Buying Property in Panama: What to Think About Before You Think About Properties

We are not property owners in Panama yet. We are researchers — which, in this context, means we have spent a serious amount of time learning what we would need to know before we became property owners in Panama. What we have found is that the process looks more familiar than it is. Foreigners can buy. The government welcomes it. The legal framework exists. And then you start to look at the details, and the differences from the US system accumulate: no seller disclosure forms, no public closed-sale database, a listing system that covers a fraction of the actual market, a practice called net listings that is illegal in most American states but common here, and a closing process driven by an attorney and the Public Registry rather than a title company and a stack of standardized forms. None of this is disqualifying. All of it is worth understanding before you start touring properties.

This series is what we wish had existed when we started. It is organized as a guide for people who are somewhere on the spectrum between “seriously considering buying property in Panama” and “already decided to buy and figuring out how to do it properly.” Those two groups need slightly different things from the same information. If you are still considering, we will tell you what questions to resolve before you commit. If you have already decided, those same questions become your due diligence checklist. Either way, this is the research.

Should You Buy at All? The Honest Rent-vs.-Buy Calculation for Panama

The case for buying in Panama starts with the same logic it does anywhere: you are going to pay for housing regardless. At some point, paying toward equity beats paying toward someone else’s mortgage. Panama amplifies this with genuinely attractive factors — no foreign ownership restrictions, a dollar-based economy, property tax exemptions on new construction that can last 20 years, and prices that, in many markets, are meaningfully lower per square meter than comparable US coastal cities.

But the case for renting first — especially for expats who have not yet lived in Panama — is at least as strong, and most experienced expats will tell you the same thing: don’t buy until you know where you actually want to live. Panama City, Boquete, Bocas del Toro, El Valle, Coronado, and the Azuero Peninsula are meaningfully different places with different climates, different communities, different infrastructure, and different daily realities. A condo purchase that looks perfect from a research trip can look like the wrong choice after six months of living there full-time.

If you are considering buying, work through these questions before you start looking at specific properties. The answers will clarify both whether to buy and what to buy.

How long do you plan to stay? The transaction costs of buying and selling property in Panama — transfer taxes, attorney fees, registry fees, agent commissions — run roughly 7–10% of the property value when you add the buying and selling sides together. That is a significant hurdle to overcome through appreciation or rent savings. If your honest horizon is five years or less, the numbers often favor renting unless you are buying something that generates rental income while you’re away.

Are you buying to live in it, to rent it, or both? These require different properties in different locations, and the regulatory landscape is different. Panama City prohibits short-term rentals under 45 days in most buildings unless the property holds a special tourism permit. That prohibition catches a lot of buyers who assumed they could run an Airbnb-style operation from their Panama City condo. If rental income is part of your financial model, the type of property and its location have to be chosen with that in mind from the beginning.

Are you buying with a partner? For gay couples, this question has implications that go beyond preference. Panama does not recognize same-sex marriage for property or inheritance purposes. How a property is titled — in one name, both names, or a corporation — has real consequences for what happens if one partner dies or the relationship ends. We flag this issue throughout the series and dedicate a full article to it. If you are part of a same-sex couple, do not skip that post.

Do you have cash, or do you need financing? Financing is available to foreigners in Panama, but it is more limited and more expensive than what most Americans are accustomed to. Panamanian banks typically lend 70–80% of appraised value to foreign buyers, at rates that have historically run higher than US mortgage rates, with shorter amortization periods. Many expat property buyers pay cash, at least for the first purchase. If you need financing, building that into your timeline and understanding what it constrains is essential before you start looking seriously.

How Panama’s Process Differs From What You Know

Even buyers who have bought and sold multiple properties in the United States find Panama’s system disorienting at first. Some differences are procedural. Others have real financial consequences if you don’t see them coming.

No seller disclosure requirements

In most US states, sellers are legally required to disclose known defects, flooding history, and material facts that affect value. In Panama, there is no equivalent requirement. Sellers are not obligated to tell you the property flooded during the last rainy season, that the lot next door has an approved construction permit for a 15-story tower, or that the neighborhood sits in an area SINAPROC regularly flags for landslide risk. The burden of discovery is entirely on the buyer. We cover this in detail in Part 4 of this series.

No reliable public price data

In the US, you can look up what a comparable property sold for last month. In Panama, you cannot. There is no publicly accessible closed-sale database. The ACOBIR MLS maintains transaction records available to member agents — but not to buyers. The Public Registry records transfers, but it is a bureaucratic database, not a consumer tool, and many transactions are structured as corporate share sales that don’t appear as straightforward property records. What this means: asking prices are your primary reference point, and they routinely start 10–20% above where sellers will actually close. Knowing how to navigate that gap is Part 3.

The agent landscape is fragmented and differently regulated

Panama licenses real estate brokers through Decree Law No. 6 of 1999, but licensing enforcement is inconsistent and the market has significant informal participation. The same property may be listed at different prices by different agents simultaneously — sometimes with a $50,000–$100,000 spread on the same house. A practice called net listing, where an agent keeps everything above the seller’s minimum price as their compensation, is common here and accounts for much of that price variation. This is covered fully in Part 3.

The attorney is the transaction

In the US, the transaction is managed by title companies, escrow agents, and standardized closing processes. In Panama, your attorney is the transaction. There is no Title Insurance (in the US sense), no HUD-1 settlement statement, and no standardized disclosure form. Your attorney searches the Public Registry, confirms title, drafts the Promise to Purchase and the final escritura (deed), handles the registry filing, and coordinates the tax payments. Choosing a good attorney — one you found independently, not one recommended exclusively by your agent — is arguably the most important single decision you’ll make in this process.

What “closing” looks like here

There is no closing day in the US sense — no conference room, no stack of forms, no wire transfer at 3 p.m. that triggers a key handover. In Panama, the escritura (deed) is signed before a notary public, then submitted to the Public Registry for inscription. The full process from signed Promesa to registered title typically takes 30–90 days, sometimes longer. You can take possession before the registration is complete — many buyers do — but you do not have legal title until the Registry confirms inscription. Your attorney tracks this and notifies you when it is complete.

The LGBTQ+ Reality: What Panama Does and Doesn’t Provide

Panama does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions for any legal purpose, including property and inheritance law. This is not a nuance — it is a structural gap that creates real financial and legal risk for gay couples who buy property here without understanding its implications.

In a US state with marriage equality, a married couple buying property together has automatic survivorship rights, inheritance protections, and legal standing that does not require additional documentation. In Panama, none of that transfers. If you and your partner buy a property together and one of you dies, the surviving partner’s claim on the property is governed by whatever title structure you chose and whatever legal documents you executed — not by your relationship.

The good news is that this is solvable with proper planning. How a property is titled, what corporate structure (if any) holds it, what testamentary documents are in place, and what powers of attorney exist — these decisions, made deliberately with a Panama attorney who understands same-sex couples’ needs, can create protections that approximate what marriage provides elsewhere. We have dedicated all of Part 10 to this topic. If you are part of a gay couple, read that article before you make any title or ownership structure decisions. And note: if Kent proceeds with the Qualified Investor Visa, the qualifying property must be held solely in his name — the visa requirement governs title structure before tax or estate considerations do. That constraint is real and shapes everything downstream.

A Map of This Series

Here is what each article covers and who needs it most. Whether you are still deciding or already searching, every article is structured to serve both: what to think about if you’re considering, and what to do if you’ve decided.

Part 2 — What Are You Actually Buying? Titled property, Rights of Possession, coastal concessions, and corporate-owned property each have different risk profiles and legal implications. Most buyers don’t know they’re making this choice until someone asks them about it. This is foundational — read it before you look at a single listing.

Part 3 — Finding a Real Estate Agent. How the agent market actually works, what net listings are and why they matter, how the ACOBIR MLS compares to what you’re used to, and the specific questions that separate competent agents from the alternatives. Includes the questions to ask in writing before you commit to anyone.

Part 4 — What Sellers Don’t Have to Tell You. Flooding, landslides, earthquake risk by region, zoning, adjacent construction permits, and the tools available to research what isn’t volunteered. Includes how to use topographic and elevation tools for property research.

Part 5 — The Promise to Purchase. The Promesa de Compraventa is the contract that commits your deposit. What should be in it, what conditions protect you, what happens if due diligence reveals a problem, and why this is not the time to move fast.

Part 6 — Due Diligence. What your attorney searches in the Public Registry, how to read a title history, what HOA financial health looks like (and why it matters for condos), and why a physical inspection is not standard practice in Panama — and should be yours regardless.

Part 7 — Closing. The full cost picture: transfer taxes, attorney fees, registry fees, notary fees, and what buyers versus sellers typically pay. What happens between signed Promesa and registered title, and what “taking possession” means before that process is complete.

Part 8 — Corporate vs. Personal Ownership. When a Panama corporation makes sense and when it doesn’t. Tax implications, privacy, estate planning, annual maintenance costs, and the specific scenarios where the added complexity is worth it.

Part 9 — Managing Property from Abroad. For buyers who won’t live in Panama full-time. The 45-day short-term rental prohibition in Panama City, what property management actually costs, how to structure absentee ownership, and the rental income tax picture.

Part 10 — Buying as a Gay Couple. The complete picture: title structure options, survivorship rights, testamentary documents, powers of attorney, visa constraints that affect title decisions, and what a properly structured purchase looks like for two partners in a country that doesn’t recognize their relationship. The article that doesn’t exist anywhere else.

What We Don’t Yet Have: The Honest Gaps

This series is being built in real time as we research our own eventual purchase. Some articles are complete. Others are in progress. A few — particularly the closing costs article and the corporate ownership piece — will be updated when we have gone through those steps ourselves and can report actual numbers from an actual transaction rather than market research and attorney conversations.

We flag clearly in each article what we have verified, what comes from professional sources we trust, and what we have not yet done ourselves. That transparency is the point of this site. If we wrote about what it feels like to close on a Panama property, you would know it when we do — because we would tell you exactly what it cost, who we used, what went smoothly, and what we wish we had done differently.

Until then, this is the most thorough preparation we know how to do. Start with Part 2 if you are in early research mode. Jump to Part 3 if you are actively working with an agent. Read Part 10 first if you are part of a gay couple and haven’t yet thought through the title structure question. And keep the series linked somewhere accessible — because the questions that seem irrelevant now have a way of becoming urgent at the least convenient moment in a Panama transaction.