● Live · written from Cuenca est. 2019

Real life in Ecuador,
written by people who actually live it.

Start with the guides or scroll , there's a lot here

In Ecuador since

2016

Nine years on the ground in Ecuador. Most of it in Cuenca. Four kids. Two cuencanos by birth. Roughly six hundred emails answered.

Jason and Michelle in their kitchen, Cuenca

Today's pick

Ecuador Investment Visa: From Application to Approval

Aug 2024 · Jason Scott

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Library · growing

52

in-depth guides, written from lived experience , not a tourism brochure.

Visa pieces reviewed by Betsy at Expat Law Group.

A position

We are not a content farm.

We are Jason and Michelle Scott. We run YapaTree from Cuenca: Michelle on the homes, Jason on the rest. Betsy at Expat Law Group handles the visa work. Every recommendation comes from doing the work, not from writing for the affiliate cookie.

01

We've been there.

Stood on the balcony at 7am. Watched the morning light hit the river. For a real reader, last March.

02

First reply within hours. From a person.

Pedro at our Cuenca office picks up first. He routes from there: visa to Betsy at Expat Law Group, property to the listing agent, short stays to Michelle, the rest to Jason.

03

Visa thresholds are current.

Visa pieces reflect 2026 SBU (Ecuador's basic salary, the legal anchor for income thresholds, currently $482/mo) and the live fee schedule from Expat Law Group. Other categories move slower; we update when the law changes, not on a content calendar.

Three things expats ask us, every week.

All 52 guides

10 guides

Visas & Residency

Browse all visas & residency →

19 guides

Living in Cuenca

Browse all living in cuenca →

21 guides

Making the Move

Browse all making the move →

YapaTree · 115 active

Prices on the door. Always.

No "contact for price." No registration wall. Browse every current home for sale, long-term rental, and short-term stay in Cuenca, with the rent or sale price visible from the first click.