Difficult or easy to buy a house in Colombia for a foreigner?

mapangpang says on May 27, 2007, 18:31:

Its easy Hi,
It's easy to buy a house, I believe it is easyer buying a house then renting one. I also believed it was dificult before, but now I've a bit experience buying and selling properties there.

Answers to your questions:

1. Yes it is easy. You do not need a cedula or visa, just your passport with a valid Turista 60 or 90 dias stamp. Notaria will check this for the escritura.

2. To transfer money citybank is an option. I once lost my transfer and had to ask my bank to do an investigation paying 20 euro for this. They did and three months later it was found. It was at the other bank in colombia all the time (Banco de Bogota).

Other option is casa propia: http://www.casapropia.com/index.html

I made a transfer to a bank in england and they handle the rest, including legalising and registering the money with Banco de la Republica. They work with Colpatria so i think it is trust worthy. In 8 day's The called me to tell me at what rate and when they transfered the money to the bank account of Colpatria. I;m very happy with them as they take a lot of work from me, see your next question.

3. That colombian bank is Banco de la Republica. The first time i invested money the reciever made an error, his bank asked him what kind of money he received from abroad, and he said ingresos, this should be inversion no way to register the money anymore. And then all the paper work for Banco de La republica must be done. If not within three months after the purchase or dato de escrituracion, you can do this. Casapropia did this all for me.

4. I estimate the tax for a 300 milion house about 500.000 cop a year this is the property tax, they call it predial. Maybe it also depends on your estrato the higher the estrato the higher your tax and bills are. You will have extra costs at the notaria a x% of the total sum of the deal/investment. etc. Not to much, no big problem.

5. Yes you can optain a residence visa, see this document:
ResidenteInversionista_000.pdf
You then will need a certificate of the Banco de la Rupublica stating you have an investment over US$100.000, this is why registering the money is important, also if you will transfer the money away from Colombia in the futere you can do this without paying tax. So very important to register the investment properly.

*. As a resident you will have to pay all taxes, so if you have an income from your investment it will be taxed.

Make sure the registering of the investment is O.K. if not you cannot get your residencial visa.

Just my contribution.


Mapangpang.nl - Furnished rooms

Mapangpang.nl - Furnished rooms

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aztec says on May 28, 2007, 05:37:

Thanks for sharing your experience. The only caveat I would offer refers to the statement:

"The first time i invested money the reciever made an error, his bank asked him what kind of money he received from abroad, and he said ingresos, this should be inversion no way to register the money anymore. And then all the paper work for Banco de La republica must be done. If not within three months after the purchase or dato de escrituracion, you can do this. Casapropia did this all for me."

Anyone transferring funds for real estate should know that it is his/her responsibility for assuring the correct forms are filed. For example if you wish to repatriate the funds in the future then you must file Form 4 upon receipt and conversion and Form 11 within three months.

Too often the banks will automatically file Form 5. That is OK if you have no need to repatriate the money. My point is that if you don't follow up on the paperwork there is a good chance things have gone awry.

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orestesdd says on Jun 15, 2007, 13:51:

How much does a two bedroom house go for in bogota? See question above, just a ballpark figure in USD Thanks.

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aztec says on Jun 15, 2007, 18:26:

Not to be facetious... ...but that is like asking how high is up.


Refine and limit your requirements and many here will provide usable information. In Bogotá prices are all over the map

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orestesdd says on Jun 22, 2007, 10:43:

I cannot refine my question because I have never been in Bogota. If you ask me how much a similar house cost in San Francisco, I can tell you that at least $1,000, 000.00 USD is needed. Isn't that too much to ask? And yes, you are facetious. So the question to get a range figure low and high of a decent house and not a luxury mansion. By the way, one million USD for a house in the SF bay area is the low end for a modest two bedroom house. You could find something lower than one million, but then you will have to buy it far from SF where I work.

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Cowboy says on Jun 28, 2007, 15:47:

Do not use casa propia .... what they do you can do it yourself . If you contact Correval sa (same company Casapropia uses to monetizar) directly you would end up saving $5000 dollars or more. Correval charges 4 pesos for every dollar while Casa propia charges 40 pesos for every dollar. Also, correval can help you with the paper work (form 4-5 or 11)

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Maojaimes says on Jul 19, 2007, 16:04:

I hope you succeed with your buying process. But if you still in the process you can see all related information at www.buycolombiarealty.com

The most complete guide about Colombia real estate

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