I'm still not convinced to buy a rental :-D But I wish you all the luck in the world! You clearly know what you're talking about :-)

What speaks for buying in Ecuador is the very low property tax (0,1% in Cotacachi). Every year, the expats here go and pay and then publish the ridiculous amount that they paid fort he whole year - with a 10% discount if they pay between the 2nd and the 15th of January, 9% between the 16th and 31st, and so on. And the seniors even get a discount on top of that.

I just started scraping the walls of the place that I rent - it's becoming moldy again, due to a very heavy raining season.

I still rather not own. 200$ per month in maintenance can be an exhausting reality here, and that considering the very low prices on almost everything. I am thinking about buying a property though, but just something plain to hold our farmer's market on. Nothing to get rich of, but we're tired of moving around and want something where we don't have to deal with politics (on municipal property) or landlords/ladies.