Finding a tenant is the easy part. If you own an apartment in Panama City, Panama and you live somewhere else, the hard part is the eleven months after the contract is signed. All of it happens far away, in another time zone, usually in Spanish. Here is what that really involves, and what to ask before you hand your keys to anyone.
What goes wrong when nobody is there
Owners who live abroad rarely lose money on the rent itself. They lose it in the gaps:
- A leak the tenant reports on a Saturday that nobody looks at until Monday. By then it is a floor and the neighbour’s ceiling.
- An air conditioner that never got serviced because nobody was scheduling it.
- A building office that needs a signature, a payment or a document from the owner, and cannot reach one.
- A tenant who stopped being the right tenant, with nobody noticing until move out.
- An apartment priced on hope, sitting empty for three months. That costs more than the extra rent the high price was chasing.
None of these are dramatic. They are all boring, and boring is exactly what does not get handled from four thousand kilometres away.
Screening the tenant is the decision that matters most
Everything that comes later depends on who signs. Whether the apartment comes back in good shape. Whether repairs get reported early. Whether you spend the year thinking about it.
We check references before anyone signs, on the owner’s behalf. It is boring work and it is the most valuable thing a manager does for you. An owner abroad cannot do it alone. You cannot call a past landlord in a country you are not in, in a language you may not speak, and know what the pauses mean.
Be careful with speed. A tenant found in 48 hours with no references checked is a risk that someone else is taking on your behalf.
What management covers
For the owners we work with, the day to day is this:
- We are the tenant’s contact. They call us instead of you. This is most of the value.
- Repairs and maintenance, using people we already work with: handymen, cleaners and appliance technicians.
- Utilities, kept up to date instead of found overdue.
- The building office: the meetings, the notices, the rules and the paperwork a tower creates whether or not the owner is in the country.
- Clear accounts, so what came in and what went out is not something you have to ask about.
- We answer Sunday to Sunday. Problems in a home do not wait for a weekday.
The full picture is on our property management page.
An honest price beats a high price
The most common talk we have with a new owner is about the asking price, and it is usually about simple math. An empty month costs you the whole month. Making that back with a higher rent takes a long time, and often never happens, because an apartment that sits gets a reputation for sitting.
We tell owners what their apartment will really rent for, even when that is less than they hoped. An agent who agrees with your number right away is not always agreeing with the market. For context on what the market looks like, see what renting in Panama City, Panama actually costs.
The photos matter more than people think
Your apartment competes with every other unit in the same building, often at almost the same price, on a screen, in about four seconds. Bad photos are the cheapest way to lose a month of rent.
Juan Pablo takes the photos himself. We do not charge for it. It is the reason the apartments move.
What to ask anyone before you hand over your keys
Ask these whether or not you work with us. The answers are quick and they tell you a lot:
- What exactly do you check on a tenant before they sign?
- Who does the tenant call at 8pm on a Sunday, and what happens then?
- How and when will I see what came in and what was spent?
- How is the deposit handled, and is the contract registered?
- What do you charge, and what is not included?
- Who takes the photos, and can I see the last three apartments you listed?
About the fourth one: Panama’s housing ministry (MIVIOT) says rental contracts have to be registered with its Dirección General de Arrendamientos, and that the ministry holds the deposit instead of the landlord. You can read it on the MIVIOT page on registering rental contracts. We are a real estate agency, not a law firm, so for your own case, and for anything about tax on rental income, ask a Panamanian lawyer or accountant.
About the fifth one: ask us directly and we will tell you plainly. We are not going to publish a number here that may not apply to your apartment.
Why owners abroad end up working with us
Cortez Realty is two people. Nely holds the licence and Juan Pablo runs the day to day. You will deal with one of them every time. Nely has managed properties for the same owners for years, which in this business is the credential that counts.
We work in English and Spanish, and many of our clients are not Panamanian. If you are reading this from another country, that is the normal case for us. More about who we are, including reviews from clients in six countries.
Common questions
Yes, and many of the owners we work with do exactly that. You need someone on the ground who is the tenant’s contact, handles repairs and deals with the building. Without that, every small problem becomes your problem, late and from far away.
Finds and screens the tenant, is the tenant’s contact, arranges repairs and maintenance, keeps utilities up to date, deals with the building office, and reports what came in and what went out.
It depends on the apartment and on what the owner needs. Ask us and we will give you a straight answer for your property instead of a figure that may not fit it.
Owners abroad handle this all the time. How you do it depends on your situation, so ask a Panamanian lawyer how you want to be represented before you need it.
An apartment that shows well and is priced at the market moves fast here. Good ones go in days. One priced above the market can sit for months, which is the expensive outcome.
Tell us about your apartment
Send us the building, the unit and what you hope to get for it. We will tell you what it will really rent for and what managing it would involve. In English or Spanish, usually the same day.
Talk to us · Property management in Panama City, Panama · What rents actually cost right now