Live Here

Many people choose to live here permanently, because they have retired and decided this is a great place to spend their retirement years or because work sent them here. Others choose to live here part time, we used to call them snow birds in Canada because the “snow” made them go away. In any event, these are the people who still want their home in the country where they have lived for so long and yet want to escape for a period of time. The third group are permanent Panama holidayers. Perhaps they are anticipating retiring here when their working career is done making this their retirement home or second home but in the meantime it is a great place to invest, buy a place and let someone else pay for it while you get ready to retire.

Whatever your reason for wanting so spend some time in Panama, it is a great choice. Now if you haven’t yet chosen you need to understand what Panama offers. First of all it is warm on both coasts, but you can find a cooler climate by going higher into the mountain areas, we call that the interior of Panama. Snow is out of the question, but cool nights and fireplaces are common.

Second it is safe. Pinkerton’s ranks Panama very highly in terms of personal safety. You are also safe from most of nature’s nasties. No hurricanes, no typhoons, no tornadoes, no tsunamis although they are possible, earthquakes seem to occur off shore and our only live volcano, Volcan Baru is only a remote threat.

Third it has wonderful, modern, affordable health care. There are three private hospitals, Paitilla, Nacional and Punta Pacifica, the latter being affiliated with John Hopkins from the US. Patients describe them as first class hotels. The doctors are well trained, many of them have studied abroad and they speak excellent English as well as Spanish. You can find all the specialties you are familiar with and many others where they are on the leading edge, like the Stem Cell Institute where they harvest mature stem cells form your fat cells to treat your area of deterioration. There are lots of alternative modalities of health care available from reiki to fasting centers. You can get local health insurance if you are not planning on traveling a lot or you can get international health insurance at a reasonable rate.

You have all sorts of choices for places to live and lots of choice for life style. Have you always dreamed of living in your own exquisite home right on the beach, want to do it in a safe gated community? The Panamanian wealthy love the gated community, and they are more than willing to share with us new comers. You can still find single family home lots but they are getting harder to find especially on the Pacific; the Caribbean however is a different story. Have you always dreamed of living on an island? Both the Pearl Island archipelago in the Pacific and Bocas Del Toro archipelago on the Caribbean offer huge numbers of good choices for the island seekers.

Do you want to live right in the city? There are condo towers overlooking the Bay and condo towers right on the Bay, gated golf course communities are being built on that bay of Panama and there are wonderful locations especially in Casco Viejp where you can build your own special home and look out on the bay or live nearby. Maybe it is the canal you find really attractive and the rain forest settings that are found close to the canal. Is it price that is the biggest v factor or is it the ideal location. You can find nice condos for under $100,000.00 and even some smaller single family homes. Huge homes and condos are available for under $200,000.00 So you really have a wonderful amount of choice here.

West of Panama City along the Pacific there are wonderful communities developing. Punta Chame which is going to be a marina based community is just getting started, Coronado has been the weekend retreat of Panama’s wealthy for a long time and there are great new developments on the golf course, on the beach, or near the equestrian center or just in a lovely tropical community. The choice is yours. Continuing west we come to Punta Barco and Vista Mar, Rio Mar and Biajo. Go into San Carlos, or turn towards the beach at Santa Clara there are great homes to be found near the beautiful beach and they are still very affordable.

The Decameron Golf project is extremely popular even amongst those who don’t play golf as there is a large community developing and there are lots of people who are interested in getting to know their new neighbors. Venezuelans, Colombians, Panamanians North Americans from Canada and the US, Europeans, Argentinians. all call Decameron their new home, or second home.

Then there is the Playa Blanca beach community, Nikki Beach is fast rising from the sand, and Buena Ventura are all wonderful choices for those choosing the Pacfiic. But we are not done yet. Further west in the Asuero peninsula there are new developments getting started and a new vibrant expat community is getting established in Las Tablas and Pedasi. The surfing crowd finds this area exciting as there are great waves to be found in many places around this peninsula. Divers and snorkelers also love the clear waters and the vast array of interesting fish that can be found here. Yes it is true there are wonderful fishing resorts here as well.

There is lots of coast line in Panama so we continue to have choice of locations in the pacific all the way to Costa Rica with some small island resorts and developments, and larger resorts starting to show up in various locations west of David.

The Caribbean coast is also a long one and far less developed. so if you are looking for a real opportunity to make a good investment there are lots of good choices on the Caribbean side. Colon has some nice areas but it is generally still considered a much more lawless city than Panama City so be careful, a gated community is a must. Outside of Colon the entire area is just starting to see the developers so expect big changes. if you look at the map you will see why this area is so far behind the Pacific. The montians are much closer to the ocean on this side, there is no highway to speak of along the Caribbean and even the major expansion of the road between Panama City and Colon which is happening now, is long overdue. Two years from now things will look much different. Bocas Del Toro on the other hand, the island archipelago located at the far west end of Panama on the Caribbean side already has wonderful resorts happening there.

Then of course there is the Interior. Alto Del Mara is a wonderful gated mountainside community, with homes sporting magnificent views and fantastic gardens. It is cool and moist and you are encouraged to build the home of your dreams here. Further west is El Valle de Anton a community set in the crater of an extinct volcano. Well established for years you will find many magnificent private flower estates of the Panamanian wealthy. If you see one for sale the price may pleasantly surprise you. Although prices have gone up in the last three years, there is still affordable luxury to be found. There are no real planned communities here, although you will find lots on the drive from the highway into the valley. People come from all over for the produce to be found in the El Valle de Anton farmer’s market and the artisan wares there are wonderful as well. Many expats have moved in, so enjoy getting to know your new neighbors.

Further west again we have the small city of Penonome which has lots of homes on estates leading up the hills out of town. Again you may find your dream home here is amazingly affordable. Finally we come to the two areas around Volcan Baru which have been developed primarily by the expat community. Boquete has two golf course communities available and for beautiful garden estates there is just no where any prettier than Boquete. Want to get all the advantages of Boquete at a fraction of the price look around the other side of the mountain, or in various communities just outside the town.

Living in Panama is never boring and you have lots of choice depending on what suits you, your budget, your interests and your life style.

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