About Kimac

Currently Lives:

Citizen of:

Some Forum Posts:

Ecuador Welcome Forum: True Facts of New Visas?:

Gringo Post just had this article purporting to have gotten to the bottom of the new laws, or at for the moment least how they are written: https://www.gringotree.com/ecuadors-new-visa-rules-requirements/?utm_source=GringoTree&utm_campaign=21c2759264-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_abb51ee8d2-21c2759264-111124373 As posters here have noted, interpretation, especially in the early going, is going to be erratic.

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Private Tutor/ English Language Instructor available!:

Good luck with your pricing structure when the market rate in Cuenca for 1:1 is $10/hr. My experience is that people aren't going to recognize your special value unless you first recognize, so you may well be on the right track. By the way, what training and experience do you have with either ESL or EFL, as opposed to helping along more or less All-American kids who just aren't getting it?

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Set up residency in state with no income tax before I leave?:

US Global Mail, who had a banner the last time I refreshed this page, also offers a specialized expat presence along these lines in Houston, another no income tax state. I was using a UPS store, but they insist on your using a return address that will flag it as a mail drop, while with these guys it appears to all the world to be an apartment.

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Furnished apts in Loja:

You might review the nearby thread about Cuenca Rentals. Different cities, but I suspect similar lessons to be learned.... Rough rule of thumb I've found in other cities in Ecuador, is that furnished = 2x unfurnished. But then, furnished can mean anything. Let us know what you find the Loja market actually is (price range, I should say). As many others have noted, its foolish to try to do this from a distance. You can get a good, clean, basic hotel room in Loya for $15 without looking hard.

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Smart Phone to use in Ecuador and Chile:

A 2017 update from the US: The new iPhone 7s use a nano-SIM, smaller than the chips Ecuadorian providers offer. Until they produce their own nano-SIMS the nano slot will too small to accept the traditional and mini-SIMS they do offer. ON THE other hand, if you have an older iPhone (or, perhaps a phone purchased in Ecuador with the larger slots?), it will accept the nano-SIM when you visit the US, using a'cheater' that provides the additional spacing required. ALSO....about the cheapo Ecuadorian phones with dual-SIM slots, which have been so flexible in the past.... These are typically 2G phones, and as of Jan 1, the AT&T network (and others?) no longer support them. I had bought a simple AT&T SIM in early December and was up and running; the new year rolled around and it's functionality in the US ended.

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Renting in Cuenca:

Paying first and last months rent sounds right and is right in lieu of a contract (commitment) to stay for a year or whatever. Its good for buyer and seller. The way I promote that deal to landlords is to say I must give them notice of the final month so they can make other plans, and vice versa if they want to do something else with their place. But this assumes its unfurnished. "Amoblado", puts their stuff at risk, especially if the place is exceptionally well-furnished (iron, plates, toaster, caged birds, gardens....you name it). Last place I rented seemed great because they were hungry for a renter. But after I'd been there a month on a first/last month deal, el Dueño tried to shake me down for another grand for a deposit (well-furnished, 3 BR). I demurred, saying I would leave if he'd preferred, and he quite asking. As someone once asked me in a similar situation, "how much are you prepared to loose?" In the developing world its not uncommon for negotiations to continue on after the deal is supposedly closed. This is certainly true whenever one encounters the "small-business" mentality. (Emphasis on 'small'). Frankly, when you give someone used to living on cash an extra grand, something will always come up that requires it (a bike for the kids birthday, whatever). So, what are the odds they'll still have the money to return if they even want to? THE QUESTION NOW is how much of a deposit would be fair and how to handle it, with all those un-nailed down furnishings involved?

Ecuador Welcome Forum: CURRENT Baños Lodging Options?:

With all this talk about what's there and how to get there... Is there any other CURRENT experience and recommendations. Hotels open/close/change management, so what's up now. In the 'retiring to Baños' thread there was a rec for Los Pinos, which appeared to be a nice hostel, but what about for a step-up from that?

Ecuador Welcome Forum: One or Two Copies of Background Checks:

Hey,......about that Drivers License...? I'd been told by a local attorney that you need to show a copy of your high school diploma or college Degree when applying for your CEDULA, otherwise you are noted as "illiterate" by default and subject to special hassles when applying for a license. Just met some folks who got licenses, without the above, but with their (current) Canadian DLs. For touring I suppose most home country licenses will translate into International DLs and that'll suffice, but I wonder what the reality is about driving here.....if you really even need the option.

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Retiring in Banos, Ecuador:

When you (was it Windshadow?) wrote about the direct buses from Cuenca to Banos/Ambato, does that mean the bus does a pit stop in one then on to the next?

Ecuador: Massage in Ecuador:

Tourist resort towns like Vilcabamba can offer quality bodywork for $25/hour. That would be the rack rate for non-local clients, given by a local who generally knows what they're doing, with all the oils, music and whatnot.

Date Joined:

6/18/2016

Total Posts:

94

Posts/Day:

0.32