Introduction - We are a Panama Law Firm not a real estate business. Our clients are frequently relocating to Panama and we assist in the real estate acquisition for them. We are often asked if the real estate bubble is going to bust in Panama or if the boom has just begun. Well we are not sure. We have done a few articles on the Panama real estate bubble breaking but now we are going to present objective data in support of the Panama real estate boom just starting. It could be true and prices may continue to escalate.

Worldwide Residential Real Estate Prices by the Square Meter - These are current prices for some major cities in Europe. This will give you a perspective as to how the Panama market fits into the greater scheme of things. These prices are for serious executive homes in prime locations. A discussion will follow after the prices:

* London ? $10,000 Sq. Meter to $20,000 Sq. Meter
* Paris - $9,000 Sq. Meter
* Amsterdam - $9,000 Sq. Meter
* Lichtenstein - $8,000 Sq. Meter
* Moscow - $7,500 Sq. Meter
* Rome - $7,200 Sq. Meter
* Zurich - $7,000 Sq. Meter
* Oslo - $6,900 Sq. Meter
* Dublin - $6,800 Sq. Meter
* Lithuania - $5,150 Sq. Meter
* Latvia (Riga) - $4,100 Sq. Meter
* Berlin - $4,300 Sq. Meter
* Warsaw - $1,600 Sq. Meter
* Slovakia - $1,750 Sq. Meter
* Seoul - $11,825 Sq. Meter
* Sydney - $7750 Sq. meter
* San Diego - $2650 Sq. Meter to $15,000 Sq. Meter
* San Francisco - $5,000 Sq. Meter to $20,000 Sq. Meter
* New York - $15,000 to $43,000 Sq. Meter
* Miami Beach - $9500 Sq. Meter to $32,000 Sq. Meter
* Toronto - $3,000 Sq. Meter
* Montreal - $3,200 Sq. Meter
* Vancouver - $3,700 Sq. Meter

Panama Real Estate Comparison - In Panama City one can get an executive condo in a new high rise building for $1,800 to $3,500 per Sq. Meter and pay less in an older building. We are talking about Condos with a swimming pool and recreation area, balcony, enclosed parking, round the clock security guards, multiple elevators, modern kitchens, city and or water views, beautiful lobbies with marble floors, walls and furniture, and so forth. In the outlaying areas single family homes and town homes can be bought for a bit less with $2,000 to $3000 a Sq. Meter generally bringing in a home in a gated community with all the features of an executive home.

Discussion of Panama Relative Housing Prices - Panama is priced very low compared to the other markets around the world. The question is can Panama rate with the major cities like Paris, New York, San Francisco, Miami Beach, and London etc. This would be an indicator of the attractiveness of Panama relative to the real estate market prices. Below are some categories where we unilaterally decided to indicate how Panama stands, so this is just our opinion, nothing more.

* Entertainment - DEFICIENT. Panama lacks any serious theatre, opera, orchestra, ballet, museums, foreign film houses, major league baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. There is some soccer and boxing. Panama does have gambling and horse racing. The outlaying areas have no entertainment to speak of.
* Crime - EXCELLENT. Most of these major cities have more violent crime in one day than Panama has in one year. Panama has crime but is very safe compared to these cities.
* Traffic - DEFICIENT. Lots of congestion. Wild drivers who disobey traffic laws, stop signs and even red lights. No vehicle safety inspections. Taxi and bus drivers have decided they are the only ones on the road who matter. Outlaying areas have far less problems with the traffic than Panama City. As the new housing projects complete and the Canal expansion begins the traffic is expected to get worse. On Fridays closet to pay day the traffic barely moves from about 3PM until 8 PM. Most of the stores and restaurants have parking. Lately it is almost impossible to get parking at the Allbrook Mall on weekends.
* Restaurants - SUPERIOR. Panama is loaded with excellent restaurants at very low prices. Steak dinners for $10.00 or less are abundant. Food is great.
* Shopping - VERY GOOD. You can get whatever you want in Panama City if you know where to find it. Lots of high-end stores are opening up in the malls. Lots of discounters popping up.
* Cost of Living - EXCELLENT. Your biggest expense will be real estate.
* Domestic Help - EXCELLENT. A live in Maid in Panama City is about $275 a month with benefits, plus room and board. Most of the condos and houses are built with a maid?s room and full bath. A driver runs about $325 a month.
* Airport - GOOD. Lots of airlines going to many cities in Central America, South America and USA. For Europe, India or Asia not so convenient.
* Medical - VERY GOOD. There are major hospitals including a full John Hopkins Hospital. Most prescriptions can be obtained in the drug stores. There is an abundance of competent doctors in all specialties. You can even have a doctor make a house call. Health care costs about 40% of what it does in USA.
* Weather - VERY GOOD. Panama is a tropical climate. No shoveling snow. It does get hot and humid. Some locations have more moderate weather but they usually have high humidity. No hurricanes, not tornadoes, no earthquakes in Panama City, no volcanoes, no tsunamis.
* Boating and Fishing - EXCELLENT. World-class sport fishing with 1200-pound Marlin and 400-pound Grouper. Abundant marinas.
* Stable Government - VERY GOOD. Things are most stable.
* Banking, Stock Market - EXCELLENT. Great banks and stockbrokers.

Conclusion - It appears likely that Panama could escalate in real estate prices to the $5,000 a Sq. Meter market price. They are going to have to work on the culture and entertainment to draw in people accustomed to that housing price market. The traffic will need to be addressed and projects to improve congestion are already in the works. The downside of this theory is that there is not enough to draw people to Panama. Culture and entertainment is lacking and it may take many years for this to improve. There are no major industries here such as: banking, insurance, advertising, stock market, general manufacturing, software, high tech manufacturing, entertainment, tourism and so forth. This eliminates large groups of highly paid executives who need to pay high prices for housing to be close to their workplace. Retirees have needs that are fairly simple and can be met in any many different places around the world and it remains to be seen how much the retiree will pay for real estate. Quite possibly Panama Real Estate Prices have not yet even come close to peaking. Time will tell.

Biggest collection of articles - Health | Biggest collection of articles

When we first decide to make the transition from an outside job to a home-based job or business, some of us might face a dilemma — a spouse who suddenly seems uncooperative and difficult. Even if our spouse is usually good-natured, we might find ourselves enmeshed in arguments and battles for control over our own careers.

While this can be frustrating, it is important to understand that our spouses are probably not trying to be difficult without reason. More likely, they have concerns that are being expressed in erratic ways. If you suspect this is the case in your own household, you might want to open the lines of communication and encourage your spouse to share his or her reasons for not wanting you to work at home.

Following are some of the most common concerns, and ideas for dealing with them:

Decreased Income. Your spouse may be worried that your salary will be less than what it is in a traditional job. Unfortunately, this is true in most cases. Telecommuting jobs usually pay far less than jobs in an office would. Even if you start your own business, it can take time to build up a decent income. If your spouse earns enough money to cover the household expenses, he or she might be agreeable to a reduced income from you temporarily, but if your spouse’s income isn’t enough to cover everything, you might need to compromise on your wish to work at home so you don’t get into debt and cause financial difficulty for the family. Possible compromises might include keeping your regular job and working to build your own business after work hours, or working a regular part-time job, while working a part-time telecommuting job from home. You can also focus on building up enough savings to carry your loss of income for the first several months of working at home. Aim for at least 6 months of your normal salary, perhaps even a year, depending on the type of business or job you are working toward.

Sacrificing Luxuries. Your spouse might also be concerned that less income means he or she will have to give up extras that your salary makes possible, like entertainment, dinner out, more expensive vehicles, etc. This is also a valid concern. While most of us spend much more than we really need to on recreational activities, it’s also not fair to expect our spouses to give up the smaller pleasures in life either. If your spouse is willing to work together with you on your desire to work at home, you might be able to agree on some smaller sacrifices that you can both make temporarily. You and your spouse will need to go over where your money goes, and see what you are both willing to do without. You can also find creative ways to replace the things you have sacrificied. For example, instead of going out to dinner 3 times a week, cut down to once a week, and then make more creative family dinners at home, trying new recipes to keep things interesting. You can rent movies to watch at home rather than going to the theater, or spend the day at a local park instead of visiting an expensive amusment park.

It’s Not Really Work. One of the most maddening experiences is having our spouses believe that we sit home all day doing nothing when we “work at home”. They might believe that we just want to sit home with the kids all day, watching television or chatting on the phone. If you are not yet working at home, it can be a major challenge to convince your spouse that you do indeed plan to work, but you might try explaining the type of work you plan to do, how many hours a day you plan to work, and how much income you are planning to earn. This can help them put it into perspective in measurable terms. If you already work at home and your spouse treats it like fun and games, it might be helpful to have him or her sit down with you for a short time one day and demonstrate exactly what you do. In my experience, the paychecks were the turning point. Once my husand saw that I was indeed bringing in an income, he began to take my work more seriously.

It’s All a Scam. Unfortunately, many of our spouses are cynical about work at home jobs, because they see so many scams. Even worse is if they know someone who got burned by a scam or shady business opportunity. They might have the skewed idea that all work at home opportunities are like that. In situations like this, you can show your spouse the websites of legitimate companies that hire telecommuters, or have him or her read postings on a work at home community. Again, once you begin bringing in the paychecks, this fear will vanish.

Jealousy. Believe it or not, your spouse’s concerns might be caused by a veiled sense of jealousy. Why should you get to sit home in your comfy sweatpants and earn an income when he or she has to trudge off to a lousy job every day? Especially if your spouse doesn’t particularly like his or her job, they might resist the idea of you working at home while he or she deals with arrogant bosses and office politics. This is completely understandable, and many of us would feel the same way, wouldn’t we? This is a tricky objection to overcome, but it is possible. Perhaps you can talk to your spouse about helping him or her transition to a home-based career too, and you would both eventually be working from home. Your spouse might be willing to compromise by allowing you to build up your business to the point where it could support the family and then he or she would be free to pursue their own business venture. You can also start a business together and work on it in alternating shifts. For example, you can work on the business for a few hours during the day while your spouse is at work, and he or she could do a little work on it in the evenings, and you can both work together on it Saturday mornings. Once the business begins bringing in enough profit, your spouse can come home permanently.

Ultimately, I believe that our spouses want us to be happy in our work, just like we wish the same for them. We just might need to work on them a little to convince them working at home is not only possible, but beneficial for everyone. If the above suggestions haven’t convinced your spouse, you might need to put some figures down in black and white and show your spouse how much it costs to work outside the home. You might need to list the benefits of having one parent at home, or ask them to give you the benefit of the doubt and let you prove your ability to make it work.

I would love to say to you, “Your career is YOUR business; no one else’s,” because that is what I truly believe. However, that’s easy for me to say because I’m not the one living in your household, facing the hostility from your spouse!

The truth is, everyone in your home will be happier if you and your spouse can come to an agreement, rather than stubbornly butting heads. If your spouse refuses to work with you at all on your desire to work at home, you may face some tough decisions. The best advice I can give you is to consider your options fully, and make the choices that you feel would benefit everyone the most, including your spouse.

Biggest collection of articles | Biggest collection of articles - Health