'moving to Panama' Panama City

Richard Cartier (82.26.217.182) -

Good day,

I am from England and looking at moving back to the Caribbean. I have heard from friends that Panama has very good incentives for those that wish to retire there.

What I would be very interested in, would be to buy a plot of land and build my own home. Can you please let me know the situation for a British person buying land in your country? Also do you have any plots of land that sits back high up that over looks the Caribbean seas?

Any advice would be great. I heard about Alto del Maria, although its not on the Caribbean side it is only an hour away from Panama city so that may be a compromise... What do you think?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Richard Cartier

Comment #1 Yatzel from Panama (Contact Member) -

Hi Richard, Please contact with me, I can help you with the land you

inse_17@hotmail.com

Comment #2 David (63.176.159.82) -

if I were you i would contact a local realator in the area you want to buy land and build a home and see what they can do for you.

Comment #3 Jessica from Panama Rep of Panama (Contact Member) -

maybe you need more info I now one person from England whos living here in panama about 3 year a go maybe he can help you.

• you need to now more

Comment #4 Shin Tsen (63.176.159.34) -

I am a traveling Chinese and wants to settle down in a nice region somewhere in Panama. Can you recommend an ideal place for expats like me?

Comment #5 Dar (167.80.246.204) -

Richard C.

I have been on this forum for quite some time. I have written a lot about moving to Panama. My husband and I are building a home in Boquete Panama. If you click on Panama Forum (on the left of this page) then click on Panama Panama City then click on B&B you will see a lot on moving to Panama. I have made reference to several websites you can go to & read and see different things. Please check out Montanas De Caldera in Boquete, that is where we are building our home. If you have particular questions for me - just ask. I check this site every couple of days.

Google: Boquete Panama

Retire to the Country of Panama

Several things should come up for you to look at.

One of things we found in our research is that it is easier to build in a developement and let the developement builder worry about hiring help and meeting deadlines. They also can get all permits needed to complete job. We have heard about some people who have bought a piece of land and hired help to build and in the middle of building the builder wants more money. They even had a contract with the builder.

What we liked about Montanas De Caldera is the Developer has built several retirement communities in Florida and the Caribbean. He and his family is from England and they will be living in the Developement. If you email them, they will send you all kinds of info on the project. Tell Jane that Mike and Darlene from Washington state recommended them. Jane is the Developers daughter and she is very knowledgable. We were amazed at how professional they were. There was not one question they could not answer.

Just list the questions you might have for me and I will answer them one by one.

Hope this helps.

Comment #6 jeni (68.197.218.101) -

My husband and I have been to Panama twice and although I don't really love Panama City, we were really taken with the area south of Santiago and have considered moving there in the next few years, with the idea of putting my husband's 25+ years engineering and construction experience to work building houses in an upcoming development there. The only problem is we have kids--my son will be in college by then but my daughter would still be in High School. I would be interested in hearing from other ex Pats who have moved with children, in terms of how and where they were educated. Also, do you ever get sick of it there and long for the US?

Comment #7 Natascha (63.176.159.82) -

Richard, my advice (out of experience) is always, try it out, but don't burn your bridges. If you have an apartment or house back home, maybe sublet it for a few years.

Also, you should live in Panama for at least 6 months to see if you really like it BEFORE investing and making a commitment. Just to be on the safe side.

Just take your time and do everything with care

Comment #8 mikeu42 from Miami (Contact Member) -

I read about age restrictions for used cars being exported to Panama for commercial re-sale. However, I need to know if there are age restrictions on my bringing my two 2004 family cars to Panama. If duty not too high, I plan to pay the duty on them and buy a new car in Panama "duty free" as a foreign retiree visa holder. Thanks

Comment #9 Dar (167.80.246.204) -

Mikeu42

Its not the duty you need to concern yourself with as they have 10K duty free on container. It's the license issue. I have been told it can take several months if not a year. They move very slowly. So you would have problems with that. You would be better off selling them here and buying a car down there. Remember, US made auto's down there are not easy to get worked on or get parts for. I have been told by the locals that Toyota is a good selling auto down there. We will be moving down there soon. (As soon as our house sells here) Good luck and you can go to just about any Law Firms website down there, and they will address the issue of duty. Google "law firms in the Republic of Panama."

Comment #10 Marco Martinez from Panama City (Contact Member) -

I have to tell I brought my 2005 Pathfinder. I was so happy because what I paif in USA was almos 20, 000. more in Panama. It took me maybe 3 weeks to get my registration and papers and I did it myself. If you have the opportunity to bring a newer car will be the best especially a jeep or something similar. 99.5 of the street in Panama are filled with holes. Panama is not really what some eople are trying to say. I had really can tell you aout Panama. You really need to know that by moving here your live style will come down and not in a good way.

Comment #11 Vidaverde (1) from Gulf Coast (Contact Member) -

Richard, I agree with Natascha 100% M8. Anyone thinking of relocating to Panama should live there at least 6 months first, without making any commitments to anyone except for a rental. Some lawyers, real estate agents and others will try to attract you (your money) by telling you that everything is wonderful, BEWARE! It may not be wonderful for you. It really depends on the type of person you are, your health, the quality of life you desire and things of that nature.

There are a few facts that are not talked about often. Although most Panamanians are nice and polite; there are Panamanians who are not happy with so many xpats moving to their country. You must learn about these things and what areas are comfortable for you before you commit to Panama.

Comment #12 Daniel Hardwick (72.91.99.67) - 01/02/10 19:16

"Retired"

Gents, I moved to Panama 1 year ago, but I'm back in FLORIDA.

Oh, where to begin.........

PANAMA is a beautiful country, USA is more beautiful!

People are friendly, 95% in Panama City do NOT speak English, and that includes the "service" people.... that leaves 98% of Panamanians OUTSIDE of PC do NOT speak English.

I don't know where to begin..........

My partner is Panamanian and I speak broken Spanish, so language is not an issue for me.

EVERY aspect of trying to get something done is a major problem!

Getting a drivers license: 2 months with 6 trips to various governmentt agencies.

Auto Registration: 2 months of inspections, paperwork and various agencies.

Opening a Bank Account: 3 months of something they call "DUE DILIGENCE" which you will hear while trying to get ANYTHING done legally in PANAMA.

ALL documents from you MUST be originals (they do NOT believe in copies), MUST be notorized, certified by the Panamanian Consulate in the USA and sometimes stamped by the American Embassy (which is another PAIN) in Panama.

We purchased a new Panama City High-rise with cash......still took 3 months of paper-work, requested documents from the USA.

Shipping our car, furniture, personal belongings, setting up the apartment, buying furniture, appliances, and getting installers to do all the work was a joke of monumental proportions!

The people in Panama drive like NASCAR with NO regard to SAFETY. If you are in the left turn lane waiting for the traffic light or on-coming traffic, they will go around you and pull in FRONT of your car and make the turn before you. That's why there are few traffic lights in a city of 1 million! We have been rear-ended while stopped twice in 6 months!

There is NO organiztion, responsibility, concerns, discipline, or anything else that would make sense to a "normal" person......these people don't care about anything but "partying"...which always happens during any of the dozen or so holidays Panama celebrates which completely shuts down the country for days at a time, sometime ALL week, depending on the holiday.

I could not take living in Panama another day.

To top it all of, on October 17, 2009, my partner, Marco Martinez was murdered in our PC high-rise.......he is the poster two posts above, so you can see, that even though this happened, I am not biased against Panama, because Marco (and he is Panamanian) wanted to move back to Miami, as I did. Unfortunetly, we didn't get out before this happened to Marco.

Panama has NOTHING to offer Americans. Panama City is actually MORE expensive than Miami

so don't let anybody tell you Panama is cheap..IT IS NOT!........

We traveled all over the country for 12 months and did not find anything that impressed us about the people or the country!

I would NOT recommend Panama to anyone.

Panama is more developed and technologically advanced compared to the other Central American countries......which is VERY sad for Panama, because they will stay in the past.

The roads are horrible, pot holes everywhere, cops stop you for no reason to "shake you down" for money.....I was stopped at least 6 times for NO infraction, they just pulled me over because I'm American and they think we are all rich, so they were paid between $20-$60 each stop.

STAY AWAY FROM PANAMA...............

And since I'm being honest about Panama, I'm sure some of you will not like some of my comments, but I speak the truth!

Good Luck with whatever your decision is!

Comment #13 Bruce (190.2.228.79) - 02/08/10 17:18

"Retiree"

Go to the web page PanamaHouse.Info to see the most luxury homes with ocean views in Altos del Maria, Panama.

Comment #14 Marlene (194.176.149.230) - 02/21/10 12:07

"Daniel..."

Hi,

First of all, I'm really sorry about your lost. It must have been a pretty hard time for you and your partner and it seems a terrible thing to go thru. Being in a new country, when everything even the weather is different is a huge impact and I tottaly respect that.

I'm panamanian, I'm married to a british living in England and, quoting his own words "This country is beautiful, but wheter they want to reconize it or not, is not for everybody" and it's true.

Now, as an expat myself, on the hard way I have learned the meaning of the world "adaptation". I came to this country, I came to England, therefore it's my duty to adapt to them, not THEM to ME, or impose what I consider to be right or wrong. Just think about that...

Cheers!

Comment #15 Carlos Kinng from Texas (Contact Member) - 02/26/10 17:20

"RESPONDING to the LIES of DANIEL HARDWICK"

All that this man named (Comment #12) Daniel Hardwick is saying about Panama is a big Lie , First : You can not expect all those living in Panama speak English because if you did not know before, the language used in Panama is Spanish. The Majority of North Americans speak only one language. Many people in Europe and Latin America we speak 2 Languages. Second: Living in Panama is much cheaper than in the United States for many reasons that are easy to investigate on the internet. Third : Crimes and crazy people are all over the world and in all countries that happens. Because of your words full of hate I can pretty much guess that a woman in Panama Broke your Heart and left you because you are a BIG Liar and Big Clown .

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