Tag Archives: alltime-popular

Looking Panamanian

June 24, 2011Buying Land Scouting

Looking Panamanian saves money while ensuring equal treatment from the bureaucracy and judiciary, but it makes doing business complicated.

Anyone who has traveled much in developing countries has come across a situation where tourists get charged more than locals.

The tourist price, or the gringo price as it is known in Panama, can be genuinely noble, like paying extra to visit a national monument and subsidizing access for locals while helping to fund necessary upkeep. Or it can be downright thievery, like paying several times the usual price for carpets and cab rides. Continue Reading

Rights of Possession in Panama: A Tradition And An Opportunity

July 5, 2010Buying Land Rights of Possession

Rights of possession (ROP) is a poorly-understood legal vehicle for investing in Panamanian land that, with proper planning and effort, can be just as effective an investment tool as fully titled land.

Article Highlights

  • ROP is a land-backed asset.
  • The biggest obstacle to consistently purchasing and profiting from ROP land isn’t the unusual system, it’s the poor grasp of the system by foreign investors.
  • The risks can be mitigated but additional expertise and effort is required beyond titled property investment.

Panama, like many Latin American countries, is steeped in tradition. Panamanian villagers still observe traditional forms of etiquette, dance and music that go back to the 16th century.

One of the many Old World traditions still alive in Panama is the Napoleonic Civil Code, which includes the concept of Rights of Possession, or Derechos Posesorios.

Briefly, this legal tradition holds that whoever occupies property and uses it for its social function has the right to possess it.

Because this tradition is poorly understood, Continue Reading