Sometimes people ask about housing in our area, and a house I know fairly well has become available in our neighborhood. I know it because a couple friends, other expats, lived there before family circumstances called them back to the US.
This is a great upper middle class neighborhood, quiet, very nice neighbors, on the north edge of David, but it’s just a few minutes from a major shopping area.
This house looks bigger on the inside than you would expect from the front. I believe it is three bedrooms and two baths, and the rooms are very spacious (by Panamanian standards). There is a comfortable open kitchen with a half wall so it isn’t isolated from the dining room and living room. The floors are cement, not tile. It’s the typical block construction with a metal roof. Behind the house are woods and then a river, so you can sit on the large back terrace and listen to the water. There are a number of fruit trees in the yard also.
The house is furnished and costs $650/month, with a discount for long term or a pensianado – retired people (furnished homes are more expensive than unfurnished but you could bring your suitcases and move in).
This is just one example of what is available in our area. There are other houses that are cheaper but they may be in less desirable areas, and/or be a lot smaller. It is hard to find furnished rentals in David since we tend to have a more stable population of locals who don’t move around much. There are also other houses that are a lot more expensive, especially if they are furnished, larger, and/or up in Boquete where there are lots of expats and a lot of demand. Even here, people constructed three very attractive houses (furnished) on a lot down the road, and I was told the rent is $1050 each! I see people are living in those houses now, but I’m not sure if they bargained for a more reasonable rent.
If you are seriously looking for a place and think this might work for you, contact the agent and my good friend Eduardo Horna at riochiriqui@gmail.com
The Panama Adventure 
Sounds like the perfect place for us, wish we were ready to move. That is about what we are looking for. My mother in law is have health problems in france, my husband is there for a month. Always something happening here.
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I hope there will be another perfect place when you are ready to come! Meanwhile good luck with everything and I hope your mother in law is doing better.
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Hi Kris,
Thank you for sending this. It gives me a good idea of what to expect.
I am curious about the concrete floors –Do they often apply carpeting? My preference is always not to have carpeting and so I am wondering what you think might be most common given the climate.
Thanks much,
Rosa
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I think carpeting is unusual. It’s warm enough here that you don’t need it to keep your feet warm, and floors are much easier to keep clean without carpet.
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There are floor paints with a structure to be painted like Italian broken tiles. Great.
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You can do a ton of creative things with cement! (If the landlord is ok with that)
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What great information.!!!! Thank you so much…. Can you give me an idea of a taxi ride from Panama City to David and length of time.
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Oh my, David is way on the other side of the country! Take the bus, about $15, 7-8 hours, big comfortable double decker bus with a rest break in Santiago. When you arrive in David there will be taxis waiting at the terminal. Use the search feature in the blog for a post about the Albrook Bus terminal for more info. If you can’t find it let me know and I’ll look it up when I get home again.
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Hi everybody. We are good friends of Eduardo and his wife Liz. Good reliable people. We live quite near them in Alto Boquete. We rented through them a 3 bedroom unfurnished home at 8 minutes drive from Boquete centre. Unfurnished, with only a built in stove. $ 450.
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Thanks Robert & Helen, do they have property in David?? My husband wants to be close to the beach.
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Eduardo works all over Chiriqui, including David where this property is located. The nearest beach to David is 30-45 minutes away. If you really love the beach you might consider Pedasi or Las Tablas area, or Coronado.
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Thank you so much for your help
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You are welcome 🙂
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We lived 12 years in Saint Lucia (Caribbean), 7 minutes drive to white sand beaches. After a while you go less and less to the beach. Same with our swimming pool at our home. Finally we went once every 14 days with our 4 dogs to the beach swimming with them. They loved it. We still have 3 of them here in Boquete. On died 5 months ago.
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I know, it was the same with us in Florida.
Sorry to hear about your dog.
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Yes indeed, good people. We have been friends ever since Eduardo helped us find our house almost four years ago.
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I am wondering about the metal roofs when the heavy rains arrive. Can you hear yourself think? I’m trying to be open-minded about this. Thanks for posting it.
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When it gets to raining really hard it is quite noisy. Thankfully it doesn’t usually last long at that level of intensity. Like Robert and Helen say, you can put in gypsum ceilings, and tiles on the roof help a lot too. Most people just ride it out though until it settles down a bit, and enjoy the break from thinking 😀
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We have a metal roof and gypsum structure on the ceilings in the rooms. Not much noise when it rains.
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I’m a 43 yr old single woman considering a move to Panama in 2 years, once my youngest has finished a year of college. So is it crazy to move to Panama as a single woman? All of the expat blogs seem to be about couples. I have a small pension from my late husband and I own a professional writing business that I can run anywhere in the world. I’m not wealthy, but income is stable. Are there other single expats? I’m very independent, and as much as I love my married friends, I don’t want to constantly be a 5th wheel. Thanks.
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You are not at all crazy! There are many single women here. A good friend of mine who lives nearby is single, and she has a very full and busy life. There are many other single women in Boquete. You might look at that area because there are many expats and lots of activities like hiking, theater, bridge, photography… all kinds of groups for various interests. If you Spanish is OK you will have even more options and possibilities.
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