At the time it was offered to us, we elected not to buy the property. For us, this area seemed to be too far from Puerto Armuelles to fit our lifestyle.
Over the past decade, or so, I (Reyn) have occasionally gone to surf in front of what is now the CocoBeach Development.
The waves are often better at CocoBeach than here in Puerto Armuelles. The CocoBeach area is farther from the surf shadow cast by the Punta Burica peninsula. Punta Burica blocks much of the prevailing southwest swell from hitting Puerto Armuelles.
For years, there was no sign of any development at CocoBeach, whatsoever.
Over the past 3 or 4 years, there have been little improvements to the property.
In the last couple of years, there has been significant investment in road construction and surface water runoff control on the property. Now there is even an attractive new building being used as an office and tool storage area.
When we have visited most recently, there have been as many as a dozen laborers and a crew boss doing various projects on the roadway and maintaining the lots.
Many of the lots have been platted and marked. The lots now have grass lawns.
The development is at the very beginning stages of feeling like a “neighborhood”.
According to CocoBeach's website, a significant number of lots have already sold. They are supposed to be starting to build their first home within a few months. Currently, when you buy a lot you must start construction of your home within 5 years.
With the recent expansion to the highway from Puerto to Paso Canoas, and other recent investments in Puerto Armuelles, there is a strong sense that our area is growing fast.
We are beginning to think that the CocoBeach Development could be a huge success.
For some expats, a secure, gated community, 20 minutes from town could be just what they are looking for.
(Note: This drive is likely to be reduced to 15 minutes, maybe less, once the road to CocoBeach is improved)
The parent company for CocoBeach is Panama Portfolio. They have 3 projects under development in Panama.
Gated Community
As we mentioned, the big selling point (for some) of CocoBeach is that it will be a gated and secure community, 24/7. Another selling point is their amenities.
Amenities
It is our understanding that the CocoBeach development proposes to include a boutique hotel and restaurant, beach club house, tennis court, a pool, boat ramp and storage, equestrian center, and a secure entrance gate with full time security guard.
Lots for Sale
CocoBeach is a 98 acre development which will be sold in 2 phases. Currently there are 106 lots for sale.
According to their masterplan there are 15 beachfront properties.
Houses
You can select one of their houses to be built by them on your lot, or build your own house.
They require that you start construction of your house (or have them do it for you) within 5 years of buying a lot.
We don't know what happens if someone does not build a house within 5 years, per their contract.
Design Guidelines
CocoBeach is imposing what city planners refer to as design guidelines for the community. These guidelines require that your house conform to a certain look and quality.
As a designer, myself, I think this is a big plus for the community, since it ensures architectural cohesion and an attractive looking community. This will add future value of the development.
This is why we also encourage buyers of our Corazon de Oro lots to build one of our Living in Panama Houses. Having a cohesive look to a neighborhood makes it a much more pleasant place to hang out. And definitely, increases its resale value.
Most of our visitors have responded positively to Puerto Armuelles and to our own Living in Panama House.
Of course, the people who appreciate our philosophy and style are most likely to come to visit us vs. CocoBeach.
As we stated already, CocoBeach is too far from town for our family’s lifestyle, since we like to walk, bike, or just “be” right in town. We don't enjoy spending time in the car, so driving 10 -20 minutes to pick up some milk is not for us.
Also, living in town and not in a gated community allows us to mix more naturally with our Panamanian neighbors.
However, there is another group. A group that seeks a more luxurious and exclusive enclave, further away from town. If that fits you, you may be interested in CocoBeach. CocoBeach is a very attractive place.
An Example
As a matter of fact, we recently gave a tour to a client who took advantage of her visit to Puerto Armuelles to visit all of our properties as well as CocoBeach.
This client’s conclusion was that she, herself, wants to live on the beach, right in Puerto Armuelles, or at Corazon de Oro. However she is certain that her mother, who is planning to move to Puerto Armuelles with her, would prefer to live in the gated community at CocoBeach. She plans on coming back in the near future with her mom.
We look forward to seeing her on her return trip, and we wish her good luck selling the idea to her mom.
One size definitely does not fit all, as the saying goes.
However, one thing is clear. CocoBeach clearly benefits by its proximity to Puerto Armuelles.
The beach at CocoBeach is truly excellent.
But, if CocoBeach were located in the middle of nowhere, it would just be another pretty vacation destination. Not a real place to buy a home and to live a functional lifestyle (Our opinion).
Unlike other gated communities, say on the distant shores of Paradise (i.e., in the middle of nowhere), CocoBeach is close enough to Puerto Armuelles to be an easy drive to town.
Puerto is clearly growing and developing fast. So, the amenities here that are available to residents at CocoBeach are likely to increase in number, and quality, as time goes by.
CocoBeach Development is destined to be a multi-year project. This means that CocoBeach community is likely to employ many residents of Puerto Armuelles in construction, maintenance, gardening, cleaning, and other laboring jobs for years to come.
As such, CocoBeach will continue to provide basic employment in a region that has been sorely lacking in stable employment. And, of course, the new residents of CocoBeach are going to need to shop for groceries, gas, hardware, furniture, gardening tools, cell phones, sun screen, etc…
The logical place for them to do their shopping will be right here in Puerto Armuelles. It is clear to me that the ongoing success of CocoBeach is going to be beneficial to our Panamanian neighbors here, and for the ongoing success of Puerto Armuelles.
This, of course, makes Betsy and me very happy. Those of you who are regular readers, all know by now that we love our little beach town, Puerto Armuelles: The only true beach town in Panama. We want to see Puerto prosper and continue to be a happy place to live for all of us.
Overall their information seems pretty good, if you ignore the usual sales-pitch hyperbole. They seem to have a good track record of making plans on paper become successful projects.
(Note: We do not receive any compensation from CocoBeach for our review or otherwise. In fact, the CocoBeach folk don't yet know we wrote about their development. We hope they agree it is a positive review.)
Thanks for reading
Betsy & Reyn
[leadplayer_vid id="59FCDFB7F410D"]
Hi everyone. Check out this titled ocean view property for sale in the charming beach town of Puerto Armuelles.
Stay tuned for more, right after this: I'm Betsy from Living in Panama, the place for information and advice on being an expat in Panama. Interested? Click subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss a video.
The highest part of this property dominates the brow of the hill and the views.
My drone makes it seem like the ocean is much further away than what you actually experience when you're standing on the property.
Here's a photo I took with a regular camera, no zoom lens, to give you a better idea the ocean views from this property.
If you were higher up, say in a house, the view would be even better.
I added a Google map view to give you a better idea of the property and its distance from the ocean and downtown.
Here's the property and here's Tsunami Inn. This is Big Daddy's Beach Club & Hotel (Formerly Heavenly's Hotel).
I'll show you how far away the ocean view is.
The property to the beach by Big Daddy's is 1.3 kilometers or about three-quarters of a mile away.
Also to show how convenient it is to downtown Puerto.
From the property to the downtown waterfront park is 2 kilometers or 1-1/4 mile.
Now back to the property. (Note: At this point, the video shows an aerial view of the property with it's property lines indicated with a blue line.)
From this property and in the neighborhood, you can hear howler monkeys, parrots, and the surf, when it is up, especially in the early mornings.
Right now, you're looking at the property right behind this one. An expat couple lives in it.
The property line going goes behind these trees and includes this flat area
The property also includes this 50 foot wide access road.
This property is large: 60,000 sq. feet.
You could subdivide it into 3 lots or just luxuriate in all that space.
We are selling it for an amazingly low price of $54,500.
We live in this neighborhood and one thing we enjoy is that every day, at dawn and then again at dusk, flocks of parrots fly out of the neighborhood and then return in the evening.
It really gives a wonderful rhythm to your day.
This photo shows the view of the property from the road.
To give you a sense of Las Palmas, I included 2 video clips I had on hand.
In this one, you can see the Las Palmas neighborhood is made up of large lots and tropical wooden houses on stilts.
We love seeing horses, in this case a mule, wandering in the neighborhood.
For more information and to contact us, click the link below this video.
Thanks for watching
When we arrived in Puerto there was lots of property available to buy. We chose only what we thought was the most appealing.
We singled out the properties where we would be happy to live. Reyn, as a designer, was always thinking of the end user. The person who would ultimately live on the property.
While the price was a factor, it was not our main determining criteria.
We looked for property where we would have liked to live ourselves. Locations that made us feel joy and that we were glad to be alive.
Only then, did we start our careful evaluation of the property as a potential purchase.
We looked at:
If the property had any significant issue, no matter how much we liked the property, we did not buy it.
When we bought property, we took our responsibility as owners seriously.
As the years go by, we are always trying to make the property more attractive, livable, valuable, and secure. Over time we have become pretty good at this. At least, we think so. We welcome your thoughts on the matter.
We have thoroughly vetted and researched all of our investment properties.
Many we have owned for up to 10 years. There are no outstanding ownership issues.
All properties have been well-maintained and improved over the course of our ownership.
We have all of the original property documents. Even the old yellowed originals, some dating back all the way back to the very first issuance of Right of Possession of the property, on up to the present year. (These are kept in a safe deposit box in the US.) All property transactions have been witnessed by the notary and by relevant neighbors, ex-wives, children, etc. Of course, we also have the official engineers’ drawings for all the properties.
Very importantly here in Panama, we have gotten to know all of the neighbors of the properties. We have met all, or at least most, of the siblings and children of the sellers. In many cases, Reyn even knows the neighbors' dogs by name.
All the neighbors recognize us as the sole owners of our properties. Because of our good relations with these neighbors, they would inform us of any suspicious behavior or encroachment. (Thankfully, it is very rare to have such issues in Puerto.)
As we have said elsewhere, most issues, especially ownership issue surface in the first few weeks of a new purchase.
Our goal is to have the best prices in town. If you find a similar property at a better price, please let us know.
Please do your research. You will find that our prices, for what you get, is lower than other expat-owned property for sale in the area. When evaluating a property given its price, you should look at the quality of location, view, size, aesthetic appeal and other critical factors of a quality living experience.
We appreciate your feedback. We'd love to hear what you found. We want to continue to deliver the best quality at the best price.
We love the beach. So we chose properties that would easily allow a beach lifestyle.
Much of our property is beach front. And if it is not at the beach, it is less than 100 yards from the beach.
We only have 2 properties that are not considered beach properties, but even those have views of the ocean.
Puerto Armuelles is a wonderful place to live in. It isn't a tourist destination yet, but it is an ideal place to enjoy a relaxing beach lifestyle.
Puerto Armuelles is a unique town. It has a real sense of place. We loved Puerto from the moment we set eyes on it.
Location is key.
After 3+ months of traveling all over Panama. We decided to buy in Puerto Armuelles.
We wanted to live in a real beach town. We didn't want to live in a resort community, or somewhere which would require a lot of driving to accomplish our daily errands.
Puerto Armuelles was the only place that fit all of our "happy living" requirements. Simply put, Puerto felt right. And it still does.
More and more expats who move here each year agree with our assessment.
I have written about Puerto Armuelles extensively in other parts of our site, so I will just give you a summary of Puerto's features below.
Puerto Armuelles - a Summary
Although it is not yet a tourist destination, Puerto has features that are beginning to attract recreational visitors, as well as retirees.
Puerto Armuelles is a place where you can easily build a happy and relaxed life. Come visit and see if you agree with us.
Everyone in Panama could be a happy recipient of this advantage. Starting in January 2019, if your property is valued at less than $120K, it will be exempt from property taxes. In Panama, the value of the property is assumed to be the purchase price.
Fortunately, all our properties are under $120,000 - many are well under $120,000.
Currently, there is no system in Panama that reassesses a property's value.
Which means that if you build a house on the property, your property value, for tax purposes, will not increase. Or if property prices increase in your area, the value of your property, again for tax purposes, will not increase. It will still be taxed, or be exempt, based on the purchase price.
Of course, this lack of up-to-date assessments may change, but for the foreseeable future, that is the situation. A good situation for property owners in Panama.
Learn more about the Panama property tax reform here.
If you buy one of our properties during your visit, we will pay the airfare you spent to get here.
Our "Welcome to Puerto Armuelles" gift to you. A happy perk to celebrate your new life in Puerto Armuelles. (Note: We cover the airfare of one person only.)
We have been asked about reserving property in the past. And we always said no. We really want people to visit Puerto first. But we have been convinced to change our mind. So now we have the option.
You can now reserve a property for 60 days for only $1,000.
Discover all the details about reserving a property, Click here.
We offer to finance.
This is a great advantage to you since it can be time-consuming and difficult to get bank financing in Panama.
And, if you are interested in ROP property, bank financing is non-existent. You can only obtain bank financing for titled property.
We carefully determined our terms by considering both what our clients have been asking for and looking at other owner-financing options available in the area.
We feel that our terms are fair and competitive. We think that you will agree.
Find out more about our financing.
You can rely on us to provide you with good advice and critical information necessary for success in Panama.
As you can easily see by browsing our website, LivinginPanama.com, we have a wealth of information about moving to Panama, setting up house, understanding the culture, and creating a happy life here in Puerto Armuelles.
We are happy to share this information with you throughout the purchase process and beyond.
Of course, no matter how compelling you find these 10 reasons, you must find a property that suits you.
One of our properties may be perfect for you. Or maybe none of them will call to you. Regardless, we are happy to help and answer your questions.
The main focus of our website is to help expats be successful and happy in Panama.
Of course, we would be thrilled if you bought one of our fabulous properties.
We'd have even more reason to celebrate your decision to join us down in Puerto Armuelles, Panama. The first round is on us!
Thanks for reading.
Betsy & Reyn
We hope you can benefit from the lessons we learned.
Don't Make Emotional Purchase
We have made dozens of property purchases safely and without regret in Panama.
Our achilles heel in this particular case was that this was an emotional purchase.
We LOVED the property too much, and we really WANTED it.
This is precisely the way expats get tricked into buying a property that they shouldn’t.
You need to use your prefrontal cortex to purchase property, not your amigdala. Definitely don’t use your tequila sunrise, or your vodka and tonic brain either. This needs to be a morning coffee sort of a decision.
In our case, the property in question was to have been for our own personal use, at a popular surfing spot in the neighborhood of Corazon de Jesus.
You see, we had gotten to know the sellers so well over the years of surfing and swimming there, and we liked the property so much for having used it every day or so over that time, and we were paying such a high price for the land…….(Blah, Blah, Blah)…
We assumed we knew everything we needed to know about the property. We had know the sellers for years, and made the mistake of believing what the sellers told us.
(Notice that our train of thought in this emotional purchase is not logical. We were using the wrong part of our brain. Basically, we were worried that if we didn’t buy it, someone else would, since many other properties in Corazon de Jesus had sold fast at that time).
Fortunately, we did much more cognitive research on our investment properties, since we bought for resale purposes. We made doubly sure we were on top of all stages of the vetting process.
We only purchased properties where we ourselves would be happy to live. And over the years, we have fallen in love with them, especially with the Corazon de Oro development where I now swim every day, or stroll 5 minutes down the beach to Corazon de Jesus to go surfing. As it turns out, we like it better than we ever liked Corazon de Jesus and the purple house.
We made several payments for the property, over 2 years, and were about to make our final, largest payment for the land, when we began to hear things that made us suspect that what we had been told by the family of the seller might not have been true.
You see, in this family there is an adult son who drinks too much. However, since I usually visited the property in the early morning when I swam, or surfed, I rarely ran into him, or if I did, he was not drunk in the mornings.
However, a couple of times, near the due date for our final payment, I visited the property in the afternoon. I got to witness this man drunk and belligerent. Most importantly to this story, this guy was yelling “crazy” things to me about the property having been left to him by his late father, as well as to the family member we were buying from. Previously, the family had convinced us that this person was the only legal owner of the property.
At this late date and for the 1st time, it was clear that this drunken relative was not happy with the idea of this sale. (Huh? I had been so confident that I knew everything about the property). I had spent hundreds of hours there over the years. I had been to births and funerals of various members of the family of the seller. I had lent the family money to help with travel and education expenses. How could this be?
Betsy and I immediately asked our lawyer do a review of the property documents to ease our doubts, before we handed over the final payment for the property.
It took this lawyer all of 5 minutes to discover that the drunk was exactly correct.
You see, the grandmother of the family, had (intentionally or not. We cannot be sure, although the last minute will was drawn up by this woman’s attorney who certainly should have known what he was doing) written a new will ceding her portion of the property back to her husband just before he died.
This meant that, though the property had been given to the seller only, by both his grandmother and his grandfather, upon the death of the grandfather all of this widow’s children, and their children’s children, as legal heirs, became the rightful owners of the property.
In the developed world, this series of events would have been labeled “felony real estate fraud”. In Panama this is considered a "grey area" especially where poor Panamanians are the sellers and expats are the buyers.
In fact they admitted it was fraud.
When we called them on their deception, they admitted it was true. There was more than one owner of the property.
They even signed a notarized declaration to that fact. Their attitude was one of, "Okay, we tried to defraud you. So what?"
At this point, we are fed up. And we are also "tied up" on this deal.
We are taking measures to protect ourselves and our investment. In our case, we own lots of other great properties so it is not the end of the world. However, for a retiree on a limited budget this could be devastating. They might have decided to give up and go home to North America.
We still want to buy the property. We have invested too much in it now to back down.
We have been informed by neighbors that they are now trying to sell this property to other unsuspecting victims. So please beware. This property is in litigation. It is not a property you should buy, unless you want to inherit problems.
We certainly hope that no other expats get involved in this troubled property until we win our suit. Feel free to contact us for more information.
This is why, for most expats, it is not a good idea to buy property directly from Panamanian sellers, or to buy a property that was only recently purchased from Panamanians.
Learn how to be safe buying property in Panama.
It is far safer to buy from expats who have held the property for a number of years.
Yes, you as the end user, pay a premium for property being sold by expats. But in exchange you get much more assurance that there are no conflicting ownership issues.
Of course, you should still throughly investigate the property and get to know all the parties, but the risk is much lower.
And we are not saying you should not buy from Panamanians. We bought almost all our properties from Panamanians. All with absolutely no issues. But keep in mind, we decided not to buy some properties because of issues that our investigations uncovered.
Buying from Panamanians directly is a great way to get a good deal. But to do that, you really should move here first. You need to personally get to know the players. And you need to do a tremendous amount of research. Buying from locals is a higher risk purchase. You should exercise greater caution. Go slowly and investigate the property and ownership throughly.
Such research will be more effective, and less likely for you to be a victim of fraud, if you are living in the area you want to buy. Plus, you will find out if you really will be happy in the area.
The most important detail to investigate is whether you will enjoy living on the property. After all, the end goal is not only to make a safe purchase, but to be happy with your life on that property.
We hope you found this tale informative.
October 24, 2017
But there are risks to any move.
In this post, I want to warn you of some risks, so you can avoid them.
The number one risk I see for expats is that some expats moving to Panama are rushed into buying a property too fast.
Often licensed or unlicensed real estate agents, taxi drivers, hotel owners, or others will work the newcomer fast, or sometimes subtly, in an effort to get them to make a purchase. These types of purchases are far more beneficial to this real estate agent/ “finder” than they are to the buyer.
The buyer is made to feel that there is no time for a thorough background investigation of the property. No time to find out if this is actually a good property investment or even a safe one.
Sometimes the buyer is so charmed by the agent that they trust too much. The buyer is “primed” to make a quick purchase by being told that several other expats are also interested in buying the property, or that the price is so low that it can’t last. Or, in the case of Puerto Armuelles, since Del Monte is coming to town, they had better buy now, rather than wishing that they had.
A too-fast purchase can even be made after 3 or 4 previous visits to a destination in Panama.
Just because you feel that you know the town, does not mean that you know enough about the specific property that you are about to purchase.
Unscrupulous real estate agents/"finders" know that since you have been here before, and you are back looking for a property, you are more likely to be "hot" to make a quick purchase. Obviously, repeat visitors are the “likely” ones to buy.
No Code of Ethics for Realtors
Sadly, the bar is very, very low, in terms of what is considered honest real estate practices. In Panama, there are no legal requirements for “full disclosure” in property sales, nor is there a code of ethics for real estate agents here.
The actual commission or hidden profit you pay an agent is often not fully disclosed. A real estate agent (licensed or unlicensed) can effectively earn 30%, 50%, even 300% of the sale price on a property. They do this without the buyer knowing it.
How agents earn these high commissions
Basically it is a con job. Although you do end up owning the property.
The agent/finder simply "ties up" the property just before you buy it. They may buy it in their name, a ghost buyer's, or in a Panamanian corporation's name. However they do it, the agent buys the property at the seller's asking price. Then the agent sells that property to you as if you are buying it from the original seller. However, they sell it to you at a much higher price than what the original seller was asking or the price they paid.
Typically, this agent brings the buyer to look at the property. If the buyer wants to make an offer, the agent then "pre-buys" the property since they already know that they can make a “killing” on the flip.
There are variations on this theme, but in general, the price the original seller gets is much less than what the expat buyer pays. The agent pockets the difference. And the buyer never knows what happened.
In another example, an unscrupulous agent might email a potential customer who has already visited once or twice, telling them that “an amazing property has just come up for sale”. If the person is truly interested in buying, these helpful agents then “tie up” the property, using minimal funds of their own, or more likely, the money that the expat buyer gives them, or sends them long distance. In this way, the unscrupulous agent, putting none of their own money at risk, sells a property to an expat buyer as if the agent’s only connection with the property were as someone helping the expat to make the purchase from the original seller.
In one case, we know about a property in Puerto where the Panamanian seller had been asking $5,000 for 2 or 3 years. These folks were desperate to sell. Suddenly, we learned from the neighbors that this property has just sold for $20,000! Amazing! (Not really). When we discovered that it sold to someone new to Puerto and which local "agent" helped broker the deal, it is quite clear what happened.
When I met the new owner, all I could do is smile and congratulate them on their purchase. What can I do now? It is too late to help them. Plus, no one wants to hear that they have just been swindled.
Of course, this practice can happen anywhere. To avoid it, the solution is to take your time so you, and your lawyer, can review the property's transaction history carefully. You should meet the seller yourself, with a translator if needed, and without your realtor, to ensure you are buying the property from them, not from your agent/property finder.
Sadly, these victims may continue to trust the “friendly” agent and even allow them to help manage a remodel or new construction project for them, all without having any idea of the true costs for these services.
In this particular practice, not only is the innocent expat buyer paying what amounts to a monumental real estate commission, but they are taking on another, even greater risk as well.
It is usually within the first few weeks after a property changes hands that problems concerning ownership begin to surface. This risk is there regardless of any commission-slight-of-hand. It is due to the too-quick purchase without thorough investigation.
That is, you will discover that the owner you bought the property from is not the only owner of the property. Most common and most distressing is that additional owners of the property may claim the sale void since they did not sign off on it. Or they may demand additional payment from you, the buyer.
Panamanian families, particularly families with middle-aged siblings, often are quite large: 6, 8, 10 siblings all with an equal claim to the family home/estate.
If an elderly parent has died without a will (this is the norm, not the exception, in Panama), the house automatically becomes the property of all of the living offspring. However, when an expat buyer arrives to look at a property, the people living they may claim to be the sole owners of the property. They may say, "my mom always wanted me to own the house".
Panamanian law does not work this way. There may be several legal owners of a property. You need to find this out in advance of investing your money. If there are too many conflicting claims of ownership, or if the family can’t all agree to sell the property, now is your chance to run away as fast as you can from what would have turned into a nightmare.
Find out how we were once conned when purchasing a property.
Obviously, the people who are most successful at this kind of fraud present themselves as the expat's friend. They might even introduce you to a few other expats who will vouch for them. The salient trait of a good con man is the ability to appear to be someone with insider knowledge who is going to be your friend for years to come.
Another tactic used by real estate agents who work in this unscrupulous way is to create a “smokescreen” (in Panama they call this practice “throwing feathers into the fan”) to disguise their dishonest business practices and to separate their prey out from others who could have warned them about the likelihood of a con job.
One practice that is popular in Puerto and other places is to assassinate the character of anyone they think could tip off the prospective buyer, whether those are their real estate "competitors" or simply other expats who might also caution you to take it slow. The agent keeps you in a bubble of people who won't rock the boat for them, so all systems are "go" for a sale.
Another thing that the swindlers do to delay or camouflage these scams is to warn the expat buyer “Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone that you bought this. I don’t want any of the other folks who wanted the house to be upset." Or “Don’t tell anyone you just bought this, because we don’t want anyone to know that the man/woman who sold the property has all this cash on them….they might get robbed”. I’ve heard this one several times over the years. These techniques are designed to isolate the buyer from those who might have been able to help them, until after all the payments have been made.
I do not write this article to dissuade anyone who is considering a move to Panama.
You can be safe and happy buying property in Panama. The vast majority of people are.
But you need to resist the temptation to make a rash purchase, one you may regret.
This is especially true if you are buying through an intermediary/agent of some kind - particularly if the seller is Panamanian. In that situation, an unscrupulous agent will find it easier to work some kind of sleight of hand.
You should make sure you and your lawyer do a thorough job of researching a property before you buy it.
If it is titled property, the investigation is a simpler process than an ROP property. But in either case, research needs to be done.
For Titled property, a thorough title search and investigation needs to be conducted.
In the case of ROP property, this investigation will involve looking at the full history of transactions of the property. Including the knowledge that if one of the property owners died, most likely each that person's children and spouse now have an ownership share of the property. If the children and spouse claim they are not owners, they must sign a notarized & stamped declaration to that effect. Your lawyer (or another person) should also ask all the neighbors about the property to ensure there is a consensus about who the true owners are. This sounds too simplistic. However, this simple asking the neighbors, never fails, if done thoroughly. In Panama, especially in small towns, there are no secrets.
Read "How to Buy ROP Property Safely" for more info. as well as "Understanding what ROP Property is"
Puerto is no worse than other parts of Panama, or Costa Rica, as far as real estate integrity is concerned (There’s a comfort, eh?). And we want you to have the greatest chance of a successful landing here.
Get a Lawyer
For a property investigation, a local lawyer is best. They know all the players involved and can help intuit if something feels fishy. You may or may not choose them to help you with any subsequent property purchase.
Ask local expats for what lawyers they would recommend. There are both bilingual and Spanish-only lawyers in Puerto. We also have a certified translator in Panama who can help you communicate with the latter.
For instance, most lawyers can easily find out if the property was recently visited, even purchased by a local “realtor type” by simply talking to the neighbors. In this small town, everyone talks about everything. It is not too hard to get the facts, you just need to ask.
If you would like a recommendation or places to ask for recommendations, please ask via our contact page.
For more information on buying property, read this.
We are truly in love with this town. It is one of a kind, complete beach town and a super cool place to live.
Puerto Armuelles always benefits from the arrival of people who can enjoy a happy life here. Happy people contribute to the well being of everyone. Happy expats who find what they are looking for here contribute by helping our town continue to be a great place to retire or to start a business.
We want to continue to see Puerto Armuelles expat success stories.
Puerto Armuelles still holds amazing value for beachfront property, or property within sight and sound of the waves.
So do your research. Cross-check your references.
If you take it slow and check out your information thoroughly, you can be safe and happy buying property anywhere in Panama.
And slow is the pace of life in Panama, so you might as well start taking it slow from the beginning..
Betsy and I are always available to help answer your questions.
Thanks for reading
Reyn
The legislature had already given their full approval in September by passing Bill 509 after 3 debates.
The new property tax rates are effective January 1, 2019.
There are now new and higher exemptions from property taxes
This means that if you buy your primary home in Panama for under $120,000, you will not owe any property taxes. Starting January 1, 2019, your property would be fully exempt.
Currently, Panama’s property tax is a graduated tax. I believe that is not changing.
If so, when you purchase a $200,000 house you would only pay property tax on $80,000 of its value. (ie., $200,000 minus $120,000 exemption = $80,000 of taxable value.)
As you will see in the tax rates below, that means you would pay a 0.5% property tax rate on this $80,000 of value. Which means, you would only owe $400 a year in property taxes. Wow.
This is a substantial reduction in property taxes in Panama.
Currently, only the 1st $30,000 of property value is exempt from property taxes.
Since the majority of property in Panama is valued under $120,000, this means that most property in Panama will be exempt from property taxes.
You can read about the current (through 2018) property tax rates in Panama in this post.
The reform bill also offers an amnesty program for those who currently have unpaid property taxes.
My understanding is that if you pay your taxes by December 31, 2017, all fines and interest will be waived. Any unpaid tax through August 31, 2017 is eligible for the amnesty program.
I am not positive about the details of this amnesty program. If you know more, please share in the comment section below.
Keep in mind, if you own titled property, you owe taxes.
You will never get a bill for your taxes. It is up to you to remember to pay them - and on time! If you don't pay them, the government will take their cut (tax + interest + fees) when you sell your property.
Primary Residence
$0 - $120,000 = Exempt
$120,001 - $700,000 = 0.5% tax
$700,000+ = 0.7% tax
Secondary Residence, Commercial Properties, Industrial properties
$0 - $30,000 = Exempt
$30,001 - $250,000 = 0.6% tax
$250,001 - $500,000 = 0.8% tax
$500,000+ = 1.0% tax
Currently, the Panama government is spending alot of time and energy encouraging people to title their property. For many reasons, the government wants to improve its real estate transaction systems. A first step is getting land titled.
Most land in Panama is not titled. And most people are happy with owning Right of Possession (ROP) or untitled land. One reason for this is that once land is titled, it will be taxed.
For this reason, it is hard to convince people to title their land.
They have never paid property taxes, and never expected to do so. And really, who wants to pay taxes? Plus many property owners cannot afford to pay property taxes, of any amount.
The solution: Exempt most property owners from property taxes.
Since most land in Panama is valued at under $120,000, the government decided to make that the exemption threshold.
This rationale for the property tax reform is complete and total conjecture on my part. I have not read anything to support my supposition, but it seems right to me.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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And, it is going up very quickly.
This one is going to be our display house. Which we, and perhaps interested buyers, can use for the weekend or longer.
If you have explored our Living in Panama House, you will know that we were only offering 1300 sq. feet 2 and 3-bedroom homes.
However, we have had a number of inquiries from people who would like a smaller version of our Living in Panama House. They say they don't need much room and they want to simplify their lives.
So we decided to offer a smaller, 1000 sq. foot, 1-bedroom model. This smaller model can also be configured as a 2 bedroom home.
Of course, we have also had a few people asking if we can build a 3000 sq. foot model, but far fewer than the smaller house contingent.
Find out more about the Living In Panama House here
We invite you to come and watch the house while it is under construction.
Come back and see it when it is done too.
We want to give you a chance to walk around in the spaces and experience the Living In Panama House yourself. This will help you decide not only if a Living in Panama House is right for you, but what size and configuration is the best fit.
We hope that you can come to visit us in Puerto Armuelles soon and check out the Living in Panama House for yourself.
In the video above, you can see the initial stages of the Living in Panama House under construction. You also catch glimpses of our beautiful Corazon de Oro property where the house is located.
Video Transcript
Enjoy this speeded version of our first Living In Panama House being built.
Our Living in Panama House was designed for the tropics and for you to customize. We build the superstructure for you. That is - roof, walls, electrical, water, and the like and you put in the finishes - or have a recommended contractor do it for you.
This 1 bedroom model is being built on our beautiful Corazon de Oro property in the charming beach town of Puerto Armuelles. The info card in the upper right is a link to a video showing more of these gorgeous beach properties.
We just started this house and it is going up very quickly. I will create another video when it is fully constructed.
For more information on the Living in Panama House, Corazon de Oro properties, or the charming beach town of Puerto Armuelles, go to our site LivinginPanama.com. Explore the information there, or contact us directly.
Puerto Armuelles is not a tourist destination, per se. There isn't much nightlife.
It is a wonderful place just to be.
Thanks for watching.
Please comment below.
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The hardest part is using the new-to-me software needed to edit the footage. (At least it is necessary when you take experienced photographers advice and you shoot in dlog. That makes everything "flat", requiring more intensive post-editing!) I attempted to use Adobe Premier Pro. Please let me know how you think it turned out.
I will be taking more and better drone footage. Hopefully soon.
It is the rainy season so I cannot do it just anytime. I need to wait for blue skies in the morning. The afternoons are abit too breezy for my skill level.
Corazon de Oro is really beautiful. Which is one reason we are building our first Living In Panama House there.
The end of the video above, includes footage from Friday, July 28, of the house under construction.
If you are searching for a wonderful place to live on the beach, you should check out our Corazon de Oro properties.
Find out more about the beautiful Corazon de Oro here.
This beautiful beach property (seen in the video above) is for sale in Puerto Armuelles, Panama.
It is just one of the 20 beautiful properties we have here at Corazon de Oro.
Stay to the end of the video, to see one of our Living In Panama houses in the process of being built.
This property leads right down to a beautiful beach. It is the rainy season so, driftwood has accumulated for the time being.
It is only a half-hour beach walk to town, or 5 minutes by car. Check out the video I made of walking on this beach, into town.
This is truly a beautiful place just to be.
The prices for these 20 lots range from under $100 thousand for beachfront, to as low as $32 thousand. You can find out more about these 20 lots by clicking (the link below).
This beachfront lot is 54 feet wide and 140 feet deep.
As you have probably heard, Puerto Armuelles is the charming beach town in the Chiriqui Province that Chiquita Banana built back in the 1920s. It a unique town in Panama.
We will be filming comprehensive videos of these properties this summer. After which time we will start marketing them in earnest.
If you have a chance, check them out before your favorite one is taken or its price goes up.
