Vacationing in Panama last spring, Chris Stanley complemented fishing and beach lounging with seminars on the ins and outs of buying property overseas.
When Mr. Stanley, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., thought about buying a home in Latin America, he decided he needed a primer. So he booked a seven-day trip with Tropical Pathways, a Texas company that runs real estate tours to Panama.
Days spent with real estate agents, loan officers and lawyers were followed by tours of high-rise condos, golf course residences, mountain homes and grand beachfront houses that were for sale.
“My main goal was to get a sense of the real estate market,” he said. “I could have done it myself, but it would have taken longer to put together and probably would have been more expensive.”