Premier Casa Panama is focused on sales of residential & commercial properties and farms throughout Panama. We provide the highest standards of quality and integrity in all transactions related to property sales, management, and advisory services. Our reputation for uncompromising professionalism in everything we do is earned day to day by serving our clients and earning their trust. Premier Casa Panama has an extensive and growing inventory of properties available for sale throughout Panama.
We have modern apartments located in all of Panama's premier neighborhoods: Punta Pacifica, where you'll get easy access to state-of-the-art shopping malls like Multiplaza Pacific, John Hopkins Memorial Hospital, restaurants, and more in just a few minutes. You can also reach "Corredor Sur" in just a short driving distance and reach other areas of Panama City like the Tocumen International Airport in just 20 minutes.
Bella Vista area and Balboa Ave is one of the top luxury locations in Panama City running along the city waterfront there is a wide selection of waterfront buildings with stunning ocean views. The Cinta Costera waterfront park runs the full length of Balboa Ave. There is also the newly constructed walking district in Bella vista in the Calle Uruguay area, where many builds are located with a range from the very high-end luxury building of Yoo tower to the more economical very well located buildings like La Gaviota and Twin Towers plus many more in this very well located area in the heart of Panama City near shopping, movie theaters, hospitals, grocery stores. We also serve the other popular areas of Panama city such as San Francisco area, El Cangrejo, Casco Viejo, Marbella, and Punta Paitilla
Check out our luxury apartments. Many of them have party rooms with a luxurious lobby entrance, comfortable and spacious terraces with green areas and open decks, a fully equipped modern gym with a sauna for ladies and gentlemen, covered terrace with a bar area. Infinity pool, and swimming pools for adults and children, full business center, spacious children's play area and home theater, and squash court. Or the more economical well-located buildings in prime Panama City locations but less building amenities.
Your guide to legally and successfully becoming a Panama property owner
STEP 1: HAVE YOU MADE A VERIFICATION OF THE TITLE OF THE PROPERTY?
Regardless of whether the owner of the property has told you that it is titled, it is your responsibility to undertake a fact-check. Once you have found a Panama property that you want to purchase, what to do next is to acquire the following two documents from the owner:
- Public deed. This document should contain the title or escritura
- Certificate of Ownership and Encumbrances or Certificado de Registracion that is issued by the public registry.
In case the property seller does not have the aforementioned documents, ask them for the assigned property number or finca number. You will be able to search for the title with the finca number at the Public Registry's website: www.registro-publico.gob.pa. As an alternative, have a lawyer do this for you if you are not familiar with the process. It is advised that you be extra cautious when working with owners who do not have these documents and do a thorough examination of the title to ensure the property you are looking for is identical to the one being sold. The result should indicate: 1) the escritura containing the owner's identification information and the property's description and 2) the certificado de registro public document showing the status of any liens against the property or any legal complications. All the documents must be original and have signatures along with official stamps from the registration office.
For those who are interested in buying one of our Panama properties, Premier Casa places trustworthiness and well-preparedness the priorities when working with our customers, prospective buyers can be assured that all necessary documents shall be provided upon request.
STEP 2: WRITING THE PROMISE TO PURCHASE AGREEMENT
In Panama, a real estate promise to buy and sell agreement is the second step. This is a lot like what is known as a Letter of Intent (LOI) but is more binding and involves a non-refundable 10% down payment. After all the other due diligence is done the final purchase contract is done. This is done as step 3, the due diligence, usually costs money this document specifies who pays for what, and both parties are protected from the other backing out during or after the due diligence has been done and losing time and money involved in completing the due diligence. Often the transfer taxes, real estate commissions, and other costs that may be the responsibility of the seller are then paid out of the 10% down payment and is the reason it is non-refundable. The real estate company and/or the lawyers you are working with often hold these funds in a disbursement account that is used to pay the expenses of the seller during the due diligence period. As you go into a promise to a buy-sell agreement, it allows you to provide the owner of the property with a firm commitment and a down payment and schedule a date for the final closing and transfer of title. Habitually, if either party withdraws unanimously, there should be a penalty. The content of the promise to the buy-sell agreement in Panama includes:
• The payment
• Set date for title transfer or the terms to be met before the title transfer
• The property's legal description
• A deposit is required, which is approximately 10% of the property's price and is non-refundable if the terms of the agreement are met.
• Any important stipulations that are pertinent to the transaction
• An agreed amount of the penalty if either party fails to meet conditions. Normally if the buyer breaks the agreement they lose the 10% down payment and the seller if they break the contract have to pay back double the amount of the down payment.
It is advisable to have a clause regarding "latent defects" on the contract that allows the buyer to terminate the agreement if a hidden flaw or legal issue with the title is discovered and get a full refund if the buyer will not rectify the issue with the property.
The said agreement is binding for both the seller and the buyer so only go into the promise to a buy-sell agreement if you are ready to complete the transaction and you have understood every word written there. The language of the contract is normally Spanish though the law does not stipulate this to be the mandatory medium of legal papers. the agreement is also often in both languages but it will stipulate in the agreement which is the binding language. There is a cost to draw up this agreement which is normally paid by the buyer as it is in the best interest of the buy to have the team representing them in the transaction to create this document to make sure it is done in a way that is in the best interest of the buyer. The price and basic terms are usually already agreed to between the buyer and sell via email or verbally before this document is drawn up to be signed by both parties. The cost of this is between about $300 to $500.
STEP 3: REAL ESTATE DUE DILIGENCE IN PANAMA
A) Has a property survey been conducted?
This is often more related to buying land in Panama. Copies of the survey plans of the property and any buildings if any exist should be provided which entail the name of the current legal owner (should be the same as the person legally selling it to you in the promise to buy-sell agreement), the location, and size of the property, and other information asserted in the deed of the property. With land in Panama, in some cases, there is "Right of Possession" land (ROP land) and you want the Certificate of Possession Rights but that is a whole other legal process that is covered in our article on ROP land. Before buying any ROP land in Panama you have to have a thorough understanding of that.
If no survey has been conducted, you may want to have one done by a licensed surveyor this applies when buying land in Panama vs a Panama City apartment. The goal is to certify boundaries on raw land so that you fully understand the dimensions of the property you are purchasing in Panama. Have the surveyor place a survey marker at each corner of the property. Walkthrough the whole property and have visual contact with these survey indicators. This process is essential when it comes to Panama's raw land and farm properties that do not have an existing survey. The cost of this often falls on the buyer unless stipulated otherwise in the promise to a buy-sell agreement.
B) Certificates of good standing (Paz y Salvo) needed to transfer property in Panama
On all properties in Panama, a lawyer other service company will do research on the government and the utility agencies to ensure that Taxes, water, sewer building PH fees, electric, and other services bills are paid. Allow enough time to conduct a survey in the due diligence in the promise to buying-sell agreement. You will need to the "Paz y Salvo" from IDAAN the water company this applies even to raw land that does not have water service, Property taxes, and the PH (Condominium HOA) The seller will have to pay any past due amounts before these will be issued.
C) Other Panama real estate due diligence tasks
- You will also need to check for any mortgages or liens that are on the property.
- If you are buying land with improvements have the improvements been registered in the public registry.
- Are there and construction process permits and do the structures have occupancy permits
D) COSTS OF DOING THE DUE DILIGENCE IN PANAMA PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS:
The cost of most of the dues diligence other the possibly the survey is usually the responsibility of the seller as it is the burden of the seller to have the property in good standing and the documents to prove everything is paid.
STEP 4: PAYING TAXES AND TITLE TRANSFER
It is highly recommended to have a Panamanian lawyer representing you the buyer to draft the final purchase agreement. This agreement is used to create the new property deed to be registered in your name.
After your lawyer has created the final buy and sell agreement. They should collect all documents and do an additional review to make sure that no mortgages or liens have been filed in the meantime. The contract is to be recorded at a Panamanian notary public where all signatures will be authenticated, not at the Public Registry.
During the period stated in the agreement, the seller pays the property taxes, transfer taxes, capital gains tax, and pays off any mortgages or liens and shows proof of such payment which will be reviewed by the notary public, along with the clearance certificates (Paz y Salvos) necessary to complete the title transfer, darting this time the buyer arranges the stated payment. In addition, the buyer of the property is generally responsible for the notarial fees along with the registration fees at the Public Registry.
The attorney will take the contract in the final form and draw it up as a public deed, which is when both parties will go to the public notary to sign the deed. If you have been familiar with American notaries, it is useful to know that notaries in Panama are different as they are regarded as high-ranking officials, have far more responsibilities, and represent none of the parties. Further, they have the final authority in buying and selling real estate in Panama.
To sum up, the buy-sell agreement is carried out by way of a public deed before the notary public in the Republic of Panama, in which the terms and conditions of the sale of the property are indicated.
What's next is the filing of a copy of the notarial public deed for registration at the Public Registry. Consequent to the registration, the title of the property can now be effectively transferred to the buyer.
STEP 5: HOW TO PAY FOR THE PROPERTY
The four common payment methods are as follows:
1. Pay with a certified check or money order from a Panama bank to which your money has been wired: Making a wire transfer from a U.S bank should be fast and simple, considering there is no currency exchange. It is also relatively easy to do so from many other countries. Once all the obligations of the purchase contract have been met, you make a payment to the seller in a certified check. Again, it is your best insurance to show the check or money order in front of a notary official.
2. Use a bank escrow or disbursement (escrow) company located in Panama: Recently, the disbursement services have bloomed, making it convenient for you to find one. Often the real estate company or the lawyer you are working with can provide this service.
3. Ask your lawyer to handle the payment: Provide the attorney with the funds and have him or her transfer them. Provided you have sufficient confidence in them, it is a wise decision to let your lawyer handle the payment as they are supposed to have a fluent understanding of the terms of the contract.
Note: Your payment for the property may have to be used to pay off mortgages as well this will be laid out in the promise to Buy-sell agreement and the final purchase agreement if needed.
Due to potential corruption in Panama along with the slow and questionable legal system, it is best not to give the payment directly to the seller. The situations vary depending on the reputation of the party involved in the real estate transaction.
STEP 6: RECORD YOUR PURCHASE
The real estate transaction will not be wrapped up until you record it at the Public Registry. The typical process would take a couple of weeks but with the help of your attorney, it can be done within 10 days as they can file the documents directly at the main office of Panama city's public registry.
If you want the process to be even faster, you can pay an additional fee of $250 and your registrations will be ready on the following day (provided all documents are in order). Once the registration process is complete, a registered deed will be given to you. Make sure to also obtain a copy containing the tax records department (catastro) that states at which time you become the owner of the property.
Congratulations! You are officially a Panama real estate owner.
A FEW LAST NOTES ON PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT
- Real estate property taxes: To prevent yourself from paying any back taxes owed by the current owner of the property, make sure the seller has paid up all the property taxes before transferring the title to you. Real property taxes are collected by the Panama Revenue agency named the Dirección General de Ingresos.
- Title insurance: this is not very common in Panama as everything is in the public registry and any leans or agreements with the past owner that were not registered in the public registry will not be considered valid.
- A physical inspection: This is particularly important with the land. Talk to any neighbors to make sure there are no border disputes. Check if there is any fencing around the land or if the borders are well marked.
Overall, the process of buying Panama property is straightforward and clear although there are a number of steps that have to be done and the official documents are written in Spanish. There can be differences in how Panama real estate agents operate. But with a clear understanding of how the industry and procedures owning real estate in Panama is safe and easy for anyone. There are no restrictions to foreign ownership of any type of real estate in Panama
Investors, businesses, retirees, and visitors coming to Panama are increasing in number every year and there are countless reasons for it. The exquisite nature, big city sightseeing, vibrant culture, and lively history around every turn, the business and logistics center of Central America – all of them come together in a prime world location called Panama. As the country evolves and changes, it also becomes better each year this is why Panama is considered as one of the best places for investment in real estate.
Please don't hesitate to contact us to learn more about Panama real estate and how to become an owner in one of the up-and-coming top locations in the world.