Before I make an offer, there are three numbers I almost always check first.

Before making an offer on a property, I almost always check three numbers.

Not because I distrust the excitement. It's that excitement doesn't pay the mortgage.

A beautiful property and a property that makes sense aren't always the same. These three help tell one from the other:

1. The price per m² — not the total.
A "low" total over a lot of square meters can still be expensive per meter. And I try to compare that meter against defensible references for the area — not just against what's being asked. In Panama you rarely see public closings; often it takes triangulating information.

2. The real cost of holding it, each month.
Not just the mortgage: add HOA, property tax, insurance and maintenance. That number —more than the bank's— is the one you'll feel every month.

3. If it's an investment, how much it returns against what it costs.
Annual rent over price gives a reference. But you have to subtract vacancy, expenses and friction. The spreadsheet return is rarely exactly the real return.

Three numbers. Ten minutes. They often clarify more than a visit.

And the hardest to get tends to be the most important: a defensible reference of how much that area has really moved.

Before signing, I'd try to answer a simple question:

Is emotion pushing the decision — or do the numbers hold it up too?