How Safe is Your (Ecuador) Expat Retirement from Gringo Gouging and Inflation?

It
doesn’t matter where you decide to live in South or Central America;
prices will increase; they always do; gringos will be targeted and
gouged.  Your retirement check will only go so far until (perhaps) you
can’t make ends meet anymore, even in South America. You've heard of
the expat's that had to leave Panama because it got too expensive for
them, right?

So what can you do about gringo gouging and inflation? You can integrate and blend in. 



We
knew the minute we landed in Cuenca Ecuador that we were getting
gringoed; we made some mistakes but quickly learned from them. It is
through our own experiences we are able to write this post to help
newcomers to Cuenca and Quito not to be gringo gouged. 

Most people do not realize that just by certain actions we make, even if they are small gestures will make us a target of gringo gouging.

NOTE:
There are many more ways we can keep ourselves from being a target of
gringism but these are ones that any newcomer can do no matter how much
Spanish they have under their belt.

1. Introduce Yourself (right off the bat) as NOT a Tourist 



If you are here to “live” then you are not a tourist anymore and that means a total different set of rules.
 Why would anyone, seriously, pay more for rent if they don’t have to?
The first thing you want to let any Ecuadorian know who has something to
sell you is, "I'm not a tourist", and do not want "the tourist price"!



Ecuadorians
LOVE to ask Americans what they did for a living back in the states.
Why? Because they can size you up to see if you are rich and then price
their assets and commodities accordingly. Or, some actually have long
term agendas and will badly want to be your friend if they think you are
loaded. Be careful; that’s all we’re saying.



When
a landlord shows us a rental we let them know right off the bat, “We’re
not tourists, we live here, and we are not rich”. The first time Frank
told a landlord we were not tourists and we’re not rich Americanos, I
laughed out loud because I felt uncomfortable that he is telling a total
stranger our personal business, however, the landlord smiled and
totally agreed, with respect at what we were saying.



And when he told us the price of his 3 bed, 2 bath small,
brand new apartment by Coral Centro for $180 and views (this was 3
years ago) we sighed in relief because we had a single expat lady we
were helping who happened to be on a very limited Social Security
budget. This apartment was perfect for her. 



2. Do Not Speak English 



It
does not matter if you are tall and blonde; the point is if you go
around speaking loudly in English it makes the locals want to charge you
more for everything.  Of
course they already know you are not a local, but just the fact that
you may be energetically displaying English speak in their country makes
it seem like you do not care about their language.



They
do not know how long you have been here. And if you’re speaking loud
English, it is assumed you must have just landed and so you’re a
(loaded) unbeknownst tourist.



One
couple we were with on a Cuenca city bus kept speaking loud English
even after our gentle suggestion not to, and he promptly got pick
pocketed! No kidding!



They
will respect you more if you at least try and speak their language. Do
sign language if you have to, just don’t speak English, seriously! 



3. Write Down Spanish Phrases on Index Cards and Use Them!! 



Whatever
the occasion, whether you are going out to lunch, going to the dentist,
having a document translated, or shopping in the Mercado, have short
Spanish phrases ready that you will need for the occasion and use them.
This is also the best way to learn Spanish. You just have to get out
there and apply the language to your daily life. Use sign language with
the phrases to get your point across. The more phrases you apply into
your daily life the faster you will learn Spanish!! 



4. Negotiate for EVERYTHING 



Don’t
be apprehensive about negotiating. Ecuadorians love to haggle and they
will respect you for doing it. Did you know you can negotiate with the
manager at grocery and department stores too? Well, it’s true, you can! 



This is why learning your numbers is the most important part of learning the Spanish language, because once you know your numbers you can get out there and negotiate and save lots of money while living in Ecuador. 



5. Be Willing to Walk Away 



I
don’t know how many times we have “smiled”, turned around and walked
away from a vendor, or a mom and pop shop because we were getting
gringoed. Some of the time they yell back for us and sell it to us for
the price it should be. Sometimes they don’t, but it doesn’t matter.

The
neat thing about Cuenca is there are many different vendors selling the
same stuff! We just go to a different store or vendor.



You
can do this with anything from real estate to buying produce. And the
more gringos that actually walk away when they know the price is
inflated the more we all will be helping the whole expat community in
Cuenca and Quito.



If
you care about what the Ecuadorians may think about you and you want to
be a part of the community then do these five simple methods of expat
integration; you’ll be glad you did!



We have a lot more great expat integration information and money saving tips in the Cuenca and Quito Landing Guides.

We’re
curious to know the ways you have not given into gringo gouging and
inflation. Let us know your experience with this in the comments below.

Amazingly Stunning El Chorro Falls Located in Giron Ecuador, One Hour from Cuenca!

The cost to hike up to the falls is $2 dollars for gringos and $1 dollar for locals. The restaurant owner and cook at the base of the falls will come out to greet you and ask for the fee. 



DIY El Chorro Falls: There are buses that go from Cuenca to Giron. Once you are in the town of Giron there are taxis that can bring you up to the falls, which is just a few miles.



To get a real good view of the beautiful country of Ecuador you will want to enlarge your player to full screen, located at the bottom right of the player. Enjoy!

            

Cuenca Ecuador Renter BEWARE

Below is a recent ad in one of the rental resources online.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

POR ESTRENAR

2 DORMITORIOS

SALA COMEDOR COCINA

DORMITORIO DE PADRES CON BAÑO PRIVADO

BAÑO SOCIAL

2 PARQUEADEROS

GUARDIANIA LAS 24 HORAS

ASCENSOR

ACCESO A YACUSI,GIMNASIO,AREA PARA PARRILLADAS,TURCO

PRECIO: $300+$50 ALICUOTA

PARA CONTRATO DE ARRIENDO

$ 300 PRIMER MES + $300 DEL ULTIMO MES + GARANTIA DE $300

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to the untrained eye everything seems legit with the ad above,
however, we know the apartment building they are talking about in the ad, and
we smell a BIG rat!  Let’s take a look. 



The Lure to Get Renters 



We know personally of some gringo friends who have rented in this
building for almost one year. They were told that the Jacuzzi, the workout
room, and barbeque area would be ready in 3-weeks. Not one of the amenities
they mention above in the ad has been achieved and a year has passed.



In fact our friends said the building management would not even
let them use the outdoor patio/barbeque area when they had some house guests
over.



One of the main reasons they and many other
folks like them rented in this building was for the use of the workout room and
the Jacuzzi and sauna. A year after the
promises the builders/developers are still not done with making any of
these amenities operational. 



Apparently they have not installed expensive machinery in the pump
room to get the Jacuzzi up and running…in fact rumor has it they don’t even
know how to get the Jacuzzi working?



UPDATE: After one year, the Jacuzzi is finally ready to use,
however, even though there is a, what they term an “alicuota” (building fee) for
this building and it keeps going higher and higher, they are still asking $5
for every time a tenant wants to use the Jacuzzi or workout room. Woa now, this
is uncalled for as the building fees continually go up.  The building fees have more than doubled in one year,
and now there are ‘extra charges’ just to use the facilities that previously
renters were told were included in the alicuota (building fees).



Shame on the landlords and real estate agents who keep putting
gringos in this building and then using the amenities as another way to get
money from the gringos. We quit putting people in this building a long time
ago, after we observed they were not doing anything to get the amenities up
and running, and that they were demanding higher and higher building fees.



Just so you know, this building in question had an alicuota of
just $17 in the beginning of 2013 and now they want $50!

Well, we still will not put anyone in this building if they are
charging a fee for the amenities. Crazy! 



Apartment Price Too High! 



The apartments are new and clean but VERY small. The two
bedrooms are only around 700 square feet, if that. However, we know of
apartments that are 4-bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,500 square feet that are brand
new and clean and they are only asking $280 to $300 dollars and there is no
monthly fee!



A year ago the 3
bedrooms in this very same building were going for $280- $300 dollars…now only
a year later the 2 bedrooms
are $300! That’s too much! 



They WANT 3-months Rent In Advance 



This is absolutely ridiculous! We have never paid three months
rent up front and neither should you. The ad says they want $300 dollars for
the first month, $300 dollars for the last month, and another $300 for
guarantee.  A total of $900.00.
UH?  Guarantee for what? If you are getting your first and last what
is the guarantee for? 

The problem is gringos are paying the three months rent when asked
for it which causes a precedent with the real estate industry. You wouldn’t
think a few thousands gringos can change an industry but it is happening. 



BTW, you don’t really think the Ecuadorians are paying three rents
up front do you?  We don’t think
so. We don’t pay it and neither should you! Walk away, it really works. Half
the time you will get a call back from the real estate agent or landlord saying
you don’t have to pay it.  But if you
don’t get that call, move on to the next one.



The point is, be careful when you rent an apartment or condo in Cuenca,
there is some dishonesty going on. We do not feel the need to name the
building, you’ll know it if and when you ever go look at their apartment
rentals because it is the only building that is not in old gringolandia, in
Cuenca that has a elevator, Jacuzzi, a workout room, and a barbeque area.  This building is becoming the latest
gringolandia, and that’s why the situation is deteriorating.



Be careful some things may be misleading or not mentioned such as
the needing to pay a $5 fee just to use the Jacuzzi or workout room. 



ALICUOTA (Building fee) Too High!

Just one year ago the building fee in this same building was $17
dollars, and now they are asking $50 dollars!?  What has changed in
one year? Let’s see what has changed to make the monthly building fee rise $33
dollars more per month? Absolutely nothing.



We’ll tell you what has changed though. More gringos want to rent
in this building because it is walking distance to major shopping and bus
lines. The gringos are flocking to this building because it has an elevator and
a 24 hour guard on the premises.



But they are paying too much and getting lied to about the
building amenities and to us that is dishonest and unethical practices.



So what can we do about it? Well for one, we can just say “no
thanks” and walk away. Don't let them take advantage like this just because you are a gringo!

Windy and Sunny Beach Town of San Mateo on the Ecuador Coast

In the month of October San Mateo was really sunny and warm compared to damp and cloudy Puerto Lopez only 30 miles south. We left cloudy Puerto Lopez on the coastal bus and spent the whole day in sunny San Mateo. At the end of the day we left full sunshine of San Mateo and took the coastal bus back to Puerto Lopez and it was still rainy and cloudy. More details about Ecuador coastal weather in our DIY Ecuador Coastal Guide. So be on the lookout!