Panama Forum

petersen313
Joined 2014
Posts: 10

9 years ago

Moving my family for a mini-retirement

9 years ago

Hello all!
I am considering a mini-retirement (6 to 8 months) and wonder if anyone has some insights on a few questions:

- Does anyone have any recommendations on a trustworthy and dependable real-estate agent that we could pay to help us find a house to rent?

- What are the areas of the country that you would recommend? Low crime, reasonably affordable, and outside of the big cities would be a must. We'd like to be within a 15-30 minute drive of a nice beach (or closer if possible), and would prefer our home to be somewhat secluded if that is at all feasible. Are there areas like this in this country?

- What would be the biggest 3 or 4 adjustments that we'd have to make moving up out of the states (we live currently in Utah)?

- What is the housing like in this country? We'd be looking to rent a full house...large enough for 7 people (2 adults and 5 children) and I'm wondering if these types of homes are easy to find for rent.

- I would be able to tele-commute for work, so I'd need reliable high-speed internet? Would this be available in the places recommended?

- How hard is it to get a Visa or temp. residence permit?

- What could we expect by way of living expenses? Rent, food, etc. About how much less would the cost of living be as compared with the U.S.?

- How critical would it be to learn the language? Is it possible to get around with English?

- Is crime anything we'd want to be concerned about (more than here in the states, for example)?

- We're considering a number of countries: Panama, Belize, Nicaragua, Thialand, Cambodia, and perhaps Vietnam. Any insights into the pro's vs. con's of any of these?

Thanks a ton in advance!

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