Gazete

When you are considering making a real estate purchase for investment, living or walk house, it is highly recommended that you contemplate some aspects in order to make a purchase with peace of mind and security, as entering in this investment adventure, will have an impact on your personal, family or business life. Always keep in mind and analyze the following elements:

 -A- Investigate very well the Property or Real Estate you are buying:

Many times (approximately 70% of the time) the people who are selling their properties do not really know the status of the properties in various aspects. For example, they do not know if their properties are updated in the Cadastral Office in the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), that is, if the names of the new owners are current. Sometimes, properties do not have exemption from property taxes or do not have cadastral values. In such case, the previous owner is registered with its previous value and therefore the exonerated value may be the previous one.   

This information gap, not updated in the cadastral office and in turn in the corresponding MEF office, results in unnecessary delays when you are buying and/or selling a property, which can even make you innocently fall into a breach of contract, in case the procedures are complicated, and you cannot meet the deadlines established in the same. Your lawyer must verify the real status of the property at the time of the sale, so that you avoid taking unnecessary surprises that could put your real estate transaction in checkmate.

 -B- Check if the Estate or Property has liens in the Public Registry:

It is normal for the parties to omit some important details in the heat of a real estate transaction. These details can be of various kinds in the legal world. That is why we recommend that you ask your lawyer to verify, up to 2 and 3 times the information provided by the Public Registry, as the information online must be confirmed in person at the Public Registry office.

This measure is vital, since you can discover valuable information, such as determining if the property you are about to acquire has pending liens or not, such as mortgages, trusts, kidnappings, usufructs, promises of sale, among others, which could affect your investment. You will be able to know details, for example, of a mortgage, and how it is constituted. This gives you a valuable opportunity to improve trading conditions. As a wise Greek philosopher said, information is power.

-C- Inspect what you are buying, and if possible, use it before buying:

In approximately 85% of cases, people suffer one or more disappointments, after buying a real estate. These disappointments are related to the high expectations that the person had about the real estate they were buying. For example, hidden damage, different footage, leaks, filtering, scandalous neighbors, etc.

We recommend that before signing any document, first go with an expert engineering or architect in case the apartment or house footage allows the measurement to be easy, in order to avoid that the process is strenuous. 

Verify that the footage that is entered in the deed matches the footage that the property physically offers. Check with a qualified specialist that there is no damage to the property that has been covered or made up.

In those cases involving lots or land with significant footage, try to measure and reconsider the measures and boundaries in order to delimit the extensions of the property.

As far as possible, if it is a question of lots or territorial properties that are in possessory law, try to use the ABC of the legal purchase so that your investment is not at risk.

Finally, we recommend that you get adequate advice before making any real estate investment. Doing so will save you from bad experiences and can give your new life in Panama a positive start. 

A lawyer, an architect, an engineer, a surveyor or an inspector, depending on the circumstance, can be your best business allies, who can help you make an objective decision regarding your next real estate investment.