Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

The wanderings of Andrea and Keith around Panama

Posts from the ‘Real Estate’ category

Another Place to Stay in Cerro Azul

Hi Travellers,

We awoke during the night to the sounds of rain beating down on our big stone deck.  It didn’t last long and when the morning came, the deck was dry.  After breakfast, we discovered that we have new neighbors in the next house.  More Canadians!  This guy and his son were down for a couple of weeks.  He has owned the house for about five years and comes down two or three times per year.  Take a look at the view he gets from his living room.  It’s the top-level with wall to wall glass.  Spectacular!

I visited with Antonio while updating the blog this morning.  He is a warm, hospitable, interesting character who is helpful by nature.  He has two suites in his house that he rents out.  Accommodation here in Cerro Azul is pretty hard to come by.  I mean, there seems to be lots of for rent signs around but I would bet that you would never find them on the Internet.  I know the effort it took me to find the place we are staying.  There is supposed to be a Hostel in the area but that is outside the main gate and part way down the hill.  If you want to stay here and experience this place, you need to rent a house or a suite in a house.  You will also need to rent a car to get here and around.

There is a one bedroom suite on the lowest level that has a full kitchen, a bathroom and a nice living room.  It comes with a WiFi connection and a flat screen TV.  It is nicely finished and immaculately clean. The view from the deck is to die for!  Nothing but trees and birds and hills for as far as you can see.  This little gem rents for $US75 per night with a minimum of two nights or $US450 per week or $US900 per month!  Along with this you get an onsite owner that speaks fluent English and Spanish and has lived there for 15 plus years.  There won’t be many questions about Panama or the area that he won’t be able to answer for you.

On the level above there is another unit that can be rented as a one or two bedroom suite and has a private bathroom.  Each bedroom has its own access to the large deck with a spectacular view.  There is no TV (which is not uncommon here) but there is a WiFi connection so you can stream to your heart’s content.  Rates are $US50 per night for the one bedroom or $US75 per night for the two bedrooms.  Weekly for the two bedroom you pay $US450 and for the one bedroom, $US300.  No monthly rates for this accommodation.  For some pictures of the accomodation check out www.cerroazulsuite.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in renting either of these suites, just email Antonio at smaharba7@hotmail.com.

As the weather wasn’t all that great, we decided to head down the hill and do some comparison shopping.  Today’s feature image is of the local Do It Center.  These modern big box chain stores are kind of 75% Canadian Tire and 25% Home Depot.  We prowled the store and found prices are much the same as at home for things like appliances, ceramic tile, lighting fixtures, and plumbing stuff like faucets etc.  You will find both unfamiliar brands and those that we know.  We went next door and checked out a furniture store with similar results.  This store really didn’t have anything much different from what we have at home.  We need to find a furniture store that has furniture more Panamanian!

We next headed to a mall!  We stopped at the Metromall, a modern gigantic super mall with three or four levels and all the stores we have at home plus a few.  If you didn’t know better, you would think you were in a shopping center in Canada or the US.  We ate at one of the many restaurants before returning up the hill at the end of the day.

We will be getting company in our little house tomorrow.  Some friends of the owner will be moving in to the upper part of the house so we will have to tone our noisy partying down a bit.  If the weather is good tomorrow we will be off for another hike in the jungle.  See you later.

The Concrete Jungle

Hi There,

Today we were pretty lazy.  It’s nice to have a down day.  It is curious weather going on here.  It is a nice temperature, I would guess in the low 20sC but the humidity is still quite high.  Any light effort will produce a wet shirt.  The sun comes and goes almost instantly as the clouds race across the sky.  One minute you can’t see the next mountain and the next you can see Panama City.  There is a light misty rain that comes and goes but never stays so we decided just to ignore it and continue whatever we are doing.  The one constant is the breeze, which is a bit heavier and gusty today.  All in all it’s the kind of weather that is not unpleasant and it wouldn’t stop you from doing anything but maybe sunbathing.  I used to think that Calgary’s weather changed quickly but this is much quicker although not as wide a range of conditions.

Paul had told us that there are 2,800 lots, here in Cerro Azul.  Of those, only about 500 have been sold and of those only around 100 are permanent residents.  Most of the people here come only for the weekend and summer vacation.  Today there was evidence of many more people being around than we noticed during the week.  It is still not what you would call busy, due to the scale of this place, but there is a definitely noticeable difference on the weekend.

We loaded ourselves up into the Toyota for the 10 minute drive down to the Club to see if the Internet was fixed and to grab some breakfast.  I had pancakes and bacon, which was done perfectly.  Don’t anyone tell the girls at Ricky’s that I had something other than bacon and eggs for breakfast.  They would never believe you!  Well, there was a nice strong wireless network but it turns out it is secured and is a park administration network that they wouldn’t let me have access to.  The tourist network is still not fixed!   I think I will take a course on hacking wireless networks before our next trip!

This afternoon, we decided we had been here long enough and had not yet ventured into the jungle!  It was one of the reasons why we came to this National Park.  The trails are all pretty well marked at the trailheads with distances etc. but with limited Spanish it could be a toothpaste ad and we wouldn’t know the difference.  We talked to one of our neighbors about safety and hiking and they said that we wouldn’t have any problems but to wear closed shoes as you could step on something nasty that might want to take offence.  Off we went to a trailhead near the Club.  The gate had been closed all week but today it was open so we drove right down to the river, about 500M or so.  This place is set up better than some of our National Parks at home.  Parking at the trailhead in a paved parking lot with lines.  there is covered shelter if you have to wait in bad weather for someone to pick you up.  We set off on one of the trails that takes you down to the Rio Las Cascades river.  This is not a large river but I bet it is lots bigger than this during the rainy season (May – November).  There is little danger of getting lost as all the trails are concrete walkways, about 18 inches wide and with a steel rail wherever you might need support.  You could almost call this place wheelchair accessible, except for the stairs.  The little concrete walkway tends to keep people on the trail and not wandering through the adjacent areas.  It minimizes the environmental damage while not presenting too much of an intrusion on nature.  I was surprised to find this level of infrastructure in place but I guess because it is within the housing development, they needed to do something.  I’d be willing to bet that if you came into this park from the river side you wouldn’t find any infrastructure at all.

 

 

 

We enjoyed a nice walk in the jungle and were only accosted by one wild animal… a small (three-inch) lizard that was sunning himself on the walkway railing.  Although it was touch and go for a few minutes, none of the combatants suffered any serious damage!  Of particular surprise was the almost total lack of bugs.  It makes for a very pleasant visit.

Tomorrow we will poke around this area a little more.  You can turn down some of these little streets and often be surprised with what you will find!

Shopping Again!

Just in case you are interested, there have been 1,450 viewings of our little blog since it went up.  I’m impressed!

Everyone we talk to here encourages us to give the little restaurant in the recreation complex another try so today we decided to try breakfast there.  After all, how badly can you screw up bacon and eggs?  When we arrived we were the only customers there.  We managed to order without too much difficulty and then they went away to make our meals.  It seemed to take about 20 minutes for the food to be ready and the fresh coffee to be brewed.  When it came, it was perfect.  The eggs were done right, the bacon was done extra crispy just as requested and the toast was right.  We lingered over breakfast enjoying the beautiful scenery as the building it has windows all around and the views are, to say the least, spectacular.  Breakfast for two $11 with tip.

We asked about the Internet and were advised that someone was to come today some time to fix it and that it should be working tomorrow.  I headed back to Antonio’s house who had so graciously offered us the use of his Internet yesterday but he was not home so I went down the 20 or so tile stairs to his back yard and sure enough, I was close enough to get a signal.  Now I don’t know how many of you have tried to balance a notebook on your knees while running the mouse down the side of your leg in the bright sunlight but it really takes time to get anything done.  The simple fact that you can’t see the screen or where your mouse is due to the sunlight really sucks.  To make matters worse, it started to sprinkle lightly.  I’m really looking forward to having the connection back in service at the restaurant!

Yesterday, I showed you the inside of the monster house that the commodities market claimed from the well to do Panamanian Jeweler.  Today I have a few shots of the outside of this magnificent home.  Here they are.

 

 

 

Nice shack eh?  Well we were about taking house pictures, I thought you might like to see some of the other houses here in Cerro Azul.  Here is a small selection that should give you a flavor for the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have decided to stay here for another week so we headed back down the hill to get some more supplies.  This time we tried the Super Extra store, which turned out to be about three times larger than the Super 99.  It has a pharmacy and bakery (yum yum) and reminds me a bit of Superstore or Wal-Mart.  You can buy tires, clothes, fresh fruit, meat, and anything drinkable.  As we wander the aisles of this gigantic store, I can’t help but notice how much processed garbage is on the shelves here.  When we first came to Panama, you were hard pressed to find much of that but today it is the norm.  A simple example was we wanted a small amount of butter.  The diary case probably had five or six feet of every conceivable kind of margarine o the face of the earth.  We finally found butter in one little corner and got the last package.  Super Extra has a better selection of wine than the Super 99.  We found three bottles of Argentinian red at respectable prices.  A Malbec for $5.50, a Malbec for $4.20 and a Cab Sav for $3.06.  Again, these are all in the $20 to $30 dollar range at home.  Oh, and did I mention the bakery?  We got four sweet buns for $1.60.

Next we needed to refuel our little Toyota.  The traffic was so insane that it took us almost 30 minutes to drive half a block, u-turn at a traffic light (yes it’s legal here), and return half a block to the Texaco Station.  Fuel was at about a quarter of a tank and it took $30 to fill it.

The find of the day was a fresh fruit store, or more like hole in the wall.  Andrea scored a nice ripe watermelon, a pineapple, and a couple of oranges for $2.70.

Well, as you can see we never made it to the jungle today but its on the list for tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

Cerro Azul Real Estate 101

Hi Everyone,

On the way to find our realtor for our tour today, we met his neighbor, Antonio.  He is retired and from California but they have been back and forth several times before he finally built his dream house here in Panama.  Quite the place!  He keeps two large dogs that speak only Spanish, to keep the animals away from the property.  Apparently it works pretty well, it almost kept me away!   I told him about our internet problem and he invited us in to use his, which we did.  So, just where are we?  If you look at the map, you will see Tocumen Airport at the bottom and 76 Via La Paz Castillo at the top.  That is where we are.

After we did our Internet business, we went next door to meet Paul, the brother of the person we are renting from.  Both are Canadian and have been in real estate in this area for about 15 years.  This is a single development here of 2800 lots, 500 of which are sold.  Paul says that their slump, due to the economy, was in 2009 and it got better in 2010.  2011 was their best year so far.  Their inventory of resale homes is depleted due to the interest here.  There is no MLS here so an agent will try to sell you their own properties.  Depending on what you want, there are lots of cozy smaller places that you could buy for under $100K.  Construction prices run from around $50 to $100 per sq. ft. depending on how elaborate you want your home and they have access to an English speaking builder (Paul’s son).  They sell a lot of lots.  Lots here go from around $20K up to $70K for the more desirable properties being those that have the best views, the most privacy, the best topography (meaning enough level ground to build a house on), and size.  Generally, the Panamanians buy in the $20K range with foreigners buying the better property.  We saw several lots and it becomes easier to guess the price based on knowing the criteria.  We found one that was of particular interest to us.  It was a large lot in the 1800 Sq. M range on a ridge with views in both directions and right at the end of the road.  Traffic or privacy would not be a problem.  On the next lot was a derelict house that Paul has researched in detail.  He wanted to find the owner and offer to buy it from him.  The house was owned by an old Panamanian woman who died but had one son, which nobody can seem to find.  The house has not been visited for years.  Paul tells us that if it was him, he would build on the empty lot in such a way as there was no windows on the back to see the derelict house.  Next he would cut the out of control jungle and paint the front of the old house.  If nothing happens for 15 years, you can then claim the property under squatters rights and the government will give it to you.  We didn’t know that Panama had squatters rights in place but apparently it does and if it takes 15 years for a piece of abandoned property to be claimed, it seems much more reasonable than Costa Rica’s relatively short timeline. It seems that this place is experiencing a renewed interest and no wonder because there are only a limited number of lots and they are located in a national park.  The area is popular for Canadians and Americans and is just starting to catch on with the European crowd.

We did see one house.  It is a big sucker, coming in around 3,000 Sq. Ft.  It was built 20 years ago by a well to do Panamanian jeweler before he became interested in commodities which eventually lost him this house, the jewelry business and his house in the city.  The house is now empty and has been so for about two years.  It is a striking house from the exterior due to the vast amount of glass.  Here of some shots of the massive main floor.  Bedrooms and bathrooms are all king sized and there is a third floor with a loft suite.  The attic is also a good size.  When you look at the workmanship here, it strikes me that this would be hard to get today.  Large hardwood beams supporting the roof are open to the house and the intricacy of the beam arrangement over the large turret is interesting.  I just realized that I missed getting a shot of the outside of this place so will have to catch it up in the next day or two.  The house is listed for $308K but Paul tells us the owners would accept $275K.  He says that if someone wanted to turn the main floor into a steak and lobster restaurant, only open on weekends, that it would be a license to print money because the closest such place is all the way across town in Panama City.  All we need is a chef!!!

Living costs here in Cerro Azul are relatively small.  You don’t need air conditioning or heating so electricity is not much.  Antonio tells us he pays around $30 per month for electricity.  Water is $10 to $15 per month.  DSL Internet service is $16 per month with your phone.  Gas depends on use.  Everything here runs on propane.  You can get the big tanks (hundred pounders) that have to be swapped out by a truck or you can have a few 25 pounders and look after the filling yourself when you go into town.  Antonio says he uses about three per month for him and his wife and because the government subsidizes the 25 pounders, they only cost $4.50 per fill.  He says that the hundred pounders are expensive.  Oh and then  the equivalent of a condo fee that every lot pays.  It covers the maintenance of the pool, tennis courts, and restaurant complex as well as trail maintenance, road repair and debris cleanup when needed.  For all that you pay $27 per month.   A handyman will cost you $25 per day.

I wanted to check out the pool, so we piled into our trusty Toyota and drove down to the pool complex.  It takes about 15 minutes.  The area is beautifully kept and includes the pool, tennis courts, the restaurant building and several little picnic areas carved out of the hillside, each with its own bright little blue roof.  The area has lots of concrete walkways to get you from one place to another.  The gigantic pool was actually quite cool, compared to the one at our last hotel, but very clean and very refreshing.  As you can see, there are no people here.  It only gets a bit busy on weekends.

 

 

 

Well after all that, we needed dinner.  We had decided earlier to try a restaurant outside the gate about 6.5 Km from here.  Due to the winding road, it takes about 25 minutes to drive there.  It is called La Posada De Ferhisse and is definitely Panamanian.  We were pleasantly surprised when we walked in to be given menus with both Spanish and English so we could point out our selections to the wait person who seemed to speak only Spanish.  We ordered roast chicken and fish of the day.  Along with salads and a couple of soft drinks, the total came to a whopping $12.  Oh, and by the way, the food was really good!  We would give this place a double thumbs up!

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, we have plans to head into the jungle!  I’ll tell you about it then (if we make it back) Smile.

Martyrs Day is Dry

Hi Travel Fans,

Today is a special day here in Panama.  Flags throughout the country fly at half mast to commemorate those killed in the Flag Riots of 1964.  This was a tumultuous time in Panamanian history and riots broke out over the flying of a flag.  At that time, the US controlled the canal and had agreed to fly both the US and the Panamanian flags in various places throughout the Canal Zone.  As this turned out to be quite controversial, the governor of the Canal Zone decided to remove some flagpoles altogether.  Balboa High School was one place where the flag poles were to be removed but the students took things into their own hands and raised the US flag before the pole could be removed.  Keep in mind that this was a place within the Canal Zone that contained mostly US families.  A group of Panamanian university students decided that there should be a Panamanian flag flying from that pole, not a US flag so they organized a march to the high school and attempted to change the flags.  What ensued was rioting, looting, destruction, and mayhem with two dozen people loosing their lives.

Today, 9 January, is officially known as Martyrs’ Day here in Panama.  It is a public holiday.  Interestingly enough is the fact that no liquor can be sold during this day.  If you go into a grocery store, you will find the liquor aisles taped off and if you are in a restaurant or bar, you wont be able to order anything alcoholic.  Many stores and restaurants close for the day as well.  I like the serious and respectful approach that this country takes to remembering this important event in their history.

Well, enough history!  Today I promised you some information about our real estate meeting.  We learned about this opportunity through International Living Magazine some time ago.  It is a new 96 suite exclusive boutique hotel that is to be built in downtown Panama City that will be called the Park Inn.  The neighborhood is good and it is within walking distance of the business area, restaurants, and the waterfront.  The concept is that the rooms are being sold as condominiums, to each owner.  It is an exclusive property as all rooms are one bedroom units.  There is a 20 year contract in place for the Radisson to manage and run the property and the Carlson Hotel group will be handling the reservations and marketing.  It is expected to take up to 20 months to complete the building and have the hotel working.  Revenues will be pooled for all units and the owners distribution will be based on the unit size (there are 3).  Current pricing is pre construction and coming to an end shortly.  There will be two more jumps in the pricing of about 10% each as the construction begins and then as the construction completes.  It is an interesting concept and the developer seems to have put all the pieces together.  The first deposit is 10% and there will be two more 10% payments required as the building progresses.  Seventy percent mortgages are available here in Panama from HSBC at around 6% that only amortize for 10 years, which we are told is common here for investments.  Current pricing varies from around US$240K through US$318K, accomodating the different floor and unit sizes.  We will give this a little more serious consideration and crunch some numbers to see if the revenue will support the expenses but on the surface, this makes sense to us.

We came back to the hotel to pick up the car and head out to the end of the causeway for some lunch.  It was extremely busy there as the Coral Princess was in port and passengers were beginning to arrive back from their various tours.  The Coral Princess stood off shore and passengers were being tendered back to the ship.  After an unremarkable lunch, and a few pictures, we decided to head over the Bridge of the Americas to find the new Westin hotel in Playa Bonita that just opened in December.

We have friends who are coming to Panama during Carnival and they will be staying here.  Nice property, right on the Pacific but it is quite remote.  We talked to a couple of guests who said it was a $25 cab ride per couple if you wanted to go into the city.  It is a good place to sell all-inclusive packages because there are no close local options.  We checked out a room and it is definitely up to the Westin standards.  Understandably, they are going through some growing pains as they get staff trained up to the Westin level and there are still small things left to do on the building.  There is also construction of another tower on the same property that is far from complete.  The guest we talked with said that some people were unhappy with the food and service levels as the Westin continues to work out the kinks of a new operation.

 

 

 

 

We decided that pasta might be in order for dinner tonight.  Well, not really!  It was more like the pasta joint was one of the few restaurants open.  Remember, this is Martyrs’ Day.  We found el Dente Restaurant not far from our hotel, at the start of the causeway.  We ordered an appetizer which was a bacon and cheese brochette.  Remember bacon is one of he major food groups to me so anything containing it goes straight to the top of the list.  It was good!  Next came a couple of pastas that we don’t see at home much.  I had chicken lasagna and Andrea ordered chicken cannelloni.  Again, no English menus and no pictures this time.  Tonight was a real surprise when we got what we thought we ordered.  Dinner was great but much toooooo large!  Total bill was $37.

Today’s featured image is a sunset over the canal, taken right in front of the Country Inn Panama Canal in Amador.

Well, enough for today.  Tomorrow we leave this hotel and make our way up the mountain to Cerro Azul.  I wonder if I should have tire chains, just in case?