Apartment Rental in EL CENTRO for $220 - Cuenca Ecuador

Walked by this apartment for rent in El Centro and happened to call it and he showed it right then and there. No waiting, no next day show and so thought we'd go look at it just to see what you can get for $220 in downtown Cuenca Ecuador now a days. Here it is.

               


Hello Friends, we hope you have enjoyed this video or article. We have posted something new several times per week for the past 5 years and there are a lot of crucial insights and every day life experiences to help others on this blog. If you're looking for straight forward answers and honest reporting about life here, you've found it!

Reader Asks: Can I Still Find a $300 Cuenca Rental in Cuenca Ecuador?

Some of our readers want to know if they will still be able to find a $300 dollar rental home in Cuenca when they get here. We talk about why you would not be able to get a $300 dollar rental and what you can do to still find the $300 rental.

                         
 

We're an Expat Family of Five Living Frugal, Healthy and Happy in Cuenca Ecuador! Enjoy the blog!

3 Bedroom, Plus Study for $220 Cuenca Ecuador

Value is certainly here with this one. This is not a super large home, but it is a well-kept cute place just waiting for the couple or small family to make it their home. Pets are allowed with this home. This home does not need to be painted or have light fixtures installed like most homes in this price range...its perfecto and ready to go, waiting for your furniture and decorating touches. It is situated just a few meters from the bus in a quiet and nice area. To see more photos of this home and to contact us, go to $300 Dollar Cuenca Rentals.  

THIS HOME HAS RENTED

               

Why We Should Stop Comparing North America with South America

The biggest mistake foreigners make when moving to a new country is making comparisons.  We should not bring our first world ideals and standards to a third world country. However, many of us do just that by our approach to things and our mannerisms. 



Real life examples in a moment.
 

We have all said and done things that have made the locals feel a bit resentful. We don’t realize we’re doing it, but when we say how cheap things are, or when we smirk and giggle at some of the prices for things, we are essentially saying, “I can afford this and live better than you (the locals) because my money will go further in your country."
 

Cheap is Subjective
 

Why would it spur resentment? Well, for one thing the same things we think are cheap ARE NOT cheap to the locals. We still have to remind ourselves of this. But many tourists and newcomers to Cuenca play the comparison game in front of the locals and it causes offense and the consequences are higher prices to the gringos on every thing!
 

There are a hundred reasons why we should work at blending in wherever we live and not make the local people envious and jealous of our lifestyle. The minute we decide to make Ecuador our home is the minute we need to begin to accept and or tolerate everything about the city we live in as a part of our new lifestyle. 
 

Third World vs. First World
 

I know, I know this can be difficult, especially if you are new here and see things that are offensive, different, or not how you would do them back home. But we have to get over the differences.  I still see local adult men peeing in public, men pooping in the river, electronics are still over-priced, Internet is still not that great, and the weather is still perfectly cold and damp to me, spring-like all year long, but we’ve gotten over all that and have adapted to the differences…and we hope that if you plan on living here full time that you will also adapt.
 

Be Careful with Your Emotions about Prices
 

Comparing prices is not all what it’s cracked up to be. When we first moved here one of our sons smirked and gasped at the price of a sweet pastry in one of the bakeries, and for good reason, this homemade pastry was big, it was chocolaty, with something creamy in the middle and it was very eye appealing and when we asked the price she said it was only $0.13 cents!  
 

Well, wouldn’t you know it, a few days later we went back to that same bakery and they inflated the price to $0.25 cents…all because of a smirk and a giggle amongst ourselves. The girls working behind the counter probably decided at that moment to double the price on the gringos and continue to charge the locals $0.13 cents. 
 

Now when we are confronted with a price that seems to us outrageously low we just accept it, after all we live here as the locals do and that is when you would hope to see the end to gringo price gouging.  However, everything is going up because of the huge amount of foreigners visiting and moving to Cuenca.
 

What a Cuenca Rental is REALLY Worth
 

Now in the above experience we were just talking small change, but it is the same way when people rent the homes that are knocked out of the local ball-park range when they should be rented at the local price range! 
 

Case in point: we have been working with a local landlord to keep the price of her furnished rental at $400 a month tops as she had been talking about higher and higher rental amounts, and we had initially started out at $350 when we first met her. 
  

She called me one day and told me she wanted $450 for the rental from then on.  We decided we would no longer call her.  (this is part of the negotiation and keeping rentals priced right) After about six months that she did not hear from us, she called to check in.  I told her I didn’t have anyone interested at $450.  She agreed to lower the rent back to $400, telling me however that one of her tenants was in fact paying the $450.
 

When I brought her the rent, she made a point of explaining that the Canadian living in her other rental that was paying $450 had gone around to look at other rentals, and had told her that he liked her rental best for appearance and price wise. 



You see, that just reinforced in her mind that she can raise the rent to $450 and by sharing this real life example with me, she was saying that I should put it out at $450.  And this just because one expat decided $450 was ok to him and bragged about it to the landlord.  



This is how we unknowingly cause higher prices by our attitudes.  We are no longer shopping at WalMart or Publix or Albertsons.  We need to remember how our actions come back to us and everyone else for that matter.
 

Now, we understand that most new-comers to Cuenca don’t know exactly what the price of a rental should be but they shouldn’t rent a place just because it is less than what they were paying for rent in the states. Instead, they should learn to negotiate, and investigate further.  The DIY Cuenca Landing Guide goes into more detail on this.
 

We’ve been working the local rental markets since we’ve lived here and we know what a house, apartment, or condo should REALLY rent for, and we pass that information onto you so that we can all make an effort to keep prices fair for everyone.  But we can’t do it alone!



Remember, there’s always someone richer than you that will think a rent price much higher than what you’re paying, is ‘cheap’. Bottom line is we should remember to never compare North America with South America in any fashion about any matter because there is NO COMPARISON. In fact we do everyone, including ourselves a BIG disservice when we compare.

For Rent Furnished Apartment for $400 in Great Neighborhood of Cuenca!

As most of our long time readers know we focus on getting the best rental deals and this is one of them. This beautiful apartment is in a good location not far from El Centro, in fact, it is just a five minute bus ride or a 15-minute walk (walking slow) to the center of town! The apartment has everything you'll need to be comfortable and Internet WIFI is included in the price.  As you'll see in the video tour, the apartment is nicely furnished/decorated and there is a washer machine on the premises for you to do your laundry,  and the apartment has cable television. Contact us if you are ready to rent because this one will not last long.  

This apartment has been rented!!