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If you or your client have $100,000 or $200,000 – would they be considered a real estate investor – or was that just possible during the 1990’s when somebody with this much cash could be considered an investor. The answer is ‘Yes’ you can be considered a real estate investor with $100,000 to $200,000 available funds to purchase ready to move in real estate – but not in the major cities in Canada or the major metropolitan cities in the US.
Can you afford an apartment or condo, let alone a house in Canada? If you live in a city with more than 500,000 population and you have less than $500,000 or 600,000 in purchasing power – it’s doubtful you can make any viable purchase in a big city.
If you have $100,000 or $200,000 what options do you have internationally to become a homeowner with positive cash flow (ROI) and reduced risk?
That’s what we’re covering today in this article for families, investors or professional real estate agents. North American real estate prices have pushed out many buyers and investors. You may already have a residence you are living in – but if you have some cash on the side, can you still be considered a real estate investor? This is the purpose of this article today
***The author of this article is licensed in real estate in two jurisdictions, and has previously invested and owned property in Cyprus, Turkey, Dubai, Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto.
Here the questions you or your clients may be asking about earning positive cash flow on their real estate investments
With a lower budget you should forget about Vancouver, LA, Toronto, New York, Miami, Dubai, Athens, Lisbon, Porto or even Marbella. These types of real estate investment budgets do not give you access to ‘ready to move in’ real estate. If you do purchase pre-construction with these budgets (basically just deferring your payment obligations to 2-3 years down the line, your investment during this time period does not give you any ROI).
One of the more established real estate markets in the American continent which does allow real estate investments with positive cash flow at the lower budgets is Panama City. Brand new ready to move in units with North American built quality can be purchased inside the city at approx. USD 195,000 to USD 225,000 (1 bedroom + 1 bathroom), full time reception and front desk, rooftop pool, sun deck, full gym and sauna facilities, event room and indoor parking. All the amenities you have or wish you had in your existing condo or house in your current city. Similar condos can be anywhere from CAD 650,000 to $750,000 in downtown Toronto and Vancouver.
You may be wondering how somebody with $100,000 to $200,000 Canadian currency would afford a USD 195,000 to USD 225,000 apartment in Panama City. It’s simple. We will cover the financing below.
If you’re still stuck at the ‘Panama City’ part and why we are advising buyers to this overlooked real estate destination, you can check our latest article here:
If you are a full-time resident in Canada, you know it’s not easy to obtain mortgages from Canadian banks for real estate purchases, in case you already have other financing and debt obligations, and/or own property for which you are paying instalments. It would be very difficult with the same income you have now to qualify to purchase another property with an A lender and sometimes even with B lenders. In such a case any realtor will offer you a pre-construction condo as a ‘viable’ alternative to participate in the local real estate investment market with a limited budget. This basically means you can afford to pay CAD 100,000to CAD 200,000 now and worry about it later since the construction has not started (deferring your payment commitment to the future in the false hopes that it might increase in price and you can sell it off before closing date). This may not be the best investment route, but some real estate investors have no other choice due to the limited options with these budgets. But this is not the case…you actually do have a choice….
Local Panamanian banks can offer up to 50% mortgages. This means that if you have $100,000 to $200,000 Canadian dollar budget you can purchase a property with a 50% financing if required.
The interest rate is definitely higher than Canada, but the whole point is that you don’t need a mortgage value of $500,000 or higher to afford a property in Canada, but rather you’ll only need anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 depending on how much the real estate value is and your initial deposit. When investing in Panama City, even as a non-resident, you can receive up to 50% you can get approved as long as you have the full details of the real estate unit that you plan to purchase and can provide proof of funds for your deposit. It’s simple and you don’t have to go begging the banks and come up with your property tax statements, credit score etc. Even people with bad credit can purchase property in Panama if they have 50% deposit.
Another interesting fact to consider is that when a local real estate buyer invests in a pre-construction unit in Canada or the USA, they are hoping there will be an upside by the time the property is completed and ‘closing’ time comes. They will have absolutely no positive cash flow or income from the deposit for the pre-construction project during the 3-4 years waiting time that it typically takes to start and complete a high rise condo project. This means that if there is no serious price appreciation in that project after this time period – they have lost anywhere up to 12-16% opportunity cost based on having a term deposit or GIC in the bank account to earn interest.
What some of the most reputed pre-construction developers are offering in Panama City, such as the Westin project, is 4% per annum return ballooned until the project completes. This means that the buyer is guaranteed 4% per year on the unit they pre-purchase (completion date of 3 years). Basically this offsets their cost and guarantees a return for them even if the property price doesn’t appreciate, until the unit is completed and can drive positive cash flow and income for the investor based renting out the unit (which is all handled by the in-house property management team of the developer – full turnkey services).
You must know the expenses and costs of holding ownership of a condo unit in Toronto or Vancouver. If not, we’ll refresh your mind with this list:
• annual property tax
• monthly condo maintenance fee
• utilities
• mortgage interest
Currently with the new condo developments, because it is rare for somebody to be able to afford to pay $650,000 to $800,000 in cash, the mortgage interest rates will add up to the point that the investor in the condo unit will have zero positive cash flow (considering the rest of the expenses)
In Panama City, for a brand new loft style condo unit, in the heart of Casco Viejo (old city), with a size between 50 ~64 m2, which would cost USD 195,000 to USD 200,000, we will break down your costs below:
Building maintenance fee is between USD 148 - $191 ( $2.95 / m2)
Utilities: approx.:USD 100/ per month
Internet: USD 12 / per month
2-3 years property tax exemption for this specific project in the old city
(Typical property tax in Panama City is 0.5% to 1.2% depending on value and the district/location and zoning)
Mortgage interest (considering 50% LTV): USD 583.33/ per month
Now that we have covered the monthly expenses, the next big question is…
Some key points to consider when calculating your ROI in Panama City is utilizing the short-term rental license which the developer has already been approved by the city for the entire building. Airbnb and other similar short term rental platforms are not restricted in Panama City and very popular. The buildings you would be investing it would all have short-term rental licenses and in-house property management services to handle the entire process for you (you don’t lift a finger).
Here are the calculations based on having CAD 150,000 deposit and obtaining a loan of USD 100,000 to afford one of the units in this specific project we have been covering In this article (located in Casco Viejo).
Short term Rental income for this unit: US$1366/month
Short term rental turnkey service fee: (US$273.33/month)
Property tax for first 3 years: $0
Insurance: ($23/month)
Utilities: (US$100/month)
Internet: ($12/month)
Mortgage interest: (USD 583.33/month)
Net ROI: 2.3%
Imagine what you’re ROI would have been if you didn’t have to borrow USD 100,000 @ 7% interest. The above calculation would be impossible with Canadian condos and you would have a negative cash flow each month.
In Canada, if you own specified foreign property with a total cost of more than $100,000 at any time in the year, you must file Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement, to declare these overseas assets.
In terms of local taxation in Panama, it is a tax-free jurisdiction for any income, capital gain or estate inheritance earned from outside the country. For local rental income sourced from inside Panama, all costs such as property management, insurance, depreciation, interest payments and other related expenses can be deducted. After deduction the tax is 0% up to US$11,000 and 15% between US$11,001 to US$50,000. For example, for a rental income of US$16,000/year, after deducting all your expenses as listed above, the tax would be zero. The property management company handling your property can assist and guide on the eligible expenses for tax purposes."
If you are considering investing overseas, certain countries have taxation treaties with Canada in order to avoid double taxation. Check Canada’s active tax treaties:
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/tax-policy/tax-treaties.html
First of all, it is important to understand the regulations in any foreign jurisdiction on whether it’s legal for a foreigner to own freehold title of a property as a non-resident.
The good news, in most countries, unlike Canada, this is 100% legal. Now let’s cover the actual property management aspects of owning a property in Panama City.
All the major developers in Panama City have in-house property management staff that charge anywhere from 10-20% of your gross rental income, depending on whether it’s short term Airbnb or long-term rentals. The developers already have short-term rental licenses from the municipality for which there is no additional charge to the real estate buyer.
All of the rental income is in USD, since Panama’s economy is 100% based on the USD currency.
You can open a bank account remotely with in Panama City without even stepping foot into the country. They will provide you a debit card to be able to spend your money overseas.
The rent is collected on your behalf and deposited to your USD bank account by the property management company of the developer, you will have full access to the account online, and all expenses debited from this same account.
Wherever you plan to invest outside the country, make sure it is as easy as Panama City.
Here are the steps for a property purchase in Panama City, and we’ll cover Dubai and Portugal and Greece in future videos and articles on our site.
Step 1 – Property Selection
Select property(ies) for investment
Step 2 – Reserve the Unit
Client signs a Reservation agreement
Client fills KYC / Due Diligence documentation from developer
Client needs to pay min USD 5000 for the reservation of 1 unit Higher value properties will require higher deposit. Each unit will require its own deposit calculation (i.e. our investors who purchase 3 units at a time, would deposit typically $15,000)
Step 3 – Quotation, Case, Compliance check
From Client:
Request clear color scanned copy of the main applicant’s passport main page for all adults in the application for Due Diligence Check (i.e. main applicant + spouse + any children over age 18)
Security Check and passport validation
Step 4A - If Unit is ready to be delivered:
After KYC/DD stage of developer, a purchase & sale agreement for the property unit(s) is sent
Investor has 15 days to sign the purchase & sale agreement AND make the full balance payment for the unit(s) + Legal closing fees
Client provides Power of Attorney for Purchase of property (they can choose to visit in person also)
[Assuming step 2 is completed and full payments received] Property is transferred to the client’s name through the Power of Attorney
The Power Of Attorney format is provided
Transfer of Property is completed
Title Deed is issued in 45-60 days
Step 4B - If Unit is Pre-Construction:
Client signs Trust contract
Client pays fully to Trustee Account
Trustee provides Letter confirming the deposit
Step 5 – Investment Certificate (i.e. proof of investment) is issued by the developer
Step 6 – Panama processing
Translations to Spanish will be completed in Panama for all documents (only Panamanian certified translators are accepted for all government applications)
In Panama, original title transfer of property documentation is signed by local office based on the Power of Attorney provided by the investor
From the Public Register the Title deed will be taken showing the investor as the new owner
From Anati the current value of the property will be shown to the investor (this is the government property value registration portal where all developers need to register each unit)
If you are from US or Canada or in fact any other friendly-nationals (check our full list in this article: ), and if you do choose to invest minimum US$200,000 in any Panama real estate (whether it’s residential or office or commercial, industrial or land) you qualify for the residency program to Panama – meaning you, your spouse or common-law, children and even parents can obtain residency in Panama which does not require you to actually stay full time in Panama to maintain it. You can also decide to deposit $200,000 in a Panamanian bank to lead to the same residency options. After 5 years, you can become eligible for citizenship (residency requirement is 1 day every 2 years). Your parents can also be included in such an application for residency – without any nationality restrictions. This residency (immigration step) is optional and it is not required to have a residency in Panama to own property as a foreigner.
Here is the time frame and steps to obtain the friendly nations visa in Panama:
1. Initial Visit
5 working days. As a result, the applicant can walk away with the provisional permanent residence card (of course only if all requirements are duly met.
2. Second visit
2-3 days, after 2-3 months. As a result, the applicant can walk away with a provisional 2 year residence card.
3. Converting Temporary Residency to PR:
After two years applicants can apply for permanent residency
4. Minimum stay in Panama to maintain the permanent residence status
It is not necessary to reside in Panama permanently. You need only to visit Panama once every two years to maintain the residency status.
If you've been priced out of real estate markets in cities like Toronto, Vancouver, or Miami, it’s time to consider smarter, high-yield alternatives abroad. Panama City offers a rare opportunity to own income-generating, fully managed property in a stable, US-dollar-based economy—with investment thresholds as low as $100,000 to $200,000. Whether you're a first-time investor or a seasoned real estate professional, the combination of financing options, low holding costs, and potential residency benefits make Panama one of the most accessible and rewarding global property markets today.
At INGWE, we specialize in helping clients like you navigate these international opportunities. From property sourcing to financing, legal processing, and immigration pathways, our team offers turnkey support every step of the way. Have more questions? You can reach out to our office to schedule a free call and explore how your capital can go further overseas.
If you are ready to put your Plan ‘B’ into action, for yourself, your family or perhaps your clients, you can reach out to us here. Join our online live stream every Thursday at 11am EST, or 8am PST, to share your feedback, post your questions, and engage with others who are also exploring these opportunities – just by clicking on our YouTube channel link down below.
Ready to explore exciting residency programs across the Central and North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Caribbean Islands?
If you have any questions regarding this article or any other residency & citizenship topic, you can reach out to the author. To contact us click here.
