Customer Reviews

Living and Investing in Panama

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've never seen a book with more typographical errors. It looks like no one proof read it, they just published the rough draft... Usually a few typos doesn't bother me but there are so many here, it is annoying and makes you feel like the author didn't put much effort into the work.

Okay, aside from that, it does have some good info, and since it is basically the ONLY book on living in Panama, you will have to buy it. (There is another one but it has no reviews here, and I took a trip to 2 book stores and did not find it in either store.)

He only gives you the lowdown on a couple of the most well-known areas to live in Panama, doesn't give any info on any "off the beaten path" places where one might (?) find cheaper real estate.

Actually, he does not go very much into buying real estate at all. How about some names of attorneys to use, that people have used and recommended? How about some realtors (other than himself and a couple others)? How about more info on buying real estate which one would assume one would need to know if one is planning to "live and invest in Panama". How about the procedures for surveying and checking the land you are going to buy? How about other tips for checking and buying real estate? There are a lot of things that could have made this book better but it seems the author was just into making a fast buck, rushing out a book on Panama before someone else beat him to it.

I found this book very disappointing. I think anyone could have written as good a book with just a few months of research. [...] Everyone says that Howard's book on neighboring Costa Rica is great. I haven't read it. But this one is far from "great".

It should have been much better. Buy it only if another one isn't available by the time you read this. And really, if anyone is interested in writing one, this one won't be hard to beat, at all.

Unfortunately, this is only one of two (the other / better being "Choose Panama by William Hutchings") books about retiring to Panama. Equally unfortunately, if you are serious about moving to Panama Mr. Howard's book has a lot of useful information and you are left with no choice but to buy it.

That said, the book loses one star (and I'm being kind) for being so poorly edited. The author is a native english speaker, there is no excuse and it is simply disrespectful to your audience to have such a mountain of typographical errors. [...]

That said, all [...] absurd editing aside, this book is a must buy if you are serious about moving to Panama. [...]

Although the content of this book was somewhat helpful, I could hardly get past the typos. It looks as though the rough draft might have been mistakenly published. Also, several of the websites listed were not available. There is some advertising in the book here and there and some of those businesses are also not accesible via the internet. For the price of the book, I felt it to be poorly put together and would not recommend spending the money.

Good information which we had not seen elsewhere. Poorly edited by some non-English speaker and has lots of typos, sing-plural mistakes and is amateurishly done, spoiling it for the English reader. The print is excessively large, and the paper needlessly heavy making unhandy to carry. Evidently, the author made a poor choice for editor and for publisher. Quality does not warrent the price--it should not be more than $12.95 in the current market!

Overall, I liked this book, so let me get the bad out of the way.

1. First, the typos were plentiful, and though they usually did not affect the substance, I did sometimes worry. For instance, the author had previously written a book on living in Costa Rica (where the author, I believe, lives). Apparently the author took the same format from his previous book and cut and pasted some of the same info. For example, in the table of contents, the first Chapter is supposed to be "Panama's Land, History and People." Instead, it reads, "Costa Rica's Land, History and People." Believe it or not, this is not the only place where the name "Costa Rica" was inadvertently left in the place of Panama.

2. Second, as is the case with a lot of living abroad books I've read, the author tends to give you lots of things to consider, without always providing hard data. For example, a very small portion of the book (11 pages) is devoted to real estate, even though I believe that for most people interested in living in Panama, this would be one of the foremost considerations.

Overall, the book was good, and provided me lots of basic info for my first inquiry into living abroad in Panama. It provided lots of addresses, websites, and contacts containing further information. For someone just becoming interested in the idea of living abroad--or in Panama, I'd recommend it.

Similar books have been written about neighboring countries but this is the first long-awaited guide on the subject. Mr. Howard's handy book is a valuable tool for anyone considering living, retiring or investing in Panama. It provides a tremendous amount of information on virtually every aspect of living in Panama and is very easy to read. It allows you to understand all the nuances of the country and truly see what living there is like. Anyone who reads this book should have more knowledge that many current residents. I've been here 7 years and have learned a few new things I didn't know. I won't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who wants to move here. The book is a logical first step to making the move. I would like to meet Mr. Howard to congratulate him on this masterpiece. I shouldn't expect less from Mr. Howard since he has worked for National Geographic, has lived in Central America for over 20 years and authored 5 other bestselling guidebooks about the area. I have read all of his other books and consider this one the best first edition of any of the guides he has written.

This book was very much like his other books about living in Nicaragua & Costa Rica. In fact I found many passages that appeared to be the same. However, it was very informative and has useful information about living & relocating to Panama.

i got the feeling the author knew more about costa rica (where he lives?) than panama. not recommended...the info just wasn't very comprehensive.

This book has a lot of information to get one started. It was printed in 2006, a little outdated. The costs and prices are not in line with todays cost of living

Buy this guide if you want to live or invest here. I did and it changed my life. It has virtually everything you need to know about making the move. This book made it easy.