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SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE 629: REAL ESTATE INVESTING OPPORTUNITIES IN PANAMA
Have you ever wanted to own your own vacation rental in a beautiful exotic location and or live abroad in a great affordable vacation spot where you can invest in lucrative real estate deals all day long? In today’s podcast, real estate investor, former Rich Dad Advanced Trainer/Educator and founder of My Panama Vacation Realty Evie Brooks shares how Panama is not only a great vacation spot but it is also a very profitable real estate market.
What You Will Learn
- 10 reasons why Panama is a great place to live and invest in real estate
- Why “tourism-only” vacation properties are high risk investments during inflationary periods
- Why Panama is not a “tourism-only” country
- What makes Panama one of the hottest real estate investment spots in Central and South America
- Why Panama is called the next Singapore
- How you can live in your Panama vacation property 3 to 4 months out of the year and still generate a great ROI
About Our Guest
Evie Brooks
Evie Brooks (Atlanta, GA and Veracruz, Panama) is a former “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Advanced Trainer, Real Estate Educator/Investor, and My Panama Vacation Realty Founder, who has guided thousands of investors for 24+ years through the process of locating, evaluating and analyzing transactions for cash flow and ROI (Return on Investment). Evie has been a keynote speaker and trainer in 13+ countries and 30+ states in the United States. Brooks’ work has been featured on Joe Fairless: Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever, ESPN Cover Your Assets, Think Realty, Realtor dot com, The Real Estate Syndication Show, Women Investing Network, VoiceAmerica, Moving Abroad Podcast, Atlanta Business Radio and many more real estate investing podcasts.
More About Evie
- She started in real estate right after college
- It wasn’t planned but more by default – just happened
- She believes that a Higher Power was guiding her steps
- She started out in corporate America in Atlanta, GA, in commercial real estate in management and asset management
- She stayed there for 4 years
- It was there that she realized she was sitting on the wrong side of the desk
- She decided to go out on her own as a real estate investor
Recruited by the Rich Dad Organization
- She had been an investor for over 10 years when a friend contacted her
- Her friend was teaching with the Rich dad organization and said , “You need to come over and take a look at this. It’s a magnificent opportunity.”
- She said she would meet all kinds of great people, it’s a great lifestyle, you’re on the road all the time, etc.
- But Evie said no thank you
- But here friend continued to purse her and invited her to a weekend advanced training course
- During that weekend, as she observed, she knew that she could teach the class better than the instructor could
- So, she decided to join up with them
- Eventually, it brought her to Costa Rico, where she was teaching ex-pats international real estate investing for Rich Dad
- When the Great Recession hit, Costa Rico crashed bad
- She held on from 2008 to 2012, thinking it would come back but couldn’t hang on any longer
- But tourism-only countries really suffered after the Great Recession
- She swore she would never live in a tourism-only location again
- In Panama, tourism falls in the 5th of 6th place in terms of revenue and GDP
- She sold her real estate holdings there for pennies on the dollar and moved to Panama
- She has investments in Panama and Southeastern U.S.
- She lives in Panama and sometimes Atlanta
Benefits of Living in Panama
- Benefits include:
- It’s not a tourism-only country
- The Panama Canal is #1
- Cooper mining is expected to move into the the number one spot in the next 40 years
- Construction business is also huge
- Crypto Capital
- They also passed a law where you will not be taxed capital gains on your crypto profits, so many crypto investors are moving there
- Corporate Incentives and Tax Breaks
- GDP ranged between 6 and 11plus% after the Recession
- An incredibly easy residency program to get visas or residency
- Don’t need a visa for visits from 90 to 180 days
- You can drive if staying only 90 days, after that, you need a visa to drive
- For residency, there are a number of programs:
- Investor visas – If you invest $300,000 there you will get a visa
- Forestry visas
- Agricultural visas
- They will between $5,000 and $15,000
- Simple, easy and quick process
- She helps her clients through the process
- Cost of living is low
- Tropical paradise weather year-round
- It’s not a tourism-only country
- Agriculture
- Not a major exporter
- They anticipate that in 6 or 7 years they will start exporting
- 80% of what they grow stays there
- Most food is imported
- They are looking to increase agricultural/farming business there
- Not a major exporter
Investing in Panama
- Evie invests there
- She wants to own the dirt
- She wants to leverage to the hilt
- The reason she does that is because her exposure is less and she’s able to build a multimillion dollar portfolio
- She never pays full retail price for any property – from 10-25% below retail value
- You walk into a strong equity position
- You have a cash flow position
- You have forced appreciation
- Appreciation is slow and steady
- The things she does for her properties she does for her clients
- She focuses on ROI and cash flow for her investors
- Many people are looking at getting their funds out of the U.S. to invest offshore in Panama
- She likes to sit down with her clients, find out what their 5-year goal is and see if the program is even right for them
- Types of investments being done
- Some of Evie’s clients are buying 8-15 units
- Some are pre-construction, mid-construction, get-in-get-out short-term construction
- Government-subsidized guaranteed programs at 11% returns
- Both short-term and long-term rentals
- Below market prices
- Some want properties for themselves, not to be used as rentals
- Most are condos, in the city
- To get good returns, you need to know what you are doing or associated with someone who does
- Some of Evie’s clients are buying 8-15 units
Advantages of Investing in Panama
- You could buy a home like one that sells for $1.5 million in Panama City, Florida for only $450 in Panama (the country)
- You can buy homes (with the same finishes and quality) that would sell for $2-3 million in Miami, New York, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto or Los Angeles, selling for only $500,000 in Panama.
- You can also get a ocean front condo in Panama for $200,000
- There are so many great opportunities, whether you’re buying for leverage or looking for developer financing
- Evie has created a special program for developer financing
- To work through banks, on your own, can take months and still not be approved
- Evie has put together a program where:
- Interest rates are lower than the banks
- All you have to put down is 10-30% and you take delivery of the property
- She can do a complete transaction between 24-48 hours – even “sight unseen”
- During Covid, she did more “sight unseen” business than she has done in her entire career
- Evie has created a special program for developer financing
- The government in Panama is a democracy
- Not overbearing
- Not controlling
- “Live and let live!”
- Medical care
- Two Johns Hopkins affiliated hospitals in the city
- Doctors are excellent
Biggest Mistakes of Investors in Panama
- People who come in with a DIY (do it yourself) attitude and try to do everything without assistance
- They end up spending tens of thousands of dollars through their mistakes
- If they had had assistance, they would have saved both money and time
- In just legal alone:
- Setting up a bank account
- Establishing residency, visa
- Setting up a corporation in Panama
- People end up paying 3-5 times what they should
- Evie has gone through 9 attorney since she moved there and good ones are hard to find.
- It’s important to have a “Power Team” behind you — that have your back
Biggest Success(es)
- Depending on what type of investing you do:
- Short-term (18mos – 3 years) – 8-12% return
- Mid-term (3-5years)
- Long-term (5-10 years)
- Legacy (10plus)
- They have projects in all these categories
- She has clients that have been with her since she was in Costa Rica
Advice for Old Dawgs Looking at Real Estate Investing to Help Them in Their Retirement Years
- People who are 50 plus, who are planning for their retirement and are looking to enjoy their retirement will find Panama a great option
- With uncertainty in the economy and bank stability in question, getting your retirement money offshore is very big right now for many pre-retirees
- She hears this more and more every day
- They want to protect what they have worked so hard to build
- They want to put it somewhere safe so that no one can take it away
- They don’t to see half of it disappear
- If you’re looking for a retirement vacation home where you can visit 3-6 months out of the year, and where you can rent it out the remaining time of the year (as it pays for itself), Panama could be a great choice
- Or, if you just want to invest $250,000 – $500,000 and you’re looking for a good ROI, you can put together short, plus long-term and create a strategy
- It just depends on your personal goals
Her Business in the Future
- She doesn’t ever plan to retire
- She likes to take time to go to the beach or go out on the water and boat
- She loves doing what she does
- It’s a long-term plan for here
- Her work is her play
- Panama is the best market she has ever been in or participated in
- It’s like Singapore (which is also a port city) was before it became so massively overpriced
- Panama is like a “Little Singapore”
- The future looks very bright for Panama to move in the same direction
- She can work from Atlanta or Panama and successfully work remotely
- She’s got boots on the ground in Panama
- She’s an educator and loves teaching people
- She especially loves to teach people on how to be successful in real estate investing
Three-Day Exploratory Seminar/Tour
- A bus tour or Panama showing people
- The country
- The culture
- The government
- What’s going on – to see…
- agricultural farms
- projects
- properties
- Where people will learn
- Investment strategies
- How to invest
Rap-It-Up
- Favorite real estate book: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Rich Dad books by Garrett Sutton
- Favorite business book: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
- Most valuable web site for success (other than your own): Zillow and crypto sites
- Favorite app: WhatsApp
- Favorite quote: “The money’s made in the buy, not the sale.”
- If you lost everything – all your assets – and had to start all over, knowing what you already know, and you only had $1,000, what would you do to re-launch your real estate investing business? I can take the knowledge I have and you can drop me anywhere in the world and, as long as there’s dirt, I can rebuild my portfolio. I would use the $1,000 and trade-up from there. With real estate, if you have the knowledge, you don’t need the money.
How to Reach Evie
- Her working website: EvieBrooksPanama.com
- You can schedule 2 free 15-minute consultations
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