Yep. There's a lot of hype to this boom. Prices were good 3 or 4 years ago but not now. By the way, that picture is cracking me up.

This is the most amazing scam market anywhere! It is the only place where finished property available now with title is priced less then a sales contract without any judicial support for a property to be delivered sometime in the future with no idea of a title. This is a clear statement that it is purely a bullshit speculation market. Many properties are changing hands 5 to 10 times before being finished, if ever finished. Developers are well aware of this and they are purposely delaying finishing many projects months and years as not to put too much inventory on the market. As there bread and butter is to put some drawings in magazines and then sell off that before any costs are incurred, a glut of inventory would stop that game. What project has been completed on time? I have had several million dollars in Panama real estate and the only way to make money is to be the initial contract direct with the developer, however these days are over as any new project that hasn’t started yet, will never be finished with all the new inventory coming on the market. It is impossible to get the initial sales contract also as developers have to show the banks that the project has a sold out before they can get a construction loan, so their attorneys form hundreds of shell companies and put the sales contracts into them as SALES. The attorneys, accountants, and building suppliers are then all paid with the sales contracts and then sell them to their clients. What attorney in Panama now doesn’t have a handful of their property to sell? This is not only with large condo towers , I had a house being built in a nice subdivision with a developer and he finished every house on the block but mine as to force me to sell the property back to him as he had another buyer in the wings. He told me that I was lucky I sold it back as other developers would have just stole the property with a breach of contract bullshit and let the courts take years to figure it out, in the meantime the property would be sold many times. The best value now is South Florida, with so many properties in foreclosure and interest rates at all time lows, I have moved my real estate portfolio there. Value is the only key and now Panama is priced more then Florida, funny with all the rain, Diablo rojos, and lack of any culture, Panama will never be anything but a place for business and shopping, not ever a place for real residents.

The fact is that if you have a property under development and it hasn’t started yet, it never will. If it is started, add 2 to 5 years on the delivered date. Hint, Hint, GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!

Coruption

Being a public figure is the most entreranal position in the country. Every public official has fine tuned his ablilet to figure out how to get paid to either do or not do his job. This is the best gig in the world!
This is a plage here. Need to get a licence plate? If you don’t have an invisible number as the machine doesn’t work, your standing in line wont help. However a $10 to a guy outside will get you one now. Cop stop you for speeding, the going rate is $10. Drunk Driving will cost you a $50. Need a government issued id, in your name or someone else’s even better for telephone or electric contracts will cost you $500. How about a passport, that will run a few thousand dollars, but only after you pay to have all the interviews. Social security, yeap, they lost your paperwork again and the guy behind the counter will gladly put it back in there for a cool $50, or you are in problems. Overstayed your tourist visa? Again, no problem, the guy at the airport will stamp it for you for $50, just bring it to him during working hours. Now lets not even get into land, we can invent titles, change names, etc. And my favorite, have someone you don’t like, there are a dozen such entities ready to go shake him down for a few colas.
My favorite is when I meet an expat and he tells me about his project and tells me that everything is fixed as he has some high ranking political figure on his side. I just shut my eyes and remember the HBO prison show OZ and think I am looking at someone’s bitch. The politician will suck the life out of the guy and the project will never go forward, and then when there is nothing more to suck dry the politician will use his power to get the guy thrown out of the country before he becomes a problem.
However, corruption is not only for the public sector, how about the private sector.
Here are some general rules for you newbie’s: 100% of contracts for service are on a 50% down and 50% when complete basis. However, the super smart here has figured out that just taking the initial 50% in their pocket and not doing anything else is pure profit and deal with the headaches of a multi year court case that will drive you crazy. Oh, now we are on attorneys, they will always figure out a way to fix your problem for you, but it costs. Ever been sued by an employees or etc? Just wait for the call from his attorney and surely you two can arranged, wink, wink, that he convince his client to drop the case. Need to know who they were calling? A crisp $50 at any cell phone office will get the guy behind the counter to print it up for you. Does he have a bank account? Again, another $100 will get you their bank statement. Need a loan from the same bank? It will cost you 10% of the loan to the official, but don’t worry, you have no intention of ever paying it back. Good to have that fake ID. If you meet someone with two first names, don’t ever trust them, there is a reason for that, right REX?