Cartagena de Indias · Colombia
Own in Cartagena. Outright.
We sell lots and homes we hold title to: no brokers, no commission chain, no Spanish required. Until it is registered in your name at the Oficina de Registro, the title is ours.
The first conversation is free. No fee, no obligation, no pressure.
- Deed in our name
- Verify the title before you wire a dollar
- First conversation free
- Thirty minutes, honest numbers, no pressure
- English first
- The Spanish, the notary, the paperwork: handled
- 12 listings
- 6 lots, 6 homes, 10 neighborhoods
Featured
Three worth flying for.
Why direct
You're buying from the owners, not a listing.
Every property on this site is registered in our name at the Oficina de Registro. A commissioned broker needs you to close this month; we own the asset either way, so the only version of this that works for us is the one where you're certain.
- 20+ yrs
- holding property in Cartagena
- 0
- brokers, commissions or referral fees
- 48 hr
- to put any listing's title certificate in your inbox
The process
Buying in Colombia, all eight steps.
Including the parts nobody tells you.
01
Talk. It's free.
Thirty minutes on WhatsApp or a call. You tell us budget, timeline and what you're imagining; we tell you honestly whether we have it. If we don't, we say so.
02
Shortlist from real inventory.
We send the listings that fit, with walk-through video, drone footage of lots, and the real numbers: price, taxes, running costs.
03
Come see it.
We plan the trip: hotel suggestions, airport pickup, two days of showings. Bring your own lawyer if you like. We'll drive you both.
04
Independent title study.
A lawyer you choose reads the certificado de tradición y libertad, the property's full title history. On our listings that history ends in our name. That's the point.
05
Promesa de compraventa.
A bilingual promise-to-purchase locks price, dates and penalties. Colombia has no automatic escrow and no notaría will hold your money, so the deposit needs somewhere safe to sit. We use a fiduciaria supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera, and it releases to us only once the escritura is registered and the certificado de tradición shows the property in your name. Ask and we will send you the fiduciary contract before you transfer anything.
06
The step nobody tells you
Move the money the right way.
Your funds enter Colombia through an exchange-market intermediary, an IMC, which in practice is a Colombian bank or brokerage. You give the bank the data for an international-investment exchange declaration and the bank transmits it to the Banco de la República; the old numbered Formulario 4 has been replaced by that electronic filing. What matters is that the money arrives flagged as foreign investment rather than as an ordinary personal transfer. Get that wrong and nothing is registered, you cannot legally convert the proceeds back and take them out when you sell, and you cannot apply for an investor visa. We set it up with you.
07
Escritura y registro.
You sign the escritura pública at the notaría. The deed is written in Spanish, and only the Spanish text is the deed. Where a buyer's Spanish is not strong, Colombian law requires an interpreter to assist, sign alongside you and be named in the deed: article 16 of Decreto 960 de 1970 and article 23 of Decreto 2148 de 1983, which also say you choose that person. We give you a full English translation beforehand so nothing is new when you sit down, but that translation is a reading aid, not the instrument. Registration at the Oficina de Registro, not the signing, is the moment the property becomes yours, and it usually takes one to six weeks.
08
Keys, and everything after.
Utilities in your name, a property manager if you want one, renters if you want them. You own in Colombia now. We stay your people here.
After the keys
You own it. We still work for you.
Property management
Bills paid, staff managed, a monthly report with photos. Your house is looked after even when you're not here.
Rental setup & hosting
Furnishing, listing, pricing and guests handled. Cartagena's high season is long. Your place can earn.
Renovation oversight
Architects, permits, crews and budgets, all supervised by people who have restored houses here before.
Utilities & accounts
Water, power, gas, internet and the predial property tax: set up in your name and on autopay.
Visa & residency guidance
A property purchase can anchor a Colombian investment visa. We connect you with the immigration lawyer we use ourselves.
Visits & logistics
Airport pickup, trusted drivers, a bilingual number your family can call. The soft landing, every time.
Questions
Asked on almost every first call.
Can a foreigner really own Colombian property outright?
Yes. Colombia gives foreign buyers the same ownership rights as citizens: full freehold title, registered in your name, no residency requirement and no local partner. It's one of the most open property regimes in the Americas.
Do I need a visa or residency to buy?
No. You buy on a passport. Visas only come up if you want to stay longer than the standard 180 tourist days per year. Owning here can help with that (see the last question).
How does my money get into Colombia safely?
By wire, through a Colombian bank or brokerage licensed to handle foreign exchange. The bank files an international-investment exchange declaration with the Banco de la República as the money arrives, and that registration is what protects your right to convert the proceeds back and take your capital out when you sell. It is step six of our process, and we set it up together.
What does closing actually cost?
Budget 3 to 3.5% of the price for the transaction itself. In Bolívar that is four lines: the impuesto de registro at 1%, the registry's own fee, which at these prices works out to about 1.15 to 1.36% once its surcharge is added, the Gobernación's estampilla, and your half of the notary's fees, which are customarily split between buyer and seller.
Above roughly COP 1,047 million, about USD 335,000 at today's rate, there is one line more: the national impuesto de timbre. It is charged only on the amount above that threshold, and on the larger houses here it adds around 1%. The threshold is set in UVT and resets every January, so it moves. Several of these properties are over it and several are not, and we tell you which before you commit.
Then add your own lawyer, usually 1 to 2% more, and we would rather you spent it. No agent commission, because there's no agent. We give you the exact line items for any listing before you commit to anything.
I don't speak Spanish. How badly does that hurt?
Not much, but be clear on one thing: the escritura is in Spanish and only the Spanish is the deed. You get a full English translation of everything before you sign, we are in the room at the notaría, and where your Spanish is not strong the law requires an interpreter you choose to sign alongside you. We answer messages in English within hours, not days.
Can buying property get me a visa?
Often, yes. A property investment of at least 350 Colombian monthly minimum wages can support an M visa as an investor. Because the minimum wage is reset every January, that threshold moves: the 2026 wage rose sharply, which puts 350 of them near COP 613 million, roughly USD 160,000 at current rates. Anyone quoting you a fixed dollar figure is quoting an old year. One thing worth knowing early: immigration looks at the value declared on the escritura, so under-declaring the price to save tax will also sink the visa. We're not immigration lawyers, but the one we work with will tell you plainly whether you'd qualify.
The first conversation is free.
Tell us your budget, your timeline and what you're imagining. Thirty minutes later you'll know whether Cartagena works, and whether we're the right people to do it with.