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Expat Advice: Moving to Cuenca, Ecuador

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Share Your Experiences Moving Overseas

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Cuenca

Name three things that you wish you had brought and three you wish you had left at home.

Being from Australia probably more vegemite. My moisturiser that I used for hundreds of years........but now I have found another here that is just as good. My grown kids :)

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What advice would you give someone preparing to move to your area about the actual move, choosing a neighborhood and finding a home?

Take your time to look around and if you find something that just jumps out at you take it. You will know if it feels right. Don't wait as if you do when you go back it will probably be gone. If you are looking and coming back to live here at a later date you can always rent it out to other expats. Rentals are in short demand for expats here in Cuenca.

What type of housing do you live in? Is this typical for most expats in your area?

We live in a large two bedroom two bathroom apartment with views to the mountains and over the river. Yes there are expats in other buildings but we did not come here to live with expats............although we love bumping into them. We only have one other couple (expats) who live in our building. The rest are locals and lovely people and they have accepted us with open arms.

How did you choose your neighborhood and find your home or apartment?

We made an exploratory trip months before we decided to come and live in Cuenca, Ecuador. We did not really choose the neighborhood we just found the apartment absolutely fell in love with it and the price was just right and the view and everything. It seemed like a good neighborhood as well and we bought it within two weeks of being in this country. To date 18 months later we are still very very happy with our purchase. We have since found it is a great neighborhood close to all amenities but far enough from the centre of the city.

Are your housing costs higher or lower than they were in your home country? What is the average cost of housing there?

You can buy a beautiful 2 brm 2.5 bathroom apartment from about $78,000 upwards. If you are looking for a home with a bit of land around you can go about 15 mins from Cuenca and find the most beautiful homes for $150,000 - $300,000 and of course then you have the ones that are even higher. Depending on what you are looking for. There are beautiful pre-construction apartments selling from $60,000 to a large penthouse which has the most spectacular views for under $200,000. I went and paid our phone and electric bill the other day and for the two of us it was $30 for the month. Our apartment taxes are around $30 per year. Our security apartment and gas fees per month are $63.00.