Apartment hunting in Cuenca

On our first trip to Cuenca, to explore if this was the city we wanted to live in, we were shown houses and condos that were lovely, but we were not prepared at the time to commit to a lease.  One apartment was a 3 bedroom, all en suite, two levels with beautiful views, two balconies and granite counter tops.  It also had what is called a "social bathroom", what we would call a powder room.  This gem was going for $400.00 per month.  It did go through my head "Do I really want to clean four bathrooms!!!" Some pics of this apartment,

3 Bedroom 3 1/2 Bath Apartment

It had a bathtub!!!!  Not terribly common in Cuenca

Next door was a Monastery - we thought that was great - quiet neighbors!!!

Nice modern building, the construction was going to be finished about 6 weeks after we saw the apartment.  But this is Ecuador, so it was probably more like 12 weeks.  LOL.

When we officially moved to Cuenca we decided that we should go into a short term, furnished rental so that we would have time to get to know the city, decide what neighborhood we wanted to live in, and have time to order furniture and appliances.  We would have a furnished place to live in while we got the unfurnished place ready.  Seemed like a good plan to us.

Michael found a house on Craigslist Ecuador and went out to see this beautiful place in Azogues, it was a 6 bedroom, 6 bath, (yeah I know, two MORE bathrooms to clean), this was priced at $600.00 per month.  It was about 1/2 hour cab ride to this town and the house was set high up on a hill, difficult to get to without a car.  It was still under construction.  As ALWAYS, we confirmed that a small dog was acceptable, and re-verified that the price was $600 per month, we were assured it was.  We told the owner we were going to  Montanita for a week,  (Michael looked at this back in July) and wanted to think about it due to the distance from Cuenca.  The owner said that was not a problem, he would hold it for the week for us, and when we got back, if we wanted, we could have the house.


 Some pics of the house,

 Front View of the house

Lovely Bathroom

The Jacuzzi

 The Pool

What a view

When we got back from Montanita we learned the owner had jacked the price to $1,500.00 per month, so that place was definitely out of the question. 

We started working with realtors and following up with listings on Gringo Tree.  As stated before, we ALWAYS inquired as to whether or not a small dog was OK, if they said no, we didn't bother to look.  It became our job, house/apartment hunting.   Some of the places that accepted a pet, we would not even let the dog live in, let alone us.

It became a real problem, we would find really fabulous apartments, but the prices were just WAY out of whack for Cuenca, we actually agreed to rent one for $800 per month, it was beautiful, in a fabulous building, so we jumped in a cab and and went to the bank to get the deposit for the place, it wasn't until we got back with the cash that the owner then told us the rent did not include the monthly building fees of $200!!!  WHAT,  you have got to be kidding me!!  So we passed on that one. 

Literally everyday we were meeting people all over the city to see rentals, seems everyone has a cousin, nephew, uncle or aunt that wants to lease out a piece of property. 

A condo building called The Palermo here in Cuenca is the tallest structure in the city, we looked at two condos there, skipped them both, one was furnished, and the other had a totally crappy view of the parking lot.  REPEATING HERE, we asked about small dogs and were told by both owners, no problem.

On August 23, a realtor representing a rental management company brought us to a unit on the 9th floor of the Palermo, we walked in and we were sold  on the place.   Three bedrooms, two baths, nice modern kitchen, beautiful view, great closet spaces, all for $350 a month.  DONE DEAL.  We signed the paperwork that day and looked forward to the two months we would have to get it ready, remember, we didn't even bring a dish or a pot, or a toaster, so we had  lots to do.  The following day we went out and bought cleaning supplies and brought them over to the building.  When we got in the elevator we saw a sign posted which was not there  the day before, stating that owners of the Condo units would only be allowed to have one pet, and renters would not be allowed ANY pets.  The board of the building was giving renters with pets three months to move, or get rid of their dogs.  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. 

We spoke to a few local Cuencanos and they told us to ignore the issue, just move in.  We weren't comfortable with that so we went back to the management company that we signed the lease with, they were completely unaware of this development, it took two weeks to get an answer if this was being enforced, well, it was.  Fortunately we were given our rent and deposit back from the Management Company.  Here is what the place looked like:

The view and balcony off the living room

Kitchen

En Suite Master Bedroom

One of the Guest rooms

OK, so now we are back to square one.  Day after day of looking at places, here are a few of the buildings with great Apartments/Condos that are currently under construction.

Suddenly, a bunch of buildings changed their pet policies. We spoke with one owner of a Condo  THREE times about this, we were assured Oscar wouldn't be a problem, so we made an appointment to see the place.  We got to the building, stood around and when the owner didn't show we called to see what was going on, that's when they told us they changed their mind - no dog. This was becoming a serious problem. 

Luckily, a nice woman we met on our trip to Giron had suggested we go to a luncheon she was attending, and thought that maybe someone there could help.  We finally met some folks that listened to what we wanted and found us a lovely apartment with three bedrooms and two baths, one with a bathtub,  YEAH,   in a smaller building, only 7  units.  It is a quiet neighborhood across the street from the Yancunay River. The kitchen is a little small, but we could have a party in our laundry room, go figure!!  LOL.  We will be able to take Oscar for strolls by the river and see the mountains from our bedroom.

We are hoping it will be finished by November 1st. 
We finally found a home for us and Oscar.

Our Building

Our view of the river from the living room

The balcony wraps around two of the bedrooms

The woman that suggested the luncheon is also going to be renting in this building as well, so that is a big plus for us to know a nice person will be one of our neighbors!