In this week’s Your Overseas Dream Home Digest…
- VIDEO: Inside Panama’s Transformation (From Someone Building It)
- My Scout Gives You a Tour of Panama City
- Exploring the Country’s Fastest-Growing Beach Town
- Your Questions Answered on Buying in Caminha
Greetings from Japan.
I arrived here earlier this week with my wife Sayuri on a long-delayed honeymoon.
Sayuri and I got married in November 2019. The paternal side of her family is of Japanese-Mexican heritage and we’d planned to go on our honeymoon to Japan in May 2020. Then COVID shut down global travel.
But all these years later, we’ve made it here.
I’ll be getting off the beaten track while here and carving out time to hunt for real estate. I’ll have some notes to share in the weeks ahead.
For now, though, I want to wrap up my recent coverage of Panama…
Panama City has the biggest skyline in Latin America, and 45 of its 50 tallest towers were built after 2000, speaking to the phenomenal rate of growth and development of this global safe haven.
Last week, my team and I spent time on the ground there for The Gathering XII—the annual meetup for Lifetime members of my Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group.
It was my first time holding the event in Panama…and frankly it was long overdue.
Over the past decade, Panama City has arrived on the world stage as a global hub city.
Sitting at a strategic position at the crossroads of global trade, this city today boasts one of the largest skylines in the world. It is humming with entrepreneurs, executives, bankers, and wealthy international folks. This is a place where people want to be.
And RETA has been ahead of the city’s transformation, with members getting exclusive off-market opportunities to buy in some of its most prestigious addresses.
Developer Alfredo Aleman joins RETA Senior Researcher Margaret Summerfield onstage at The Gathering XII in Panama City.
One of the key contacts in my Rolodex is visionary developer Alfredo Aleman and his GLP group, who are behind Panama City’s most prestigious communities.
While I was in Panama, I sat down to speak with Alfredo to speak about the country’s transformation.
In our conversation, we dig into why Panama can deliver billion-dollar projects quickly…why the city is being forced to grow along a single, highly predictable corridor…and why tourism—still underdeveloped—could be the next major driver of growth.
Click below to watch the full conversation.
While in Panama City for The Gathering XII, I sat down with developer Alfredo Aleman who I’ve known for two decades, to discuss the future of this incredible country. Click above to view.
My Scout Gives You a Tour of Panama City
Wealthy folks don’t just come to Panama for economic opportunity. They also come because the lifestyle here is incredible…
While my team had boots on the ground in Panama, one of my scouts, Alan Gorevan, set out to explore the city and all it offers.
He traveled from the old streets of Casco Viejo…to a waterfront causeway…to a hilltop overlooking the skyline…to the modern districts where wealth is concentrating…
See what my scout discovered here.
Panama City’s Punta Pacifica district as seen from the prestigious Ocean Reef islands, developed by Alfredo Aleman. Read my scout’s tour of Panama City here.
The Fastest-Growing Beach Town in Panama
Alfredo hasn’t just built the most prestigious residential communities in Panama City…
Over the past 13 years, he’s also been transforming the closest, nicest beach to Panama City into a fully functioning beach town: Playa Caracol.
At the conclusion of The Gathering, attendees had the option to take an exclusive tour of it.
Read my scout’s full report from the Playa Caracol tour here.
RETA members were greeted with baby coconuts as they arrived in Playa Caracol to see the rising beach town envisioned by Alfredo Aleman. Read more here.
As RETA members saw, the scale of what Alfredo has achieved here is incredible.
Some 700 condos and homes have been delivered there. There are beach clubs…spas…restaurants…surf schools…
Major market makers in global hospitality have taken notice. The Radisson Riviera hotel has opened here. Panama’s first-ever Margaritaville resort is under construction at Caracol.
Two other major global chains are about to announce new resorts in the coming months.
This incredible community is at an incredible point. And I’m about to bring RETA members an exclusive new deal here.
Ocean-view condos in a true beachfront community…steps from the sand. For under $300,000!
I expect gains of over $181,000 five years after delivery.
I’m preparing a full briefing on this exclusive new beachfront opportunity. RETA members, stay tuned to your alerts…
Your Questions Answered
Have a comment for me or my team? A question about owning overseas? Share it here. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a question I got from a reader recently…
Carla G. asks: I am interested in purchasing in a smaller area such as Caminha, Portugal. Can I get some info?
Ronan says: Hi Carla, and thank you for your question.
Located at the mouth of the Minho River that separates Portugal from Spain, the town of Caminha has a long and rich history. Walk its cobblestoned lanes and alleys and you’ll see constant reminders of this heritage, from the 15th-century Igreja Matriz de Caminha church to the 13th-century Torre do Relogio clocktower, which stands watch over the town’s main plaza.
And yet despite this abundant history, Caminha today feels modern and upmarket. There are art galleries and boutique hotels, fine-dining restaurants and wine bars. Then just outside town you have lagoon and Atlantic beaches, towering pine forests, rolling countryside, and excellent hiking.
The medieval town of Caminha juts out in the Minho River that separates Portugal from Spain. This is a vibrant and increasingly upmarket destination. Yet property prices here remain highly affordable. Here you can see the fountain of Terreiro in the center of the village square.
With its Old‑World charm, easy access to Porto’s international airport, and outstanding food, culture, and scenery, Caminha offers an exceptional quality of life. It’s especially appealing if you prefer a peaceful, scenic community with strong local character rather than a high‑tourism environment.
Foreigners can buy freely in Portugal, and the process is straightforward. Banks are accustomed to working with non‑resident buyers, and financing is available.
I’ve used local financing to buy here, and the process was incredibly simple.
In fact, because I was applying at a quiet Caminha branch, the entire process was handled very quickly and efficiently by the kind staff there.
I borrowed €280,000 and got a 25-year mortgage with a five-year fixed rate at 2.9%.
Although more people are coming to Caminha now than when I first scouted it in 2023, the value here is still incredible.
You’ll find more helpful information in my Guide To Buying Real Estate in Portugal here.
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. If you have a question about buying real estate overseas or have suggestions for destinations my team and I should put on our scouting list, drop me a line here.
