I would love to start by introducing myself. My name is Roberto Garzon and currently I am a realtor, certified translator and a former stockbroker.
I decided to make this blog based on the suggestion of the people who I love the most and as an opportunity to reach a larger audience by selflessly helping others to make better decisions in this matter.
Back in the days when I was studying my bachelor career in Business Administration, I used to provide tips (many times without being asked for) to beloved friends and family so they could make the best decision when buying/selling/leasing a property. Well, in the development of my career, I understood that bad decisions come from ignorance, lack of adequate advice and foremost, not taking time to research and understand the venture oneself is interest in.
Little by little, while I was gaining experience in the real estate and banking business, I found it necessary to learn more about different legal, tax, and financial aspects and loopholes which in fact I did. Due to the first «consultancy» questions that my beloved ones asked me, unexpected cases, and even potential and effective clients trusted me to make the investment of their lives, and from there on, I can say that I became an expert and a person “to go to”. Out of the blues, it just happened that many of “my unasked advises”, turned into purchase, sale or rental opportunities. They did not hesitate to contact me because they already knew that I would know how to take care of their interests.
When speaking about real estate, I like to make the reference as “the investment of their lives”, because indeed it is. I do not make reference from the mere poetic sense of the word, but from the realistic standpoint of experience, since in most cases we are talking about a house and/or apartment where my client will be living for a long time or making an investment with his/her savings for future generations, and what makes it even more delicate is a payment commitment (mortgage in most cases) that will take place with a time period not less than 10, 20 or up to 35 years (depending on the client, relationship with the bank, current banking guidelines).
So, the answer would be YES. You should hire an expert that will provide you guidance and knowledge on that first big decision!
This will ensure that your purchase/sales/leasing project is carried out with a savvy and knowledgeable person that knows the trends in the national and international markets as well as current legal laws in force. We will take in consideration criteria such as:
- Best location that suits your lifestyle system;
- Research of the management where is intended to make the purchase/sale/lease in order to have an insight of the economics;
- Prepare all related paperwork in advance so that your mortgage is presented accordingly;
- Disclose an estimate of how much you will be paying in legal and/or tax expenses;
- Providing feedback with probable future trends that will directly affect the future selling or leasing of the property.
Now that I have caught your attention, I’d love to do a simple exercise that will make my point even clearer: think for a moment about any other aspect of your life and ask-answer yourself: If you have heart problems, would you go to a mechanic? A dermatologist? Or would you go to a cardiologist? It seems like a very simple rhetoric question but no, many times people seek to economize on the process and end up in cumbersome processes, falling into the «they told me that the process was like this and that», paying unnecessary costs and most of the time disappointed because their property was not sold/leased, thus causing disappointment and not fulfilling the expectations. This also tends to happen when purchasing a property and you don’t have an expert that oversees many details that you might slip away. This above scenario is very common but should not be the one you go through. It is very time consuming and stressful.
If we apply pure common sense to this question, then you’ll notice that if you have a health problem you’d go to a doctor, if you have a legal problem you’d go to a lawyer, if you need a birthday cake you’d go to a pastry chef, then buying, selling and/or leasing a property should not be less important; you must hire an expert in the field in order to avoid mistakes and face unnecessary risks.
Additionally, it is important to note that us brokers are supervised by the Real Estate Technical Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Panama, and we are subject to having a performance bond for an amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in order to ensure our service and not cause damage to a third party for the services we provide.
In addition to all the above, we play our roles as experts in the field, and we remain at the forefront of market price trends, national legal matters, cadastral/market value matters (useful when it comes to knowing even the type of tax to pay or its exoneration) and the macroeconomic movements to consider in order to offer you suggestions that go hand-to-hand with the nature of our business: selling/buying/leasing.
Now, speaking as an expert, my first suggestion is that you get a suitable real estate broker who offers you an action plan with a clear direction to achieve the desired objective (preferably us). By this I mean that he/she sits down with you to explain the processes that must be followed step by step, from showing sales/leasing reports all up to the handling and preparation of paperwork to be presented before the pertaining Panamanian legal entities.
If you are considering the possibility of selling, buying and/or leasing a property, you just must make sure that the person who is taking care of you is a suitable broker. How can I make myself sure that the person is a certified realtor? You only must ask for the license and believe me that we, certified brokers, show it with great pride and honor.
To make sure that you are served by a suitable broker, visit the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries:
https://mici.gob.pa/jtbr-corredores-de-bienes-raices-idoneos/
