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      • Countries

        Top Destinations:

        Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

        • Spain
        • Portugal
        • Panama
        • Belize
        • Colombia
        • Cyprus
        • Mexico
        • France
        • Montenegro
        • Browse All Countries

        Best For:

        • The Best Places To Retire
        • Health Care Abroad
        • Cost Of Living
        • Investing in Real Estate
        • Establishing Residency
        • Gun Laws In The World
        • English-Speaking Countries
        • Safest Places For Retirement
        • Best Places In Latin America
      • Budgets

        How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

        The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

        Super Cheap

        • Chitré, Panama
        • Santa Marta, Colombia
        • Phuket, Thailand
        • Dumaguete, The Philippines

        Cheap

        • Medellin, Colombia
        • Boquete, Panama
        • Kyrenia, Cyprus
        • Hua Hin, Thailand
        • The Algarve, Portugal

        Affordable

        • Valencia, Spain
        • Cascais, Portugal
        • Las Terrenas, The DR
        • Pisa, Italy
        • La Rochelle, France
        • Mazatlán, Mexico

        Luxury

        • Ambergris Caye, Belize
        • Kotor, Montenegro
        • The Panama City Beaches
        • Paris, France
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          Home Investing

          Foreign Property Ownership In Ecuador

          by Lief Simon
          Jul 18, 2014
          in Investing
          0 0
          Foreign Property Ownership In Ecuador

          Could Correa Confiscate Private Property From Foreign Investors In Ecuador?

          Recently a reader wrote in to comment on an article we’d published on the potential re-election of President Correa in Ecuador. Our correspondent in that country David Morrill referenced a small survey of expats in Cuenca, and the reader was bothered that David would reference results from such a limited universe. The reader went on to attack Correa as being anti-American, saying that if he were re-elected Correa likely would seize all American-held properties in Ecuador.

          Of course, the reader’s position is nothing more than gross speculation based on bias against anyone who doesn’t agree with U.S. policies (which is how Correa is viewed by many). The truth, meantime, is that land rights are as safe in Ecuador as they are in most any country that allows foreigners to own property.

          Which is to say that not all countries allow noncitizens to own property and some put restrictions on foreign property ownership. In Thailand and the Philippines, for example, foreigners are allowed to own only condos or construction, not land. Vietnam restricts foreign property ownership completely.

          However, in countries that allow foreign ownership of real estate (again, Ecuador qualifies) the rights of the foreigner are typically the same as those of the citizen (although as a foreigner you might lose out in a boundary dispute should one arise).

          Interesting to me in the case of the reader who got in touch recently was that he took for granted that his property back in the United States was safe from government confiscation. That’s not necessarily so, and in fact I’d say it’s less the case all the time. In the States, they don’t steal your land (as the reader suggested Correa might do). They call it asset forfeiture, and U.S. law enforcement agencies do it all the time.

          U.S. agencies from local police departments to the DEA and FBI can seize property if they think it’s played any role in criminal activity or has been purchased with proceeds from criminal activity. And you don’t have to be proven guilty of any crime before your assets can be forcibly forfeited. While U.S. laws have been reformed to some degree to allow you to get your property back if you’re ultimately found innocent, the government holds onto your property while you go through the legal process.

          Why would a law-abiding citizen worry? Maybe, say, you own a rental apartment and your tenant is running a drug business out of the spare bedroom. He’s arrested and your apartment is seized. Maybe you get it back…maybe you don’t…

          Foreign investment would be devastated in a country where the government decided to seize private property, especially the private property of foreign investors. This has been the concern in Nicaragua since Ortega took office as that country’s president in 2006. When Ortega’s party, the Sandinistas, ousted the Somoza region, they confiscated and redistributed farmland and other property. When they were voted out of power in 1990, a new golden era of foreign investment, especially in real estate, began.

          Then, in 2006, when Ortega was re-elected, people thought he might revisit the old confiscation strategies. Foreign investment dried up. It’s only slowly come back over the last eight years, as Ortega has refrained from imposing any confiscatory mandates. Still, some remain wary.

          Could Correa confiscate property in Ecuador? Sure.

          I say that because the truth is any politician anywhere in the world could get it into his head to do any stupid thing at any time.

          In this case, I’d say Correa has little reason to get into the business of confiscating private property from foreign investors. It’d be a disaster, and I don’t think Correa’s an utter idiot.

          Lief Simon

          Tags: 'Ecuador''foreign property'David MorrillInvesting In EcuadorLief SimonPresident CorreaProperty In Ecuador
          Share109Tweet68
          Lief Simon

          Lief Simon

          Lief Simon has lived and worked in 7 countries on 5 continents and traveled to more than 75 countries. His real estate investment career began with a $5,000 down payment on a three-flat building in Chicago. Less than three years later, Lief sold the building for a leveraged return of 3,000%—$150,000 in profit after closing costs and commissions.

          From there, he turned his attention overseas and has bought property in 24 countries including France, Croatia, Portugal, Ireland, Belize, Spain, Argentina, Cyprus, Romania, and beyond. Thanks to his decades-long career as a global property investor, Lief has built a multi-million-dollar portfolio that includes rental properties, significant land holdings, and 7 personal residences.

          Lief has established residency in 3 countries and acquired a second passport from Ireland.

          In 2008 Lief and wife Kathleen Peddicord made the most important investment of their lives—a 215-acre oceanside finca, known as Los Islotes. There, on Panama’s largely undiscovered Veraguas coast, they’ve installed underground electricity, water, and internet and built a forever family home that sits at the heart of their ultimate vision: a gold standard private residential community for those in search of a true safe haven escape.

          Lief’s latest book, “Cowboy Millionaire—The New American Pioneer,” collects all the wisdom he has learned in three decades of living and investing outside America.

          He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches. For real estate investment opportunities, check out his monthly Global Property Advisor service.

          If you’d like to meet Lief in person, join him for one of our upcoming in-country conferences. You’ll find further details here.

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                We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
                HOME

                Top Countries

                • Spain
                • Portugal
                • Panama
                • Belize
                • Colombia
                • Cyprus
                • Mexico
                • France
                • Montenegro

                Best For:

                • Health Care Abroad
                • Retirement Living
                • Cost Of Living
                • Investing in Real Estate
                • Establishing Residency
                • Gun Ownership
                • English Speakers
                • Safety
                BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

                Budgets

                How Much Will It Cost
                To Live Overseas?

                Super Cheap

                • Chitré, Panama
                • Santa Marta, Colombia
                • Phuket, Thailand
                • Dumaguete, The Philippines

                Cheap

                • Medellin, Colombia
                • Boquete, Panama
                • Kyrenia, Cyprus
                • Hua Hin, Thailand
                • The Algarve, Portugal

                Affordable

                • Valencia, Spain
                • Cascais, Portugal
                • Las Terrenas, The DR
                • Pisa, Italy
                • La Rochelle, France
                • Mazatlán, Mexico

                Luxury

                • Ambergris Caye, Belize
                • Kotor, Montenegro
                • The Panama City Beaches
                • Paris, France

                Resources

                Global Living

                • Living & Retiring Overseas
                • Raising A Family Abroad
                • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
                • Offshore & Diversification

                Making Money

                • International Real Estate
                • Banking
                • Employment
                • Investing
                Meet Our Experts

                Real Estate

                Overseas Property Alert 

                 

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                VISIT SITE

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                READ MORE

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                EXPLORE

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                Contact Our Events Team:

                Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
                1 (888) 627 8834

                From Outside North America:
                1 (443) 599 1221

                Working Hours
                Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

                Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

                Store

                Overseas Havens Reports

                • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

                Conference Kits

                • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

                Lahardan Books

                • Titles on living and investing around the world

                Services

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                THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

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