How To Buy Your Brand New Panamanian Propery
Five Steps to Your Brand New Panamanian Purchase
Purchasing or acquiring a property in Panama is relatively a free-market. This provides foreigners an equal chance to own properties within Panamanian lands. A series of procedures, however, must be followed and accomplished flawlessly to ensure smooth and conflict-free acquisition.
Finding a good mediator is a very essential step. A person to act on your behalf, an agent, is very important to make sure you are making the right choice of purchase and that all legal issues are taken care of. A lot of properties available in Panama offer a promising projection for ROI or return of investment.
A good agent is tantamount to a good accountant or a good bank. He/she must safeguard your investment, making sure you get your investment’s worth with the least amount of risks involved. The agent must look after your investment and its reward.
The second step to be followed in purchasing a property is to make sure that the property has a title. Never make a purchase of any property with a fazed ownership. Legal nuisances may follow suit.
It is only logical to never purchase a property that is not yet titled. If you cannot draw up or find the title of the property, you are at risk for a future conflict with claimants whose intentions are really questionable.
The initial formal step to be done in acquiring properties is the signing of a legally binding contract. This step involves the signing of two consenting parties, buyer and seller, of the conditions and terms of each other. There should also be a down payment of tenth of the actual selling price to be kept in an escrow account. The contract must bear the signatures of the parties and the different requirements and terms like maturity and termination. Should the buyer back out of the purchase, the down payment is non-refundable. On the other hand, if the seller fails to meet the stipulations in the contract, he/she must return the investment plus penalty of same price, thereby doubling the initial shell-out. If, by any chance, the seller refuses to oblige, legal actions to sequester the property may be done.
The contract drafted and signed in this step of the process serves as security of tenure for the whole negotiation and sale process. Both parties must consent and agree to the other party’s requests and minimum requirements. Any violation and breach thereof will result to the nullification of the agreement and the imposition of the punitive clause, included in the signed document.
Transfer and payment completion may follow after a payment of transfer fee, two hundredths of the selling price, and the presentation of all pertinent documents for good debt and taxation standing. The process may take a month or more, depending on the intricate details to pay attention to. The deeds, written in Spanish, shall be made and released 10 days from purchase date.
This part of the process involves the formal transfer of the deed of ownership from the seller to the buyer. This may seem a very easy process, but, on the contrary, it involves a long queue of bureaucratic steps.
To ensure a safe and legally sound purchase, hiring a lawyer may be the best way to go. With a knowledgeable counsel, you can be assured of a thorough acquisition, at 1.5% to 3% the selling price.
While it may seem a very good perk to be able to purchase a property in Panama regardless of nationality, it is also imperative to equip oneself with the proper knowledge to avoid delays and hassles.