“Furnished” is a description, and every owner writes their own. We have shown two apartments in the same building, both listed as furnished, where one had a made bed and a stocked kitchen and the other had a sofa and nothing else. Both descriptions were honest. Here is how to tell what you are actually getting, and how to work out which option costs you less.
What furnished usually means in Panama City, Panama
In the towers where most international tenants live, a furnished unit normally comes with:
- Beds, wardrobes, a sofa, a dining table and chairs.
- Kitchen appliances: fridge, stove, microwave.
- A washer and dryer, usually.
- Air conditioning units, which are standard here.
- Curtains or blinds, and light fittings.
What varies most: cutlery, plates, pans, bed linen, towels and a television. Some units have all of it. Some have none. Neither owner is hiding anything, they simply mean different things by the same word.
The one thing that settles it
Ask for a written inventory before you sign. A list of what is in the apartment, room by room.
This takes an owner ten minutes and it removes the entire problem. It also protects you at the other end, when you move out and someone has to agree on what was there at the start. Photograph everything on your first day as well.
We ask for this on behalf of our tenants as a matter of routine. If an owner will not produce a list, that tells you something useful about how the next twelve months will go.
Unfurnished in Panama can be very unfurnished
Worth knowing before you picture an empty room with a fridge in it. An unfurnished apartment here can arrive without light fittings, without curtains, and sometimes without kitchen appliances.
That is normal and it is fine, as long as you budgeted for it. Ask the same question in reverse: what stays in the apartment when the last tenant leaves?
Which one actually costs less
Furnished rents for more per month. That is the easy part. The useful calculation is different, and it has one input: how long are you staying?
Furnishing an apartment costs real money and real weekends, and you have to sell it all again when you leave. Spread that over twelve months and furnished usually wins. Spread it over three years and unfurnished usually wins.
Our rough guide, from watching clients do both:
- Under a year: furnished, almost always.
- One to two years: furnished still usually wins, and it is closer.
- Over two years, or you are staying for good: unfurnished, and buy what you like.
Most of our international tenants land in the first two groups, which is why most of our rental inventory is furnished.
The number that matters more than either
Furnished or unfurnished is a smaller decision than people think. The bigger one is the full monthly cost.
Rent is one line. Then there is the building fee, water, electricity, gas, internet and parking. Some of those are in the rent and some are on top, and it changes building by building.
Electricity is the one that surprises people. Air conditioning is most of the bill in Panama City, Panama. A unit with a wall of glass facing the afternoon sun, run cold all day, costs far more to live in than a smaller one with shade, and that gap is bigger than the furnished premium you were worrying about.
Get every apartment down to one number before you compare. There is more on this in our guide to what it costs to rent an apartment in Panama City, Panama.
What we do about it
When we show you a unit, we tell you what is included, what the building charges on top, and what we think it will cost you to run. We would rather talk you out of an apartment in the viewing than have you work it out in month two.
You can see what we have available on our apartments for rent page. Our current rentals run from $2,000 to $6,500 a month.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us about furnished rentals.
No. Furnished is a description, not a standard, and it varies unit by unit. Two apartments in the same building can both be listed as furnished and hand you very different things. Ask for a written list before you sign.
The rent is usually lower, but that is not the whole number. Add what it costs you to furnish the place, and how long you plan to stay. For a year or less, furnished is normally the cheaper answer once you count everything.
It varies. Building maintenance, water, gas, internet and parking are sometimes in and sometimes out. Get the full monthly number, rent plus building fees plus utilities, before comparing two apartments.
Usually yes for the kitchen, and usually a washer and dryer, but confirm it in writing. Air conditioning units are the ones worth asking about specifically, including who repairs them.
For a year, furnished is what most of our international clients choose, and it is normally the cheaper and simpler answer. Beyond two years the maths starts to favour unfurnished.
Tell us how long you are staying
That one answer changes what we show you. Send us your budget, your area and your dates, and we will tell you which units make sense and what each one really costs per month.
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