Need to find a 'house hunter' in Panama City, Panama?

Question

We are relocating, and are looking for family house. Living in the UK at present.Searching the internet we have found plenty of real estate companies, but we feel it would be more practical to enlist a house hunter.Visiting Panama City for 10 days from 22nd September.

Thanks in anticipation.

Answer 1

hi, i have been to panama twice looking for property and i understand what you mean by hunter. we heard about them too and actually worked with one that found us two great pieces of beachfront property which we were going to buy. unfortunatly when u use someone like this, there is no contract with the seller. both times we got to the lawyers to close the sellers had been to the title office to get their papers and decided their property was worth more and raised the price! one went from 125,000 to 165,000 and the other 100,000 to 175,000! even though they were well worth the price, even the lawyer advised us not to buy them because as soon as we agreed they would raise the price again. the best way that we found to find property was to meet some locals that we got to know and trust and let them do the looking and negotiating. the man we met did alot of looking for us and found us a beautiful property. if you would like his name and contact please email me and i will be happy to give it to you. our problem now is finding a lawyer that can finish the closing as we had to leave the country before finishing. thank goodness we bought from an honest american that has worked with us and been patient as we went thru lawyer after lawyer. it lookes like we will have to go back just to close. i have heard of several good agencies in the area though.  we started our search using a large agency there though and they left a very bad taste with me.  i had done alot of research on the property laws before arriving and the agent tried to deceive us several times on some properties he wanted to sell us. had i not known the law and pinned him on it we would have made some bad investments. the best advice even if using an agent is do your legal research on property laws and definatly make sure the property you buy is titled. i too wanted to buy a condo in panama city but was told it has been overbuilt and that alot of builders were walking away from developments so make sure you have a strong develper behind the purchase. i understand that it hard to rent out properties there also. you may purchase older units but they are hard to resell because the people with money move to the new ones and the rest of the people do not have enough money to move to the old ones. this is just what i've been told so i'm passing it on.  there are several good groups on yahoo regarding panama and american expatriate sites that can give you some insite from another viewpoint. i like sovereign society and expatriate.com. hope this helps

Answer 2

There's a company called International Living, they have lots of free information about Panama here: http://www.internationalliving.com/panam... and also a newsletter called Panama Alert, you should check it out! They can put you in touch with a partner company that organizes custom made real estate tours of Panama.

Answer 3

I just left Panama after almost three years and am not aware of 'house hunters' in that country. You can go online for rentals in P.C., through a reputable Realtor, and see what comes up. Hopefully, you won't be staying in the city the entire time as there are lovely places to see in the mountain and beach areas. If you find what you want, it's smart to hire a translator even if you and/or the agent speaks Spanish. Translators work for a reasonable wage by the hour or by the page. Gringos are often a target in Central America so be aware of getting taken advantage of.  Good luck.

Answer 4

I live in Panama City. I do not know what you mean by a House Hunter.  I thought Real Estate Agents WERE house hunters.

Here are two suggestions for you: Suart Greatbanks of GSL Realty in Panama. GSL is operated by him, a fellow from Manchester. He's a good bloke and honest.He has a website.

2nd, check out the Yahoo Groups, do a search for groups on Panama. There are a lot of them. Look for Panama Un-classifieds. You can place an ad there free and there are other ads there of people who have houses for rent.

3rd check out Craigs List website for Panama. There are a lot of listings for houses.

If I can be of more help, let me know, my Yahoo group is Panama Positively.