photo, and a down-loaded form (DS-11) from the website above. Since my driver’s license was out of state, I needed a 2nd I.D. Divorce papers, vehicle registration, military or student I.D. works for this. Also since my married name is different from my birth certificate, I needed to show my marriage license. I brought my social security card just in case too, but it didn’t seem required, though the number is.

It’s very tedious getting an appointment by the automated system as the first one offered was for 10 minutes from my phone call. Then half-hour increments are offered one-by-one with much info repeated over and over.

We got to the agency office, fingers crossed, and yes, I really had an appointment. The clerks were polite and helpful and I had the necessary paperwork. I expected to have the “8-day” service offered on the website, but I was told I could pick up the passport that same day, 4 hours later! This was great, to skip the mailing delay. The cost was $195. The wait at the agency was not long either, we were pleasantly surprised.

It was scary to purchase airline tickets before having passport in hand, but the agency requires this to expedite. The date of travel must be LESS than 2 weeks from your appointment date. In fact, you can’t even MAKE the appointment unless your travel dates are less than 2 weeks. So I could not even call for an appointment until Oct. 21 for a Nov. 3 departure.

So, that is my somewhat harrowing experience with expedited passports. Hopefully all of you have gotten yours well in advance. And, as you probably know, the passport must have 6 months validity left on it in order to travel.

Hope this helps someone else! It was expensive (travel, motel, fees) but well worth the peace of mind. No mailing valuable documents either…Ecuador, here we come!

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Some items we found lacking that we brought to Ecuador:
Himalayan Salt, or “Real Salt” (our little safe is full of salt!)
A hand-held hair dryer (much cheaper here)
English-language books
Sheets (higher thread count here)
Kitchen knives with a block
Graphite lubricant for rusty locks
Stainless steel screws and stainless padlock to prevent rusting
English DVD movies and a U.S. DVD player
Lots of music CD’s
Any consumer electronics you need

We put all these in a large cooler with wheels which we left there.
Hope to eventually bring pillow-top mattress covers too…
And our juicer and sauerkraut crock…

I know everyone’s list will be different, but this is what we found.
I will be stocking up on bathing suits too to make sure I can have my size!

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Hi Mike,

At our condo complex on the coast in Canoa, 5-gallon bottles of drinking water are delivered, and even carried up the stairs for very low cost. Household use water is also delivered to a cistern underground. Irrigation water comes from the river. FYI, lots of goods get delivered–shrimp, cheese, coffee, even beer! The locals see a good business opportunity with all car-less expats. Nice!

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

I really like your simple lifestyle, Suzan! But I have to ask, how do you get away with NO bank account “anywhere”?? I believe you told me before you have Capitol One.

And, why would a local bank account be required for a visa for “some people” and not others?

I’m glad we wired our money a year ago, before all these new regulations kicked in.

Thanks for the info!

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Thanks Wendy! Of course, this creates another question for me. I was reading yesterday about state tax liabilities once you’ve moved overseas. Does the fact that you maintain a U.S. address create a tax liability in that state, as if you are still a resident? From what I’ve read, it appears that the Feds don’t tax Social Security if your gross income is under a certain amount, but some states won’t “let you go” and come after you for tax.

Did any of you move to a non-state-income-tax state before the final move to Ecuador? That is a strategy some have suggested. I guess we could move to FL before if its that big of a deal. Its close to Ecuador, lol.

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

So how do you expats maintain a U.S. address when you no longer live there? Children, friends, those independent post office boxes? Do you continue to get mail there and someone inspects it for you?

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

I didn’t know libraries had e-books! And I go to the library all the time. Definitely will have to look into that. I knew Amazon had amateur writer’s books offered for free, but others too–wow.
Speaking of books, I really enjoyed “Retiring Overseas on a Budget” by Suzan and Dan. Packed with great information that could save many (costly) mistakes. I gave it 5 stars on Amazon.
Thanks Wendy. Guess I’ll have to break down and get a Kindle….sigh.

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Not through Amazon. Through the International Living postcard ads I get everyday that encourage us to “pre-order” at a discount before the book lists on Amazon.

[GRETCHEN SOLDAT]

Martha,

My husband went on a real estate tour with agents who are listed here in the International Living’s contacts and resources information. They are Amy and Gerardo Pinoargote and their email is gpinoargote@yahoo.com
He was very pleased with their service. They offered a group tour (14, at the time he was there) or private. He opted for the private tour which was about $399 and the group tour is a higher price. His tour included 2 nights in fine hotels, meals, transportation and touring the coast. We can recommend them highly.

We fell in love with the same area you are describing, and ended up buying a brand-new beachfront condo 3 km south of Canoa, built by an American builder which made it easy. Never thought we could afford our dream of our own beach condo on the sand, but that’s what buying in Ecuador is all about! Good luck on your search!

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