Moved to Vilcabamba............

So its been almost 3 years since we bought a one way ticket to Ecuador without ever having been to south america before.
We love it here. its peaceful and the mountains are amazing.
Things I would have done different?
I would have done my paperwork in my home country before coming. getting it done from here by friends in my home country helping out was frustrating.
other than that I feel it has all been great.
Particular to vilcabamba I can say: everything is pretty much 2 times the price here.
beware its expensive. houses for rent is high priced. spending 500-600 usd month is normal. we spend 1000 usd for a pretty nice house. if you wish to eat organic and healthy and look for good butter, raw milk etc. you will spend little under 1000 usd as well. for 2. If I was single and lived ok lifestyle with restaurants, taxis, good food, more than ok place etc. I could do it for less than 2000 usd month in vilcabamba. many do it for 1000 usd.
We just bought land here. very pricey. 20 usd m2 close to town. but easy to find cheaper. just beware its not flat then. buying was easy. paperwork no problem when you hire the local lawyer. we went direct to owner. realestate here is making things much more pricey as they gear the prices for gringos.
Anything imported is about 2 times the price as in USA or Europe. and you wont find latest models. bring your stuff in. rules are changing right now. its getting harder to get a residency. even with a land purchase. so time is now if you wish to move here. also having a worker here is not easy. many rules in favor of the worker, not the employee. so you gotta pay insurance, transportation, tax, food etc. you will end up paying 350 usd month for a gardener etc. plus 2 extra monthly salaries pr year.
anyways we love it here....... let me know if questions and ill try answer as good as I can. I prefer questions focused on vilcabamaba as its unique here in many ways compared to rest of Ecuador.
cadoia

You said "rules are changing right now. its getting harder to get a residency." Is it true? What's changed?

footsoldier wrote:

You said "rules are changing right now. its getting harder to get a residency." Is it true? What's changed?


Im told getting residency via buying land is getting harder.

I see. Most people move to EC with monthly pensions I guess.