YapaTree is a real estate agency in Cuenca run by two people with a small support team. Michelle Puga leads sales, long-term and short-term rentals. Jason Scott runs content, marketing and strategy. Alejandra Torres works alongside Michelle on showings and listings. We are hiring an admin assistant to take initial calls and emails, and a third agent so Michelle and Alejandra can keep up with demand.
Jason and Michelle met in Quito. He had landed from Australia as a long-term digital nomad. She had grown up in Ecuador. They moved to Cuenca together, and started writing about the city almost immediately: what to know, what to avoid, the parts of settling in that no relocation brochure covers.
In 2021 we acquired GringoTree, a long-running Cuenca publication for English speakers. We renamed it YapaTree almost immediately and kept the archive. A yapa is a small unprompted kindness; it fit the job better than the old name did.
Real estate grew out of that. Jason moved into the industry five years ago because readers kept asking the same questions and the answers they were getting from local agents were not very good. Michelle came on as lead agent two years ago, and has since taken over sales, long-term leases and the short-term rental program.
We are raising four kids here, two of them born in Cuenca. The city is not a market we cover from the outside; it is where our family lives. That shapes how we work: we are not in a rush, we do not need the deal to close this week, and we would rather lose your business than sell you the wrong house.
Runs the real estate side of the agency, buying, long-term rentals, short-term rentals. Walks every listing before we take it, manages landlord and owner relationships, and does most of the talking when the notaría gets heated.
Runs the content, marketing and digital side of the business: the Journal, the newsletter, the strategy conversations clients don't see. Writes most of the uncomfortable guides. Started in Cuenca real estate five years ago.
Works alongside Michelle on showings, viewings, and the day-to-day of keeping listings moving.
Handles the property@yapatree.com inbox: long-term rental inquiries, owner relationships, and keeping the day-to-day of listings moving.
If you know the city, the contracts, and how to be straight with people, write to us.
The small gift the vendor tosses in after you pay, a little something extra, offered for its own sake.
Una yapa es un regalito que el vendedor añade después de pagar: un algo más.
We named the agency after it because that is how we try to work. Show up, do the job, then a little more.
If a neighborhood is noisy at 4am, we say so. If a property is mispriced, we tell the owner before we list it.
English with Jason's team. Spanish with Michelle's. Contracts, closings and arguments happen in the language that gets it done right.
Ecuador's default is that the agent works for the seller. We will do that too. But if you want a buyer's agent in your corner, that is a program we run explicitly.
Every engagement ends with something extra. A neighborhood onboarding, a utilities setup, a trusted handyman. The algo más that makes it ours.
We found YapaTree almost by accident. But it was a happy accident.
What really made it work was trust, trust, and trust. They performed magnificently.
A real bridge between my home culture and this fantastic place. I feel seen and understood.
