A rich selection of available real estate

Over the last two and a half months I have been looking at various properties that are currently on the market. Initially, I was a bit concerned as to whether I'll find something that will suit my needs and priorities.

Well, this worry has been replaced now by: How the heck am I going to choose the right one among all the ones I've seen so far!

What a lovely problem to have!

Originally, I looked at various locations all around western Panama. I excluded anything less than 100 km west of Panama City as the traffic is too crazy anywhere closer to that city.

I found very nice properties around El Valle de Anton, Cocle, very affordable ones on the Sona peninsula, and off course all over Chiriqui.

At this time I think I'll be focusing on the properties that are along the little 18 km long side-road off the Panamaerican Highway. 

It is off the beaten path, yet there are about 10 expats already living in the three villages Los Santos, Santa Rosa and Camaron Arriba. That is enough to have a little community, but not too many, so the area still has the local flair, and expats and locals are getting along nicely.

Two weeks ago, my host had gotten sick. Several of the local families around us checked in on him, one family even came and brought a pot of soup for him! Now, that is community to me!!!

The properties are a little more expensive here than in other parts, especially in other provinces. However, you can not overvalue having caring and friendly neighbors. ANd, they seem to be less costly than in high-demand areas like Volcan and especially Boquete.

Over time I learned about 12 properties that are currently available to purchase. Twelve (!) on only a 15 km stretch! There's a lot to choose from. From 1300 m2 to 17 ha, from the warm Los Santos to the cool Camaron Arriba. Lots with houses, and lots without. Some of the properties have fixer-uppers on them, which is ideal for me! I like little projects, and improving "my nest" ( and maybe one day some ladybird will show up and decide she likes it with its occupant)!

I decided not to rent for a year - even though everybody is recommending. I already know I like living here. I already know that this area is where I feel at home. However, it showed, that it is a good idea not to buy right away, but to wait a little. Word does get out that there's a "gringo looking for land". And eventually one hears about many, many properties. 

I spent a lot of time driving around, taking every little side-road, too, to find "Se Vende" signs and contact the phone-numbers given. Usually I use WhatsApp, as that allows me to text in Spanish - using Google Translate. And I talked to all the people I met, asking if they knew about any properties. Over time, more and more people heard about me, and I learned about one property after the other.

 So now I have to choose. That's quite a challenge!

While I was working and having an income this was less of an issue. Even if I stretched myself a little thin, I could always make up for it. Now, however, I have a certain amount in savings available. I can not make up for budget overruns. It is most likely going to be my "forever home" - so it better really be exactly what I want and need. But there are so many priorities and some of them competing!

Still, I am happy I have this problem, rather than the issue that I don't find anything that would suit my needs...

Planning my new home

 I have come to decide on two potential properties among which I'll choose "the one"! Both of them are land without buildings. I'll build my own home.

The disadvantage is, that I'll have to rent somewhere until the home is ready for me to stay in. However, this disadvantage has no teeth, since Kyle's Bugaba Highland guestroom is super nice, and close to where I'll be building.

The advantage is, that I can try out all kinds of ideas!

Most likely, I'll get a piece of land in an area where it is a bit warmer, but not as hot as in David, or on the coast. That means, I might be able to get by without air-conditioning - if I am careful about heat management.

I think I want to have the roof open on the very top for the whole length of the house. On top of that gap I'll add 50cm higher another roof that covers the opening. That way, it doesn't rain in, but hot air raising to the top of the house can exit and doesn't build up under the roof.

Secondly, I'll only have the bed- and attached bathrooms walled in, and bug proof. Once the sun goes down, one retreats inside to turn the light on. Bugs, attracted to the light, will stay outside. 

The kitchen will be an outside kitchen, which together with the living space makes up the big terrace under the roof. About 3/4 of the space under the house's roof is terrace and kitchen! Mosquitoes are not so much a problem in this area, neither are there any sort of dangerous animals, from which one has to protect oneself. 

There's an outside kitchen on the big terrace under the roof here at Kyle's. I've been using it for 3 months now, and it was awesome! I'm always outside. Except in the evening, when I need light or when I am sleeping - then I'm inside of the room which the insect screen makes bug-free.

The locals are building everything with blocks and concrete. Well, that is easy to do, and is pretty much resistant to any kind of weather or condition - except earthquakes. The problems I do see with this - aside of the earthquakes - is, that any repairs or changes are very hard to do. You have to employ a jack-hammer. Secondly, due to the high humidity all the time, you have to repaint all walls every 2 or three years. And, stone feels dead and emotionally cold.

I am going to be owning 2 1/2 ha of teak plantation, where every 4-5 years some of the trees have to be removed, to make more light available for the remaining trees. That means, every couple of years I'll be having a ton of teak wood, with which I would need find something meaningful to do. Teak is a rather insect and rot resistant hard-wood. So, I am thinking of trying to build the walls (and ceilings) in my house out of my own lumber. Even the frame that holds the roof could be made from this lumber.

I still have to figure out how I get the trees from the plantation to my land, and how to transform them from logs to lumbar. Maybe I contract this task out to one of the many small sawmills in the area. Or maybe I'll bring a bandsaw and do it myself... But, that will show, too... 

People around here have problems with lightnings taking out various electronic equipment, even appliances. I want to learn about lightning-rods, and hopefully install a lightning-rod that will protect my and my neighbors homes.

The windows used around here are very low quality, do not keep bugs out reliably, and can only be opened to have 45% of the window space be open. They are sliding windows - mostly sliding side-ways. So more than half of the opening is blocked by the sashes.

I would like to try to build my own windows. There are two types I'm thinking of:

* Sliding sideways onto the wall space besides the window

* Tilting upwards and secured on the ceiling

Both windows would have the frame with the glass not be inside of the window-opening. Instead, there would be a frame with insect-netting there (removable, off course; so it's easy to fix when needed). The frame with the glass would be on the inside of the room, sliding along the wall with the window-opening, and slightly bigger than the opening. So, when closed, it is pressed against the window-frame, not inside of the window-frame.

The tilting window would require ropes and pulleys to make it easy to open and close the window. 

For both types I need to think about how to best lock them, for when 'm leaving the hosue cannot be broken into too easily.

The goal of these windows is to get as much air circulation as possible into the rooms! Air circulation seems to be the only measure that prevents mold and mildew buildup.

I want to install wall-mount toilets and vanities. The cost for such toilets is much higher - probably 1500$ a piece, compared to 150$ for a floor mount one. But, I feel, it is worth it over time to be able to easily clean the floor of the bathroom. Wall mount vanities are not easy to find either. But, I thnk I should have enough wood to be able to build them myself.

There won't be bathtubs - to me just a waste of hot water! - instead there'll be only showers. Those, however are roomy - maybe 150 cm by 180 cm (5' x 6'). The floor of the bathroom is about 5 cm (2") lower than the rest of the house, and it is slightly sloped towards the shower drain. That way, I can simply hose down the floor and be done with it!

The local septic systems don't even deserve that name! They are basically a container with an incoming pie and an outgoing pipe. Everything falls in on the one side, and sits there. Once the container fills up, whatever is too much runs out the other side.

I want to do a better system. I'm thinking of implementing a three chamber tank, which then empties in a holding tank, from which the fluid is discharged periodically via a mini flashflood onto a vertical-style clearing field. The water draining out of that clearing field should almost be drinking water quality. So, it should be safe to use in the garden for watering, or when it gets into a river.

Also, I would like to collect and treat rain-water. No chemical or energy using treatment, but simple, natural filtering.

The system consist of three tanks: First tank simply collects the rain water. It is a buffer. It discharges water through a smallish pipe (5cm, 2"?) into the second tank. That one is filled with gravel and sand, similar to the clearing field. The microbes developing in that filter will clean out most of the stuff that's in the water (like bird-poop and other stuff that the rain finds on the roof). The bottom of this tank now drains into the third, the actual water holding tank.

I'm hoping to use this water for showers, toilet, and garden watering.

The hot water for the showers I'm planning on heating using some sort of solar-collectors on top of the roof. Currently, I'm thinking a simple hose laid in serpentines on the roof should suffice. I'll have to play with how big a hot water tank I'll need, and how much hose is needed to reliably heat the whole tank.

There are many more details to be thought through: exact makeup of the walls, how and where to but the wiring, how to get the heavy lumbar for the house frame in place (there seem to be no cranes like in Europe, and everything is done manually), and much more... Since I am not building the typical, traditional style, there are no common best practices available. That means, I have to think up everything - from the overall big-picture ideas, down to the very gory details...

A lot of brain work. But also a lot of fun!