YourPanama wants to give you $750, $1,000, $1,500 or more

There have been significant developments at YourPanama.com in the past month and they will continue for some months yet to come, as we add new people and new specialties to the team.

For one thing, our network of trusted professionals is expanding all the time to provide you with greater depth and wider choices. For example, the aim is to have two real estate agencies in each of three important areas where people from other countries buy homes or investment property. As demand requires, these will eventually be expanded to three in each region, for a total of nine. We are halfway there now, and there is already a waiting list of agencies in Panama City.

Two things have to take place before I will recommend an agency:

1. I have to be convinced of their business ethics, level of commitment, and service; and 2. The agency must work with me on their marketing.

The first step is by far the most difficult, and I have disappointed a significant number of agencies because I did not think they had what it takes.

Your trusted partners

I make no apologies for the marketing aspect. YourPanama.com is a business, and if it does not earn an income, it dies. But let's understand the term as I intend it. I will not try to sell you on any agency. I might point you to one or more of them, but it is their job to sell themselves to you by providing what you want at the price you are willing to pay, and by giving you undivided attention and excellent service right the way through the process. These people will become your trusted partners in your quest to find the right property here in Panama.

In other words, my job is to introduce you to agencies (and to other specialists) in whom I have confidence. I have the time to root these people out because I live here; you do not on a quick exploratory trip. If I introduce you to less than excellent people, I lose credibility and YourPanama loses its reason to exist. In other words, I work for you.

But here's the big news. Several companies provide the type of service provided by my company, so I wanted to do something extra. That "something extra" is being announced here for the first time.

YourPanama will share with you the marketing fees it receives. This can amount to $750, $1,000, $1,500 or more, depending on the property you buy. It can be enough to pay for your flight, or for whatever other purpose you want to use it. It can even pay for your YourPanama Real Estate Tour when those start next year. There are no restrictions.

Real estate commissions are paid in this country, as they are in most other countries, by the seller, not the buyer. It is illegal here for an agency to share those commissions with a buyer. But hiring a marketing company that then presents you with a considerable financial housewarming gift is legal.

And YourPanama will be the first company in Panama to do this.

But what happens if one of YourPanama's recommended agencies does not have the property you want, and you find it somewhere else? We have that covered, too. Just tell a YourPanama agency about the property in which you are interested, and the YourPanama agency will attempt to co-broker a deal for you with the other agency. That way, you still get your housewarming gift, and you get the house or piece of land you want – which, after all, is the most important consideration.

I remember on previous house-buying occasions our realtors presenting things like wonderful handmade bouquets of silk flowers. They made my wife and I feel good, and I hope that giving them made the realtor feel good. Such knickknacks were always of such quality that they earned a prominent place among our decorations. I will have great pleasure in giving you $1,000, $1,500 or more with which to do your own decorating – though maybe I will find an additional gift suitable for your new home to go along with the money.

Teleseminar

It is expected that this inaugural teleseminar will be held during the third week of June, and that the one after that will not be held before September. It looks as though we will have a full house, so if you are interested be sure to go to the website and pre-register quickly. There is no need to pay at this time. Other instructions will follow after you pre-register. Go to the form and register now, if you are interested.

Until next month, happy reading.

Sydney

Boquete or Volcan?

I was surprised, because I did not know I had done so. My only excuse: I had not yet had time to write much about Volcan and surrounding countryside. I put that right this month.

Judging from local bulletin boards, rivalry between the two major Chiriqui Province highland communities is high.

Boquete gets a lot of publicity, being voted as one of the top places in the world to retire. Whether or not that is reality depends, I suppose, on the reviewer.

Here's my personal take on the situation, at the risk of being caught in the middle.

Panama, with its many retirement enticements, is attractive for Americans who want to cash in high-priced real estate in California, Florida, New York and elsewhere before the anticipated bust there.

'Little Switzerland' in Panama

Among the hills and the mountains lies some of Panama's richest land producing most of the fruit and vegetables for the rest of the country, agricultural roots started by the Swiss.

Some of the houses have a distinct Swiss flavor. There's a picture along with the story here.

Maps of Panama far too heavy to lift

Huh! No soul!

I spent several fascinating hours there, and came away with far more questions than answers.

For instance, were people from the Orient and from Africa here as much as 10,000 years ago? And were the Africans slaves then to the Orientals? A man-sized statue may indicate this to be true. It appears from facial features and from traditional Oriental dress to be of an African carrying and Oriental man on his shoulders.

Christopher who?

Read about this advanced civilization and their 2,600-year-old maps that acted as street signs.

Too large a story, so...

While you are looking at the pictures of this advanced civilization that had disappeared long before the Azteks arrived on the scene, ponder this: How does a stream flow swiftly uphill for a kilometer, rising 30 meters in that distance? It's been examined by geologists and surveyors, and it's no optical illusion. There's a picture among all the others on this page.

If you plan to stay in the area for a spell...

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Your Panama Nuggets. Watch for the next issue on the first Saturday in July at 10 a.m. EST.