Almost Homeowners at Last!

For the last four years I have been scouring every realtor site in Chiriquí.  We have looked at homes and lots, called people who have advertised independently, and made calls based on flyers around town.  I know every realtor in town and some in David.

Jasmine, from Casa Solutions, has been taking us to places for three years.  I am sure we have been the peskiest (is that a word?) perspective buyers that realtors have seen in decades.    We have been difficult in our demands.  It must have Cableonda for high internet speed, it must have a large lot, it must have a view, it must be north of Ivan’s but not in town, it must be protected from the wind, it must have a great kitchen, it must,,,, it must…, it must….  Yes, we are difficult.

We finally found a house that we loved and it met every one of our demands. From the patio we can see as far as the mountains near David.  It even has a fireplace, a greenhouse and a gardener’s shed with bathroom.  It has a maid’s quarters with bathroom that could become David’s workshop.  The only problem, the seller would not budge on his ridiculously high price.  I contacted the listing agent, Ryan, and he showed us the house several months ago.  I took some good friends with us since the husband has done a LOT of real estate transactions and I value his opinion.  It wasn’t until he asked about a particular light switch for a small alcove that I realized that I had looked at the listing for this house four years ago.  I really liked it on the listing page but the price and timing weren’t right since we only moved here a year ago.  For the last several months we made offers, each rejected and no counter-offers.  We thought we would have to just pass on this house.

But I guess some things are meant to be. Yesterday the owner met our offer and we should close in about 2 months.

Our landlady is not going to be happy.  We sent her an email today about cutting our lease short by about 6 months.  It will be easy for her to lease this house as it is great.  She will probably raise the rent several hundred dollars a month since rentals are so difficult to find.  We worry about our very large deposit but we also have a plan.

The renters in our new home can stay and just pay us rent.  We will stay here and not pay rent.  Unfortunately, our landlady, Marta if you read the book Becoming in Boquete, is not terribly reasonable and has a history of making excuses why tenants cannot get their deposits returned.  Good for us, I took pictures of everything in this house, including the contents of drawers and closets, before we moved in.  If it becomes a battle, she will not win.  Go us!

I am sure I will be writing about the trials and tribulations of the real estate legal system and banking problems in the next few months.  But for now, we are smiling.

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I recommend that future expats visit the links below.

 

 

 

 

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