Best Building in Panama Advice: Don’t!

I know that many who read this blog are expats living in Panama, or folks who are thinking about moving to Panama, and so they are interested in the subject of building in Panama. Eventually I will do a post detailing our experiences from our architectural frustrations down to the frustration of getting the project finished . . . if that day ever comes! Any building project is frustration, and I know! I’ve done lots of remodeling projects – myself! – and I have built three churches. Frustration is the name of the game . . . but never more so than in Panama.

When people ask me about building my first question is “Why?” Particularly now.

Consider:

Right now, because of a lot of speculative building projects, there is a modest inventory of new housing available in Boquete. I heard the number of 5,000 dwelling units, including condos, and 500 individual homes. Many, although not all, of these are built to US expectations at least in terms of construction, if not in terms of floor plan.

Cement, which is the primary ingredient in houses here, has gone from $5 a bag when we started building to $9 a bag! And when the Canal expansion moves into full swing building the new locks you can expect that price to soar. Steel has more than doubled. Because of the fall of the US dollar and the fact that Panama uses the US dollar and imports most construction materials, prices have soared on everything. Labor costs, traditionally the lowest cost (unlike the US!), are gradually going up as well.

Take the custom built house I have for sale in Valle Escondido. The asking price is $459,000. It has a spectacular view lot and all but a few very large lots in Valle Escondido are gone. But if there were a similar lot available it would cost about $185,000. The house is 3,000 sq ft under roof (how they figure here) and if you could build it for $100 a sq ft (iffy, given the increase in costs), you’d be looking at replacement costs of $300,000, and you could not afford to use the same amount of steel as the present house uses. So $300,000 plus $185,000 is $485,000! So my house, like many of these spec houses, is really a bargain!

So unless you have plenty of time, and lots of money, and an enormous supply of patience . . . and unless nothing currently on the market meets your demands . . . why build???

There are 57,000 real estate offices in tiny Boquete just waiting to sell you one of the existing houses!

Here are a few other important things to consider about “buying a lot” and building on your own.

Noise. Valle Escondido is almost built out, but for the past four years our life here in “paradise” has been nothing but construction noise . . . 8 hours a day, 6.5 days a week. The view out of our windows has been of guys peeing in the bushes! Unless you are into watching guys peeing in the bushes to the background of construction noise . . . Are you really ready to “pay that price” for years as the project is built out.

All of these projects have great print media and advertising and loads of computer generated pictures showing what the developer hopesthe project will someday look like. They may have even sunk a ton of money into a lavish entrance and sales office. But the question is, will it ever happen? Some of these projects look the same now as they did four years ago. Some have gone belly up. Some will actually be built. A lot will disappear . . . maybe along with a lot of folks dreams and money. When you buy an existing home in an existing development you know what you are getting. You are buying a chunk of reality, not someones pipe dream. Valle Escondido may not be perfect: it was after all the first development of it’s kind in Panama. But it is a reality!

So if you’re interested in my house call me, or one of the 57,000 real estate agents in Boquete!

“Little Bunny Foo-Foo”

My daughter, Noelle, posted a picture of my grandson, Rian Patrick, on her Web site. Now that school is over she has time for this kind of thing. This picture, taken by my other daughter, she entitled “Little Bunny Foo-Foo” after the children’s song of the same name.

Funny, it doesn’t seem all that long ago that we were singing “Little Bunny Foo-Foo” to her!

Life goes by fast . . . sometimes.

However, not when you’re building! We’re getting there, slowly but surely.

This week was the Festival of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Boquete. There was a parade through town carrying the statue of St. John, everyone had the afternoon off . . . I didn’t see anyone gathering by the river for baptism, however, it was an excuse to “baptise” onself in rum or the local rum variety, secco. And an excuse not to show up for work the next day.