« Costa Blanca property House for sale in Sagra Spain | Main | Bulgaria Real Estate Market 2009 Overview » |
See more properties in: Panama Property
Buying Real Estate in Panama Transaction Fees
By property | August 23, 2009
Buying Real Estate in Panama
Living in Panama brings a lot of advantages giving the low cost of living and the low taxes compared to other Western countries. Consequently, the real estate market in Panama is booming and we can venture to say that the real estate field in Panama turns out to be a safe and profitable business. The real estate investors are protected by the laws of Panama and therefore, real estate transactions are regarded as safe.
Generally there are no restrictions for foreigners to own property in Panama, except for properties located within 10 km from the Panama’s borders.
Purchasing a property in Panama can take up to 6 months. If you decide to buy a property in Panama, you need to use a real estate broker’ services to whom you discuss the terms of sale. It is necessary that an attorney deals with all the paperwork on your behalf. The attorney will check the availability of the necessary documents in order for the transaction to be made possible. The attorney will also deal with the registration of the title deed and will prepare the Purchase / Sale Agreement and eventually sign the formal Purchase/Sale Agreement. The Purchase/ Sale Agreement needs to be approved by the Public Registry and then the title deed will pass to the new owner.
The buyer has to pay 10% to 50% in advance to the seller after signing the pledging Purchase / Sale. However, the total costs of the transaction may vary giving the process carried out when buying the property.
The seller pays the agent’s fee which is 3% to 5%.
The transfer of the ownership of real estate in Panama is achieved after a period of 1 to 3 weeks. The Panamanian State charges 2% of the value stated in the deed of the sale. To the above charges must be added the Public Notary fees that is another 2%, for registration of contracts for the transaction.
Generally, sellers of real estate in Panama pay the transfer of tax titles of the ownership (2%), but it is also possible for the seller to add this cost to the buyer.
So to say, the buyer will pay around 2% and the seller around 5% – 7%, which brings the roundtrip transaction costs to 7% – 9%.
See more properties in: Panama Property | No Comments »
Tags: Panama real estate, Panama real estate for sale, Panama real estate investors, Panama real estate still booming, Panama real estate transaction fees