Real Estate For Sale And For Rent In Panama City

Ready To Talk

July 26, 2009
Panama City

PLUS: Top Retirement Pick In Mexico...Best Place In Today's World To Start A Business...Retire Overseas With Children...The Good Life In Cape Wine Country...

AND: Turn-Key Yields In Super-Chic Palermo...

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Panama Circle Membership Now Open For A Very Limited Time

Last December, we launched our special Panama Circle VIP membership service, inviting up to 50 Live and Invest Overseas readers to become Charter Members of this private group.

Then we closed the door.

Since then, our Panama team has been busy delivering on all the promises we made to our Charter Members. I take pride today, seven months later, in saying that I believe we've not only met but exceeded every Charter Member's expectations.

Members Liaison Marion de Mena and the rest of the team have arranged pick-ups at the airport...made hotel reservations...scheduled attorney appointments...sourced products for export...assisted with the opening of bank accounts...researched health insurance options...organized private tours...even personally escorted special sight-seeing and property-viewing excursions around the country...

Our experts and advisors have answered questions related to tax planning, offshore structures, and residency options...they've reviewed contracts, recommended architects, and researched the development of wind farms in Panama's interior.

Membership in this special, private Circle, very limited in number, is your "in" in Panama. The Panama Circle is the only Membership organization of its kind, committed to helping Members realize their dreams of a new life or retirement...of fun and of profit...in this playground of opportunity.

I make this point regularly, but it bears repeating. Lief and I could be anywhere at this point in our lives. There are important reasons why we're in Panama right now. We're not the only ones who see it like this. The world's smart money continues to migrate to these shores. Frankly, this is the place to be.

Come join us. Let us and our super-savvy Panama team roll out the red carpet for you and welcome you to this country as a Panama Circle Member.

As one Charter Member wrote recently to say, "Panama has enormous advantages to offer to the expat retiree right now. And the easiest, best, and most cost-effective way possible to realize them all is with the help of Kathleen's Panama Circle team."

Full details of the many benefits and advantages of Membership are detailed here. The important thing to understand is that this Membership invitation is being extended for a limited time only.

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"Things are beginning to get back to normal."

-- Panama Circle Members Liaison Marion de Mena

Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,

The past half-dozen years have seen an aggressive run-up in pricing for both property rentals and sales in Panama's capital city. Official bubble status was reached last year, when it seemed owners and sellers could ask nearly any price they wanted and find somebody willing to pay it.

No more. The sales market has flattened, and prices have fallen. Not as dramatically as elsewhere in the world or elsewhere in the region, but reduced and distressed sales are easy to find, and sellers are more negotiable than they've been in a decade.

We're not looking to buy (though, if you wanted to own in this city, this would be a good time to go shopping), but we've had our eye on a house for rent in Casco Viejo. Rent first, we remind you often. We took our own advice last year when we moved from Paris to Panama City, not only because the city's housing bubble had yet to come in contact with the approaching pin, but also because we weren't sure where best we should locate. After weeks of apartment-viewings, we decided to settle in Paitilla, the little enclave on the point that's separate from the rest of downtown, greener, and, we hoped, quieter. Plus, we like to walk, and, from here in Paitilla, we've been able to walk nearly everywhere we go on a day-to-day basis--to the grocery store, to the bank, to the dry cleaners, to the pharmacy, to our attorney's office, to the mall...

Paitilla was the practical choice. But not my first choice. That's Casco Viejo. So I've kept my eye out. About four months ago, our agent-friend in the city, Guilia Gonzalez, called to say she'd found the perfect place for us in Casco Viejo, a three-bedroom house on three stories with front and back balconies, a small private garden, even its own parking. We viewed it, loved it, and made an offer to rent.

"No way," replied the owner, who had just finished the full and impressive renovation of the place. "I won't rent for that amount."

Then we'll keep looking, we replied.

Last week, the owner got in touch with Giulia to say he'd like to accept our offer. We move in two weeks.

Stories like this are increasingly common. Some Panama City owners seem in denial; they aren't accepting that the market has turned and are sticking hard to their pricing. Others don't care. Investors from Venezuela, Colombia, and elsewhere who've put their capital into hard Panama City assets don't need to sell or even rent. They're happy to have their money in a market they perceive as safe and stable long-term. They're not so interested in listening to offers.

But American investors? In many cases, their portfolios have taken big hits. They're looking to their Panama holdings for some cash flow or capital return. They're ready to talk.

Kathleen Peddicord

P.S. What else this week?

• The coolest place to retire in Mexico you've never considered--complete Retirement Report published this week in the Overseas Retirement Letter...

• How to retire overseas with children...

• The best place in today's world to start a business...

• The good life in Cape Wine Country...

• Turn-key yields in super-chic Palermo, Buenos Aires...

• Top retirement option in the Caribbean...