The Journal

Guides, stories and answers for building a FRESH® home in Panama.

Climate resilience

Hurricane and Rainy Season Prep for Your Panama Home

An honest playbook for storm season in Panama: what the weather actually does, the annual checks every homeowner should run, and the...

Aug 08, 2026
Engineering

Maintenance Schedule for Your FRESH Home: Year 1, 5, 10, and 20

An owner's guide to the FRESH maintenance schedule: annual inspections, 3-5 year touch-ups, 10-15 year re-coats, and the full structural re-coat at...

Aug 06, 2026
First year

Living in a FRESH Home Year One: What to Expect Through Each Season

What to expect in your first twelve months living in a FRESH home in Panama, season by season, with the practical setup...

Aug 04, 2026
First year

The Real Safety Picture in Panama: A Region-by-Region Look

An honest, qualitative walk through safety in Panama by region — what expats actually experience in Panama City, Coronado, Boquete, Bocas del...

Aug 02, 2026
Connectivity

Internet in Panama: Fibre, Starlink, and What Works in Each FRESH Location

How Panama's connectivity landscape works in practice — fibre in the cities, Starlink almost everywhere else — mapped against each FRESH location...

Jul 31, 2026
First year

Bringing Your Pets to Panama: A Step-by-Step Guide for North Americans

A practical, in-order walkthrough of bringing dogs and cats to Panama under MINSA's home-quarantine system — paperwork, timing, the $130 fee, airport...

Jul 29, 2026
Build to rent

Build-to-Rent vs Buy-and-Hold: The Panama Investor Math

The two strategies Panama investors actually run — build-to-rent and buy-and-hold — compared on capex, time-to-revenue, ongoing costs, exit liquidity, and visa...

Jul 27, 2026
Investment

Reselling a Modular Home in Panama: Will It Hold Value?

An honest read on Panama's young modular-home resale market — what buyers actually pay for, where engineered spec carries documentary weight, and...

Jul 25, 2026
Absentee owner

Property Management in Panama: Lock-and-Leave Done Right

What a Panama property manager actually does, the two common operating models, the legal context for domestic staff, and why a FRESH...

Jul 23, 2026
Foreign owners

Insurance for a Home in Panama: What Foreign Owners Need to Know

The coverage categories Panama homeowners think about, how underwriters evaluate construction and location risk, why an engineered modular build helps the conversation,...

Jul 21, 2026
Investment

How Property Values Have Performed in Panama: What Investors Should Actually Look At

Why most published Panama appreciation numbers are anecdotal, the structural drivers that actually anchor value, and how a fixed-price modular build adds...

Jul 19, 2026
Airbnb

Vacation Rental Returns in Panama: How to Think About the Math

A framework for thinking about vacation rental returns in Panama — the drivers behind ADR, occupancy, capex and operating cost, without the...

Jul 17, 2026